It's Getting Cold

I do like Winter running, but it does take some time to adjust to know what clothing to wear.  Today was around 30F and a little bit snowy and breezy, but the breeze seemed to have abated by the time I started running. Did the Church Lane/Saxonburg Boulevard/Hartwood loop in 58 minutes.  Feeling slow and achy and blaming it on the Prednisone weaning.   But I'm down to 5 mg/day now, the lowest in 11 months, so I'm feeling pretty good about that.

Back To The Deck

Took a half day vacation this morning, and had time for a little workout on the deck.  Started with 50 Hindu squats, then Alternated TKD patterns with 6 sets 25 each of different pushups.  Finished with the first 5 Ab Ripper X exercises, but only got up to 15 of the Fifer Scissors.  I really hate those things!

Figure Eights

Faith had Dance tonight, so I went to the school/community center complex and did figure 8 loops until she was done.  43 minutes total.  Third day in a row running, but it's unlikely that I'll be able to fit it in tomorrow.

After Swimming Pickup

Philip was already picked up from swimming, so I did figure 8 laps at the school/community center for 40 minutes.

School Laps

I had to pick up Philip from swimming, so I did laps of the high school for 30 minutes.

Added Some Surges

Did the Church Lane, Saxonburg Boulevard, Hartwood loop with 3 big surges in 53 minutes.  I was thinking of doing some Ab Ripper X stuff afterward, but I was too pooped!

Around the High School

This ends up being a pretty typical run during the winter months:  Philip is swimming and needs to be picked up.  I leave work, get dressed, and do laps around the high school until he's finished and ready to be picked up.  Time of workout varies depending on when I can leave work.  Today, the run was for 36 minutes.

 

Hartwood Run The Lights

Every year they have the Festival of Lights at Hartwood Acres, and the night before it opens they have a "Run The Lights" event.  This is the 5th one, and the first I've gone to.  It was very nice.  I ran from home, but if you couldn't park nearby they had shuttle buses from the Community Center.  The place was jammed.  There were runners and walkers, and every stroller in Allegheny County was there.  They gave me a jingle bell which I dutifully carried until it fell off of its yarn about halfway through.  All in all, it was a 43 minute run, and I'm lucky to have not sprained an ankle going off the pavement to dodge various obstructionists.

Car Drop Off & Run

Having 2 cars & 3 drivers is always a challenge.  Tonight was a little bit easier since my choral rehearsal was canceled.  I drove up the Middle School, left the car there, and ran to the High School and did laps there and around the Community Center, until Andrew came to pick up Philip from swimming.  A 43 minute run.  Then I came home and did the first 4 exercises of P90X Ab Ripper X (In and Outs, Bicycles [forward & reverse], Crunchy Frogs, and Cross Leg Situps.

TKD Workout

Tonight's workout started with 50 front snap kicks each side, followed by front snap kick stretch with partner.  Then 50 side piercing kicks each side, followed by side kick stretch with partner.  Then 50 turning kicks each side, followed by another stretch with partner that I don't think I'd done before.  Kind of like a side kick stretch against a wall, but with the knee bent so that the lower leg is bent all the way back.


Then we did line drills with backfists.  First, a regular backfist to the side moving forward.  Then a backfist to the face moving forward.  Then a spinning backfist.  Then all three.


Then the color belts belts worked on their new patterns and the black belts sparred.  The sparring was called "round 10" sparring.  We had to do different calisthenics before each round, to simulate being physically worn out.  Fun!


Then we did some grappling, with some techniques to work from a guard.


All in all, a pretty good workout.

Morning Run

With ulcerative colitis that hasn't been in control of late, morning runs can be a crapshoot at best.  Things have been getting better lately, though, so this morning I had a nice 58 minute run through Hartwood (dirt road variant), Saxonburg Boulevard, and Church Lane.

Up Elfinwild From J&T Tire

I needed to get a second opinion on the car from J&T Tire, so I dropped it there and ran home via Elfinwild Road, Ash Drive, Harts Run Road, and Middle Road. Elfinwild is steep but is made worse by its placement at the beginning of this course.  It's also way too heavily traveled.  After the workout I had yard work the rest of the afternoon.

Travel Day & Deck Workout

Travel day - when I got home I did a variation on my current standard deck workout:

* 100 Hindu Squats (Still being very careful to do them slowly and controlled with my back locked in place).
* Alternating 2 TKD patterns with 25 of each of 6 different types of pushups (Regular, diamond, decline, Hindu, military-shoulder width, & wide, in that order) for a total of 13 TKD patterns and 150 total pushups.
* Also, before each pattern I did the first 6 moves of Eui-Am.
* First 3 exercises of P90X Ab Ripper X ("In and Outs", Bicycles - forward and reverse, and Crunchy Frogs).

At University of Illinois

At University of Illinois for a business trip.  Had time for a run late afternoon.  Used it to run from the hotel to the lab to visit my old advisor, have a brief chat with him, and run back to the hotel in time to meet my traveling companions for dinner.  Total run time 30 minutes.  I'll need a few more of those to burn off all the Papa Del's pizza I ate afterward!

The Glades

I had a business dinner last night, so no TKD and no workout.  Tonight, I got in a 37 minute run through the Glades before heading off to my choral rehearsal.

A Run At Dusk

After several hours of outdoor work I did a 62 minute run around Harts Run Road and Hartwood, finishing up at dusk.  Finished up with first 2 moves of P90X Ab Ripper X (In and Outs and Bicycles, both directions).

Beautiful Fall Afternoon Run

55 Minute run up Church Lane and through Hartwood.  It was a beautiful Fall afternoon with temperatures in the very low 60's.  Also a bit dry and dusty along the roads and the cars kicked up some dust in places.

Deck Workout

Variation on my current standard workout on the deck:

* 75 Hindu Squats (Still being very careful to do them slowly and controlled with my back locked in place).
* Alternating 2 TKD patterns with 25 of each of 6 different types of pushups (Military-shoulder width, wide, regular, diamond, decline, and Hindu, in that order) for a total of 13 TKD patterns and 150 total pushups.
* Also, before each pattern I did the first 6 moves of Eui-Am.
* First exercise of P90X Ab Ripper X ("In and Outs").  I've been wanting to start Ab Ripper X but have had trouble committing to do the whole thing, so I started with 1 exercise and will add 1 each time I do it.

Cold Rain

Got back after dark from a trip to Ohio.  It was breezy, and rainy and 42 degrees. The radar showed that the rain should be done, so I went up to the Community Center/School complex for a 40 minute run.  Midway through the run there was a pretty good rain shower, and some far off lightning and thunder.  Fortunately, I was warmed up by that time, as it might have been hard to warm up if the rain had been at the beginning.

No Workout

Up early, got dropped off at work, drove to Dayton, late dinner, and worked late.  A workout would have been nice after the drive, but it didn't happen.

Dark Run

Unfortunately, it's the get dark early time of year.  Which means I've got to go up to the school / community center complex to run, or workout indoors or on the deck.  Today's run to Hartwood reinforced that.  It was getting dark as I was leaving for a 40 minute run, which I needed to complete before my evening choral rehearsal.  The police usually come through the park at dusk to shoo away people such as myself, but there were none.  Running through the park in darkening conditions was fine, but running home on Middle Road was dangerous. It's just too hard to see the edge of the road when the lights are shining right at you.  I almost banged my head into a road sign.  I guess it's back to playing it safe for the next few months.

Kicking the Pads

Good TKD class tonight kicking against the slammer pads.  It's nice to kick against the air and think you're doing some good, but it's another thing entirely to kick against pads and learn a little bit more about aiming and kicking with power.

Grappling Seminar

Our martial arts system had a grappling seminar this afternoon, so that was my workout.  It did begin with a little bit of Monday's Halloween workout.

Workout on the Deck

Variation on my current standard workout on the deck:

* 60 Hindu Squats (Still being very careful to do them slowly and controlled with my back locked in place).
* Alternating 2 TKD patterns with 25 of each of 6 different types of pushups (Military-shoulder width, wide, regular, diamond, decline, and Hindu, in that order) for a total of 13 TKD patterns and 150 total pushups.
* Also, before each pattern I did the first 6 moves of Eui-Am.

A Run After a Crazy Work Week

I managed to leave work by 5 and had time for a 45 minute run around the horse farms.  Then I finished up with my TKD patterns on the deck, while the cats hunted under by the pine tree and a doe ate some fallen apples 30 feet away.

Home Early From Work

I got home early from a training class at work and had time for a 56 minute run through Hartwood and up Church Lane before my first round of kid transportation duties kicked in.  Church Lane is so steep coming down that it's hard to build up any steam even after getting on the flat.

Fitting in the Evening's Workout

The season for summer/early fall evening road runs is coming to a close.  I'm normally trying to squeeze a run or something into the dusky hours, but now dusk is earlier and earlier, and after Saturday it's going to be another hour earlier.  (I do some evening running, and there are some places where I'll run in the dark, but, after 2 badly sprained ankles, I don't do road runs at night anymore.)  Which is my way of saying that, with all the other stuff I had to do (transport from musical practice, transport to soccer, transport from swim practice, go shopping for Beth's birthday dinner), tonight's run just didn't happen.


I ended up with the following workout in the drizzle on the deck:

• 50 Hindu Squats (I'm being really careful with these.  Every time I start increasing my reps I've been getting lower back spasms, so I am being very careful to do them slowly and controlled with my back locked in place).
• Alternating 2 TKD patterns with 25 of each of 6 different types of pushups (Hindu, Military-shoulder width, wide, regular, diamond, and decline) for a total of 13 TKD patterns and 150 total pushups.
• Also, before each pattern I did the first 6 moves (all I've been taught thus far) of Eui-Am, the first of our third degree black belt patterns.  I found that this is a good way to learn new patterns - I alternate the new pattern with each of my earlier patterns, ensuring that I do it many times each day.  So, with Eui-Am, I will be doing it (or what I know of it) 13 times each time I do my patterns.  I've found this to be a good technique to more quickly learn new patterns.

Halloween Workout

I originally thought that tonight's post would be a short one.  But I was wrong about that.  Tonight was our annual Halloween workout at Taekwondo.  Here's how this year's version worked:

First some candy was dumped in the center of the gym.  The students were given collection bags and had to line up at the two baselines.  Then, it was off the the races, with each person sprinting to the center, taking one piece of candy, running back, and putting it in his bag.  This process was repeated until the candy was gone.  The well conditioned were rewarded with more candy.

Then, each person had to sort his candy.  50 Hindu Squats were done for every box of Nerds.  I only had 1 box.  Our assistant instructor was happy that he didn't like Nerds and had no boxes.  More about that later.  Then, 10 pushups were assigned for each piece of chocolate candy.  I had 3.  Then, it was 10 crunches for every piece of Laffy Taffy.  I had 11 of them.  Then, it was one Taekwondo pattern for each piece of otherwise uncategorized candy.  I had 2.

After a water break, we then had to line up near one of the walls.  More candy was spread out.  Time for balance exercises.  First, we had to hold a right front snap kick in position, with those who could do it the longest getting a piece or 2 of candy.  Then it was the left front snap kick.  Then it was a right side kick, followed by a left side kick.  And a few other balancing exercises.  I ended up being one of the final 2 standing after the last exercise, so the other winner and I ended up splitting the rather large pile of remaining candy.

Then, we had to get in a circle.  One person had to stand in the center, while those on the outside each had a turn to pick a piece of candy and throw it to him to kick.  A successful kick resulted in the kicker keeping the piece of candy and getting another piece from the thrower's bag.  A miss resulted in the thrower getting his candy back and taking a piece from the kicker's bag.  This went on until everyone had a chance in the center.  The game was made a bit more difficult for the black belts, who had to do kicks from multiple directions in quick succession .

Now, about our assistant instructor and the Nerds.  Since he didn't have any after the initial collection, the side objective of the workout was to ensure that he ended up with as many boxes as possible.  At the end, he had 25 boxes of Nerds, and was given a take-home assignment of 100 Hindu Squats for each box.  We wish him well with that.

Absolutely Beautiful Fall Day

Well, I might not have otherwise run today since I did yesterday, but it was absolutely the most beautiful sunny Fall day, so I did a 54 minute run, finishing up coming through Hartwood.

Quick Morning Run

Actually, I didn't run that quickly, but I needed to fit in a run in the morning before leaving late morning for the Clarion vs IUP football game. About 40 minute easy run through Hartwood.

P90X Kenpo X

It was kind a dark rainy early evening when I got home from work today, so I reconnected the DVD player and did the P90X Kenpo X workout. First P90X workout in a while. It was pretty good. I had intended on doing Ab Ripper X afterward but I felt that I got a lot of core rotation from the Kenpo X so that was probably enough for for today.