I am proud of how my numbers ended up for 2020. I had a few months where I had physical challenges running but I was able to overcome them and have a pretty good run year.
I am most proud of my bike year š“š¼āāļø. For the first time ever I rode over 6,000 miles. Some of that was due to run injury and part was due to COVID and sheltering in place. Thankfully I have able to ride consistently.
2020 Run and Bike Stats
Iāll be looking to do the same kinda numbers this year with my focus on staying healthy. Keys to success? Hydrate, eat well, stretch and be smart.
I wish you a successful workout year. I hope you have taken a minute to think about what your goals are and how you will get it done.
We are now 7 weeks into the new year and it’s about the time when New Year’s Resolutions start to fade into the busyness of our daily lives. If you are losing traction on your resolution, I offer these few thoughts:
1. Was it realistic? Instead of scrapping the idea, maybe just a reframe or adjustment is needed.
2. Was it visible? Post it somewhere it’s visible to you every day so it serves as a reminder of what you want to accomplish.
3. Do you have an accountability system? Is someone helping to keep you accountable to your resolution? If not ask someone to partner with you and do the same for them.
4. Do you have a reward system? Figure a point where it’s appropriate to give yourself some intermediate rewards for being on the right track.
A couple fun ones have popped up for me recently. One is the 1000 Mile Run Club on Strava. I want to see how quick I can get there this year. The other is in my Apple Watch step counter. My goal is 2 million steps this year.
Don’t let your strong motivation and good thoughts from January go to waste. Now is the time to refresh your resolutions. Do you have any other tips for keeping your resolutions fresh? I’d love to hear them!
When Ralph and I have an opportunity to participate in a run or bike ride that is also a fund-raiser for a favorite charity, we are delighted. And when good friends also join in, it makes it even better.
That was the case this past weekend. OurĀ local Meals on Wheels chapter in Alameda County hostedĀ Wheels for Meals Ride, an annual bike ride fund-raiser through the Livermore vineyards. We’ve done it two years now. It’s a win-win-win: a beautiful bike ride with friends to raise money for this vital meal service for local, homebound seniors.
My favorite riding partner
Meals on Wheels is particularly close to my heart. During the last few years that my late grandmother was able to live independently, she relied on her local Meals on Wheels program for nutritious meals. It was such a huge relief to know that my beloved grandma was regularly receiving nourishing food from a friendly visitor. I believe she was able to stay in her apartment longer because of this great service.
She was in North Dakota and I was in California, so there was little I could do to help provide meals for her when she was no longer cooking for herself. This was in the early 90s, well before the world wide web and myriad online resources and mobile apps that now make it so much easier to provide long-distance help to an elderly family member. I will always be grateful for the vital assistance provided by Meals on Wheels.
My grandma is always in my heart so she was with me this glorious Saturday for a fun ride! We rode 35-miles with friends and were happy to see many bike-riding friends also out supporting this fund-raiser. There were three ride options: 15 miles, 35 miles and 70 miles. Afterward, the ride sponsors hosted a delicious barbecue for all of the riders.
Riding with friends makes long rides fun!
This year, Ralph set up a fund-raising page for Team ClubSport when he signed up and we sent out the link to our friends who ride. (It’s still live if you’d like to contribute!) At the end of the day, our team raised $1,455 and the Wheels for Meals ride raised nearly $106,000 for our local chapter. Ā It is heartwarming and gratifying to know countless seniors in the Bay Area will continue to receive a hot meal and a friendly visitor!
By Ralph
One of the things I love about my job is the opportunity it provides to meet with leaders in the fitness industry throughout the country. This month, I had the good fortune of meeting key members of Total Gym and working out with their master trainer on their latest equipment. What these type of business trips also give me is a great opportunity to explore new ground on what I call adventure runs.
The morning before my meeting, I planned a run tour of San Diego. I was staying at the Marriott in the Marina,Ā Ā which is a great starting point for a run. Because I have been to San Diego many times, I knew about where I wanted to go, but the night before I went onto Google Maps and planned an 8-mile route.
8-mile course
This route hits many of the major sights in San Diego, and with the emphasis on Balboa Park, I saw a few new places. Ā And that, by the way, is one of the main things I look for when I plan an exploration routes.
I started out running clockwise along the harbor. The energy is great in this area, with lots of runners and walkers out, and the USS Midway is always amazing to see.
USS Midway
Once you hit the airport, Harbor Drive gets less interesting, so I made a right up Laurel St. This is the connector to the park and a really nice climb, about 1.1 miles and about a 250-foot climb. Laurel runs you right into Balboa Park and that’s when the fun really begins. I just let the sights take me wherever and I ran around exploring. Here are a few of the cool things I found.
After the park, I headed south down 6th street toward Petco Park. This ballpark seems to be one of the few I have encountered that has pretty good pedestrian access all the time. I always get a kick out of running around ballparks. There are usually some cool statues, historical monuments and interesting architecture to see.
Petco Park
6th street from Balboa Park to Petco is pretty much all downhill, giving you back the elevation gained on Laurel.
After my round there, I hit the Harbor Drive Pedestrian Bridge getting me safely over Harbor Blvd and right by the convention center. Ā From there it’s a straight shot back to the hotel. Or it could have been. A pretty good flight of steps at the Convention Center caught my attention. Naturally I was compelled to do a couple sets on the steps before finishing up my tour of San Diego.
The whole route was 8 miles and I had a great time.
Welcome to the active lifestyle blog of Ralph and Elizabeth (i.e. RE-active). We are active people who make every effort to incorporate fitness into our busy daily lives. Our goal with this blog is to share our fitness activities and healthy lifestyle, both at home and when we travel. We hope our stories will inspire you to stay active, live healthy and explore new places.
I recently had to travel to Las Vegas for a work trip. Itās always tricky to keep the workout patterns intact while traveling, but with some planning and commitment itās possible.Ā
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.Ā I always look first for a bike path, major park, or trail system in the area.Ā 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 cityās 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.Ā For me, itās important to try and see something new every
time I go to a city.Ā Here are a few of the pictures I took running around the ā18bā or 18 Blocks Art District of Las Vegas. Just a sample of what you can see when you adventure outside in a new location.
