Thursday Two a Day 2/3

I went to Dan's Morning class at 5:30am, which I had hoped would be more like it had been when I first Joined the Y.  I lot of push ups, abs, squats, sprints, and things of that nature.  But it wasn't, his classes have turned into more of a motion oriented cardiovascular workout, which is alright, but just not what I need at the moment.  Currently, I am all legs and lungs.  I have been running so much that, my legs and lungs are about the only thing that is in really good shape.   I need more traditional workouts to strengthen my core, upper body, and back. 

So, even though the class provided a good sweat and did so of the things that I needed it to do.  It did not wipe me out.  Therefore, I went to the Fleet Feet run after work and did four miles.  I got there a little on the late side because I had to stop by a different store to pick up my race packet for the Krispy Kreme Challenge and there was about a 20 min. wait.  By the time I got to Fleet Feet the group that I usually run with had already left.  I joined a different group and we did the four mile loop at about a 10 min mile pace, which was fine with me considering the morning workout and what is in store for me on Saturday. 

Mile 1: 9:47.62
Mile 2: 9:37.47
Mile 3: 9:48.81
Mile 4: 10:51.41

Jetlagged Sports Conditioning and a Cat Alarm Clock: 1/27

Some people don't feel the effects of jet lag all that much.  I am not one of those lucky few.  Being as large as I am, a 10 hour flight across country is like a prison term.  After arriving in Raleigh early Tuesday, I felt like total hell.  On top of which, I had re-injured my ankle on Sunday following the race while walking down the street later in the afternoon.  Hiroko and I were walking along doing some shopping and I was looking back over my should to cross the street and didn't notice that the sidewalk was broken.  I stepped in whole and rolled my ankle again and was on the ground bleeding from both knees before realizing what had happened.  My knees were just scraped, but the ankle started to hurt immediately.  I walked on it for the remainder of the day, and it just felt craptastic for the remainder of my trip, but I was determined not to let it slow me down. 



Basil: 6lbs. fuzzy faced alarm clock . . .taken when he still had kitten teeth.



Upon retuning to Raleigh, I didn't even try to workout on Tuesday or Wednesday.  It was everything I could do to manage getting to work on Wednesday.  However, I was determined to get at least one workout in before Saturday because I had foolishly signed up to run in the NHL All Star 5k.  So I knew that I needed to either get in a run or a workout on Thursday.  The ankle was beginning to feel better and the abs were hitting a point where a comparison to bubble gum would be kind, so I decided that I needed to hit the morning class.  However, getting up at 4:15 in the morning is no easy task at anytime, let alone when you're jetlagged!  Luckily for me, I have a 6lb fuzzy faced alarm clock named Basil, who decided that he would lend me a paw or two in my attempt to get up.  Shortly after my alarm went off I got up and went to the bathroom before deciding that the gym, just wasn't going to happen.  I let basil into our bedroom on my way back to bed.  As I was about to fall back asleep Basil grabbed my arm with his claws, which weren't sharp because Hiroko and I had just cut them that night.  However, Basil decided to bite my arm as well, which would normally been alright because his kitten teeth had fallen out right before we left for Hawaii.  But during our week in Hawaii, Basil cute little teeth that were just barely coming in had become full on cat teeth and now hurt like a MOFO!~  Let's just say that I was now wide awake a totally motivated to go to the gym! 

Once i arrived at the gym everything was fine.  We did some sprints, push ups, a few abs, and other stuff.  the instructor did have us use the Bosu, which I refused to use and swapped out a step instead.  I hate the Bosu in general, but with a sprained ankle there was no way that was happening.  The class was 45mins. and right at the level that I needed for the state that I was in. 

Thursday Sports Conditioning Class 5:30 am to 6:15 am: The Big Ball of Hate

I normally take Plyometric Core (Plycore) classes on Monday and Thursday, which are taught by Dan. His classes are really tough, but a filled with lots of exercise that I both enjoy and with which I am familiar. However, Thursday morning’s class was a Sports Conditioning Class that was taught by Kim. I hate Kim! I hate in the best possible there is to hate another human being, but I hate her! She knows this because I've told her. Her class angers me: it angers me in the best possible way there is to be angered, but it does anger me!


Her class is very difficult because even though she uses a lot of the same exercises as Dan, she makes some changes to them that are like none of the other classes that I have taken at the Y. My body is just not accustomed to doing those exercises. Also, Kim is a fill in instructor, so I am not asking my body is not given the chance to get use to her style of exercise. The biggest difference between these two instructors is that Dan's class requires a lot more running while Kim's require more crawling and jumping.

The Workout (highlights):

The warm up from hell:
25 squatjacks
15 push ups
25 squatjacks
15 push ups
15 squat thrusts
10 ski mobiles
15 squat thrusts
10 ski mobiles with some kind of crazy butt kick at the end that nearly caused my collar bone to shatter!

The Routine:
10 burpees
4 flights of stairs with 8lbs weights (up & down)
once around the track with weights
10 burpees
4 flights of stairs with 8lbs weights (up & down)
once around the track with weights
up two flights of stairs & sprint around the track twice (the track is 1/15 of a mile) and down the stairs
walking lunges around the class room twice
Inchworm crawl back & forth across the room http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yr-HHgxXTqg&feature=related
walking lunges around the class room twice (repeat)
Inchworm crawl back & forth across the room (repeat)
15 mins of abs exercises with 6 lbs weight

(I was unable to complete my second round of abs exercises in the 45 mins of class and had to finish after class on my own.)

This class left me feeling really winded and battered. My shoulders were really hurting, but I am looking forward to Kim next class.  I try to think of this class like is a ball, not the spherical sort ball, but the formal dance sort of ball.  Only this is my own personal festival of anger and hate.  Everything has been planned out just to piss me off (in a good way) and make me push myself in order to spite the events planners.  Maybe I'm a loon, but as long as it gets me throught the day!