Fitness Log #120 And Friday Firsts

I have been keeping track of my exercise every Friday for over a year, and plan to continue doing so.

I started the Friday Firsts sections as a way of keeping track of some of my “firsts” as I dealt with the COVID-19 pandemic. Things seem to be settling down, but I will keep it for now–more as a way to be aware and thankful of what is happening in my life.

Friday Firsts

This week’s firsts:

  1. Mr. PiN has been cleaning the basement, and invited me downstairs to see his tennis practice area. We have a long room, about the size of a one car garage, which is separate from our laundry area. He has set it up with some tape on a concrete wall, and handed me a new-ish tennis racket. I hit some balls for the first time in several decades–for the first time indoors, in a basement. It was fun, but tiring.
  2. On the weekend, I studied MKSAP with my friend. We didn’t believe one of the answers (the reference was 7 years old, on a subject where the answers change every few years). We spent some time researching the answer before moving on to the next question. I finally feel like an academic physician.
Look at all those people out and about in the cold. Maybe central heating is bad for my exercise efforts.

Fitness Log

As a reminder, my current goal is to make sure that I get 210 minutes a week of moderate exercise during a regular week. If I am working in the hospital, I will relax my goal to 90 minutes for the week. At least 60 minutes of my exercise in a normal week should help with strength training; right now, I count yoga as part of this category.

How did I do?

  • Saturday:  I lost track of time on my afternoon walk, and went further than my winter usual. 54 minutes.
  • Sunday:  I decided to stay indoors and take it easy today, no exercise.
  • Monday:  A walk after work, 34 minutes.
  • Tuesday:  I had an allergic reaction yesterday and had to take an antihistamine. I had a hangover all day, and decided to skip my Zoom yoga class. If the technology works, I will be able to watch and follow along tomorrow with a recording.
  • Wednesday: I had a hard time downloading my Zoom recording. Instead, I hitched a ride, did a little shopping, and walked home. 52 minutes. Later in the day I got the recording to work, but wasn’t totally thrilled to be doing yoga. I got about 30 minutes through the lesson. But, I can pretend I will start over and do the whole lesson Friday, or on the weekend (maybe next week).
  • Thursday: Training session after work, 30 minuntes.
  • Friday: After staring out the window all day, I rushed out to take a walk in the (super) fresh outdoors before it got dark. 20 glorious minutes.

Total: 160 minutes walking, 30 minutes weight training and 30 yoga this week, for a total of 220 minutes. A victory for my mental health, as well as for beating my goal. Next week is a hospital week, we will see if I can meet (or hopefully surpass) my lowered exercise goal.