As promised in I Exercise and Write 24+ Hours Every Week: An A Dude Abikes Round-Up, I deliver the news of my progress for the first half of 2018.  You can see all my activities on Strava.

Bicycling

Hey, I biked 2,018 miles in six months!  (The graph below includes the 20 miles I rode yesterday, July 1.)   In 2016, when I rode 5,306 miles, at this point I had about 653 more miles.  And 2017 I rode 4,714 miles, so I had 357 more miles.  Time-wise, I biked almost 200 hours, which is over eight full days on a bike.  Elevation totalled over 10 miles uphill.  317 rides is alot, and while some were a mile, and none over 50, which is a big change since I’m not training for anything.  The average is 6.4 miles.  So if I may toot my own horn (since no one else is), that’s a good job of work for allegedly taking it easy.

That’s just the numbers, though.  The cumulative effects of all this work has been to mostly maintain my weight, since I’ve not lost any. But there’s also cardio fitness, mood, Vitamin D, and more riding for enjoyment.  But combined with other activities and lack of sleep, it also led to plenty of tiredness.  I over did it in May so did just enough in June.

With the extra hot early summer we’re having in Central Texas, I’m riding less and more at night.  And there’s the World Cup, which is taking alot of time to watch, and gearing up for a job.   Thankfully, today is a rest day.  But since I started the year off slowly, with a much lower goal of 50 miles per week (1,300 by June 30), and I made up 700 miles, I’m pretty happy with my progress overall.  Special thanks to those who encouraged me to go for 4,000 this year, especially sorryless.wordpress.com.  We’ll see if I get there; I have major doubts based on having to go back to work and ongoing medical challenges.  There are no guarantees in life, so overall I’d say I had a good six months on the bike.

This is supposed to be a widget showing recent activities.  WordPress and Strava don’t play well together, so here’s a screen shot of it:

Walking

I went on a 30-minute walk every single day January-June, with the exception of one day during South by Southwest.  But I more than made up for that because over several weeks when I was housesitting with Buddy Willis, the best dog in the holler, I walked for 60 minutes daily. (See A Dude, A Dog, A Day.)  In total, I walked 282 miles!  That averages 1.39 miles per walk, and does not include all my steps for the rest of the day.  To me, that’s pretty amazing.

If you told me last year that I would go that far and take 206 walks in six months, I would not have believed you.  But I did.  I can’t show you the stats from Strava because walking is listed as extra training, but I assure you, it’s there in my Garmin app.  But it’s a big spreadsheet, so you’ll just have to trust me on this.  Or look at the little “XT” at the bottom of my training logs in Strava.

As for the benefits, they are subtle, but in fact I’m sure it’s working at some level.  Walking reduces stress, gives me more air and Vitamin D, and has other benefits.  (I recently wrote about them in Keep Walking Even if It’s (Apparently) Not Doing Anything for You.)  I hope to continue walks as long as the body allows, actually.   That may change if work intervenes.  Maybe I’ll have to do two 15 minute walks, but I’d also like to go to parks, walk with others, and take hikes in more remote places.  For now the daily mosey, usually in the morning, is what I am managing.

Yoga

I do it.  Daily.  For 30 minutes.  I’ve previously shared a shot of my Insight Meditation Timer log.  There’s not much to say about getting my ass on the mat to do my asanas, except it could use some variety and classes.  That involves going somewhere, and more time, carrying a mat, etc.  Videos are still an option.  But just doing it without fail at home in my skivvies is enough for me for now.  I hope you enjoy the picture of a famous fathlete showing how limber he is.

Blogging and Book Writing

I do one or the other every day for 500 words or more.  I’ll do a separate blog about that soon.  My current schedule has me blogging Monday, Wednesday and Friday.  I hope you’ll subscribe to the email if you aren’t already on WordPress; ask me how if it’s problematic.  This Wednesday is Independence Day in the United States but I’ll be posting as usual.  Thank you as always to my followers, commenters, likers and especially those of you who are actually READERS!  The book will be evolving as I keep going.  Once I have a first draft I may start posting selections, but I’m not sure.

Anyway, I hope you’ve found this informative, inspirational or at least interesting.  If you put down your phone, tablet or computer and go on a walk, bike ride, or do yoga, that will be a big honor for me.  Let me know if you do, or just your reaction to this post in the comments!  -ADAB, out!

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