Running in circles
Today in class our Guro decided to work our cardio. After a couple of footwork drills she had the class running laps around the dojo. While we’re running each student takes their turn in the middle of the dojo to do a set of strength training. We don’t stop running till everyone has taken their turn in the middle.
After that Guro set up the pylons on the mats and had us running zig-zag patterns around them while working our freestyle stick work. So now you not only have to worry about your feet but you’ve also got to keep your arms moving as well. This was much harder than I thought it would be and I could really see how doing a lot of this would help with your co-ordination.
Running has never been my strong point. Having a nagging knee injury doesn’t help with it either. But today I think I managed to keep up a pretty good pace. I was breathing well and watching out for my knee which made it through the entire class without bothering me too much. I was starting to get a side stitch near the end of the second set of zig-zag laps but I managed to keep it from flaring up by controlling my breathing.
All in all we did a good 30 minutes of cardio training and it felt really good. I think I’d like to add more cardio training into my exercise routine as well as I’m sure it would help keep the old blood pressure down. I don’t think I’ll take up jogging but I might look into swimming at the local Y. Anyone else have any suggestions?