It’s always nice the first night after completing a round of chemo. Inevitably I end up walking in to the kitchen expecting to have to take my anti-nausea and chemo meds when it hits me that I’m all set for another few weeks. 

As usual with it being Tuesday, I had a number of meetings throughout the day making it difficult to get meaningful progress made on other projects, though all of my meetings were very good and productive.

When I got home my new UP2 band was waiting for me after having to order a new fitness band since my UP24 band broke and was out of warranty. 

I immediately sat down to set it up. I’m really happy with the improvements that Jawbone made over the UP24 though I am disappointed in a few areas. 

The good: The UP2 (aff. link) has a slimmer profile and only comes in a single size with an adjustable band. The UP24 came in multiple sizes which was problematic if you bought the wrong size or if it didn’t fit your wrist perfectly. It’s nice to just double tap and then hold the top of the band to put it into sleep or wake mode. 

The disappointing areas: You can’t set the UP2 into workout/activity mode from the band - you must use the mobile app. With the UP24 you could set it using the band or the app. The power nap feature has also been removed. I’m sure they looked at the data and saw that not many people were using it but it was a handy feature that I liked to use occasionally. Now I will just put the band into sleep mode. 

Overall I’m happy with the improvements moving from the UP24 to the UP2. If you’re in the market for a (new) fitness band, I highly recommend checking it out. 

Throughout the day I chatted with a couple of friends who have completed Spartan races before including one who has completed multiple of their stadium races like the one I will be participating in.  

It was good to get a bit of advice that only those who have participated would be able to provide such as arrival logistics, good waves to run in, workouts leading up to the race and hydration advice. Much of it was confirmation of things that I already knew or suspected such as the hydration advice. 

With that said, after charging up my UP2 band quickly, I went over to tackle today’s WOD: 

Warm-up

• Cycle 5 minutes
• 10 burpees

Main set

• Run 1/4 mile
• 2 x 15 laying leg raises
• 30-second plank
• Recover 30 seconds
• Run 1/4 mile
• 2 x 30 mountain climbers
• 30-second plank
• Recover 30 seconds

Cool Down:

• Stretch

While the workout was hard and left me drenched in sweat, I purposely didn’t go as hard as I could have.  

My goal this week is to keep my muscles active but not do anything that could cause an injury or a flare up. That would suck right before the race and therefore I’d like to avoid that. 

Tonight, while watching the MLB All-Star Game, Laura made a delicious and healthy dinner: jerk turkey burgers with Greek yogurt, broccolini sautéed with garlic and baked sweet potato.