Sakura Breeze

Today I did only 45 minutes of tennis before it became too dark too play on. However, the intensity was higher today. Maybe my knee is improving. Or maybe I was just rushing because I knew the nighttime was approaching and wouldnt have long to play.

Afterwards I had a coffee and a piece of bread and honey while composing a blog post over at my tennis fan blog.

Once I completed my post I went my normal 20 mile bicycle ride.

Lastnight I was writing about the deer along that route. But it is also worth pointing out that I along the entire route I saw no vehicles yesterday, and only one car tonight. So the traffic and pedestians usually have no wheels, but instead have four legs - Deer, Sheep, Cows, Horses, Rabbits.

No Panda's though.

– musically, emotionally, artistically, conceptually, tendaberry.

I still have not desisted from running and tennis, even though I should do so in order to allow my knee to heal.

On Saturday I did 90 minutes of tennis, a 20 mile ride on the bike, then a 4.2 mile run.

The run essentially was a fact finding exercise in order to feel how my knee was.

Verdict? Knee is pretty much the same as it was a week ago: slight limping when pushing off, for the first few strides.

In tennis i'm just not bothering to chase down balls, because I know my knee wont allow me to do so.

The weather was decent this weekend. Mid to upper teens during daytime, pleasant at night.

However it has turned colder tonight. On my bike ride I wore gloves, and a long sleeve compression baselayer underneath my long-sleeve Sakura jersey.

My toes where a bit cold, borderline for overshoes.. in mid September..

In also got an 100 miutes of tennis bfore I went my bicycle ride.

I expect that this weekend was the final decent spell of weather until next summer. Really not looking forward to the winter. The locals must have thought I was crazy to continue running round the 5 mile circuit in the rain rain rain rain rain rain rain ice ice ice rain. Basically from Noveneber to March It was either raining or icy. If it wasnt rain that means the un-gritted road would be icy. Sometimes it was impossible to get traction, I felt like Michael Jackson doing the moonwalk.

The grass will soon be wet and mushy. So I wont be able to play tennis anyway. This will give my knee opportunity to heal.

Running gives me a better cardiovascular work out than cycling, partly because I cant ride too fast on the road because there is a lot of deer stags and sheep. I am able to see them because their eyes reflect off my front lights.

When there are large herds of deer all you see is hundreds of little sparkling marbles in the distance.

Oh, tonight I had my first bar of chocolate in a very long time indeed. I discovered a packet in the back of the cupboard. The Use By date had long since expired. But hey, it's chocolate. It doesnt really turn sour.

Prince O3 Hybrid Shark racquet, and Sidi Genius Mk 5.5 cycling shoes.

Tried out my my new racquet today. The difference between a cheap racquet and a serious racquet is immediately obvious. When the ball made contact with the racquet It sounded like a racquet should.. not ping.. but putt.
 
The hitting was firmer, cleaner, more accurate, yet sensitive to the subtlest gesture given to the racquet. The racquet made my movement more economical, less running about, and an abbreviation of swing was necessary. lest the ball end up exploding!

With the other racquet I had to run all over the place, and really belt the ball hard to get it to return from tha wall ¾ quarter of a courts length away. Today I didn’t have to move from the spot. The ball returned like a yoyo, shot after shot.

Its just as well I didn’t have to move much, because I don’t think I am able to. Despite doing nothing yesterday, my knee is still giving me problems.

I simply did too much too soon after 2 months of doing nothing. My knee probably needs three weeks without running or tennis to heal. But i’m trying to get back to fitness. It’s frustrating.

What I will try to so is some cycling instead. It’s lower impact on the joints. Hopefully this will give my knee a chance to get back to 100%, whilst maintaining cardiovascular fitness through cycling.

Back in April I switched to the bike when recovering from a different injury. The arrangement worked so well that I bought cycling shoes and clipless pedals. Essentially I have always been better on the bike than running.

Cycling used to be my thing. Maybe it will become so again in the future. Really I just want to do lots of stuff. Varied. Diverse. Keep it interesting – Running Tennis Parkour Cycling and any other sports that come accross my path – Just enjoy health and fitness and the freedom it offers. We have so little freedom in our lifes. Exercise and fitness is one of the few sanctuary’s people have available sometimes.

RIGHT KNEE - MINOR LIMPING

Not being very disciplined in keeping track of my runs.

I think i've had a run each day except one, since I last posted. In addition I Have played a couple of hours of tennis each day, except for today.

The reason I didnt play tennis was not only because of the rain, but because my knee is playing up a bit. Just a little limp.

The cause? I'm not sure. It may be the bumpy grass, or the amount of unfamiliar movements that I'm demanding of my body. Or it may simply that i'm just doing too much too soon. I have went from no exercise in two months to doing a 4 mile run and and 1.5 - 4 hours of tennis every day since late August.

Although I didnt play solo tennis today, I went my normal 5 mile distance, up the very steep hill, for the first time since June or July. At least I managed to do it. But I took a recovery interval at the top of the hill for a minute or two.

Maybe I should do soe cycling again untli the knee is 100%. I did that in April while on the mend from a fall I had running on icy roads.

NEW RACQET

Ive ordered my first serious tennis racquet, and Prince tennis 6x bag!

It's a Prince o3 Shark (Hybrid). There is no point in getting another fancy racquet when the weather is poor here 10 months of the year and no one to play with.

CAKE

The other night I dreamed I was abroad on holiday, and eating cake. It was a piece of Battenburg and cup of coffee that the waiter in the hotel served me.

Maybe i'm having a a craving for cake, because I havent had a piece of cake or chocolate or biscuit or any candy type things for over 18 months. However for the past year I have permitted myself honey, dates, and bananas.

ROOTS MUSIC

In another segment of the dream I showed someone these amazing giant flowers. The flowers made music when you rubbed them together. The music was by Aaron Copland and Maurice Ravel. What a wonderful dream.

And who was the person I showed the flowers too? That's for me to know!

scott1shtedious branding salt1re ubiquitoussc0tlandcompulsory requirement

Henry Purcell?

Lettuce.

I think I have ran three of the past fourt days since my last post. Yes, I know my post was only three days ago, but it refers to runs up till Sunday night.

Still only on 4.2 mile circuit, but there are signs of progress.

Additionally, I've been hammering balls off the wall for 2 and a half hours each day. One day it was nearly four hours.

I need a better racquet, better surface, the rain to stay off........ and a panda in a penguin suit serving me a chilled drink!! lol

Actually the weather was quite pleasant today. It reached 20c 68f when the sun came out for periods of the afternoon. It's very pleasant to go running this evening wearing a short sleeve mesh top. However the darker nights are arriving, so I still had to strap on my lights around my ankles, waist, and forehead.

Soon the weather will change and 10 months of misery lies ahead.....

Maybe that panda could donate it's furry coat to me to keep me warm instead lol

My return to exercise continues. A two month absense from exercising has had a significant effect on my fitness.

I'll just keep at up the commitment. Maybe add some cycling too. I would like by late October to reach a similar level to that I achieved in May/June. I was running up vicious hills with pace power and a smile!! The winter will soon be upon us.

Since starting 11 days ago, I have had a run 9 of those 11 days. Each of these runs are 4.2 in distance, except the 2nd run which was 2.7.

My normal route was 5.0 miles. By Spring and early summer it was up 6.1 miles, 6 or 7 days a week.

In addition, I have begun to play a little solo tennis again. On Saturday I hit the ball for an hour. On Sunday I had two sessions of solo-tennis, totaling about 2 and a half hours.

The reason I stopped playing tennis in June/July was because I was hitting the ball of the neighboring wall and I was worried this was irritating my neighbors.

The neighboring house is a holiday home. I had thought the house was vacant for the winter. But no, the lights where on tonight.

The wall I hit off is a painted pebble dash wall (little stones). The ground is mossy uneven grass. This makes for some very unpredictable returns.. Even on flat powerful groundstrokes.

The wall I hit off obviously fluffs up the balls more quickly.

The width is resricted by two trees.

Anyway I am really sleepy. The reason I am up so late is to listen to the final of the US Open between Serena Williams and Jelena Jankovic.