The Official Exercise/Fitness Thread v. Run Forest, Run!

[SchecterShredder]

@chknptpie when perusing my Garmin account, keep in mind that i almost never change my activity name so the title of every workout is cycle this or cycle that because i use my Garmin bike computer to track my HR. I do change the activity type, but that's only so the skiing and weights didn't sully up my cycling stats.

[chknptpie]

@chknptpie when perusing my Garmin account, keep in mind that i almost never change my activity name so the title of every workout is cycle this or cycle that because i use my Garmin bike computer to track my HR. I do change the activity type, but that's only so the skiing and weights didn't sully up my cycling stats.

My husband is into cycling but does almost all on his trainer inside. I never knew Canada had such straight roads lol

[SchecterShredder]

@chknptpie when perusing my Garmin account, keep in mind that i almost never change my activity name so the title of every workout is cycle this or cycle that because i use my Garmin bike computer to track my HR. I do change the activity type, but that's only so the skiing and weights didn't sully up my cycling stats.

My husband is into cycling but does almost all on his trainer inside. I never knew Canada had such straight roads lol

I live on the edge of the prairies, so those roads you saw were rural range roads outside of town. Basically just 1 mile x 1mile squares of farm land or lakes. Pretty much flat, squares of land all the way from my city to where Jingle lives in Ontario (about 3300km/2000mi). And make no mistake, the 2 provinces in that span are absolute wastelands, if you ask me.

[jingle.boy]

Weigh in yesterday was a wtf moment - put on 4lbs last week.  Sometimes, I just don't 'get' how the body reacts to things, because there is no way I had a 14,000 calorie surplus last week.

Ah the body is a fickle mistress. Dropped those exact 4lbs this week, back to 176.

[wolfking]

Weigh in yesterday was a wtf moment - put on 4lbs last week.  Sometimes, I just don't 'get' how the body reacts to things, because there is no way I had a 14,000 calorie surplus last week.

Ah the body is a fickle mistress. Dropped those exact 4lbs this week, back to 176.

Jeez our stats are similar.  Currently weighing around 170-172 pounds, once I convert from kgs haha.

[jingle.boy]

Weigh in yesterday was a wtf moment - put on 4lbs last week.  Sometimes, I just don't 'get' how the body reacts to things, because there is no way I had a 14,000 calorie surplus last week.

Ah the body is a fickle mistress. Dropped those exact 4lbs this week, back to 176.

Jeez our stats are similar.  Currently weighing around 170-172 pounds, once I convert from kgs haha.

You're about 6'2" as well, right (after converting from cm)?

I'd be fine with adding some weight, as long as it was mostly lean mass.  190lbs @ 10%/11% BF would be just fine.  Frankly, anything at 10-11% BF is my aim.  The scale I use is shit for BF measurement - I can tell a difference in the mirror, but the scale just measures in direct proportion to my weight - I don't trust it at all. It says I'm 13.9%, which I don't believe based on what I see in the mirror, and in the gains (reps and weight) I've got in my lifts over the past 6 months).  I'm thinking of getting some calipers to measure it manually - which is probably for the best.

[wolfking]

Yeah same height.

Throw those fucking scales out already mate! 

[Evermind]

Throw those fucking scales out already mate! 

Yeah, I've got a feeling they're random af

[wolfking]

14km run today.  5:48km pace.  I'm just cruising with my progress, pace is idleing but distances have been solid at least.

[Evermind]

Good job Kade! This is actually on par with the pace I had for my pre-Covid 10km run.

I'm still in 7-8 km range for now. Got a pair of wireless headphones and yeah, it's way better to run with the music on. Played the new Anneke van Giersbergen album during Saturday's run and 40 minutes (~7.1-7.2km) just flew by.

I need to start increasing the distances now that it's not likely to get colder than -10°C. Each time I started doing that before during winter, the weather ramped the cold up and I abandoned running for weeks. Hopefully I can do it, although my ankle hurts a bit after the latest run, I probably should rest a bit. The half-marathon at the end of April was definitely not realistic due to the weather, but I hope I can do it at the end of this summer.

The other thing is, running for longer distances is time-consuming. Right now it takes me an hour or even a bit more if you count the stretching before and after the actual run. I need to figure out which hobbies I'll have to drop if I want to train for 21k and 42k, and so far it's been difficult. I'm already at the point where I sleep for only 6 hours at best during the working week, and I'm sure this affects my performance as well.

[SchecterShredder]

Agreed about how time consuming endurance sports are. I basically need cycling to double as social outings or I'd have no friends. I ride min 1hr, and usually more in the 3hr range. Throw in time to get ready (stretch, kit up, possibly travel if I'm not riding local), as well as time to cool down and shower afterwards, now we're talking about 4-5hrs start to finish.

During peak cycling season in Canada (May-Sept) i pretty much only see friends who also ride bikes, and my once a week jam session friends. Sprinkle in my weight training sessions, and I'm left with just enough time for my family. I couldn't squeeze in another hobby if i wanted to. I'm lucky that my wife does endurance running, so we trade off big workouts on the weekends while the other one parents the spawn.

[Evermind]

Yeah, I didn't even count showering as it's like a free 20 minutes brainstorming time. But yeah, add that, it becomes 1.5 hours at least.

[wolfking]

Good job Kade! This is actually on par with the pace I had for my pre-Covid 10km run.

I'm still in 7-8 km range for now. Got a pair of wireless headphones and yeah, it's way better to run with the music on. Played the new Anneke van Giersbergen album during Saturday's run and 40 minutes (~7.1-7.2km) just flew by.

I need to start increasing the distances now that it's not likely to get colder than -10°C. Each time I started doing that before during winter, the weather ramped the cold up and I abandoned running for weeks. Hopefully I can do it, although my ankle hurts a bit after the latest run, I probably should rest a bit. The half-marathon at the end of April was definitely not realistic due to the weather, but I hope I can do it at the end of this summer.

The other thing is, running for longer distances is time-consuming. Right now it takes me an hour or even a bit more if you count the stretching before and after the actual run. I need to figure out which hobbies I'll have to drop if I want to train for 21k and 42k, and so far it's been difficult. I'm already at the point where I sleep for only 6 hours at best during the working week, and I'm sure this affects my performance as well.

Mate, good luck with a half marathon if you do it.

Also, I believe you really have to sleep for more than 6 hours.  I personally don't think that's enough.

[SchecterShredder]

Yeah, the science has been pretty cut and dry on sleep for adults for decades now. There's nights i only manage 5 or 6, but i always aim for 7 or more. I end up going to bed at 9pm most nights to get the sleep i need since my kids wake up around 530a

[wolfking]

These days I aim for 7-8.  I'm not doing it anymore but when I was working 12 hour days, I'd be lucky to get 6 hours a night.  It was so brutal, not good at all.

[jingle.boy]

These days I aim for 7-8.  I'm not doing it anymore but when I was working 12 hour days, I'd be lucky to get 6 hours a night.  It was so brutal, not good at all.

This body simply ain't used to anything much more than 6-7.  If I sleep more than 8, my body actually aches.  The past few months, I seem to have more nights where I'm not sleeping thru the night than those that I do.

And now that it's springtime, the f'n birds chirpin at 5:30am ain't gonna help that.

[Kotowboy]

I know the numbers aren't everything - but i'm really into *seeing* the results of all my hard work.

On March 1st I decided to go full healthy again - no junk food etc and only home cooked meals with actual ingredients. Nothing processed yadda yadda.

Power walking up hill til i'm out of breath - every night. ( Yesterday was 11 miles total ).

And after 3 weeks - the scale says I may as well have done nothing.

I'll keep going obviously - but nothing kills my motivation like seeing zero results for all my hard work.

- Since the last time I did this same 'regime' - I was dropping 4lb every single week.

[wolfking]

These days I aim for 7-8.  I'm not doing it anymore but when I was working 12 hour days, I'd be lucky to get 6 hours a night.  It was so brutal, not good at all.

This body simply ain't used to anything much more than 6-7.  If I sleep more than 8, my body actually aches.  The past few months, I seem to have more nights where I'm not sleeping thru the night than those that I do.

And now that it's springtime, the f'n birds chirpin at 5:30am ain't gonna help that.

I guess everyone is different.  I have those days too where you feel worse for oversleeping but I'm just finding as I get older I tend to need more.

[jingle.boy]

I know the numbers aren't everything - but i'm really into *seeing* the results of all my hard work.

On March 1st I decided to go full healthy again - no junk food etc and only home cooked meals with actual ingredients. Nothing processed yadda yadda.

Power walking up hill til i'm out of breath - every night. ( Yesterday was 11 miles total ).

And after 3 weeks - the scale says I may as well have done nothing.

I'll keep going obviously - but nothing kills my motivation like seeing zero results for all my hard work.

- Since the last time I did this same 'regime' - I was dropping 4lb every single week.

Ah the body is a fickle mistress.

[Chino]

These days I aim for 7-8.  I'm not doing it anymore but when I was working 12 hour days, I'd be lucky to get 6 hours a night.  It was so brutal, not good at all.

This body simply ain't used to anything much more than 6-7.  If I sleep more than 8, my body actually aches.  The past few months, I seem to have more nights where I'm not sleeping thru the night than those that I do.

And now that it's springtime, the f'n birds chirpin at 5:30am ain't gonna help that.

I guess everyone is different.  I have those days too where you feel worse for oversleeping but I'm just finding as I get older I tend to need more.

I couldn't sleep for 8 hours if I tried. 6.5-7 hours seems to be my bodies natural sweet spot. If I fall asleep around 9, I'm always up before 5:00 without an alarm. It's just how I've always been. I kind of like it though, especially on weekends. I get up super early on a Saturday and can knock out a few hours of house chores before breakfast, and then I still have the rest of my day to do whatever.

[Evermind]

Yeah, I definitely should aim for 8 hours. I feel 6 is not enough. But there's so much stuff to do besides sleeping

And now that it's springtime, the f'n birds chirpin at 5:30am ain't gonna help that.

Also this. I live on the highest (fifth) floor. We have trees near the windows. We have pigeons nesting under the roof. Good thing I get up for work before they begin, but it's a real annoyance on weekends.

[Evermind]

Apparently my new phone has an app for running installed. Tried it today and it's actually convenient as hell, tells you the pace after each km and all that. Allows you to realize you're running like shit and need to up the pace to hit your planned time.

I'm a bit behind on technology (I knew such apps existed but I honestly thought they were all behind the paywall and couldn't be bothered), but this is something I will definitely be using a lot.

[wolfking]

Apparently my new phone has an app for running installed. Tried it today and it's actually convenient as hell, tells you the pace after each km and all that. Allows you to realize you're running like shit and need to up the pace to hit your planned time.

I'm a bit behind on technology (I knew such apps existed but I honestly thought they were all behind the paywall and couldn't be bothered), but this is something I will definitely be using a lot.

Is it Strava?

[Evermind]

Nah, it's just a general Samsung fitness app. Strava is the one I thought you need to pay for to use it.

[wolfking]

Nah, it's just a general Samsung fitness app. Strava is the one I thought you need to pay for to use it.

Nah mate, Strava is free.  You can pay for more in depth analysis of your activity but it is perfect for what I want.

[SchecterShredder]

Agreed. Free strava is quite good still. I use the paid version, myself, but I'm really into competing on strava segments. You pretty much need the paid version to do that properly since the free version only shows your ranking on a leaderboard if you're top 10 all time

[wolfking]

Agreed. Free strava is quite good still. I use the paid version, myself, but I'm really into competing on strava segments. You pretty much need the paid version to do that properly since the free version only shows your ranking on a leaderboard if you're top 10 all time

You mean it ranks you on everyone else that uses Strava?

[SchecterShredder]

Agreed. Free strava is quite good still. I use the paid version, myself, but I'm really into competing on strava segments. You pretty much need the paid version to do that properly since the free version only shows your ranking on a leaderboard if you're top 10 all time

You mean it ranks you on everyone else that uses Strava?

Correct. That's only if you agree to make you stats public though. It tracks your own PRs on any given segment, as well as your ranking compared to anyone who's ever completed the segment. On my road bike i make it a goal to be top 5% of the leaderboard on any segment I've actually put an effort on. I have a bunch of 1st overalls, but those are all on sprints . My 195lbs is to much of a handicap thing up hills, so i usually race sprints. Take full advantage of my tree trunk sized quads

[wolfking]

That's impressive mate.  Don't know if I would want my runs  ranked though. 

[wolfking]

8km run around my streets this morning.  5:44km pace per km average but there is quite a few inclines around my house.  Fuck it was tough compared to my usual route that I go and run around on Sundays.

[jingle.boy]

It's not been a good week here.  Fell off the wagon for a variety of reasons.  Haven't worked out since Monday, plus I ate and drank like shit.   

[wolfking]

It's not been a good week here.  Fell off the wagon for a variety of reasons.  Haven't worked out since Monday, plus I ate and drank like shit.   

Hope all is alright mate.  Forget it and move on, get back up on the horse.

[Evermind]

8km run around my streets this morning.  5:44km pace per km average but there is quite a few inclines around my house.  Fuck it was tough compared to my usual route that I go and run around on Sundays.

Funny you posted this today, I went for a run today (~7.5km-ish, 5:57 per km) and I ran a route which I used to cycle on like ~15 years ago. There is one incline I hated cycling through when I was a kid. Nothing changed, I hated it today too.

It's not been a good week here.  Fell off the wagon for a variety of reasons.  Haven't worked out since Monday, plus I ate and drank like shit.   

Been there. Hopefully you can muster the will to get back to it next week!

[Kotowboy]

I walked 10 miles yesterday. Not all in one go though. 6 today cause weather wasn't as nice

[wolfking]

Backed up my 8km with a 10km this morning at a 5:33 average per km pace.  Was about 31 degrees out too, so that's solid.