Vegan MoFo 29: The Final Fitness Update

At the beginning of Vegan MoFo I planned to give the occasional update on my workouts, if for no other reason than to remind myself that a healthy counterbalance to all kinds of Month of Food eating is regular exercise. It also happened that Vegan MoFo fell during my outpatient/elective rotations, and I've had a little more time to work it in.

So how much exercise actually got done?

Well, here's the summary - in calendar form, because who doesn't love a calendar?

Oct	Sun	Mon	Tues	Wed	Thurs	Fri	Sat
1st	-	-	-	-	-	-	Off
2nd-8th	5 mi run	DVD	4 mi run	3 mi run	swim	4 mi run	Off
9th-15th	5 mi run	3 mi run	4 mi run	swim	swim	4 mi run	Off
16th-22nd	6 mi run	swim	3 mi run	5 mi run	swim	4 mi run	Off
23rd-29th	7 mi run	swim	3 mi run	5 mi run	swim	4 mi run	Off
30th->	5 mi run	swim

       

Intentional days off are Saturdays, and then the red workouts are those that were planned but didn't happen. 

Putting it all together like this, I'm actually impressed. I did a pretty good job. I think week by week I often feel like, "Oh, I missed that workout. I'm such a slacker." And in the big picture, maybe this is another area in which I can work on being kinder to myself. 

Did you have any fitness goals for Vegan MoFo? How did they go?

Vegan MoFo 14: Fitness Friday #2

Technically last week's Fitness Update was on Saturday, but I like alliteration. Don't lie, so do you.

We're almost halfway done with Month of Food. What? It's the middle of October. Have I been asleep? It's flying by, but I guess if I look at it, it has been a full couple weeks.

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So what's my favorite exercise this week?

Here's some hints. The signs are all around.

There's a suit hanging from the shower rod in my bathroom (and dripping not so gracefully on the bathmat.)

My fingertips smell like chlorine despite serious scrubbing.

There's little residual circular marks around my eyes.

My hair really needs some close watching to keep the frazzle under control.

Yes, it's true, I'm back in the pool. I used to swim for exercise in college regularly, and I was on a competitive team as a kid, but I haven't gone much since starting medical school - it takes longer when I have to drive somewhere, but this week I decided it was worth it.

Unfortunately, on the same day I popped a tire, I left my goggles poolside. Fortunately, they were ancient and difficult to see out of - so I replaced them with some pretty ones. They're Speedo women's - so far I really like them. I also bought some TYR brand, I'll let you know my thoughts once I try them.

Also a swim cap. I have no idea where mine went but I haven't seen it in at least 2 years. Must do SOMETHING or the hair will get outrageous. In college there was a semester when it turned green. But I was blonde, so hopefully we're safe now. 

Pool. Ready.

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In summary - The Week's Workouts 

Sun - rest
Mon - 4 mile run
Tues - 3 mile run
Wed - 1 mile swim
Thurs - 1 mile swim
Fri - 4 mile run
Sat - still to come, probably shopping - does that count?

Ok seriously, how do I get the chlorine smell completely out of my hands?

Build Your Own Triathlon. Have Some Freaking Fun.

Doing only one type of exercise gets boring. Both for my brain and my muscles. So today, to counteract taking the last couple finals of my week (only 2 left), I did something fun.

(Besides eating these awesome overnight oats.)

Overnight mix: 1/2 cup oats, 1/4 cup yogurt, 4 oz. milk. Topped in the morning with strawbs and bananas.

So, something fun. 

I built in my own triathlon. Let's clarify, I'm not a triathlete really, and I'll save my swimming background for a different post, but I own a bike now, and as a student I get free access to the university pool, so sometimes I think I ought to take advantage of that.

I realized with the bike commute and morning run, I could swim after my finals and make it a triathlete day, so I looked up distances for a sprint triathlon:

Swim: 750 m (0.47 miles, 15 laps in 25 m pool)

Run: 5k (3.1 miles)

Bike: 20k (12.4 miles)

I added a few miles to my bike commute to make the distance, and I didn't do it all in a row, which made it pretty manageable. My day looked like this (sorry for the cell pics - I don't try to carry my camera on the bike with everything else):

5 am: Run my 5k loop, about 30 mins. 

6:30 am: Bike commute - 3.5 miles

8:30 am: Finals - Preventative Medicine and Biochemistry

9:30 am: Swim 1500 meters, about 40 mins.

(I doubled the race distance, 750 crawl without stopping, then 750 of drills and other strokes.)

Fancy hair. Adorable google lines. I heart swimming. 

11 am: Bike commute to lunch - 2 miles

Zipped up and hauled on the bike.

11:45 am: Seis de Mayo lunch with friends! I got a veggie burrito.

1 pm: Bike home with some extra mileage - 7 miles

I'm a little tired, but running very high on endorphins, and that's a lovely way to end a long week of finals.

And so, this calls for a big dinner. I actually don't know what I'm going to cook, but it's going to be awesome.