Volleyball activity

I was going to blog about our volleyball activity earlier in the week, but then I started thinking if I post it here, then what will I say in that "assessment" part of our final? Therefore, I'll be brief.

I thought it went alright. Volleyball is a much more aerobic sport if you actually KNOW how to play it - position switching, cover, spike approach, etc. And if you're on an athletic team... it's much more intense. Otherwise, I am aware that it can amount to a lot of standing around if you don't get into it.

I also played sand volleyball yesterday for about an hour. It is definitely less aerobic than court vball just because you can really run very well in sand, and at least not very fast.

More later.

HR Monitor

So it's been quite some time since I sent in my heart rate monitor to be fixed/or replaced. I wonder if they'll even send something back or if I just wasted $40 of my life savings? Anyway...

If I HAD had my heart rate monitor on Friday... when I checked out some apartments, it would have skyrocketed when I checked some efficiencies out downtown. I tell you, some of those places a 350 bodybuilder wouldn't even want to live in. Have you ever seen an apartment that was 300 square feet? I have... and not including the bathroom, it's smaller than a dorm room.

So the point of the story is... I still have no place to live this summer and it's not looking good.

Until later.

Is it raining at your house?

I completely forgot about blogging this week. Probably because I haven't done much for activity. On Friday night I went for a run about 7:25ish thinking I was just going to do a nice 2 mile jog since I have been giving my injured leg a break. I set out in a sprinkle, but then about 3miles later I realized that I was already 3miles away from campus, so I might as well just make this my long run of the week.... so I did about 10miles. 7:25-9:05... after the 8th mile my leg was killing me but I know I can't accomplish anything if I skip the long runs. I'm thinking about going down to meritcare sports medicine to see if there's anything I can do for my leg. Anyway, it was wet, cold, and dark... AND the worms were out. I guess we just can't get into spring over a week, but I hope it's nice soon.

As for now, I've got to write a "750 palabra composicion argumentativo sobre "Deben las mujeres correr?"" Thanks for the topic Chuck (Should women run?) Too bad it's due tomorrow... otherwise I could have actually learned something. That's the problem with school... everything is on such a tight schedule that I don't actually LEARN... you just research, write it down, and don't even have time to think about it. Maybe it's just me.

HPF

So I'm in this psychology class "Research Methods" and the point of the whole class is to write a research proposal. My hypothesis is that mental training sessions will elevate athletic performance while decreasing levels of anxiety. I've done some research on the topic - biofeedback, mental techniques to improve performance, etc. - and I'd encourage anyone to look into this stuff. In my design I'm using biofeedback to monitor heart rate and using techniques to help learn to control it (that's the dumbed down version). Anyway, I'm signed up for the "Optimal Performance" seminar next semester so I hope it's something worthwhile.

OH! Chuck... I need to actually apply for the Human Performance major, and I need a professional "non-faculty" reference. Does faculty include everyone that works at NDSU or who would be good for this?

Kickboxing and Taebo

So Tuesday we did Taebo... I'm gonna have to say it didn't get my heart rate going too high. The "double time" did a little, but I don't think I would use it as regular workout.

Today we did Kickboxing with the lovely Kristin McCabe. It was a little better, took more coordination, and the jab-jacks did get the HR up a little bit and I was sweating, but my recovery rate was much faster than if I was doing a more intense workout.

Or maybe I'm just in better shape than I used to be.

Yesterday I had a 5M run to do and since I'm tired of the Wellness Center I made plans to go up to the BSA during open gym... Turns out varsity sports (like baseball...uggh I hate the sport, sorry Chuck) get to practice whenever they want, so I couldn't run on the track. You'd think they would change the schedule for open gym hours or something! So I did a stadium stairs workout. Kinda hard to explain, but I did that for about 55 minutes. I would venture to say my heart rate was around the 160s going up the stairs, and recovered during the straights and downs, so you could say it was an easy interval workout I guess.

Sorry... no interesting stories other than I got a tour of the new expansion of the Wellness Center. It is going to be sweet! And huge! If anyone is interested, next week Monday, Tuesday, and the following Monday we're having a "recruiting" session for new staff to do wall climbing duty, floor staff, fitness specialists, etc. It's a great facility and it'll be great experience if you personal train, lead group exercise classes, etc. Just thought I'd plug it here.

Let's Eat!

Tuesday
According to my pre-planned half marathon training program I was supposed to run 4M... but I could barely make three because of the shooting pain in my right leg. Because swimming is supposed to be one of the easiest exercises on your body, I took Wednesday and Thursday off from running and did another 80 laps (which is well over what this lazyman triathlon required of me).

Friday
I ran a nice easy 3 miles yesterday, and to my surprise, everything went well. No pain at all, which was good news foreshadowing my long run today.

Saturday
I did 9M today at the Wellness Center... the first seven on the treadmill and the last two around the loop. Chuck, is it important on these long runs not to stop running? I mean... I know you said you did the run/walk method, some people walk the water stations, etc. but physically, is it beneficial or detrimental to your running state? I was just wondering... I know previous to this year, I could never bring myself to stop or walk during a run... so is it just a personal preference? Anyway, after I finished I did a LONG cool down with some dynamic and static stretching. It felt good, actually accomplishing something I've never done. I hope it's all worthwhile.

Here is a week-long total of physical activity(excluding the in-class activities, since I don't know which MET levels to use for wiffle ball in an enclosed space or twirling for double dutch for hours!

Bike 15 min - 96 kcal
Run 160 min - 1535 kcal
Elliptical 20 min - 183 kcal
Volleyball 40 min - 219 kcal
Swimming 180 min - 1315 kcal

Total: 3348 kcal for the week. I hear when marathon runners are asked why on earth they would want to run a marathon, the most frequent response is "I love to eat." I say that's a pretty good philosophy.

I'm beginning to realize what endurance running is all about. It's not a matter of cardiovascular conditioning after a certain point - it's about your legs being physically capable of going the distance. I can only hope mine don't give out before then.

Snow..........once again.......in April!

Monday:
Swam 60 laps... Sorry I didn't say hey Adam, I was in a hurry. Only 40 more and then I'm free of it. I might still do it, I have a feeling it'd be really good for my upper body strength, but right now I don't have the energy to swim and run and lift and work and homework. So it'll have to wait.

20 minutes of the new elliptical at the Wellness Center during the Ohio State/Florida game (was it just me or did Ohio State suck?)
Used the machine to take my HR: 150 after 10 minutes, same after 20 minutes.
3M run 25 minutes

I asked an athletic training major what he thought could be wrong with my leg when I run... said it could be from running on a slant, or running the same direction on the track too often. So today I tried the treadmill for 3M. It still hurt. It may just be because it still hasn't gotten over it, or that's not the problem. Chuck, is there some place on campus I could ask for advice? Student health will probably be a waste of my time...

Anyway, have I mentioned I hate snow? I was staying here for Easter mainly so I could get some running in... but turns out someone hates me and made it snow.

Lazy man/woman triathlon...

So this blog is going to be short. This week I joined the Wellness Center Lazy Man triathlon as a team of three. I'm doing the swimming part. Considering I work or have class at 2 of the 3 times the BSA has open swim, I probably will be stuck going at 7 AM. YAY! They should really change the recording on that message machine up there though, because I went up there the other day thinking it was open until 9 PM but it wasn't and I was royally mad. I have 60 lengths done of the 160 lengths total. And I tell you this, I haven't swam like that in a long time, so it's a really good workout. I wonder if using flippers would be considered cheating? Anyway, with that, my running seems alot harder as well. It's SO hard to manage everything I ahve to do. I have to come up with a new class schedule, look for an apartment this summer, train, work, finish my 19 credits I have this semester... so pretty much all i have time for is training, working, homework, and eating. Then I sleep... ohhhhhh sleep!

My resting heart rate has probably increased over the past few weeks, just because I have so much more to worry about. Anyway... later!