Saturday (26/01/19) - Rest Day I headed out for my final run of the week today, which will also be the last of my 5km efforts, before upping the distance for my next run on Wednesday. Warm-up: Push Ups (see below) Stretching Run 3: Run 1 was a 'My Pace' run (just going at a pace that felt natural) run 2 was a best effort run, and today will be a set pace run (5m 41s per/km, which is the minimum pace I'd need to maintain, to hit a sub-two-hour half marathon time) Duration: 28m 03s Distance: 5km Av. Pace: 5m 37s per/km Note: I've never been too good at keeping a set pace, so I actually find this to be slightly difficult. Cool Down: Stretching Tensho Kata Duration: 51m Starting HR: 72 bpm Max HR: 183 bpm Average HR: 157 bpm Calories: 502 used Push Ups done today: 44 Running January Total: 1842 Travess
Note: I forgot the header on my previous post, but Run 3 took place on Sunday, following Saturday's rest day. Monday (28/01/19) - Unplanned Rest Day I awoke feeling like death warmed up so I resigned myself to just watching at Karate tonight (I did get today's push ups done though, before heading to bed this morning) Push Ups done today: 72 Running January Total: 1914 Tuesday (29/01/19) Still not feeling energetic enough for Cardio, but figured I could comfortably manage some Strength Work - Which came in the form of a Deck of Cards Arm Day. Warm-up: Range of Motion drills Deck of Cards: Hearts - Bicep Curls Clubs - Tricep Dips Diamonds - Hammer Curls Spades - KB Halo Note: The app. appeared to be very singular today, smashing thru almost 75% of the sets of a particular exercise, before moving on to the next. Cool Down: Stretching Tensho Kata Duration: 48 mins Starting HR: 77 bpm Max HR: 129 bpm Average HR: 101 bpm Calories: 207 used Push Ups done today: 44 Running January Total: 1958 (Just 42 to go - Yay!) Travess
Wednesday (30/01/19) - Unplanned Rest Day I had my 1st run of the week planned for today, but I was too tired when I got in from work (I uncharacteristically went straight to bed), then I foolishly snoozed my alarm, slept through the snooze, and barely made it to school pick up on time! (Not my finest hour) As for the rest of the afternoon/evening, every time I got a spare 5 minutes to myself, the day seemed to ask another 10 of me... Thursday (31/01/19 - Part 1) AM: I've never really liked to run on a Karate day, but yesterday was meant to be the 1st day of my increased distance (from 5km per run, up to 7.1km per run) and I don't want to end up in a position where I am playing catch up. Warm-up: Stretching Run 4: Nothing fancy this morning, just a 7.1km Off-road (fields) Run, with no frills or targets. Distance: 7.1km Duration: 39m 57s Average Pace: 5m 38s per/km Cool Down: Stretching Tensho Kata Duration: 57 mins Starting HR: 120 bpm* Max HR: 186 bpm Average HR: 174 bpm Calories: 773 used (Note: I'd already been pretty active this morning, before even getting started on my daily exercise) To be continued... Travess
Thursday (31/01/19 - Part 2) PM: Kids Karate @ 60 minutes - Today's session was meant to be centred around Kicking (Mae Geri for the junior grades, Yoko Geri for the intermediates, and Ushiro Geri for the seniors) but there were a few glaring issues with their basic Punching Skills, during their Kihon warm-up, that we shifted the focus to iron out said issues. Adults Karate @ 90 minutes - We got under way with a Kata based warm-up, working our way thru Ichi, Ni, Saifa, Seyunchin, Shisochin, and finally Sanchin. Next up, we were run thru some low level Kihon Drills - single and double techniques only. The remainder of the session was spent on Kicking Drills - Starting with Mae Geri and then moving onto a few variations on low (thigh) Mawashi Geri - which we did as Kihon, as Pad Drills, and, during the final 5 minutes of the session, as Conditioning Drills. Push Ups done today: 41 reps Running January Total: 2,000* (Note: *nothing quite like dragging them out until the very last day!) Travess
Friday (01/02/19) - Rest Day The past week appears to have been alternate rest days, which definitely was not my intention. Saturday (02/02/19) Got my day started with 60 minutes of Kids Karate, where, following a team based competitive warm-up, on a couple of the BoBs, I introduced a Small group of junior grades to their next Kata up, which in this case was Gekisai Di Ni Once back home, I cracked on with an Upper-body Strength Circuit, made up of 9 Stations, completing 5 circuits of it in total. Warm-up: 4 min Light Cardio Tabata 4 min Stretching Tabata Circuits: 12 x Hammer Curls 12 x Mason Twists 12 x Overhead Press 12 x KB Swing 12 x Tricep Dips 12 x Bicep Curls 12 x Bent Over Row 12 x Bicycle Crunches 12 x Push Ups Cool Down: 4 min Light Cardio Tabata 4 min Stretching Tabata Tensho Kata Duration: 45 mins Starting HR: 74 bpm Max HR: 179 bpm Average HR: 112 bpm Calories: 283 used Travess
Sunday (03/02/19) - Rest Day I've definitely been wracking up these rest days this past week!!! Monday (04/03/19) Karate @ 90 minutes - We started off with some Kata, running thru Ichi, Ni, Saifa and Seyunchin, all really slow and deliberately, never even getting up past Half Speed. We then moved our focus over to the Pads, starting off with several 1 minute Multi (2) Strike Reflex Striking rounds. Next up we looked at various Heavy Handed Strikes, ranging from Single Straights, Hooks, Slaps, Hammerfists and finally Backfists, all for several 1 minute rounds each, switching between Southpaw and Orthodox. The latter 3 of the above strikes were then repeated, thus time as part of a Restricted Striking (leant up against a wall) Position. The above drills were meant to be a continuation of the warm up, before we moved onto Bunkai, but Sensei got caught up in what we were doing. (Note: Not permitted to wear my HR monitor during class) Travess
Tuesday (05/02/19) My half marathon training, at least the running specific side of it, has ground to a halt since the arrival of the snow, and has yet to restart since its clearing - But changing that will have to wait until tomorrow, as I fancied something more anaerobic than aerobic today. Warm-up: 5 mins Light/Moderate Cardio Drills 10 mins Stretching Routine: 16 x Cardio Rounds, in 4 sets of 4 rounds (30 sec rest between each round, 1 min rest between each set) Rnd 1 - 1 min Rowing Machine Rnd 2 - 1 min Shadow Boxing Rnd 3 - 1 min Insanity Drills Rnd 4 - 2 min Heavy-Bag Cool Down: 5+ mins Stretching Tensho Kata Duration: 55 mins Starting HR: 74 bpm Max HR: 187 bpm Average HR: 140 bpm Calories: 564 used Travess
Wednesday (06/02/19) Due to the conditions created by the snow, and to me wanting to do other things, instead of cracking in with my training, today was only my 5th Run since I started training, instead of my 7th. With this in mind, I decided to brake from my set distance/incremental increase plan, and combine the distances of my 2 previous runs, (5km & 7.1km) to take up some of the 'slack' - I had hoped to stick with the same recent off road route that I had used, but the melted snow, and subsequent rain, had made it too boggy! Warm-up: 10+ min Stretching 25 min Walk (morning school run) Run 5: Got to admit, I am pretty happy with how this run went - Despite extending the run outside of my set increase parameters, and despite chucking in 2 or 3 unplanned hills, I still managed to maintain a close proximity to my goal pace. Duration: 1h 08m 11s Distance: 12.1km Fastest Pace: 5m 01s per/km Slowest Pace: 6m 22s per/km Average Pace: 5m 38s per/km Cool Down: 5+ Stretching Tensho Kata Duration: 1h 52m Starting HR: 76 bpm Max HR: 186 bpm Average HR: 172 bpm Calories: 1238 used Travess
Thursday (07/02/19) tl;dr (Sorry) 2.30pm - 3.30pm: Small, Upper-body Strength Routine Warm-up: Sanchin Kata 7 min ROM Drills Deck of Cards: Hearts - Bicep Curls Spades - Bicycle Crunches Diamonds - Tricep Dips Clubs - Press' Extra Credit: 47 Push Ups (10, 10, 9, 9, 9) Cool Down: 5 mins Stretching Tensho Kata Duration: 39 mins Starting HR: 72 bpm Max HR: 151 bpm Average HR: 101 bpm Calories: 210 used 5pm - 8.00pm: Kids Karate @ 60 minutes - Following the usual Cardio based Warm-up, we ran them all, as one big group, thru Gekisai Di Ishi, just to see where they all were, and if there were any issues. Sticking with Kata, we then broke them down in to 2 separate groups - 1 running thru Saifa Kata, and a few associated Partner Drills, and the other doing the same with Ichi, and Ni. We then ended the session with some Team Striking Drills, working on Flowing, Power Combinations. Stretching/Kata @ 20 minutes - I spent some time between the session on a Small amount of Stretching, before running thru every Goju Kata that I know (Ichi, Ni, Saifa, Seyunchin, Shisochin, Sanseru, Sanchin and Tensho) Adults Karate @ 90 minutes - The entire session was spent on Sparring Drills, jumping straight in with Heavy Contact, Body Shots (think Kyokushin style sparring) The 1st 5-6 rounds, were Hands Only, but for the following half a dozen (or so) rounds, Leg Kicks and Front Kicks we were also permitted. Sensei then added a Grappling level to mix, where we needed to Stike Our Way in and/or Out of the Clinch, either to shut down our partners attack, or to fight our way out (and escape) from being grabbed. The next level was to get in to groups of 3 - 2 Sparring, as per the previous parameters, with the 3rd 'floating' and free to 'attack' either of the pair at will (the one that did not get attacked would then automatically become the 'floater', and the drill would continue without pause) The final escalation, still in our 3's, was to work on dealing with Multiples (2 against 1) in Continuous Sparring for several more rounds. Note: I really needed this session tonight, not due to any life issues, but just because It's felt like forever since I last sparred. Travess
Friday (08/02/18) - Rest Day I did a pretty pure job of my post training recovery last night, and despite getting a fairly good night's sleep, (7+ hours) I still woke up feeling fairly zapped this morning - I did, post-school drop off, devour an entire Soreen laugh, with butter (650+ calories) and then head straight back to bed though, which I hope helps - Couple that with the fact that my frozen shoulder has decided to play up, and a rest day really was the only sensible option. Saturday (09/02/19) - Rest Day No. 2 My get up and go has definitely got up and gone this weekend... Sunday (10/02/19) ...No, it's okay, I've found it! Trying to (slowly) get my running back on track, I headed out for another Tempo Interval Run this evening. Warm-up: 7 minutes of Stretching Sanchin Kata 3 minute Walk (waiting for a GPS lock) Run 6: Road Run - I set my interval timer to a 6 min Jog to start, then alternated between 1 min Natural Pace, and 30 sec Best Effort Pace for the next (approx) 30 minutes, before finishing up with another 3 min Jog to finish. Distance: 7.11km Duration: 39 mins Slowest Pace: 6m 14s per/km Fastest Pace: 4m 33s per/km Average Pace: 5m 29s per/km Cool Down: 5 mins Stretching Tensho Kata Duration: 1h 02m Starting HR: 75 bpm Max HR: 186 bpm Average HR: 174 bpm Calories: 734 used Travess
Monday (11/02/19) Karate @ 90 minutes - We got stuck straight in with a whole range of Kihon Drills, covering Blocks, Strikes, Kicks, and Combinations there of, to get the blood pumping. I was then squared away to assist our special needs student, with some Pre-Grading Requirements, ahead of his assessment on the 25th - This included (more) Kihon, Stance Transitions, Pad Drills, Light Sparring, Kata, and, because we had 10 mins to spare at the end, a very small amount of Bunkai. Note: He has improved massively over the past 6 months, and whilst he still does require a large amount of attention, the amount that he can undertake on his own, has grown considerably indeed. Travess
Tuesday (12/02/19) - Rest Day Whilst this was technically a planned rest day, it was not a preplanned one - Made the decision in my car, on my way home from work, as opposed to it already being a part of my schedule. Wednesday (13/02/19) Today was meant to be the 1st day of my 3rd distance increase - 5km - 7.1km / 7.1km - 9.2km / 9.2km - 10.3km - but due to me not keeping up with my training plan as well as I should have, it is now only my 2nd increase - 7.1km - 9.2km Warm-up: 7+ min Stretching Sanchin Kata 6 min Walk Run 7: This started off pretty bad, with my shoulders, sides and chest cavity feeling really tight, resulting in restricted breathing, and my ankle flexors really not wanting to flex (despite being included in the warm up) Struggling for the 1st couple of minutes, trying to get anywhere near a pace above 6m 20s per/km, I almost decided to call it quits - But then I figured that if I was to heading home sooner than planned, then I might as well dig deep, and really push myself to open up. (Better to run a fast as my body would allow me 1km, than to give up after just 2 minutes) Turns out that this 'exertion' was just the thing I needed to loosen up, and get me back on track - Back to my Off-road route again today, this time for a distance of 9.2km Distance: 9.2km Duration: 49m 06s Slowest Pace: 6m 33s per/km Faster Pace: 4m 19s per/km Average Pace: 5m 20s per/km Cool Down: 5 mins Stretching Tensho Kata Duration: 1h 12m Starting HR: 86 bpm Max HR: 189 bpm Average HR: 163 bpm Calories: 736 used Travess
Thursday (14/02/19) Kids Karate @ 60 minutes - Following a rather intensive, 15 minute Warm-up (as much to get me motivated, as it was to get their blood pumping) we concentrated on a truncated Kata Workshop, correcting some of the gross motor skills of the juniors, whilst working on fine tuning the techniques of the seniors. The last half of the class was then spent on Striking Skills, firstly on Static Combinations, then as part of a 7 Station Pad Gauntlet to finish up. Adults Karate @ 90 minutes - Sensei had us 'warming up' with a Blowing Drill tonight - 4 pad holders, 1 striker, pad holders swarm the striker, calling out strikes - which we did 2 rounds of each. The remaining 75 minutes was then open to requests - I took two 9th kyu students, both of whom are grading on a week Saturday, and both whom requested to do Kata, Kata, more Kata, and basically nothing but Kata, until our time was up. As I understand it, I shall be with them, and one other, again on Monday, where they have requested end-to-end Kihon - Which is what they will get. Travess
Friday (15/02/19) I was really up for this run this morning, feeling well rested, well energized, and adequately fuelled... ...All of which however added absolutely zero value to my output, resulting in a 20 second per/km slower pace than last time, and feeling a lot worse off for it! Warm-up: Stretching Light Kata (Ichi, Ni, Saifa) Run 8: Same Off-road road route as Run 7 Distance: 9.2km Duration: 52m 13s Average Pace: 5m 40s per/km Cool Down: Stretching Sanchin and Tensho Kata Duration: 1h 20m Starting HR: 73 bpm Max HR: 187 bpm Average HR: 165 bpm Calories: 813 used Travess
Saturday (16/02/19) Rest Day Sunday (17/02/19) I took myself quite far outside of my own (running) comfort zone, with the inclusion of some Fairly Steep Inclines on today's 9.2km route. Warm-up: Stretching Run 9: I took my run to an alternate location, one with a fairly short route, but which had a couple decent uphill points, that allowed for me to do a few laps at least. Distance: 9.2km Duration: 56m 52s Slowest Pace: 7m 01s per/km Fastest Pace: 4m 46s per/km Average Pace: 6m 11s per/km Max. Elevation: 116m Min. Elevation: 94m Cool Down: Stretching Duration: 1h 11m Starting HR: 75 bpm* Max HR: 185 bpm Average HR: 162 bpm Calories: 924 used (Note: *I took 3 readings for my starting HR, taken whilst sat in my car, all of which were between 145 and 155 bpm - My HR was not elevated, and in no way matched these readings, so I ended up taking a manual pulse check, and using that as my starting point.) Travess
Monday (18/02/19) AM: I've been scheduled for 3 Strength Circuits per week (2 upper-body, 1 lower) every week, since the beginning of February, and so far, I have yet to complete one... ...until today that is! Warm-up: 4 x 1 min Shadow Boxing Stretching Circuits: 10 Stations, with 12 reps at each, for a total of 5 circuits. Station A: Hammer Curls Station B: Mason Twists Station C: Overhead Press Station D: KB Swing Station E: Tricep Dips Station F: Bicep Curls Station G: Bent Over Row Station H: KB High Pull Station J: Bicycle Crunches Station K: Push Ups (Note: No rest between each station, but a 90 second rest between each circuit) Cool Down: Stretching Tensho Kata Duration: 51 mins Starting HR: 78 bpm Max HR: 160 bpm Average HR: 121 bpm Calories: 361 used PM: Karate @ 90 minutes - The 1st hour of the class was spent on Pad Drills, working on a variety of 'in the bubble' Footwork, Striking whilst Retreating, Striking whilst Advancing, and Single Pre-emptive Power Shot Drills. I then took the lad that I was working with last Monday, and ran him thru some pre-grading Kata, Kihon and Bunkai Drills, to finish up the session. Travess
Tuesday (19/02/19) Now that I've finally jump started my February Strength Circuits (two thirds of the way thru the month) it's time to get started on some exercises specific to improving running pace - I have started following 'this guy' on Instagram, who shares lots of really good advice, training tips, and even his own running progress (he boasts a 4 min per/km pace for every km of the last half marathon that he ran, which he shared last week) which is where I 'borrowed' this circuit from Warm-up: 4 x Kata (Ichi, Ni, Saifa and Seyunchin) Stretching Circuits: 9 Stations all together, with 12 reps at each, for a total of 5 circuits. 12 x Squats 12 x Single Butt Bridge (each side) 12 x Speed Skaters (each side) 12 x Lunges (each side) 12 x Single Foot Calf Raise (each side) 12 x Squat Jumps 12 x Bird Dogs (each side) 12 x Clam Shells (each side) 12 x Long Jump (Note: No rest between each station, but a 90 second rest between each circuit) Cool Down: Stretching Duration: 54 mins Starting HR: 86 bpm Max HR: 161 bpm Average HR: 127 bpm Calories: 393 used Gonna be feeling this one tomorrow, especially during my run... Travess
Wednesday (20/02/19) I was due another jump in my running distances again this week, which was intended to take me up to between 11 and 11.5km (up from 9.2km last week) but which ended up being a tad longer. Warm-up: Stretching Sanchin Kata Short Walk Run 10: I had a little play with the format today, choosing to do a 10/0:45 Run (10 mins running, 45 secs walking, aiming to keep the overall pace per mile under 9 mins) Distance: 12.88km Duration: 1h 11m 27s Fastest Pace: 4m 46s per/km Slowest Pace: 7m 07s per/km (walking) Average Pace: 5m 33s per/km Cool Down: Stretching Tensho Kata (Note: I was going to write how thankful I am, following yesterday's leg circuits, that DOMs did not play a factor in today's run, but I have a feeling that will be a short lived sense of relief) Duration: 1h 40m Starting HR: 66 bpm Max HR: 190 bpm Average HR: 164 bpm Calories: 1,181 used Travess
Not sure how much I trust that figure though, (despite having several high 180's in the past) as my watch had my starting HR as 127, but a manual reading had it at 66 (which I double checked with my wife's blood pressure monitor) Travess
