2010: 01 02 03 04 05 06 07
2009: 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12
2008: 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12
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2005: 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12
2004: 12

TnT's Workout Blog

"Are you guys runners? You look like runners.
They are my favorite kind of people."
- Christy Shimp
@ Sun 30/09/2007
Exercise Run
Course Pirkkola
Distance 9.8K
Time 55:43
Comments Ave 143, max 171, partly cloudy, some drizzle. We ran three 1K speed intervals with some jogging in between. The goal was to run the K's in 5 minutes, but they took us some 9 to 15 seconds more. We ran the first interval on a regular route, but it is too hilly, so we opted for a track. It is funny how our running inspires small kids to run with us or in front of us, as if we had a rabbit.


@ Sat 29/09/2007
Exercise Irish dance
Time 2:00:00
Comments We started with a lot of jumps in soft shoes. That really took my heart rate up. Then we went over the hard shoe reel again. At the intermediate level we did some treble drills in hard shoes and then continued the slip jig in soft shoes. Rest of the day I felt like after running a half marathon, which pretty much was true.


@ Wed 26/09/2007
Exercise Run
Course Paloheinä
Distance 10.12K
Time 55:26
Comments Ave 146, max 160, +13C, cloudy. Wonderful weather to run - not too cold, not too warm. Fall foliage is getting at its best, and people are wandering in the woods gathering mushrooms. Relaxed and relatively slow-paced run stayed relaxed all the way.


@Tue 25/09/2007
Exercise Soccer
Comments Tomi played soccer with his buddies on the outdoor field.


@ Mon 24/09/2007
Exercise BodyPump
Time 60:00
Comments First time since forever. This is a muscle endurance and strength session to up-tempo music. I used almost the lightest weights possible. Let see what my body says tomorrow. Now I am shaking all over.


@ Sun 23/09/2007
Exercise Run
Course Pirkkola
Distance 9.42K
Time 51:30
Comments Ave 137, max 154, +15C, sunny. We ran two 3K loops, the first on unpaved trail we usually run, and the second on the woodchip trail, which is a bit hillier and much softer. I took 9281 steps. It seems that our regular route is closer to 9 kilometers than 8 as we have thought (and logged in this blog).


@ Sat 24/09/2007
Exercise Irish dance
Time 2:00:00
Comments We quit the soft shoe reel and started a slip jig. We actually did the same dance at both levels, which is nice: this way I have more opportunities to practise my very rusty soft shoe skills. We ended the advanced class with little hard shoe.


@ Wed 19/09/2007
Exercise Stretching
Time 50:00
Comments Combined stretching and relaxation session lead by a dancer. Somewhat different from the ones I've attended before, but quite effective.


@ Tue 20/09/2007
Comments I take 3300-3400 step on my way to work, depending which route I choose.


@ Sun 16/09/2007
Exercise Run
Course Pirkkola
Distance 5-6K
Time 47:56
Comments Ave 312, +12C, cloudy. We ran to the Pirkkola track to measure my step length for the pedometer Tomi gave me for birthday. We could not quite get reliable measurements, so we keep practising.

When we got back home, the police were outside our apartment complex. Last night someone had tried to get into the first floor apartment (remember, here the first floor is one flight up from the ground level) through the window. The resident woke up and opened the window when the intruder fell: apparently he was trying to the third floor apartment in the next staircase.



@ Sat 15/09/2007
Exercise Irish dance
Time 2:00:00
Comments Back in action again! However, I was miserably behind, since I missed the last week's class. We worked on a soft shoe routine that the class had started last week, and it is not easy. In the intermediate class we continued the hard-shoe routine we started two weeks ago. I could almost catch on in last minutes. We also started a new soft shoe dance.


@ Thu 06/09/2007
Comments No much activity in this forum lately. The semester, and teaching, started this week, and we both have caught common cold.


@ Sat 01/09/2007
Exercise Irish dance
Time 60:00
Comments Originally I registered for the advanced level #1: it is supposed to be adequate for dancers with three years of experience. Technically, I have had Irish (step) dance for three years, but last week I noticed that I am way behind in soft shoe; or not necessarily behind, but we did so different things in Bloomington that I have hard time keeping up in soft shoe warmp-ups. Not that we have any specific warm-up, since the class is only one hour long.

So, in order to polish my soft shoe skills I also registered for the intermediate/advanced level class, which follows the advanced #1 class. Even if the classes are only one hour long, taking two consecutive classes is pretty taxing for feet, especially when we stayed in hard shoes for almost two hours. The hard shoe routine we've practised at the advanced level is fun and I don't feel it is too difficult for me; it is a challenge alright, but still fun. Actually, I can't really tell the difference between the difficulty levels of hard shoe routines in these two levels of classes.

Finally, I think the spirit in the class is pretty good. This was probably the biggest issue I was concerned about (after being in the States so long and and having the experience of my previous tap dance classes here in Helsinki, and being one of the "oldest" students in the class). The instructor is nice and encouraging. I just wish my feet stay healthy and fit. I had some cramps in my left calf today so I had to skip some of the across-the-floor soft shoe warm-ups.