Friday, March 7, 2014

Losing an hour, gaining momentum:
Prepping for a return to activity

This image was posted with a Bloomberg article about how middle-aged men should avoid triathalons. See comment below.

Hi everyone! Long time no post.

As you might expect, it's mostly a function of too much to do and not enough time. That's true not only for posting, but also for the activities I'm supposed to be writing about.

As a consequence, my exercise record has been spotty at best. Did some cross-country skiing and running in February, but not enough to keep the fitness level from deteriorating.

So it's time to reassess and take some steps to get back into things. We set our clocks ahead this weekend, meaning we lose an hour (bad) but we gain a lot of evening light, which is good for outdoor activity.

The prior post (from JUNE of last year) had a lot of thoughts about bike itineraries for when the weather warms up and the days lengthen. All that is still true, and I hope to accomplish it all before mid-summer, when interior New Hampshire really starts broiling.

As for running, I have about two years left before my self-imposed deadline of May 14, 2016 to finish running in all of New Hampshire's cities, towns, and unincorporated places. So that means I have to get busy on that score as well. Expect to see some notes on that in the near future.

Thing is, there are precious few races in places that I haven't already run. I just checked www.coolrunning.com and found just three or four out of more than 100 races coming in 2014. So I have to move forward with running "do-it-yourself" races in towns where races aren't held. We'll see.

And I hope to move forward with bagging a few more locations in the "all 50 states" challenge. Right now it stands at 16 out of 50, so I'm just about one-third there. These seem to come in spurts, and after being dormant since last year, I'm ready to color in a few more. Utah is in my sights with a day-trip to Salt Lake City on Tuesday, April 29. Will probably bag one or two New England states as well.

And what about triathalons? After flirting with this form of endurance event in 2012, I haven't pursued it. And now I'm seeing articles like the one referenced in the caption to the above photos. It's scary to contemplate dropping dead while exercising, but what are you doing to do? Stay home and stay worried, or get out and feel the wind in your hair. I vote for the wind in my hair, especially since I still have hair.

Well, it all sounds good. The trick will be to ramp up to it while staying motivated, and not getting injured. Oh—and not dying. Wish me luck!

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