Since quarantine began (what 3 years ago?) I have been very contentious to exercise and try to take care of myself. It's not exactly going well, at least by the metrics I'd normally rely on.
I've been jogging. I've been doing long dog walks. I have been lifting weights. I have been eating better. I have been drinking less alcohol. Three months later I weigh 10 pounds more and feel destroyed after jogging an hour.
One takeaway is that for someone like me, doing 150 miles/week of bike commuting is a very good foundation for a healthy life. And that walking around a big office is better than sitting on the living room couch all day.
Two more variables: Stress and poor sleep. I think a lot of people are experiencing first-hand how much these two things can impact their sense of well being and health. I'm sure this is way worse for many black people right now.
I have a couple thoughts on weight to share, too. When I tweet about weight I often hear from people who remind me that weight and fitness are not the same thing and are concerned about shaming folks about weight. I totally get that.
For me, my issues with weight are about how I feel and move. I'm the heaviest I've ever been and I don't like how it feels to move, the way jogging is almost more impact than I can handle. I don't think there's anything wrong with being obsessive about wanting to fix that.
This may sound odd, but the solution is obvious and one I've resisted: riding my bike. I still have a big identity as a rider but I'm in so deep as a utility rider that I've lost my way as an enthusiast. If I put on kit for a road ride, I feel inauthentic. I need to work on this!
I don't whether some of y'all have been through this. Being a serious road cyclist takes real commitment and I put in the work for decades. I don't have tons of talent but I put in so much work for so long so I could enjoy cycling as a sport. And now I'm in such a different place
This is a thread with no clear ending. But one thing that pops into my head—when I moved to PA and started racing how Paul "the Animal" Pearson was my age now and crushing young pros every week at the training crit. I don't think I fully digested how incredible that was.
