I Started Working Out Again Last Sunday and I am Feeling Motivated to Keep Working Out... Plus Oliver Likes Walks!

Before First Run

After a few months away from any type of exercise, I started running again on Sunday, June 4. I had a good first walk/jog to start off the process. My plan is to exercise three times a week although not sticking to strict days, but I do plan to work out at least three days each week. So far I have only been doing the running as I completed three runs last week. The picture to the left is before my first run. I felt pretty good considering I had not run, or done any type of exercise, in a few months. I looked it up and the last time I did any type of exercise was early November.

While I felt good following the run, I did have leg cramps on Monday. Calf pain that felt like shin splints but by Monday evening, those were gone. I was ready to run again on Tuesday evening although I did not run as long this time. 

Happy Oliver on a Walk

When I returned home from my first run, little Oliver was waiting at the door and whining when I came into the kitchen. Even though it had been months since I last ran, or took Oliver on a walk, he knew what I was doing and that he would be going on a walk when I returned home. He was so excited! We had a great first walk post-run, so that helps to motivate me to want to exercise and then take him on walks. Oliver remained excited the other two days that I ran too although he was not whining at me when I came back home following my run, he was waiting at the door ready to get on his collar and head out for a walk.

My plan is to run most of the time and then I also want to get back on the bike and do that some weeks instead of running. I figure it will help my legs and keep me fresh doing an alternate workout instead of running all the time. I do enjoy running and it is a good time to listen to audio books too while I run, or bike, so that will help to motivate me to exercise each week. Everything little bit of motivation helps.

I plan to update on my status at least once a month, so let this be the start to many more posts on my exercise routine. I might not always feel motivated to workout, but I sure feel good after a workout. Not to mention Oliver likes the routine and doing a walk post-workout, so I plan to keep this going and get back into the routine even when other events happen to take me away from working out.

Until next time, have a great week and I will chat with you later.

Two Months of Riding on Peloton Along with Workouts and How I am Doing #Peloton #workout #Rides #biking

 

I just had an anniversary of our Peloton bike making two months since we got our bike (see New Peloton Bike+ Delivered on Friday, November 13, 2020 and Cannot Be Happier... Let the Exercising Being! Let's GO!) and I am still loving the workouts and the process. I have found that I still enjoy the recorded classes with instructors, but I have a new found enjoyment of scenic bike rides. I have done rides in Washington, Europe, and even Costa Rica. Costa Rica was probably my favorite so far as I felt like I was riding through areas where Carrie and I had been years ago with Javier. The Peloton Costa Rica ride went around the Arenal Volcano and brought back memories.

The scenic rides are fun because they play music and you can go your own pace whether that is slow or fast, but I find I push myself harder in scenic rides than I do for instructor led rides. The Costa Rica ride when I finished, I could barely stand and perspiration was pouring off of me so it made it seem like I had been working hard... I had and it showed!

I do still enjoy the recorded and live sessions. I tend to do the live sessions on Sunday where I enjoy 30 Minute Sundays with Love which is every Sunday at 11 am CST. She does a good job with the class where I enjoy her pre-speach talk and she keeps me motivated during the 30 minutes. I have a few favorites including Ally Love, Jess King, Leanne Hainsby, Hannah Corbin, and Christine D'ercole to name a few.

I enjoy the feeling of pushing myself to what feels like the limits and then being able to finish the workout.

The past two or three weeks I have started working out daily doing weights, meditation, or aerobics on some of the off days. I am working on a streak and plan to have a streak go at least 365 days if not longer. It is nice because I can keep the streak going by using my phone, Roku, or even iPad to do a session which keeps my streak alive. My plan is to do more days of weights or aerobics as currently I ride the bike Sunday, Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday leaving only Tuesday and Thursday for weights or aerobics. I feel good and actually a lot better than the first month when I was doing the bike every day as I think that was not good on my legs doing the bike every day.

Two months into having our bike, exercising regularly, I have not noticed a huge different with weight. Obviously, it does not help that my eating habits have not changed much where I enjoy a few beers on the weekends, eat whatever I want throughout the week, etc., but I do feel a lot better. I enjoy the feeling of pushing myself to what feels like the limits and then being able to finish the workout. Now, if I can work on my eating habits or at least change what I eat, maybe some of the weight will start to come off too.

If you are interested in connecting on Peloton, please search for Havertyj which is my handle or leave me a message so I can connect with you and be sure to provide your handle.

Update on Riding Peloton Bike, Working Out, and Struggles Have Gone Through to this Point in my 23 Day Riding Streak

 

After getting our Peloton bike on Friday, November 13 (see post), I have been working out daily with a streak of 23 days. I have biked everyday since getting the bike. Some long rides (45 minutes), a few medium length rides, and then a few short rides too. Overall, I have felt great during all of my rides. The first week, or week and half, my behind hurt from the seat (saddle). That eventually went away and do not notice sitting in the saddle much any more. 

What is hurting right now are my legs. Even during a 20 minute ride, my legs start burning and doubts start cropping into my head that I am not going to be able to finish the ride. I can barely push the peddles which made me wonder if maybe I am riding too much or too long of rides each time I ride. So, Friday, I did an easy ride of only about 15 minutes. It worked! Saturday, I did a 45 minute (see stats) ride and felt great! It was a tough 45 minute workout that was intense, but I felt really good throughout the ride. Later in the day my legs did hurt, but it was a good kind of hurt letting me know I had done a good workout.

One thing I have been battling is that my left foot becomes sore during a ride. Almost as though it falls asleep. I have looked for answers and might have found what is happening, but I have not done anything yet to fix the issue. For my bike rides, I wear special shoes with cleats that snap into the bike peddles. I think on my left foot the cleats might be up too far on the sole of my feet. I have no issues with my right foot, but left foot becomes uncomfortable on longer rides. So, I am going to try and move the cleat up, or down, to see if that resolves the issue.

I plan to keep my daily streak going. As we get back to "normal" later in 2021 (hopefully) I know it will take planning on my part to either make sure I get up early and ride or ride after getting back from an event. But, I think I can keep it going and keep the streak going. 

The picture on the left is my new profile picture on the Peloton site. Snapped it Saturday, December 5 prior to my 45 minute ride. I figured I had my previous picture as posted in my November 15 post since Carrie took that picture that it was time to post a new picture. 

Happy riding and be sure to connect with me if you are a Peloton member. As of today, I am following 15 and have 14 followers. It is fun to connect with others giving high fives in rides and receiving high fives as I ride.

On another note, today is my mom's birthday so wishing a big Happy Birthday Mom!