Last year I wrote a post where I appreciated doing seven days in a row of a variety of exercise, not just running. This was during a good mellow period for my exercise life, especially coming off the marathon push the previous year.
This year that mellow trend has continued, with the addition that I took six months off entirely from running. Now that I am back doing it again, I plan to continue the easy-going “exercise over intense training” approach I have been using lately.
Here’s what my exercise this week looked like:
| Day | Activity | Notes |
| Monday | Elliptical/running | 30 minutes elliptical, 20 minutes running (to and from gym) |
| Tuesday | Swim | About 2/3 of a mile, 35-40 minutes |
| Wednesday | Run | 4 miles (about 45 minutes), with 3:1 run/walk intervals |
| Thursday | Rest Day | |
| Friday | Run | 4 miles (about 45 minutes), with 3:1 run/walk intervals |
| Saturday | Swim | About 2/3 of a mile, 35-40 minutes |
| TOTALS: | 5 of 6 days of exercise | 30 minutes elliptical, 110 minutes running, 80 minutes swimming. 220 minutes total. |
Notes:
- Yesterday as I ran I thought, “I’m doing the non-training training.” As in, I am not trying to train towards an ambitious running goal. Instead, I am just enjoying some progress and keeping it fun. I ran two times this week using the 3:1 run/walk intervals (three minutes of running, one minute of walking) for the first since early in the year.
- I have not been tracking the runs, and I’m deliberately taking it slow both with the runs themselves and with expanding my goals. I feel I am still clearing some mental baggage from old running patterns.
- It’s nice to be back running.