Since the lockdown - I’ve stopped using public transportation and have been using either my feet or my bike to get around the city. I love running as well but have been dealing with some “jumper’s knee” the past year so Ive slowed down while I try to fix that.
Google gave me my year end stats and I was surprised to see how much I biked this year - over 1700 miles. It’s awesome being able to take control of your transportation and avoid waiting for busses or trains.
Anyone here finding themselves doing a lot more exercise outside? Do you have a bike or planning to get one when the weather warms up? Training for a race or doing a couch to 5k program? Let’s talk about it
I use the Google Fit app and have location tracking turned on (obviously, not the best option if you’re uncomfortable with having that tracking enabled) so it will automatically track my biking, walking, and running activities from my phone. Otherwise I would never bother to track them.
It does a pretty good job of being able to distinguish between all three really well and is usually pretty accurate in regards to distance - if anything it tends to undercut the actual distance because certain areas don’t receive signal well. Like I might go on a 5 mile run and it cuts out 0.3 miles for example.
I workout early every morning for around 30-45 mins, typically something cardio and some weight lifting (nothing major). I go for a walk with my wife and dog a few times a day, I have an exercise bike for the evenings to help recover my legs, and we hike around 15-25 miles on the weekend between Saturday and Sunday. I probably do too much to an unhealthy extent, it’s become hard to take a day off and I’m underweight! I love being active, it’s only gotten worse since the pandemic began to avoid feeling trapped and wanting goals for myself. Basically, be balanced people haha.
I’m doing some walk every night, about a hour or so. After that some light exercising. I would like to do more, but work and family time are there too.
I still run 2 or 3 times a week. I also had a garden office built a couple of years ago which I use as a gym to keep things varied (and me still likely to go and exercise even if it is raining!). I use exercise to destress and clear my head. Covid pending I’ll hopefully be able to do some events this year. I did my first marathon in 2016 and have done longer since.
I walk outside or on treadmill for 50 to an hour basically every day when I went to south Carolina to visit family for a week in 2019 I walked on hills boy was that workout plus it being in August which was near 100 degrees
Idk if it’s a U.S. app or not, but since moving overseas my wife and I use the Kamoot app for hiking. We paid for the app, but I think there’s a limited free version as well. I’m on iOS, but I wouldn’t doubt there’s an Android version as well. It’s really great, gives lots of options for hikes for those who aren’t into heading into some random area and walking about. The support is fantastic - it’s updated all the time - and customer support is also quite good. High recommendation here.
I’ve biked about 200 miles and maybe walked 100 miles so far this year. I broke down and used public transit due to some bad snow a few times and i absolutely hated not being able to ride my bike
Hot Tips for Walking/Biking/Running in cold ass weather:
Layers - Wear compression bottom and top, then base layer over that, plus a hoodie and a light jacket (I prefer that to wearing a heavy winter coat thats a little more cumbersome to navigate with). I wear a bike bib and thermal top when I bike. I also have heavy wool sockets I wear, two facemasks on top of each other, two gloves - one pair is thinner pair that goes inside gloves that can be used for smartphone touch. There are heavy work gloves you can get but i dont have any that can be used with my phone.
Fanny Pack and Battery Charger for Phone - Fanny packs are awesome. You can use them to put your keys, wallet, phone, and battery backup charger in. This will also help prevent your battery draining from being exposed to super cold temperatures. And you can charge your phone as needed on the go.
Skin Lotion for cracked hands. Even with gloves on I still get cracked hands on occassion. Keep some daily moisturizing skin lotion around and not a bad idea to also grab some aquaphor as healing ointment.
I try and get out and about for a walk at least every weekday depending on the weather. Some days around the neighbourhood and some days a decent trek in the bush. Nothing like a good bush walk ending in views like this…
