NYC Marathon Training Week #1

Training week #1 was good. I got in work outs every day! No rest days on the training log this week!!!

Running:
Let's just say I've had better running weeks. I took Monday and Tuesday off from running. Wednesday night it was raining. That meant I had to run on the treadmill, which I normally hate. But, it wasn't so bad. I listened to some good tunes on the ipod, turned the TV screen to the discovery channel, upped the incline, and ran for 30 minutes, getting in 3.44 miles. And that was it for running for the week........

PiYo:
My sister turned me on to PiYo, which is a blend of Pilates and Yoga. So, I did an hour of that on Wednesday after my run and also on Sunday. I figured it would be good for my non-karate days to "force" me to work on my flexibility. The "beginner" lesson was ok. It wasn't too strenuous and really only offered a few "new" stretches. Hopefully the intermediate and advanced courses will offer more challenge. But the good thing about it is it will force me to take my time on the stretches. Normally when I stretch on my own, I tend to "rush" the stretch in an effort to get it done.

Karate:
This was a great karate week! I got in 5 classes; basically I was at the dojo everyday except for Wednesday. I even enjoyed my Bugo class!! I got in 5 SWATs and 4 days of Extras. Not too shabby! And I felt great at each class. That is, except for Saturday morning candidate class.

We started with a warm-up run; 1 trampoline "stepper", jump over targets, side-to-sides, kicks on the bags on the back wall. I think we ended up doing 5 "laps". Next we went into some kicking and boxing skills. Then it was short 2 kata with the entire group. After that, we were split into the "August" candidates and everyone else. Since I'm in cycle for December, I was with "everyone else".

Ms. Stefani had "everyone else" run through XMA form 1, XMA form II, Kamaset 2 and then the black belts did American Bo form. During these forms, I started getting really lightheaded and thought I was going to faint. And it showed in my performance! UGH!! I was awful!! I made it through the class but had to skip out on the 2 mile timed run.

Anyways, to make a long story even longer, I had taken some "strong" cough syrup the night before and I think the effects lasted until the next morning. Although I am a pharmacist, I really dont like taking medicine. But, the last time I got a "chest cold", I ended up with pneumonia and honestly thought I was going to die! So now, I'm paranoid and treat my cough/chest cold quickly and aggressively.

It was no surprise that I came down with a "cold" last week. Everone at work has been sick; multiple times. But my immune system is pretty hardy and the "head" part of the cold only lasted less than 2 days. And, it didn't stop me from working out!!! Yeah!! But that's probably not something I should be cheering about.

The good news is there are no more Saturday morning candidate classes until August! So I get to sleep in for a few weeks!! Woo Hoo! But, I might move my long runs from Sunday to Saturday; we'll see.......

The absolute best thing about this week was meeting up with some friends on Saturday night. My friend Mary hosted a "tropical" party at her new house. It was a great party; good people, good food/drink and good music.

Slán go fóill (Gaelic Good-bye for now)

Dani aka blonderx

Totals for the Week:

• Karate: 5 classes
• SWAT: 5 classes
• Extras: 4 workouts
• PiYo: 2 workouts
• Run: 1 run; 3.44 miles