Fitness for life
Elizabeth and I had an amazing time doing a bike tour of San Francisco. We started at the Bay Bridge, worked our way along the bay, went under the Golden Gate Bridge, and stopped for lunch at Baker Beach.
Most of this can be accomplished on bike path and it all feels pretty safe. The Presidio Tunnel Top Park is a major highlight, it’s so well done.
Here is the link to my Strava map https://strava.app.link/hFi1GfOjULb
This is a great ride, give it a try.
Nashville, what a great city. This morning’s run was about seeing various areas of the city and ending up at a local coffee place for beverages and a little food. Part two of the adventure was walking back to the hotel.
I researched a few coffee places and I saw Vanderbilt University was in the area so that gave me my two points of interest I was looking for.
Vanderbilt did not disappoint. The school is 150 years old and very pretty. We had a great time running through exploring and ended up using more milage than expected in the campus.
From there we set off to find Honest Coffee Roasters on Lea Ave. The City is fairly easy to navigate so it wasn’t hard to find. A coffee, a juice, and an avocado toast hit the spot. The people were great there.
We took a different street back on the walk back to the hotel and saw a whole bunch of other cool stuff.
I’m going to call this Nashville exploration mission a success.
Here are our Strava maps
#explore @nashville
Sometimes I like to spice up a run with some strength elements. I have been refining this combination of exercises for a while and I now think its’ ready to share. Here is the idea – find a large park, or running path if you can, and incorporate strength stations within the run. You can obviously also do this with a walk as well if you like. I have a park 2.5 miles away that I ran to this morning. At this park there is a path that is 1.2 miles around. I have seven stops in the loop and I do the loop two times and then run home. Today the total milage was 7.8 miles.
Here are the stations below
Here is the link to the YouTube video where I demonstrated the whole loop.
There is no magic to the order, it’s just the way it laid out on the loop I ran. Be creative and swap in other things you like for stuff you don’t. I obviously left out burpees because I really don’t like them. This is a great workout if you are training for a Tough Mudder, Spartan, or DEKA event this coming season. Get out there, challenge yourself and have some fun.
I am not sure if this will link to Strava but I am giving it a shot. https://www.strava.com/activities/11142600624
Above is my new cover art for my Fitness Anywhere, YouTube series. Let me know what you think.
Probably the biggest key to my workout consistency is having a weekly routine that I don’t have to think about from day to day. I have had this routine for at least the last 15 years. Depending on race preparation, I have made some adjustments but the main structure has worked through it all.
My point isn’t for you to adopt this particular plan. My point is when you thoughtfully layout your week, knowing where the challenges are, you are much more likely to stay on plan. Here is my thinking for my schedule and the reasoning behind it. I have found with this schedule I don’t get bored because every day is something new and I have managed to avoid injury logging 1,200 miles running and 5,000 biking annually the last 15 years.
Saturday and Sunday I have the most time available to workout. Saturday I do my long bike ride and Sunday I do my long run. Three hours on the bike, that’s 50 miles (give or take 2-3) and 9-12 miles running on Sunday depending what I am training for. The weekend workouts covers about 45% of my weekly volume.
Monday and Friday are active recovery and strength days. I lift weights on those two days emphasizing upper body with a little bit of lower body mixed in. I ride my city bike for an hour around town just having fun being on the bike. I keep my heart rate fairly low and focus on spinning and recovery.
Tuesday and Thursday are intermediate run days of 7 miles. I will mix in interval days, hill days, or just keep it chill depending how I am feeling.
Wednesday is intermediate bike day, typically about 30 miles. It’s a great way to break up the run days.
You can scale this how ever works for you and for the sports you enjoy. The point is to have a plan that you don’t have to recreate every week. It will make being consistent so much easier. I did a TikTok and Instagram video on this if you want to check it out.
Today is one of the special award days that Apple does from time to time. Celebrating Valentine’s Day and heart month, if you close your green exercise ring today you will get this fun badge.
And After…
It’s today, Feb 14, only so don’t miss out.
One of the things I believed I am called to do is help people enjoy the benefits of exercise in their lives. I also believe many of us in the fitness industry feel the same way. For me there was no better place to start than within my own extended family. Yesterday was a huge day for us out at the Surf City Half Marathon and 5K in Huntington Beach CA. We had six family members participate in the 5K who had never done an organized event before. My wife Elizabeth, my daughter Hannah and I did the half marathon.
This all started back in October when I organized a Walktober Step Challenge for the family and has continued to blossom. We now have 11 people in our Family Strava Club where we can recognize and encourage each other daily. About half of us are on MyZone so we can encourage there as well.
The link between physical health and mental health are well documented. Getting regular exercise you enjoy, being out in nature, and having a strong social network are key components. We can do so much to help each other’s mental and physical health with just a few simple steps, like inviting friends and family to participate in an event you are doing. The 5K group went to breakfast after and started planning their next event and how they want to improve their times. The ball is rolling and that makes me very happy. We have the opportunity to help each other make this the best year ever.
As for me – I ran a 1:46, which is OK but it was top 10% in my age group and top 9% overall out of 8,200 runners. I haven’t raced since pre-covid so it’s nice to be back. #fitness Myzone® Strava #runner #mentalhealth #mentalfitness #fitnessmotivation #fitnessinspiration
I was talking to a friend the other day who is an avid gamer and also happens to work in the video game industry. When I talk to him about his gaming and leveling up, or acquiring new items in a game he just lights up. He was in San Francisco for a work trip and I was telling him all the cool places he should go while visiting. He said he would have to walk like five miles to see all the things I had on my list.
In my head I am thinking that’s a pretty cool 5 mile route. In his head he is not sure he could make it.
That got me thinking how being fit gives you access to places and experiences that others don’t have. The fitter you are the more ground you can cover in a given period of time and the more you get to see and do. Much like a video game, the better you are the more in the game you get to experience.
As people’s fitness improves as does their confidence to explore and try new things. This opens up all new worlds of life enriching experiences IRL- in real life.
Just start, you never know what you will discover even in your own neighborhood.
Crissy Field
I had the opportunity to go to Boise this week for our quarterly Black Box VR meeting and I will tell you this is the time of the year when Boise shines. It’s light early and late, it’s warm but not too hot and the trails are clear and ready.
Day one I decided to get up to Table Top Rock, where the giant cross is that overlooks Boise. I used Strava maps to calculate my route from the hotel down town.
I ran in a clockwise location running as much trail as I could on my way out and took the faster street way back.
The climb to the top is no joke, 1 mile at 10% average grade. Yes there is a Strava segment for it.
The view at the top is well worth the effort. I was very pleased with myself because I didn’t walk any part of the climb, which was a mental challenge.
I took a moment to say a prayer of gratitude for the opportunity to experience this wonderful adventure.
I highly recommend this trail when you get to Boise. It’s very well marked and well kept. I was out there early on a Tuesday and there were a lot of friendly people and dogs out there.
Stay tuned for Day 2 workout fun
Today we took a trip out to the gorge for this amazing hike with our friends Jarod and Adina. Jarod knows the gorge well and recommended this hike and it did not disappoint. It only took us about 40 minutes to drive out there from downtown Portland, that was after a stop at HenryHiggins Boiled Bagels
This is a relatively easy hike with moderate elevation gain but the visuals are stunning. You will hike along the river getting higher above it as you go which changes your perspective.
We hiked up to Punchbowl Falls about 3.2 miles up but there was plenty to see along the way.
Here is the Punchbowl. You can get down to it but it’s not easy and didn’t seem worth the time to us.
I’d say this hike is family friendly because it’s not steep and you can turn around at any point and feel successful.
Our hiking crew, Fletcher the dog was in the water and missed the picture. Thank you to Jarod and Adina for hosting us.
We wrapped up our trip with a short drive over the bridge to Stevenson WA for lunch. A very cute town with lots of lunch options.
Get out there and have fun.
By Ralph
I recently had to travel to Las Vegas for a work trip. It’s always tricky to keep the workout patterns intact while traveling, but with some planning and commitment it’s possible.
When I get to a new city, I prepare for a morning run by first going on Google Maps and seeing what points of interest are within three miles of wherever I am staying. I always look first for a bike path, major park, or trail system in the area. That can take a lot of the guess work out of an unknown location. I also look to see if there are any major districts on the map. For example, a district I always enjoy in any city is the Arts District. There is one in Las Vegas just off the north end of the strip. There is always great graffiti art in those areas and usually some cool buildings to see. If you look up the city’s art district you will get the whole history of the area as well as the main points of interest.
I did that this time in Las Vegas because I can only run up and down the strip so many times. For me, it’s important to try and see something new every
time I go to a city. Here are a few of the pictures I took running around the “18b” or 18 Blocks Art District of Las Vegas. Just a sample of what you can see when you adventure outside in a new location.