Hill sprints

Now that I'm on summer vacation, I have no excuse for not training properly and often. Yesterday was circuit training courtesy of Cathe Friedrich's High Step Training. Think you can't get a kick-ass workout at home from a DVD? Well, think again. The workout is five 'cycles' that start off with a high intensity and impact cardio 'blast', followed with legs and then a different other body part for each of the five sections. I love that it has a ton of variety, the cardio blasts kick butt, and it has a ton of step ups, which are my favorite leg exercise.

So today, taking in consideration that I have a match tomorrow, I didn't want to do any weight work. So, I took off to the nearby running trails, and did four hill sprint repeats (not sure exactly what to call it). I actually did a .75 mile warm-up jog, then spring up the hill (a pretty moderate hill, but still...uphill!), then jog down around to the bottom of the hill. Rinse, repeat for four total times, then I jogged the .75 again and jogged home (which involved a very large hill).

I tried to keep the concept of 'striding' when I did the sprints, to really get the impact and push-off into it. I love running, but I'm trying to make my running more effective for my tennis, as well. I think, though, that there is actually too much recovery in between the sprints, so next time I will modify the distance in between to allow less 'recovery'. I might also do five instead of four.

Tomorrow is a singles match, but not until the evening, so I'm going to try to get out and hit during the day against the wall and maybe take some serves. After pondering with Sup a bit, it is pretty much agreed upon that my serve...sucks. Major overall will be coming soon!

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Of course, I've also been enjoying watching Wimbledon. I was sad to see Jelena Dokic out in the first round. I do think a Williams sister will be holding the Venus Rosewater dish at the end of the fortnight, but I think Stosur, Wozniacki, and Azarenka could make some noise.

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Also went to the eye doctor today. Predictably both eyes have worsened, though my left more than my right. They are both equally bad now, instead of one being worse than the other. The doc is a bit mystified, as usually (by my age) the nearsightedness slows down and stabilizes. Mine just keeps getting worse. I'm an excellent candidate for Lasik, but totally can not afford it.

Oh well, at least I have a valid excuse for my mishits!!!

The good out of all of this is that I finally picked out new glasses. They are purple!!!! :) And half-off, which, of course, is a tune I like to sing.

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Ex-TTWer Julieta brought the USTA Public Parks tournament to my attention. Not only does it fit into my schedule, but I happen to have an old friend living in nearby Columbia, SC (the tourny is in Lexington SC). Hmmmm....