Rest Day

Today I am resting (aside from the dog walking). I think I earned it after the last few days:

• Thursday: Lower-body strength training
• Friday: Intervals on the stationary bike (boring!)
• Saturday: Swimming for one hour (I just did sets of 50s and 100s)
• Sunday: Yoga in the morning, volleyball in the evening.

I'm trying to get to a schedule of lifting on Tuesday and Thursday, and aerobic workouts on Wednesday and Friday. Then anything goes on the weekend: whatever fits.

Lower body

As circumstances had it, I wasn't able to get to the gym yesterday. So I made sure to get there today, and I did a lower-body workout for the first time since before the Marathon.
Except for the knee-tuck jumps, I felt pretty good, although I was using less weight than usual to ease back into it. You can't really reduce the weight on the jump squats or knee-tucks, though. Suffice it to say that the third set of knee-tucks did not involve a lot of hang time.

Another Setback

Just as I was feeling better, and ready to get back into a regular workout schedule, I got sick again at the end of last week. It is getting a little frustrating.
But I've recovered now, and in the WF tradition of "beginning again and again," I am getting back to the gym this week. I did an upper-body session yesterday, and I could feel the lay-off when I started doing pull-ups. I just listened to my body and did what it would allow. Today I will do a lower-body session for the first time in over a month. That should be a good test of my conditioning.

Speaking of tests, this past Sunday my volleyball team won our league championship, rallying from one game down. Despite my recovering from illness, I was feeling strong down the stretch, recording our last four points on some big swings in the deciding third game. Yay, me!

Mid-week Report

The Marathon is just 72 hours away...

While I am taking it easy this week, that doesn't mean I'm doing nothing. Tuesday I did lower-body strength training. The squats were tough: it had been a while since I'd done them. And I hate the leg curl machine at the YMCA. It can't be adjusted in any meaningful way, and I don't get full range-of-motion in the exercise. I'll try the seated one next time, but I'm hopeful that my old gym will re-open.
Yesterday I was going to upper-body, but I really felt like I needed to get in a run. So instead of strength training, I did an easy, 4.5-mile loop near where I work. The only bad part of that was near the end, when I had to run on a busy road because they were working on the bike path.
Then last night I had a massage from Christine. First she did a 20-minute Sports Massage, followed by an invigorating Zero Balance session. I felt taller when I left.

I'm not certain what the rest of this week holds. I think I'm going to swim today, and then maybe a very short 2-mile jog on Friday, just to keep the engine warm. We leave for Philly Saturday.

Went for a Run

Last night, I went running with Sue and Joseph. We did a 5k course around campus, and they did great: they walked for about 3 minutes, right around the 2-mile mark, but ran the rest of it. I think they are ready for KofC. After they finished, I ran a second lap of the course on my own, because I need to get in some extra miles.
I am just about to go do some upper-body strength training. Time to get huge!

Weekend Off

Sue and I went to scenic Pittsburgh last weekend. We didn't really do too much in terms of exercise, and actually we did a lot of sitting, talking, and eating fatty foods. But an occasional break is OK, as long as it's the exception and not the rule.

So back at it this week, starting with a three-mile run with Joseph on Monday. Yesterday I did the lower-body strength training. And while I was definitely seeing spots after the 3rd set of knee-tuck jumps, overall I did not feel as well-trained afterwards as I would have liked. You know what that means: time to take up the weights!

Tonight Sue, Joseph, and I are going running. They will do three miles, but I need to do about twice that. Then tomorrow I will do upper body strength. Saturday I'm on a relay team for the Tussey Mountainback 50-miler. I get to do the always-challenging Leg 4, and then the relatively easy Leg 12. That's 10.6 miles total, at a hard pace. Should be good to build some endurance!