Last night I had a (free) trial class of “Northstar-style” jūjutsu at the local recreation centre. Fun, and I was drenched in sweat inside of five minutes!
Exactly what I need, perhaps: a chance to work on flexibility, upper-body strength and general endurance; my marathon training plan (“beginner level #1”) mandates “cross-training” on non-run days, and I have no doubt that jūjutsu fits the bill.
The whole dojo seems focused but “relaxed” — more practical, less cult-y than some martial-arts seem to be — and the teachers seem pretty good (concerned with students, down to earth). It’s also right near my work, which hopefully means I won’t have much of an excuse to skip class, even when I’m tired.
Today I went on my week #2 “easy run”, but I’m still unable to run (or walk) slow enough to keep my heart rate in the desired zone — maybe I’m just not fit enough? Friday is a “threshold” run, which means alternating three minutes sprints with 20 second rests, but the target for the sprints is where my heart rate usually sits!
Long run (1.5hrs) on Sunday and then start the whole thing over again on Monday!