Fitness Update, Spring 2016

I’m five months into my exercise regime and it’s going great. Yep, this is an exercise update in which I don’t lament my inability to maintain my exercise program. Instead, I’ll celebrate the fact that the program begun in the depths of winter has continued into the spring.

There have been some pauses — a bad cold sidelined me for two weeks — but I still (mostly) go for my morning walks augmented by twice-a-week runs. I’m half way through my Zombies, Run 5K training program and feeling pretty good. I haven’t hit the bench mark of running for 1 mile solid yet — I still have to slow down after .75 miles — but I’m getting there. The whole idea of running 5K (or about 3 miles) no longer seems implausible.

I hit my spring goal of getting back to 210 lbs., which is where I was at the end of Summer 2016. My goal now is to get down to 200 lbs. by the end of the summer. That seems doable, though I think it will be significantly harder to go from 210 to 200 than it was to go from 225 to 210. My body’s hit an equilibrium point around 210, and dropping below that will require more than consistent exercise and a reasonable diet. It’ll take an athletic trainer and a more robust exercise regime.

What I’m doing now is ok — I walk, I run, I use the elliptical or stationary bike occasionally, but it’s predictable. I need to move out of my comfort zone (running as my comfort zone? who’d’ve ever thought that?) and try new things. Fortunately the college where I work offers athletic training services at a reasonable rate. My plan this summer is to buy 5- or 10-sessions of training and see how that goes.

In the meantime though, I’m fighting to hold on to the status quo. Our family is tremendously busy in the spring, with my wife coaching our daughter’s softball team, and me coaching our son’s baseball team. Throw in band concerts, jazz band concerts, Cub Scouts, and Seeing Eye Puppy Raiser events, and we have a schedule that’s beyond full. Getting any exercise in is an accomplishment; during the month of May it’s practically a miracle. A lot of times I find myself longing to go for a run, if only to clear my head, but I need to settle for a walk. Or, if I’m being honest, sometimes I just crash on the couch and try to avoid my Labrador’s soulful, pleading eyes asking for a walk.

Still … I’m moving more than I’m not. Baseball practice and games are their own special kind of workout. I get in a few morning walks a week, as well as regular walks to and from work. I’m making progress on my audio books — I just started Brandon Sanderson’s Firefight — and my weight has been bouncing between 208 and 210 lbs. I just bought a number of new shorts that fit (going from waist 38 to size 36). It’s a good pause point … but I’m looking forward to being more active this summer.

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