Tag: swimming

I had trouble sleeping last night. I don’t know if it was because of noises in the hotel or discomfort from elevation or what. I know my sinuses felt plugged but also dry? It was a weird sensation. Anyway, since I was kind of up and down all night, I slept in a little bit this morning.

After I finally got up and had my coffee, I visited the pool. I swam (head out of water) for just under 30 minutes, and then I hit the hot tub. I packed up and checked out, and Kevin from Loveland Krav Maga came to pick me up. I got to see the place where we’ll be doing CIC. It’s getting real!

I’m all checked in at the AirBNB and resting. I took a long nap and have been generally chilling out. I have one more day to hang out, and then the journey begins on Friday.

Today I tested out my lungs in this new and unusual land. I was on the elliptical for about an hour and felt pretty good. I had a light headache, but managing my breathing wasn’t too bad. Here are my stats, but I didn’t keep my hands on the heart rate monitor the whole time.

What astounded me was that my sweat actually evaporated instead of drawing more moisture to my body. My shirt was the same color after my workout as it was before!

After a short rest, I changed and hit the hotel pool. I swam for about 20 minutes (head out of water) and enjoyed the hot tub for 5 more.

I didn’t push myself super hard today, but I’m feeling optimistic.

On Thursday I had leg day and swam laps in the pool. Here’s a set list.

On Friday, I worked at the hotel in the morning and got a lot of steps in. Then I worked security at night and got even more steps.

On Saturday I worked in the morning (fewer steps than on Friday). Then I swam in the gulf in the afternoon. I crashed out hard last night.

This morning Nik got called in to work at the Ft. Walton Beach location. I took that opportunity to visit the Under Armor outlet and buy some new workout pants for CIC.

I can’t believe I leave in just two days!

This morning I walked on the beach and swam in the gulf.

I didn’t make it to Krav tonight. I have some major blisters on my feet, and I think a high intensity workout would rupture them. The last thing I need is open wounds on my feet for CIC. I want to be healed enough to train on Wednesday.

I did put on shoes long enough to go to the gym and lift. Here’s a set list.

One of my fencers wrote an exercise program for us, so I’m trying that out with some minor modifications. I added some ab work, and I’m doing more reps and sets at a low weight. At the end of the workout, I was ready to take off my shoes, but my blisters were still intact.

After that I swam laps for about half an hour. I heard swimming is a good way to train my body to work out with minimum oxygen intake. Plus I don’t need to wear shoes. That’s a huge benefit.

I feel really good! Maybe Nik will want to swim and lift tomorrow.

On Friday I was up bright and early for a demo at Gulf Breeze Elementary. I got to fence on and off for 3 hours. I hadn’t fenced much since Gulf Wars.

After that I went to the beach and swam a lot. It was a fun way to cool down, even if I did get a little bit too much sun.

On Saturday I met up with Mike and Eddie for some Krav Maga practice in the morning.

I skipped fencing on Sunday because I was worried I’d be an asshole. I was productive around the house, though, so that helped.

I did not make it to the gym on Thursday or Friday. Nik and I have had trouble getting moving in the mornings, and I did homework on Thursday when I could have been working out. No regrets on the homework, but we need to go to bed earlier or something.

On Friday I helped a friend with an outdoor project that involved setting up a medieval tent, cleaning it, and putting it away. That involved walking, lifting, and scrubbing, and it was outdoors. I had a great time being productive and hanging out with my friends. My fitbit didn’t pick any of it up.

On Saturday and Sunday, I went to the beach. I took lots of walks on Saturday. When I went Sunday with friends, we took walks, we played with dussacks, and I actually went for a little swim.

Today I’m back to tracking calories. I keep getting off track because I keep eating things that don’t have clear labels (like home made food – not bad), or I eat away from home (often fast food – kinda bad). My barcode scanner is working again, so that will encourage me.

Since Nik and I didn’t get up in time to lift this morning, I tried working out at home instead. I took a photo of this themed workout at the PSC gym over a year ago. I did Level 1.

My purpose was twofold. I needed to work out, and I wanted to see if this could work as a Krav warm up (with some adjustments, yes).

Today is the first time I’ve felt fat since I’ve put on the weight. Even though my clothes got a little tight during winter break, I never felt like this. When I was jumping around, my clothes were shifting, and I saw a lot of belly. That happens, but I also felt like the extra weight was hindering me. I felt really slow, and I don’t have much flexibility. When I lift weights, I don’t feel like this. I don’t know if this means I’m being challenged and should do more exercises like this or what. I assume there will be more days that I don’t wake up in time for gym time before Nik has to work, so I’ll have time to try more workouts.

Tonight is Krav. If there’s an uneven or small number of people, I may join the class, and if all 4 instructors in training are there, we can split up: some teach and some train. We’ll see. I ate something that didn’t agree with me, but I’m feeling better since then and should be okay by tonight.

I meant to post sooner, but honestly, waiting only four days instead of a whole week or more is progress, and that’s really what this blog is all about.

On Monday I started tracking my food again. So far things are going well on that front. Fortunately I’ve been able to make very minor changes – primarily, I’m being mindful of what I’m eating. I’ll let you know how that pans out in a few weeks.

I’m not entirely sure how to measure progress since my goal here isn’t necessarily to lose weight or inches (though it would be nice to have a nicer fit in some of my dress pants). I’m trying to improve performance in a field that i find hard to measure. In running or lifting, you can measure speed, reps, or weight. With fighting, it’s a little more subjective. I figure the more “good days” I have training, the better I’m performing.

Anyway, Monday was the first day I really got to teach in Krav. It was a little bit nerve wracking, but your first day teaching always is. It helps that I’m learning how to teach this skill in a friendly environment with people I know. I expressed to Kita that I’m still learning which types of errors to look for. For example when I teach fencing, I know that new fencers tend to roll the ankle when they lunge, so I pay special attention to their feet when they learn this skill. I’m working on figuring out some “common errors” for Krav. More importantly, I’m working on finding ways to make warm-ups dynamic and appropriate for the exercises we’re about to do. This is all awesome and exciting; the bad news is that I don’t really get to work out on class nights anymore.

Tuesday was a yoga night, but I need to work on cardio, so I hit the pool after my night class. I was on the swim team in high school. That was a long time ago, and I wasn’t very good to begin with, but I really enjoy swimming. I managed to keep at it for half an hour – not too shabby by my book!

Last night was another teacher night. I spend about an hour teaching P1s, and then after they leave, I have about a half an hour to work on my own P3 training. We’re working on finding some days to meet and train outside of class.

Scheduling Krav practice time for the next two months will be difficult partially because of my schedule and partially because I have a HEMA event coming up soon, and I really want to participate in longsword. I want to learn enough that I won’t embarrass myself in front of the other fencers.

I don’t expect to update tonight, so I’ll tell you now that I plan to hit the gym after work and use their punching bag. If the gym is closed, I’ll come up with something else to do. If all else fails, I still have the Dreaded Exercise Bike at home.

Nik and I have made the decision to attend UWF fencing practice on Friday and then drive to Birmingham(ish) right after for a weekend SCA event. That drive should be fun. I’m looking forward to fencing with my friends on Saturday. There won’t be practice on Sunday.

Last Wednesday I went to Krav and helped students in my more active teaching role. I feel completely out of my element.

On Friday I got to go to UWF fencing practice, and I actually got to DO some fencing as well as teaching.

Saturday involved some beach yoga and a walk to the pier and back. I’d say I s wam, but I mostly just floated around.

On Sunday I resumed SCA fencing practice. Introducing a new student to rapier was a welcome break from the heat. One disadvantage to training indoors is you forget how to train outdoors. I emphasize lots of breaks and lots of hydration.

Yesterday, however, I decided i needed a break. I’ve been feeling kind of down lately, and I wasn’t up to any sort of challenge. I stayed home and worked on an art project instead. Yoga is cancelled tonight, which is kind of a bummer, but I’m looking forward to actually being in my house for some time before class. Tomorrow, though, I’m getting back into the groove!

Since my last post ran long talking about my beach adventure, I figured I’d put my real update here.

On Friday night i went to UWF fencing practice. We mostly sparred since Fridays are short days. I’m fencing with both hands now, but I’ve been using a lighter (and shorter) sword in my right hand more often than not. The finger is still stiff, and I’m still doing my stretches and exercises four times each day, but I am seeing progress.

On Saturday I went back to the beach. Because of the beach restoration efforts, my walk to the pier was cut short, and I didn’t really have a good space for beach yoga. I did get to pick up some neat shells, and I saw a bunch of seagulls chilling out in the hard hat area because there weren’t a bunch of people in their way. That was pretty cool. I did get back in the water, and I swam around for a good portion of the day. After that, I borrowed Nik’s phone and played Pokemon Go a little bit on the island. The poke-stops were a reasonable distance apart, and I managed to catch some pretty cool creatures.

I did not attempt to have fencing practice on Sunday because the forecast was so bad, and I also really needed to do some sewing. I finished NIk’s shirt in its entirety and the base of his pants. His doublet is still mocking me. I will still be naked for the ceremony. Fortunately we’re taking a little trip to see the lady making his court garb, so I’ll have plenty of time to work plus some skilled hands I can borrow if I get stuck.

Last night I went to Krav. There were new people, so I was helping one of them – a young man in his teens. He was pretty chill, but he admitted that he shouldn’t have eaten so close to class and had to have a little break at one point. I told him there was no shame in that – I fart loudly in class all the time. It’s just life. Anyway, he recovered, and I think he made some progress and had a good time. After the new students left, the P3 students (man, that’s exciting to say) worked on stationary kicks. I’m actually fairly good at these, so while I drilled this skill a lot last night, I didn’t have the frustration of constantly correcting.