Rohde Warrior

First off I’ve been a slacker.  Having finished the UBC and completed the ‘post a day’ that I committed to I quickly fell out of the blogging habit.  One thing that surprised me about it is the amount of time it takes to complete a post.  Writing 3-600 words in itself isn’t too bad.  Adding images, links to relevant and supporting information, and a music link all take time, effort and energy.  They also make the blog more interesting so are well worth the time.  Still, it adds up to a couple of hours and I sacrificed blogging for more work-like efforts. Continue reading →

UBC DAY 60!!  Kickboxing with Stephanie and Becky.  FINAL DAY!

(6/14/11 – OK, I’ve put off writing this post for too long.  Considering that I finished up nearly four days ago what’s been keeping me?  Well, honestly I’m resisting having a punctuation mark on these last 10 weeks.  The Ultimate Body Challenge experience at American Martial Arts Academy has been a very good one for me and I’m loath to see it end.  Of course it’s not the end, just the threshold really, but the positive emotion attached to all the improements and accomplishments makes being a part of it a difficult thing to ‘give up’.  Having said all that…) Continue reading →

UBC Day 59 – Kickboxing with Nina and Gina – Good Day

Got up at 4:45 (AM, not FM) which has become my habit.

Drank a cup of coffee with a smidge of non-dairy creamer.  Checked e-mail and read news stories before getting ready to leave for the gym.

Rode to American Martial Arts Academy with my GF driving.  This allows me to put on my wraps during the short drive.  When we pulled up there was Nina putting out the cones.  Big, tall cones cause I guess she thought we couldn’t see the short ones.  Inside, Bat Girl (Letitia) looked pretty cranky and when asked about it she pouted “I don’t LIKE running.”

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UBC Day 58 – Strength & Conditioning with Cathy

Just realized that this was my last ‘official’ UBC day of Strength & Conditioning class.  Saturday is technically ‘mixed’ but it tends to be more Kickboxing focused.

Cathy starts us off with jacks and then a run around the gym.  Since she said ‘Follow meee!” I tun close, hugging her shoulder until she gives me ‘the look’ (hers is not as effective as Jeannes; practice that Cathy) and waves me past.  Racing around the gym is fun and I pass many classmates by;  Remember that I’m already warmed up from my bike ride over.

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UBC Day 57 – Kickboxing with Jennifer and again with Stephanie

Got a little bit of everything with two kickboxing sessions today.  You’d think that after nine and a half weeks that everything would be sorted out, but that’s not the case.  Started at the 6AM class with Jennifer and noticed a marked difference in my energy level between driving over and riding my bike.  When I’ve just been a passenger it’s more difficult to get started, hit it hard and to maintain a high level of energy.  Part of this could be attributed to the time of day I guess.  Regardless I made it through and worked myself out good.

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UBC Day 56 – Strength & Conditioning with Diane (no ‘a’)

You readers got snookered out of a post yesterday, and a few times last week.  That’s if you think that these posts come one per exercise class.  With doubling up there’d be more but really, if you’ve been reading along there’s not too much that differentiates classes at this point.

Yesterday afternoon I got home early enough to do a quick change of clothes, hop on the bike and ride like the wind to American Martial Arts Academy.  Nina was teaching that class as well and when she caught sight of me she said “You again?” and I responded that I just can’t get enough.  She actually did nearly the exact same routine as at 6AM but condensed into a little less time.  Monday afternoons there are back to back kickboxing classes.  Our class was nearly completely full and Jeannes’ even moreso, so there was another horde of people waiting to get in. Continue reading →

UBC Day 54 – Double Kickboxing – Becky and Stephanie

Apparently attempting to do a double on Saturday AFTER starting that way on Wednesday, adding 30 minutes on the treadmill Thursday and another double on Friday took me past the tipping point.  In the second round I was down to fumes and keeping my arms up and punching with force left me gasping.  There were extra breaks doing the interim exercises and I took about twice the number of water breaks as normal.   At one point Jeanne came to check to see whether I was “…all right?”.

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UBC Day 53 – Kickboxing with Nina and again with Gina

Yep, that’s right.  Doubled up again.  Went to the 6 AM class with Nina and then biked back for the 8:45 AM class with Gina.  I’m tired and sore, but it’s the good kind of tired knowing I worked out hard and that gains were made.  There’s a distinctive difference between the two workouts.  (Not a complaint, just an observation.)  First off, I was definitely on the deep end of the estrogen pool for the second session.  The gym was nearly full and yours truly was the only guy.  What a shame huh?

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