At Sea Day #2

August 30^th, 2011

I woke to a bright and clear day, the sun shinning and not a cloud in the sky. Temperatures were blazing and the pool and the shade were the only relief from the sun’s gaze. I grabbed a quick breakfast buffet style and hit the gym for a nice long workout to help make time fly on this at sea day.

I warmed up for another intense spin class this morning as well. The focus of this class this time around was isolating the muscles used for speed and pushing your body to bike at 80 percent of your fastest level and continuously increase and decrease the speed from their. The class also isolated the muscle groups used to train endurance and strength. I had to bike at resistance levels that were 60 percent of the highest resistance I could go and then increase and decrease levels from there on cue. Finally, the third aspect of the class involved muscle confusion by combining both speed and resistance training.

I had to preform pushups and squats while biking at various speeds and resistance levels. The exercise was great! The hardcore hour of continuous biking really got the blood pumping and pushed me to new levels of training. The difficult combination of speed and resistance as well as the added tasks of pushups, squats, and other various exercises forced me to concentrate on the tasks at hand and my breathing.

Immediately after my spin class, I moved on to focusing on strengthening and toning specific muscle groups such as the arms and legs. (The workout is listed below). Today I made sure to push my body farther than I had gone any other time along this trip in order to continue to confuse the muscle groups and to train for the upcoming fencing season. I was pumped up from my spin class and was itching to jump right into the weight training.

After the exhausting workout I hit the pool deck for some R and R. I was looking forward to Venice and thought that killing time would make the venture move along a tad bit faster. So I caught some sun and even had the opportunity to see Kong Fu Panda 2 poolside!

Thanks for reading, please leave any questions or comments you have on my posts, adventures, training, etc. below!

1)   Jumping Squats

2)   Press Ups-10lbs

3)   Lunges with the opposite arm extended above with a weight-10lbs

4)   Hand to Elbow Pushups

(Set 1-16reps, Set 2-14reps, Set 3-12reps, Set 4-10reps, Set 5-8reps, Set 6-6reps. No break after 3^rd set.)

Abdominal Workout

1)   Crossover Crunch with arm+leg extended-20 reps, 3 sets (each side)

2)   Sit ups-20 reps, 3 sets

3)   Reverse sit ups-20 reps, 3 sets

4)   Planks-1 minute, 3 sets

Courtney Dumas

To the Ephesus Ruins!

August 28^th, 2011

My morning began with an early morning workout before the boat docked. I hit the gym nice and early so I would be ready to tour the fabulous ruins of Ephesus, Turkey. Today I wanted my cross training to involve plenty of leg and abdominal workouts in a jam-packed calorie burning workout. I have listed my workout for today at the end of this entry.

I was off to explore the best preserved ruins in all of the Mediterranean today. My day began with a scenic motorcoach ride from the port city of Kusadasi and past the Byzantine fortress in Selcuk to the house of the Virgin Mary. We traveled through the picturesque Solmissos Mountains and saw the Adaland waterpark that claimed to be the biggest in all of Europe, the one problem with it being that geographically, the waterpark was in Asia not Europe.

We traversed the ruins on a downhill walk of the city, stopping and awing every step of the way. Our guide highlighted the best archeological finds throughout our journey through the ruins, particularly highlighting how technologically advanced the civilization was. They even had heated floors for the winter!

I saw the beautifully preserved Temple of Hadrian, the magnificent Trojan fountain-with a man placing one foot on a globe symbolizing the ruling of the world, and the Odeon Theater. All of these sites were so well preserved that it was nice to not have to imagine what was once there, but actually see it right there in front of you with your own eyes!

The mansions were so ornate and advanced with their heated floors and marble walls and mosaic flooring. It was so beautiful and to know that each intricate part of the house was all made by hand without any modern technology just amazes me. Their culture truly was something else. Above all the majestic Celsus Library was a site to be seen. It was three stories high, even though only two stories remain today. The whole front of the building was pretty much still intact! I couldn’t believe my eyes. It was so detailed-someone had even carved a menorah into the steps of the marble stairs hundreds of years ago and you could still see it today!

We concluded our fantastic tour of the ruins with a view of the Great Theater and hiked our way back to the bus past the camel ride and all of the noisy vendors. The day finished up with a nice shopping trip through the colorful bazaars before we hopped back on board the ship to travel back to Greece.

1)   Burpees

2)   Lunges with Torso Rotation-10lbs

3)   Bell Ringers-10lbs modified-after the reps hold the position for that many seconds

4)   Mason Twists Rotations-10lbs and the last set was a double count

(Set 1-16reps, Set 2-14reps, Set 3-12reps, Set 4-10reps, Set 5-8reps, Set 6-6reps. No break after 3^rd set.)

Abdominal Workout

1)   Crossover Crunch with arm+leg extended

2)   Crossover crunch legs in the air and bringing the opposite elbow to the opposite knee

3)   Leg lifts and leg circles

4)   Cross body pulses-balance on one side of the body and reach for the opposite leg with the opposite arm and then switch. Then hold the position for the count

5)   Reverse situps

6)   Six inches

7)   Lean back abdominal twists with dumbbell-10lbs

(4 sets of 20 reps)

Thanks for reading, please leave any comments below!

Courtney Dumas

Arrival in Greece!

My arrival into Greece was a bit of a bumpy ride Friday morning. The sea was rough and the wind roared and slammed the waves upon the ship. We had to travel to Mykonos, Greece by tender, in other words- our boat would anchor in the harbor and another boat would come and fetch us. As soon as you left the safety of the ship, you could hear the howling and screeching of the wind. It was one of the most awesome displays of Mother Nature and the sea at work that I have ever seen!

Once we landed in Mykonos, we took another boat to the ruins of Delos. The island had been known for its religious importance throughout the ancient ages. Even the enemies of Athens-Sparta and Persia, respected this sacred ground. During this period of time Delos was the most important port in all the Mediterranean until it was deserted due to the fall of the Roman Empire.

The island was barren as far as vegetation growth, but many of the pillars still stood. It was very interesting to see the temples dedicated to the different gods in which they believed in. Much of the builds were made of local slate and granite. They were nowhere near as extravagant as the marble used to build the Parthenon. Nonetheless the layout of the town with its market place and intricate mosaics were still incredible. After the tour of the ruins and the Delos museum we grabbed some lunch and shopped around for a bit before we boarded the cruise once again.

I took a quick break before I headed on down to the gym to get in a longer workout since the boat had to leave earlier than the past few days in order to get to Istanbul by the next morning. I wanted to make sure I got my heart pumping this workout and to build my endurance and leg muscle. I need to have a lot of stamina for the upcoming NCAA season this year and my goal is to make the Junior World Team, so I wanted to improve my running to get into better shape. I have listed my workout below! The next stop is Istanbul and it should be pretty fun! Please leave your comments below!!!

1)   Run- 4 mi with 0.4 mi cool down for a total of 4.4 mi (500 calories burned)

2)   Vertical Chest Press- 60lbs, 12 reps, 3 sets

3)   Sit ups- 50 reps, 3 sets

4)   Bicep Curls- 20lbs, 12 reps, 3 sets

Courtney Dumas

At Sea Day

The journey from Italy to Greece was a very long venture, too long to arrive in Mykonos by the next morning. By about 5am we were traveling through the Straights of Massena. It was way too dark to take pictures, but the lighted shore was so beautiful, you will just have to take my word for it! The shore was lit up in all different colors and the land seemed to stretch forever as we plowed through the sea. But in the end I retired back to my bed to rest before the morning really got underway.

By 9am I was up and ready in the fitness center. My aunt had some how convinced me to participate in the spin class (biking) with her. I had never done a spin class before so I had no idea what I was getting myself into. For an hour we continually replicated the experience of biking up a mountain using standing bikes. Every couple of minutes we had to increase the resistance on the bike and keep pedaling at around 80-90 percent of our fastest speed we could pedal. I do not think that I have ever worked my legs so hard! The resistance training was tough, but the speed sprints were even harder!

We would do sprints and then increase resistance again to “climb the mountain” again and then sprint even harder and faster. It was really something else. But in the end it was a great workout that really worked my sprints and endurance training.

Immediately following the spin class I worked out in the fitness center for another hour. I worked my legs muscles by far the most as well as abs and some arms before the morning was finished. (Below is the workout) It felt good to get in a nice long workout for once. I had been traveling and touring so many great places that it was difficult to get in a long workout. But this sea day gave me the perfect excuse to hit the gym for a big session. Up next, Mykonos and Delos Greece!

1)   Clean and Press-10lbs

2)   Squat Thrusts

3)   Half Man Makers-(modified on knees)-10lbs

4)   Static Front Raise + Squat-10lbs

(Set 1-16reps, Set 2-14reps, Set 3-12reps, Set 4-10reps, Set 5-8reps, Set 6-6reps. No break between sets after set 4.) 

Abdominal Workout:

1)   Crossover Crunch with arm+leg extended

2)   Reverse situps

3)   Toe Reaches-(extend legs upwards and keep the back on the ground. Extend arms to the toes in pulses.)

4)   Crossover crunch legs in the air and bringing the opposite elbow to the opposite knee

(4 sets of 20 reps)

Courtney Dumas

To the Ruins of Pompeii

As I entered the ancient city of Pompeii, I was in awe of how well structured and organized the town was. The city was literally frozen in time. We explored the city and saw their amazing engineering feats and organizational skills. They utilized aqueducts to transport water to the city. Not only this, but the villagers of Pompeii had built water heaters to heat the water from the aqueducts to create spas without the assistance of natural heated springs!

The columns and buildings were mostly made of bricks with mortar to hold them together as well as lava rock. But the really interesting thing was that all of the buildings, both inside and out, were covered in stucco over the brick and painted with bright colors that have since faded due to sun exposer and polluted rainfall.

The mosaic patterns were also so detailed and extensive. I could not believe how the citizens of Pompeii could have created such beautiful works of art solely by hand! This city was just so different from anything else I had ever seen. There were literally complete skeletons that had been taken out from the compressed ash with the help of a plaster to preserve the shape and integrity of the find. You could see the teeth on some of them they were so detailed!

After 2 hours spent scurrying all over Pompeii, we moved on to the Amalfi Coast. We ate lunch in Sorrento at a great pizza place in the middle of town. From there we drove around the city and Positano. The coast was beautiful and then we even saw some Italian movie being filmed in the area. The city was very pretty and was nice and quiet-a nice change of pace from some of the other cities we have ventured into.

By 4pm it was time to head back to the boat. We came back and relaxed before we went out to the deck for a nice buffet dinner looking out at the sunset.

Courtney Dumas

Last Day in Barcelona/Monte Carlo

After 2.5 fantastic days in Barcelona, it was finally time to board the cruise ship, the Ruby Princess. I spent my last day in Barcelona touring the Barcelona Cathedral and exploring Old Town.  By 1:30 it was time to head for the boat and get settled in our rooms.

Once aboard the ship, I took the liberty to venture around and get the lay of the land. This boat was huge! From what I heard there are around 2000 people on board! After I figured out where everything was, I sunned myself for an hour or so at the pool and then headed to the fitness center for a workout. I got in a nice 3.5 miles before I jetted back to the room for a quick shower and to get ready for dinner.

By the end of the day I was pretty tired, but very excited to be underway and heading to our next destination, Monte Carlo.

We dropped anchor in Monaco at about 11am the next morning. I decided to take advantage of the later docking time to catch some extra ZZZs, before I ate breakfast and headed to the gym. By about 10am I was up and ready to cross train for the upcoming fencing season and Northwestern.

I focused on muscle confusion and toning my body, working my legs and abs as well as my arms in a fast pace workout routine. I started off with cross slashes  (8lbs), sumo squats (10lbs), punches (5lbs), and crab crawls all in reps of 16. From there I decreased the number of reps by 2 until the final set of 6 reps per exercise. After this set of exercises, I moved on to abdominal work. Supporting my head with my hands I did 20 sit ups to start. Once I completed those, I moved on to cross leg raises (each time trying to bring my leg close enough to touch my toe with the opposite hand) at 20 per leg. From there I did 20 reverse crunches, making sure to really raise my hips. Finally I finished the set off with a 1 minute plank-my least favorite :P

For this group of exercises I did 3 sets. By the end of this workout my abs were pretty soar, but I wanted to make sure a did a little more cardio work before lunch, so I ran a quick mile.

After lunch, my family and myself went off to tour Monaco, a country within France. I was able to see the casino where the James Bond film Casino Royale was filmed and ventured up to the Prince’s palace. This quaint little town was pretty cool and it was really nice to get off the boat and explore a different culture!

To wrap up the day, we headed back to the boat after exploring the city to kick back and relax before we departed for our next destination later that night.

Work Out

Hey guys! So everyone has their own personal workout, and for good reason too! What works for your best friend may not work for you. So after much trial and error, I came up with my own personal program to train my fencing. I have listed my summer program below and I hope this gives you guys some idea as to what may work for you! (I found that taking bits and pieces from different camp programs and techniques from coaches and high level fencers helped me to build a foundation for my own plan that I customized further from that point). I hope you enjoy and please leave your comments below! 


Monday

Bench Press
RDL Shrugs
Squats
Pull ups
MB Plate Punch
Shoulder Press
MB Wall Passes
Tricep Extensions
Bicep Curls
Lunges-walking overhead & regular
Broad Jumps
Depth Jumps
Box Step ups
Back Extension
Supermans

MB Ab Twists
Footwork

Fencing Practice

Tuesday

Run 5 miles
Footwork

Wednesday

Bench Press
RDL Shrugs
Squats
Pull ups
MB Plate Punch
Shoulder Press
MB Wall Passes
Tricep Extensions
Bicep Curls
Lunges-walking overhead & regular
Broad Jumps
Depth Jumps
Box Step ups
Back Extension
Supermans

MB Ab Twists

Thursday

Run 5 miles

Footwork
Fencing Practice


Friday

Bench Press
RDL Shrugs
Squats
Pull ups
MB Plate Punch
Shoulder Press
MB Wall Passes
Tricep Extension
Bicep Curls
Lunges-walking overhead & regular
Broad Jumps
Depth Jumps
Box Step ups
Back Extension
Supermans

MB Ab Twists
Footwork

Saturday

Run 5 miles

Footwork
Fencing Practice

Sunday

Video Analysis

Hello St. Lawrence River!

After a laborious 7 hour drive from Cleveland, Ohio to Oak Point, New York, I finally had the chance to stretch my aching legs and sore knees.  The river was calm and the air was crisp and fresh. I was thrilled to be back up in this beautiful and quiet cottage after a hard fought venture in Reno, Nevada for Summer Nationals 2011.

The St. Lawrence River way is so secluded from the busy city noise and ruckus. You can actually hear the sounds of the river lapping up on the shore and the sun beats lightly on your shoulders and warms the senses. You are close enough to small towns that you still feel attached to civilization, but at the same time you are isolated enough to feel peaceful and all your worries fly out the window.

The surroundings are beautiful! The flowers are in full bloom and Canada is a short boat ride away. The big freighters flow up and down the river, the trees are green and the beautiful birds pepper the branches-decorating them with splashes of reds, yellows, brilliant blacks, and bright oranges. The water is crystal clear and the air clean. It is the perfect place for a nice vacation.

The cool water makes training ten times better when the sun beats down on your back. This week I will not only be relaxing, but training as well. The peaceful surroundings make exercising so much more enjoyable. Imagine training in total and utter complete bliss. Work almost feels like play-almost...

I have been and continue to plan to fill my days here with brisk 3 mile runs-the cool air in the morning allows for perfect running temperature, but if you wait too long the beautiful river side street becomes a hellish pathway where you feel as though you are melting and the sun is pounding you into the asphalt.

After my morning runs, I come back to the house for footwork and fleche exercises that fill another 45-60 minutes of my time. Due to the gravel road, I am forced to resort to utilizing the faded wooden gray floors of the boathouse as my mock piste for my training. (It is not well appreciated by my family members when I do footwork across the kitchen and living room floors :P). Even though the room gets a bit muggy, it's nice to have my own secluded fencing training area to concentrate on my footwork and technique without interruption.

I put in the minutes day in and day out carefully training my footwork. All the pain and sweat goes towards perfecting actions and improving reaction time and foot speed. Pushing myself to the limits allows me to feel a sense of accomplishment. I am not only physically working, but mentally too. I imagine bouts and actions happening bore my eyes-my fleche taking off and my fingers ever so slightly disengaging and taking the blade in 6 as my point finds its intended target-the shoulder.

Throughout my lunge jumps and scissors jumps I picture my lunge growing and increasing in speed and endurance. I practice and perfect patterns and blade takes to shave time off of my footwork. I force myself to bounce during footwork exercises like I would in tournaments in order to increase endurance and speed of attacks.

At the end of it all I relax and make my way swiftly to the calm cool water way of the St. Lawrence River. The cool water refreshes my sore muscles and cools my mind, allowing me to let loose and unwind. By the end of my days I work my ab muscles with my medicine ball-performing ab twists and sit ups. All in all, throughout my time on the St. Lawrence I relax and unwind and take the opportunity to train deeper than usual with my clearer mind. My goals are sharper and my motivation high. I run, swim, do footwork, and all sorts of ab and arm exercises to reach my goals and to train for my next fencing challenge-this year I will be at the Alliance international training camp in Houston for two weeks after my week here!


Courtney Dumas