Fitness Weekly Discussion

I’ve been in a really good and consistent exercise groove recently. For over two months now I’ve actively exercised for at least an hour daily.

Every other day, I row on a rowing machine, and I keep inching my interval time up after each workout. I’m now at 15:45 x 5, so well over an hour of rowing total. It’s a lot of work.

The other day I was exhausted. Life has been tough recently, and this particular week had several different significant stressors.

Before I trudged down to the basement to start, I told my husband “I don’t actually think I’m going to be able to complete one interval, let alone five.” Nevertheless, I forced myself down the stairs and onto the rower because I’m trying to stay committed to keeping my habit consistent, and also because I figured any exercise — even just a little bit — is always better than none.

To my surprise, I was able to complete the entire workout.

To my surprise, it was actually energizing rather than exhausting.

I always put on something to watch while I’m rowing, but it ended up being background noise. I tuned most of it out. Instead, my brain kind of churned on a lot of things it needed to process and then eventually just sort of cleared during the later part of the workout.

It helped me realize that when I thought I was exhausted, I was actually just mind-tired, not body-tired. I’ve never separated those two things out before. I always just assumed they went hand-in-hand.

Despite being “exhausted”, the fact that I was able to expend enough energy to row for that long (and that it actually helped me feel better afterwards, rather than more drained) was significant for me. I wasn’t expecting that.

I started playing ultimate frisbee this summer as a 37 year old dude and it has been so fun. It feels like I'm getting a little better each week, but I'm still making plenty of mistakes. Thankfully, my team is very chill and us losing every game doesn't seem to be a big deal.

Trying to get better at ultimate has also been motivation to start running and be healthier in general. I feel like I had a similar motivation when I was racing bikes pre-covid, but once races started getting cancelled it was easy to have an extra beer or two. Then I started playing disc golf, which isn't as physically demanding but has a similar time commitment, so I continued to ignore cycling.

Anyway, if anyone is in a similar boat and looking for a chill team sport I would definitely suggest giving ultimate frisbee a try.

I've never been an outside exercise person before this year, but I've been consistently doing 2-3 runs per week outside since April. I'd like to keep it up, but obviously the temps are starting to drop here (Central Canada).

Do any fellow cold weather runners have advice for gear and any other tips to share? The coldest I've run so far is -5C with just leggings, light zip jacket, t-shirt, light gloves (ditched after 20 minutes as my hands got too hot), wrightsock double layer socks, and a ball cap with headlamp for safety. Overall I felt pretty comfortable for the hour or so I was out there.

The weather here in the late fall/winter mornings can range from -15 down to -30 typically and the wind can at times be brutal with wind chill reaching -40 or lower. I think on those days I will just stick inside on the treadmill :)

I do have a balaclava/gaiter and thicker gloves, but little else for outdoor exercise gear.

Some questions I have running through my head are below -

• What other clothes should I invest in? I assume I'll at least need a thicker jacket, possibly warmer leggings, and some warmer socks.

• Is there a hard limit to temperatures? Should I not even bother below say, -20?

• How should I approach breathing? Cold air is harsh, should I breathe through a balaclava to warm the air up a little?

• Should I do a warmup on the treadmill first before going out?

• If sidewalks aren't cleared or poorly cleared, should I primarily stick with the roads? Or would that just be far too risky? My area is largely residential so it wouldn't be like going on the highway or something crazy.

• Is there any way to prepare myself for poor traction other than just to be aware? I've been walking on snow/ice for years and never had problems but I imagine it's much different while running.

Thanks and happy running everybody!

I mentioned in another post in ~hobbies that I just bought an ebike, hoping to get some exercise with it. This is really the first time I've done anything remotely cardio related with any seriousness in over a decade. Unfortunately even with the motor assistance I'm finding it difficult to keep a pace that leaves me within my target heart rate zone because of how hilly the area is, but I think that even if I'm going a little over or under at times it should still be good for my heart. It feels pretty good to be on the bike after probably 25 years of not owning one, even though the saddle is causing my poor butt a lot of pain.