This post looks at my monthly stats from all my activities in July 2021 courtesy of Strava. As you can see from the images below, I was active all 31 days of the month, for 93 hours total exercise. Of that, 37% was biking, 31% walking, 30% yoga, and 2% swimming. I had hoped to do a lot more of the latter, but there is limited access to the only outdoor pool my gym has in town. Also, I don’t like sharing a lane, since I’m a lousy swimmer I need a whole one to myself. That and my ongoing energy deficit made it too difficult to get in. At least I got in the water twice. I’ve realized they have water aerobics, so I might consider that. But the struggle is real, and it continues.

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Walking and biking combined for 595 miles. I do half an hour every day of slow walking, which is around 1.2 – 1.5 miles. I managed more than I expected on the bike — 550. The additional 100 miles came almost all from two longer rides that were pretty much flukes, coming as they did both times after long naps. Mostly I’m slogging along for 15 miles a day at 10 mph, which is pretty lethargic The other night I only managed eight miles and thought I was going to die, puke, or both I was so tired.

However, July has been cooler than usual due to some unusual extra rains. That definitely makes a difference. Even when it’s 85 instead of 95, one doesn’t tire out nearly as fast. Being mostly a night rider these days to avoid the heat and a recurrence of skin cancer, I take full advantage of cooler temperatures. I especially enjoy riding after the rain when the air is ionized and smells much cleaner. Night rides also allow me to rest up most of the day and there’s less traffic. With good lights and using sidewalks when necessary, I enjoy the solitude and relative peace and quiet.

Yoga continues to be daily and very gentle, mostly on the floor, and for the purpose of recovering from the daily bike ride. I am also still adding on five minutes of foam rolling and five minutes of a guided meditation using the Insight Meditation Timer. I’m also recording my yoga on Garmin vivoactive 3 music watch, because it credits me the calorie burn.

I gave up the MyFitnessPal tracking on the advice of a nutritionist and gained 10 pounds in the last month or so. Stress and not sleeping enough are to blame, but also it’s the old ride to eat and eat to ride problem. Biking makes me hungry, and I can’t bike without fuel in the tank. a month, even though I’m still measuring what I eat. So that sucks, but hopefully it will come back down if I’m more mindful about it. I am keeping up my daily salad, but that’s not really enough vegetables.

One side effect of summer in Central Texas is that one may eat more when it’s really just thirst and dehydration. So even though I love fruit like peaches, grapes, etc. (I tend to forget I can buy watermelon and cantaloupe), but I need to drink at least one glass of water with Propel electrolyte packet day if not more. I do like a few swigs of pickle juice after a hot sweaty bike ride. The sodium and magnesium are good for the muscles.

All told, it was a decent month. But overall my health is not improving, and weight gain is not good for a fathlete. Now it’s August, which includes the hottest day of the year in Austin before temperatures begin their slow decline into fall. We’ll have a couple of days of rain and a “cold front” taking us down 10 degrees from 101 today to highs in the 80’s, which is nice. The heat index which can be 10 degrees higher with the humidity. Life goes on.

How was your July? Any new goals for August? Best of luck with your fitness goals!

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