Tag: autumn

Fitness Journal: bodyweight workout

So that was a week. In addition to the massive upheaval of the election, a good friend hit a major professional milestone and also had to put down one of her dogs. In light of everything, and my stated goal of habit building before substantial physical fitness improvements, I’m cutting this workout a bit short.

I technically started the workout on Wednesday and also made it through the first round, and then my roommate got home and we had to yell about the election.

Exercise Round 1 Round 2 Round 3
15 squats X
5 knee pushups X
20 lunges X (walking)
10 milk jug rows X
15s plank X
30 jumping jacks X

Skin care update: current routine

A thing I have not been updating on is my current overall skin care routine. Lets check it out!

Evening:
1. Oil: Argan or jojoba oil
2. Cerave foaming cleanser
3. Cosrx BHA
4. Cosrx AHA
5. Missha FTE
6. Mizon All in One (brown jar)
7. (sometimes) CeraVe PM

Notes: I’ve been applying the BHA and AHA basically on top of each other. On days when I’m exercising, and thus starting my routine earlier, I’ll hold off on the rest of my routine until I’m brushing my teeth and going to bed. Otherwise, I try to wait for them to dry, then go right into the rest of my routine. Some folks suggest that wait times can be important in maximizing the effectiveness of active ingredients like acids, but my current schedule just doesn’t support it.

You will also note that I’m really not wearing any makeup these days. Again, primarily a time issue. Also, since my skin has greatly improved, my job doesn’t require it, and I’m lazy, it’s nice to not ‘have’ to.

Morning:
1. Rinse with water or Cerave hydrating cleanser
2. Missha FTE
3. Mizon All in One (brown jar)
4. Sunscreen

I’m still not 100% satisfied with my sunscreen choice, and I blame my impatience and also the really opaque product descriptions. I like the Biore Aqua Rich Watery Essence sunscreen, it really has a very nice finish. Since it’s been cooling off, I’ve been reaching for it more often and I am less concerned with the fact that it isn’t sweat/sebum/water resistant. In the hot sweaty stick southern summer though, I think it’s probably a joke, given that I can’t walk to my car without sweating, which I why I picked up the Nivea Sun Protect Plus UV Milky Essence. Unfortunately, it tends to leave me shiny, except on rare occasions and I’m not sure what I’m doing differently on those days. :( I’m excited to try a Biore Milk sunscreen soon.

Fitness Journal: body weight(ish) workout

My legs were starting to feel the running a bit more than I really wanted, so my current plan is to slow that training down a bit and get started with a weight workout, which I’ve been meaning to do. Since I don’t really own any working out/weight lifting equipment and don’t have or want a gym membership, I’m starting with the Beginner Bodyweight Workout from Nerd Fitness*. I like the idea of bodyweight workout since it doesn’t require a lot of monetary investment, and I have lots of milk jugs to fill with water!

Exercise Round 1 Round 2 Round 3
20 squats X X
5 knee pushups X X
20 lunges X (regular) X (walking)
10 milk jug rows X X
15s plank X X
30 jumping jacks X X

This is a good illustration of how not-great shape I’m in, despite the running going well. My legs are in the best shape, so I started with the ‘hardest’ squats with my arms over my head, and for round 2, I did the hands behind the head. I probably could have done a third round of squats, but I’m giving myself credit for doing the workout at all in the first place, and calling it a day. My goal is consistent workouts, not super hard workouts. I’m also quite weak in the arm department, so I’m starting with 5 pushups from my knees instead of the 10 regular pushups. Hilariously, the 10 dumbbell/milk jug rows were no problem. I probably can plank for a little longer, but I’m ok with starting at 15 seconds and working up to my three full rounds of exercises first before making them harder.

  • I theoretically like the idea of a ‘nerd-focused’ fitness site since I myself am a Giant Nerd. And they do a great job of introducing people who stereotypically have not done a lot of moving their body around to moving! If this is for you, beware the cloying/patronizing nerd analogies. As ever, I’m the Wrong Kind of Nerd for this to be really appealing.

Fitness Journal: Monday evening run

I left work a bit early, because bleh, and was almost all set to get out and run when my Mom called. It was good, because we needed to catch up on a whole bunch of things, but I definitely started running after dark. My new route actually works out ok in the dark. Its better lit and/or I was just less worried about turning my ankle.

Stats:
Distance: 2.24 mi
Speed: 14:47 min/mi
Animals: none, just smelled the aftermath of a few. :(

Fitness Journal: Friday run

I accidentally went much farther than I was ‘supposed’ to. In week 1 of the C25K program that I’m doing, there are 8 intervals + warmup/cooldown, but in week 2, there are only 6 intervals, so I ran the first few mins of my cooldown. It worked out though. Since I thought I had more intervals to go, I was taking a longer route, so I still got plenty of cooldown time.

I also realized that (horror!) I might have to start doing my runs in the morning instead of the evening. It is getting darker earlier, and I don’t like doing the trails in the dark because the ground is a bit uneven and I’m paranoid about my ankles. And after the end of daylight savings, it’s going to be Really Dark. Maybe I can sub some running with biking to work.

Todays stats:
Distance: 2.52 mi
Speed: 14:52 min/mi
Animals: a million dogs being walked

Fitness Journal: Monday and Wednesday runs

I’m up to Week 1 Day 3 of C25k! Congrats to me! Tonight’s run went really well. There were times on Monday when I wanted to die, but that was really absent today. As a tradeoff, Monday’s run was great in the ankle department, while I was getting some twinges today. So it goes.

Monday’s stats:
Distance: 2.14 mi
Speed: 16:06 min/mi

Wednesday’s stats:
Distance: 1.99 mi
Speed: 15:45 min/mi
Animals: One orange kitty-kit, hanging out protecting their front yard

I’m not really sure why the distance was that much shorter today than it usually is. Maybe my cooldown was shorter.