Squash and weights today

I've really developed a routine for Wednesdays. I split my weights session, doing half this morning and half this evening. I was feeling really pumped up today, as though I had muscles like Popeye. It always amuses me to think that I'm walking around with muscles on my muscles.

The calorie burn from weights is so low that I had to remind myself of all the benefits of having stronger muscles. Fortunately I knew that I would get some good cardio exercise by playing squash later in the day.

I managed the one-legged fitball squats although it took some concentrating to get myself through the two sets. It ended up being 40 squats on each leg, which is a lot of squats. I tend to favour my left knee, so I wasn't going as low on that leg, but I will get there eventually. Leanne tells me that this particular exercise will be good for my knee and for my running.

The triceps pushups were a joke. I was hoping nobody was looking at me. My tummy gets in the way and my elbows are all over the place. Still, I didn't think I could do ordinary pushups and they are looking respectable now, apart from the tummy problem. Luckily, that's a diminishing problem.

The single dumbbell chest press was hard work, but I managed to get through both sets for the first time. The seated row was good. I should be able to put the weight up soon. I find if I close my eyes I'm able to concentrate on using my back instead of my arms.

The chicken exercise didn't look so bad today. Mind you, I was doing the broken down version of it. I tried the leg movement without weights after I was finished. It definitely needs work. I got through the reverse crunches and the side planks and I was done. Now, all I have to do is repeat that a few times a week for the next eight weeks and I'll get a new program. *chuckle*

Squash, as ever, was fun. Chris was too sick to play so Murali and I got the whole hour. I love being on the court for the whole hour. Mind you, I can't seem to get my heart rate monitor to work while I'm on the court. Some people may say it's because I'm heartless but I think that maybe I'm near the end of the transmitter's battery life. Yes, I've been on the website to look it up. This might be my excuse to upgrade. *smile* Hmm, I quite like the sound of Andrew's HRM. I'm not sure that I can justify the expenditure. Maybe I'll make it a reward!

I looked up my official time for the run on Saturday - 1:09:28. I guess that's my PB for the 10 km. My official time for the 5k run a couple of weeks earlier was 33:40 so I now have two PB's to keep track of. Mind you, I think they are wrong with the 5 km one, as I remember it as 34:40. Oh well, I'm not complaining about it being recorded a minute faster.

I'm nearly at the stage of owning two pairs of running shoes at the one time, which I once would have thought fairly extreme. I'm going to wait until next week though, when the runners in Team Black are going on an educational excursion to the Runner's Shop. Krissi has organised some advice for us, partly because it's going to be really cold in Canberra soon (people have been asking for advice on what to wear) and partly because some of us need new shoes. I think it's a great idea. As the Runner's Shop offers discounts to members of the ACT Cross Country Club I'll make sure I bring my shiny new membership card with me. Oh, and my trusty credit card.