The Core

>> several pats on the back

Thanks! One productivity-boosting thing I've learned over the years is to celebrate small victories.

I now have a set of three-pound dumbbells but haven't started using them yet.

You know, I was just thinking of reviving this thread.

For me, it's been going pretty well. I've been reasonably consistent with running. I really fell off the wagon with climbing during the hot weather, but I got so bothered at myself that I woke up at 4am and couldn't get back to sleep and wrote down some ideas for getting back on track.

By the way, what got me riled is I had asked myself two questions:

1. What makes your heart sing?
2. What is stopping you from doing more of it?

Of course, some things on the list are not related to health and fitness. I've really enjoyed all the family gatherings we have had over the last two years even though the reasons were often sad (and sometimes joyous). But I realized that a lot of the things that make my heart sing involve getting outdoors and can be done close to home for very little money and definitely within the time I have available and my curent fitness level.

In other words, I had no decent excuse.

And yet... I wasn't doing those things very often. I was shocked to realize that none of my examples were from this year.

So... I'm trying to do them which led me to drive 3 hours to climb with friends (and Theresa) yesterday, which was amazing. Really enjoyed it and am feeling pretty excited about getting out now that temperatures have moderated a bit.

Others?

1. What makes your heart sing?
2. What is stopping you from doing more of it?

Struggling to keep up the pace this year in Blighty.

Sue and I walk the dogs every day, so thats a lifesaver.

We have come to the cycling and swimming late in the summer, and a month trip on the bike in June didn't help, although we both lost weight on the trip, just by eating better, presumably as we were not under constant time pressure.

2 good questions. And the answer here is time. We took a big chunk of time out, and found that compressed everything else in the summer. People/things (work included) still pulling to hard.

For example the garden still needs doing. A month out meant a big catch up.

I think we are about to come out the other side, in that Lucy is just back at work, wee have a moving in trip this weekend so then might be able to breath. The down side is the nights are drawing in, so it starts to get harder to do evening activities.

We will see. Another year with no competitions (Oh except the odd Park run!)

Good call to bump this thread, it might help motivation   Thanks!

LM, that inspirational!

Just realised I'm almost 2 years on from starting to get back to regular exercising.  In terms of fitness goals, its going well, though if anything am in danger of pushing to obsessive levels by my own (low) standards.

I think I posted a bit earlier in this thread that I started cyclocross training, which led on to some racing, which led on to a lot more racing, which led on to taking training a lot more seriously, which is just about where I am now.

The new cyclocross season starts this Sunday.

In June I took on a personal trainer to help introduce some weight training having not done this in any serious way for 10+ years.  This has been a great help.  Very targeted to my cycle racing objectives and quick to feel the benefits.

Now I find myself trying to strike a balance between:

The fitness work...
1. Long bike ride to maintain base fitness (doing OK here, approx. 1 per week) - also throw in commuting by bike which adds another 30-40 miles a week or so.
2. Weight training - 1x PT session, 1x individual per week (meeting this mostly)
3. Coached Cyclocross skills training - 1x per week (nothing over the summer, but starting up next week and usually make this)
4. Interval training - just not doing this at the moment and need to get on with incorporating it
5. Racing!  This will be approx once every 2-3 weeks September to February with a quite spell through December.
6. Almost

The diet... I'm making much more considered choices with what I consume.  Balancing carbs at the right time, proteins, etc.  Cutting out alcohol around races and reducing generally.  Not scientific precision here, but conscious choices.

The bikes... some focus needed here to stay on top of maintenance and ensure races aren't compromised by the equipment.

Rest... consciously trying to get more sleep and plan rest days to avoid fatigue.

I feel a completely different level of health and fitness vs. 2 years ago, where the motivation to kick start was equal measures of physical and mental health improvement after losing some regular routines through the pandemic.  Plus hitting mid-40s, accepting that the peak was long behind me and wanting to take control of the things we can control.

"You're someone who has trouble doing things for secondary gain."

Yep.  I love cycling, first, and secondly, I know its good for me, physically and mentally.

Cyclocross racing is a whole load of fun.  Not sure its wholly good for me physically.  I tend to have as many bruises and cuts on my legs and arms as my 6 and 9 year old boys.  There are far easier ways to stay fit, but I'm glad that at least cardiovascular and cognitive health appears to be a side benefit of competitively riding bicycles.

Ah... motorbike Walking in the evenings, swimming off the Amalfi coast, Capri, Garda, the English Channel, walks in the alps, but loads of time sat in the saddle.

And don't you love an Italian supper?  The take all evening!

Three days on a ferry eating, drinking, reading watching the dolphins in the Bay of Biscay didn't help either.