Fitness Log #142 And Friday Firsts

I have been keeping track of my exercise every Friday for over 2 years, 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.

Being on vacation–my first travel in over a year–I paid much more attention to my firsts. I exercised a bunch, I think, but didn’t measure it carefully.

Friday Firsts

There were so many firsts this week. Some were the firsts-in-a-while, some were absolute first time experiences.

  1. I left town for the first time since the pandemic.
  2. I got to hug my parents for the first time in over a year.
  3. I vacationed for the first time in Maine (I had actually been there before, but not for a vacation).
  4. We stayed at a beach resort, and saw Acadia National Park, both firsts for me.
  5. While on vacation, I attended my first Zoom memorial service for a family member (brother-in-law). Hopefully I won’t have to do this again for a long time, if ever.
  6. Mr. PiN and I had enjoyed ourselves so much at the Portland Museum of Art, we returned again to Portland later in our trip for a second visit on their free Fridays.

I can’t limit myself to just 1 painting from the Portland Museum, but will try to stick to three.

Homer, Winslow. Weatherbeaten. 1894. Portland Museum of Art. Portland, ME. www.portlandmuseum.org.

Winslow Homer moved to the Portland area (Prout’s Neck) in his mid-40s, and the museum has a number of his excellent works. This one was featured prominently, and looks much better in person. I enjoyed many of his smaller pieces as well.

Watrous, Henry Willson. The Drop Sinister–What Shall We Do With It? Circa 1913. Portland Museum of Art. Portland, ME. www.portlandmuseum.org.

At first this looks like a not-too exciting portrait of a family at the breakfast table. Then you realize that this is a mixed race couple in 1913, with a blond daughter. The title alerts you to the tension in the scene. The more I looked at the painting, the more story-telling I saw.

Paxton, William M. Portrait of Henry Gustav Beyer, Jr. (1885-1931). 1912. Portland Museum of Art. Portland, ME. www.portlandmuseum.org.

This portrait drew me back to look at it again as well. At first I just thought this was an arrogant, rich, young man. Then I realized that maybe the artist didn’t like him that much. I couldn’t find much online about the portrait, so I suppose we will never know.

Fitness Log

As a reminder, my current goal is to make sure that I get 210 minutes a week of moderate exercise, of which 60 minutes should build strength (yoga counts); if I am working in the hospital, my goal is just 90 minutes, which is a more realistic stretch during those busy days.

How did I do?

Honestly, I have no idea.

We traveled during a heat wave, so that every walk, I am sure, took longer than normal (it sure seemed that way, anyway). We walked along the beach, hiked in a National Park, played some tennis on a beautiful but mercilessly sunny court. We explored Old Port Portland by foot.

I did not time our walks or tennis games. I am sure we walked and played tennis for more than 3.5 hours (210 minutes) over the whole week.

I did no yoga or weight lifting, except for the occasional suitcase.

Overall, I did everything I wanted, and my limitations were mostly due to the heat. I would call this a total win for the week.