Hi everyone! <waves>
Well I haven't been on here for about 6/7 months. Yikes. Time flies when you're stressed and busy.
I've finally been able to start getting out there again and started thinking about this site. I did so much better when I felt somewhat accountable for my actions (you know the feeling, when you haven't inputted any exercise for a few days) so I thought I should start up again and hopefully that can help keep me active even when my schedule goes crazy.
I've included a long update as to what I've been up to and my road blocks over the past months. Feel free to read or skip.
Last August I moved from Victoria to Edmonton to start my M.Sc in Computer Science. However, this meant disastrous results for my exercise routines. I spent August traveling and then school started in September and the workload piled on really fast.
I was pretty good at the beginning of the semester of walking to school - it's about 25-30 mins and 2.5k each way. But then it got cold (-25C is very cold) and I started to catch the bus. And then school class commitments often required staying on campus until 9-10pm at which point I didn't feel completely safe walking home.
I tried to keep up my running twice. The second time lasted longer than the first, and I even got a nice jacket and pants to run in. But that still didn't hold out once the temp got to low.
Finally the semester ended, and while my exercise wasn't up to par, my marks were way above, so at least something good happened from it all. Following the end of semester, I was off on a family vacation to India to visit relatives and it was 3 weeks of "eat more" and no exercise. Thankfully, the one good thing for me (not the rest of my family) is that I'm not as big a fan of Indian food and seem to lose weight every time I go.
Anyway, so January starts and so does semester number 2. However, this time around my classes and TA-ing all fall Tuesday thru Thursday. I decided it was a perfect time (and schedule) to start off this semester on the right exercising foot. I've managed to at least walk 1 way to school each day so far. My sister wanted to try out the Y near her work (yeah, I live in the same city as family now) and so I went on Monday with her and got a 2 week trial pass. (Very nice Y, opened end of November, each exercise machine has its own tv.)
I was actually very surprised by the shape I'm in. Good surprised. On Monday I went on a machine that was like an elliptical, not sure what it's called, but it didn't seem exactly like an elliptical as the handles were higher. I did 20 mins at level 6/7 (moved up and down a bit) and then went to run on the indoor 100m track. I did either 15.75 or 16.75 (couldn't remember if I was counting finished laps or starting lap numbers) followed by a few laps of walking. I felt really good at the end of the day and had probably one of the best sleeps in months. Isn't exercise wonderful?
I meant to go Wednesday morning, but TA duties came up, and so I headed out after lab instead. This meant I had to deal with the busy gym time, as it's a downtown location and therefore full of the business people after work. However, I decided to forgo the machines (which is a good thing as they were all full) and go straight to the track. This time I started by walking 3 laps before transitioning to running. I then managed to run not 15, not 25 but 55 laps! I was so surprised and felt like I could keep going but made myself stop as it has been a few months since I ran and I don't want to get all motivated and get injured. I wasn't running as fast as I had been last July or so (probably just over 5mph), but I was greatly surprised to see how much of my endurance has remained.
Anyway, I have high hopes (and, currently, motivation) to get back into running. I want to run the same 10k run I did last year (July 1st - Canada Day) and see if I can't improve my time. I only started running last May, so I figure starting in January this time should make that possible. I'd love to make it under 1hr!
I aim to hit the gym again tomorrow, but will have to see if I can fit it around preparing to leave for a Ski-Trip weekend (during which, apparently, very few will ski :P but I'm bringing skates and I have friends up for that). Hope to start hanging around the boards much more often.
