2022 Fitness Adventure

[Master Live 013]

Re: 2022 Fitness Adventure

So guys, in general terms, what have been your experience with gyms/gyms memberships and the like? I'm thinking that maybe by summer I could get membership for Planet Fitness and would like to know if it is worth it.

[pietasterp]

Re: 2022 Fitness Adventure

So guys, in general terms, what have been your experience with gyms/gyms memberships and the like? I'm thinking that maybe by summer I could get membership for Planet Fitness and would like to know if it is worth it.

My experience is that unless the gym is at your place of work (as in, literally at your office) or within walking distance of your house, you will not go enough for it to be worth it. For context: I hate working out and going to a gym, and any excuse I have not to go is enough to tip the inertia toward not going.

The only times in my life where I have consistently gone to the gym 3-4 times/week over a lengthy stretch of time (>6 months in a row) have been when I have worked at an office with a gym in the actual office building, or when I used to have a gym 2 blocks from my house that I could walk to. Every other time I have belonged to a gym, I never went.

TL;DR - figure out how motivated you are and what your patterns are, and then decide on whether gym membership is worth it or not. I would not count on the motivation of "well, I paid for the membership, so I'll go" as sufficient to get yourself to go consistently. Unless you're one of those people that just loves the gym/working out, convenience trumps everything else in my experience.

[Blzer]

Re: 2022 Fitness Adventure

I had a pretty good last two weeks.

1 Mile - 5:08
3 Mile - 18:41
5 Mile - 33:11

The only times that didn't really see general improvement were my two-lap and three-lap times. My two-lap best was 2:18, but got 2:16 in the two weeks prior. My 3-lap is still around 3:45, and unless I'm breaking 3:40 I don't see myself breaking a 5:00 mile time. I reckon I'm still a month away from that, at least. We'll see.

This is definitely more running than I've done before in my life though, so maybe my body just isn't ready for all of this but I'm determined to not stop, because if I do then I know I will just end up stopping overall.

[KSUowls]

Re: 2022 Fitness Adventure

Not bad Blzer.

I don't think I've even done a 6 minute mile since I was a teen lol. So, that's solid.

I was finally starting to see some real gains, 3 months into T-25. The current 5 week session (Gamma) has a lot more weight training, and overall it's just a lot more intense than the Alpha & Beta rounds I did the first couple of months. A couple mornings ago I saw my lightest weight on the scale in probably 5 years. Of course that same day I went to the podiatrist and had a toe nail removed due to an infection (possibly caused by my recent working out). So, now I'm sidelined from T-25 for about a week, but I've been trying to do some static weight lifting so that I don't lose all of my gains.

[Blzer]

Re: 2022 Fitness Adventure

I had absolutely zero goals going into my three-mile days this week, and even on each day sometimes I'm telling my legs: "It's okay, just make sure you finish." And yet, something is happening where I seem to be, you know, "getting more in shape" and improving. Below were my times.

Monday - 18:29*
Tuesday - 18:20**
Wednesday - 18:12
Thursday - 17:50
Friday - 17:47

* I dropped my phone (which I use to time with) in my 10th lap. I had to pick it up circling around my 11th lap, which very much could've added two or more seconds and even more so messes with my psyche. It felt so strangely naked not holding onto my phone or hearing my music for that next lap, plus bending down mid-run after 2.5 miles isn't an easy recoup.

** There were soccer teams warming up before a game on this day, and our team's bench and player equipment leaked into at least the first lane on one side of the field. I can imagine that over 12 laps of duration that can add a little time, especially if players are walking by sometimes with zero disregard for my run and I throw in a little detour. I also battled a treacherously strong wind on this day and Wednesday coming around the turn for the home stretch every time, which can explain why I improved so much Thursday and Friday.

Today's run was really nice regarding consistency. If 18:00 is a 6:00 mile average and therefore a 1:30 lap average, my worst lap here was 1:30.45 on lap #6. My best lap (and mile) is always my last one as well, and today it was 1:21.47.

There is absolutely no real translation between the runs here and my mile runs, other than I am getting a little more "in shape" overall for it and I think I keep building up a mental will. However, this next week I could be nearing that 5:00 time even more so. Monday's three-lap time will be really telling of how close I'll be, and honestly I do zero favors for myself doing my Tuesday workout right before Wednesday's mile. It seems I play a little more long-game with it rather than just seeking that absolute best time possible.

This next week I also have school off, so I may be trying some early morning runs in place of those mid-afternoon runs. I may even transition that over to starting to run before school coming out of this break so I can use my 6th period prep for other means, especially for my softball team.

Anyway, thanks for reading my journal entries! As much as I'd like to break the 5:00 mile time, I don't know what is in store for me to break my 4:50 personal best (and last timed mile in high school) that I did my sophomore year. I'd love to Blze past that 15-year-old McFluffin for sure as I'm going on 34 years of age.

[Blzer]

Re: 2022 Fitness Adventure

Just ran an unconvincing 4:59.76 mile time this morning. I'll take it, but I need to best that to be sure!

Lap 1 - 1:12.26
Lap 2 - 1:15.13
Lap 3 - 1:16.17
Lap 4 - 1:16.18

Gassed out in the last half-lap. My whole body was numbing itself. Definitely need to work better on the final push.

EDIT: Going to try and not bump unless it's another week down.

The last two days were a bit "lackluster," but both were early in the morning in sub-30 degree weather. I did my two-lap time at 2:18 again, but boy was it cold running that hard in just shorts and a shirt. This morning I did my five-mile run, but it was on a cement trail and not a track. I didn't pace anything out correctly, it was cold (although I dressed heavily including gloves), and my phone battery died about 25 minutes in so I didn't get a final time.

I will start running in the morning soon in place of my 6th period class overall, though. Games are coming up for softball season and I won't be able to run on those days as a result. I have to figure that one out especially since I start teaching at 7:00 AM, but it's hard to endure the cold and maintain the times that I am going for. Unfortunately, the times are what motivate me most. I wish running just did and I wish that I enjoyed it more than I actually do.

[Master Live 013]

Re: 2022 Fitness Adventure

On the 5th the treadmill I had been using broke down. Queue to 2 weeks of trying to see if it was still in warranty, then trying to get it fixed on my own. No exercising in 18 days.

Wednesday was my first day on Planet Fitness and it wasn't the best experience, I left discouraged (I did work out).

Yesterday was my second day, it was better. A work in progress.


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[pietasterp]

Re: 2022 Fitness Adventure

Great job everyone on this thread for staying on the horse (or getting back on it as the case may be)!

One thought I had recently (while bored out of my mind running a quick 1.75 mile lunchtime trot) was in terms of energy expenditure when jogging/running, my entirely subjective take on 'difficulty' or strenuousness ranks something like this:

Running outdoors on city streets > running on a track > running on a treadmill

My impression of running on treadmill is that it is significantly easier than running outside in real world conditions, but I'm not sure anyone has ever actually looked into/quantified that (if it's even true). For one thing, the surface is perfectly level (even if you put some slope on the machine), and more importantly, the nature of the machine sort of 'dragging' your trail leg backwards means that you don't so much have to 'push-off' with the trail leg as you do just make sure your front leg gets forward quickly enough. Also, there's no wind resistance (or minimal).

I'm definitely not saying running on a treadmill is not worthwhile; nothing could be further from the truth. This is just where my mind wanders when I'm trotting around town trying to get a sweat going so I'm not on my rear-end all day long.

[Master Live 013]

Re: 2022 Fitness Adventure

Oh, I would concur with that order of difficulty. As a matter of fact, some years ago (one of my many tries at getting started) I tried running on a track 5 minutes away from home. I did it about twice (don't laugh :P) and on the second day I went like "nope" and that was that.

On the pro side I got there by walking over which added to the whole "an actually doing something" part of exercising, but as I saw it the cons were many. First the track wasn't in the best condition, it wasn't awful, but there was definitely some undulations/unevenness on the inner lanes. And then there's the heat, oh the heat. I'm not talking 70's or 80's, I'm talking at the very least low 90's to high 90's. I constantly was thinking "I wonder how many more days of this I have to do to get skin cancer"

Then there was the fact that I didn't know what the heck I was doing. For some reason I felt I needed to run my laps (nope) and got tired pretty quickly and then I felt I was doing it wrong and got discouraged. Which is an advantage of treadmills, they are idiot proof

As for running on the streets I actually thought about getting to the gym by running (10 minutes away); partially out of necessity and partially because I felt I was ready for it. The Planet Fitness club I was thinking on joining is notoriously located in a locale with no free parking. Before joining I called and they told me they offered 2 hours free for club members which was meh since I felt that was too short for getting there, exercising, showering and getting out of there. I don't like feeling like I have to be on a hurry.

So after telling my brother about my grand plan for running over there he says: "why don't you go to the one on the mall" (this one is 15 minutes away) and I was like...yeah, that's seems like a better idea No problem with (free) parking in that one so the rest is history.

[Blzer]

Re: 2022 Fitness Adventure

When I did my five-mile run on my neighborhood cement trail last Friday, I noted that one difficulty was that I couldn't ever figure out my pacing. When I'm on a track, I check my pacing after each lap and am able to maintain that level pretty well. I can also time it well with the music that I play on my phone, knowing where I "should be" at certain times.

Anyway, I mentioned this week that I would try running before school around 6:00 AM? Been doing that, and it's been a bit of a whirlwind and an adventure. For one, it's freezing. Near mid-30 degree weather. The last two mornings were low 40s, but still. My hands simply cannot take it. I ordered gloves and thankfully have been able to use them the last two days, though it seems a little weird to use. For another thing, sometimes others are on the track at this time. I'm besting them in terms of pace but they're taking the inside lane, so sometimes my run is taken aback by them.

That being said, this has been my three-mile week so far and I still have tomorrow morning to go, but here have been my times:

Monday - 17:43
Tuesday - 17:37
Wednesday - 17:46
Thursday - 17:29
Friday - 17:30

On Wednesday, not only did I feel significantly more tired, but I also wore pants and I don't think that much helped. This morning I had shorts and a wife beater, plus my running gloves. Cold as it was, that lighter wear really seemed to help me overall. What I really liked about my run this morning was that my slowest lap was 1:29.71, meaning I stayed under 1:30 in every lap (if you average 1:30 that'll be an 18-minute three-mile time).

My times are definitely improving. I wonder what it'll take for me to get an 18-minute 5k time, but I'm getting a little closer to that being a possibility. Maybe at some point in April!

I'll update my time on here tomorrow in an edit. I'm hoping to stay at or better than 17:40. EDIT: Got 17:30 today. I wore pants, accidentally actually (I wear them there to change into shorts, but forgot to bring shorts). It was a little rainy but not as cold as the other days, but man pants are definitely harder to run in. I felt myself needing to push a lot more today, perhaps because it was the fifth day of a lot of pushing before that. We'll see where I clock in with an early morning mile next Wednesday!

[pietasterp]

Re: 2022 Fitness Adventure

Those times are mind-boggling to me. I run a comfortable 10-minute mile on city streets, and have no intention of pushing beyond that anytime soon

[Blzer]

Re: 2022 Fitness Adventure

Friday time updated in above post. 17:30.

Those times are mind-boggling to me. I run a comfortable 10-minute mile on city streets, and have no intention of pushing beyond that anytime soon

Haha well I guess I still have it in me from middle school and early high school. I tell you though, as I'm running I'm having a conversation with myself, like being a math guy I tell myself after three laps: "I'm only a quarter of the way through!" After one mile: "Two more miles to go!" Six laps in: "Damn, I'm only halfway done!" It's grueling. Not the running itself, but maintaining pace. I tell myself that I can't, but then I tell myself to just keep doing it. I don't feel great in that last half, but I feel so rewarded when I do finish. My first and last laps are always my fastest, currently sitting around 1:23 and 1:20 respectively.

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm about to have a cheat meal and dessert with an extra large combo pizza and an Oreo milkshake.

[pietasterp]

Re: 2022 Fitness Adventure

Friday time updated in above post. 17:30.



Haha well I guess I still have it in me from middle school and early high school. I tell you though, as I'm running I'm having a conversation with myself, like being a math guy I tell myself after three laps: "I'm only a quarter of the way through!" After one mile: "Two more miles to go!" Six laps in: "Damn, I'm only halfway done!" It's grueling. Not the running itself, but maintaining pace. I tell myself that I can't, but then I tell myself to just keep doing it. I don't feel great in that last half, but I feel so rewarded when I do finish. My first and last laps are always my fastest, currently sitting around 1:23 and 1:20 respectively.

I've never been a particularly good cardiovascular athlete, even back when I had infinite energy as a kid. A huge part of it is mental, as you note - when I played soccer, I could run seemingly forever without getting tired, but put me on a track and say "go", I will just quit after a 1/2 mile. One time, I was on a treadmill and happened to be watching a hockey game I was interested in, and I ended up running several miles over my intended target without even realizing it. That really drove home the extent to which the mind plays a role in things for me. The mental aspect of it is like 90% of it.

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm about to have a cheat meal and dessert with an extra large combo pizza and an Oreo milkshake.

Go on with you bad self; you deserve it.

[Blzer]

Re: 2022 Fitness Adventure

I had a successful week.

Monday (3 laps) - 3:37
Tuesday (2 laps) - 2:18
Wednesday (1 mile) - 4:58
Thursday (2 laps) - 2:15
Friday (5 miles) - 30:36

It's also kind of nice that I'm just feeling "stronger." I don't feel like my chest is about to cave in, and my knee isn't giving out as much after runs. I don't wake up the next day too sore to think I'll need to push through it, etc. I think my biggest hurdle this week were the cold mornings, always between 37-41 degrees. In some ways it could have helped just be less hot and dry, or perhaps acclimating me to new dynamic environment. That being said, running a mile in the cold is a bitch.

Next week is DST, and it'll be a weird test for myself in determining whether I can essentially run in the dark since I'll still have to run mornings. Strangely enough, earlier in the morning will likely be a few degrees warmer since my runs have been before sunrise anyway. Every little bit helps, so we'll see! I refuse to go on the track with like a headlamp, though. Anything that restricts my movements, distracts me, or puts on weight is a no-go. It takes me out of my element because I think about it too much, just like passing people on the outside or running in the other direction (which I admittedly should be doing for the five mile runs when nobody else is on the track).

[Blzer]

Re: 2022 Fitness Adventure

I had a good but interesting week, running three miles each day.

Monday - 17:08
Tuesday - 17:29
Wednesday - 17:13
Thursday - 17:22
Friday - 17:15

In previous weeks, I seemed to improve almost "by the day." This week was really staggering. Granted, on Tuesday it rained, which meant my shorts and shoes were getting soaked and heavy. I'll pass on that one, that's fine. Wednesday I had to pass some other runners by going into the second lane (including on turns), which could've added a few seconds easily. No excuses Thursday, I was simply tired and felt it early on. Friday I tried to pace myself more slowly on the first lap and maintain it, but somehow I unknowingly slow laps after that and make it harder to gain ground thereafter. Still saving my two best laps for last for the most part, and I had a good final lap of 1:19 this morning. At least Monday, Wednesday, and Friday gave me hope that if I go to running a 5k instead of three miles that I have a shot at breaking 18 minutes. We'll see two weeks from now whether I decide to go for that.

I've also been getting back into a bit of a pushups regimen again, but not quite to the heavy extent that I have done in the past. I've been doing it every morning and evening and not taking days off, but now I'm thinking I should take weekends off completely. I tweaked my back, not because of pushups but I feel it when doing them. I think my back could take a weekend here or there. Back injury aside, my question is should I take days off of my pushups workout? I'm not doing many, only 150 a day so far (they are done in sets that I could maybe show later). When I was in my groove I did nearly 400 a day without any rest days.

Thanks for reading!