Speed vs. Endurance

Speed v Endurance is the classic Tortoise and the Hare analogy, but does slow & steady always win the race? 

When I began swimming as exercise about 10 weeks ago I had neither speed nor endurance. I could swim 10 lengths of the pool (250 m) in a little under 30 minutes.  Pathetic.

Within a month I had built up both speed and endurance and could swim 30 lengths of the pool (750 m) in 30 minutes.  I was happy there for awhile and decided my next goal was increasing my endurance, swimming more lengths at the same pace and soon I could do 40 lengths in 40 minutes and can now do 60 lengths in 60 minutes.  While my time per length is the same I am keeping pace over a longer time span showing both cardio and muscle endurance.

My new challenge is to increase speed.  This week I shaved 2 minutes off my 40 length swim, doing 40 lengths in 38 minutes.  According to Fitbit that really upped my calorie burn, that little time savings pushed my cardio level up a notch.

This same formula can be applied to any cardio workout, but balancing speed and endurance is key to a sustainable workout plan.  I have 3 pool days a week, right now I am going to focus 2 of them on increasing speed (primarily because they are week days when I truly have less time to spend in the pool) and my weekend swim will focus on endurance when I can spend 60 minutes in the pool.

I would like to swim a mile in under an hour (I know that sounds crazy to you runners, but try it some time) by the end of November.  How do you balance speed and endurance in your cardio workout?

40 Days of Org Update

So I grossly underestimated how long 40 Days of Org was going to take.  It will certainly go long past 40 Days, but I also underestimated how fun it would be.  I have enjoyed unburdening myself and while I have become lighter, it has been a pleasure to make my surroundings lighter as well.

Here is a before and after view of a wall in my bedroom as an example.  Now like all good "before" pics, I took it at the absolute worst:

You can see 2 tall bookcases (one of which I had already unloaded the books from but instead of actually removing it, I just shoved other stuff on it...oy!).  I eventually got rid of both tall bookcases and replaced them with a wider, but shorter one from another room.  This is the result:

Same wall, but it is now much more open and clean.  I am going to hang something in the white space, but for now I am enjoying the brightness.  It also makes the space easier to clean, better access to the floor for sweeping and less to dust on the bookcase.

I am happy to report that after finally switching over my closet to winter clothes, I am officially done with the bedroom ORG.  Also done is the bathroom and living room leaving me just the hall and kitchen, both big projects but perfectly timed to go into the holidays.

Small Victories

First of all, my apologies for the lag time between posts.  This is a particularly crazy time at work and I am reading War & Peace, spare time is slim.

I needed to post today though to report something of note:  I bought NO Halloween candy this year, none.  Not a single bag.

Now before you accuse me of being some child-hating non-American, I don't get trick or treaters in my 3rd floor apartment with the security doors.  Every bag of Halloween candy I have ever bought has been for me.

Last year, as the Boston Red Sox marched towards the World Series Championship, I had lots of baseball-watching gatherings in October and for each I bought a big bag of Halloween candy.  I probably bought 10 or 12 bags last year.  This year...NONE.

40 Days of Savings

While I am wrapping up 40 Days of Organizing (you'll see some photographic evidence of that next week) I am going to launch 40 Days of Savings!

Those of you that read my previous blog will remember that I went on a diet and a budget at the same time and it is amazing how related the 2 issues can be.  They are both about planning and control.

So like the concept of 40 Days of Fitness, my hope for 40 Days of Savings is to set some good habits and put away a little money for the holidays and beyond.

Here are some of my goals:

1.  Open a Savings Account:  I know this seems simple, most small children have Savings Accounts, but I don't. If you have a good online Savings account please pass along the info in the comments.

2.  Piggy Bank the Change: I keep my change in a little milk jug on my desk, but inevitably I cave and cash it in when it is like $10.  I am going to leave it untouched for the next 40 Days and cash it in before Thanksgiving for a little extra Christmas cash.

3.Write it all down: On the back of my weekly plan I am tracking my spending.  I set a spending limit for the week based on my plan and track against it, recording my final balance each week.

I don't expect to save a ton of money in only 40 Days, but like the other 40 Day Challenges I hope this one creates healthy habits that I can hang on to.

Single Girl Rules

So I am single.  Really single.  Not in a long term relationship where we don't need to be technically married because we are so awesome together, but truly single. I have lived on my own for 15 years with no one to share the joys and burdens of day-to-day life.  Sometimes this is great and sometimes this is sad, but most of the time it is great.

Here are some general Pros and Cons of single life:

Pro:  No one else is dictating food choices in my apartment.
Con:  Sometimes my food choices are an entire bag of Oreos for dinner.

Pro:  No one is nagging me to do the dishes.
Con:  No one else EVER does the dishes.

Pro:  All the money I have is mine.
Con:  So are ALL the bills.

The three examples above will all be evident here on this blog as things I struggle with:  food, household organization and money.  I realize these are pretty normal struggles for almost everyone, but managing them alone is different.  No one shares the hardship and no one sees the small victories.

I am not whining.  I have whined about being single in the past and it gets me absolutely nowhere.  I am very good at being on my own, but unless you have lived alone for a long period of time it is tough to truly understand what it is like.  So consider this a shout out to all the single girls (and guys) out there that are getting it done, on their own.

Mixin' It Up

This past Sunday I went on a hike.  Outside.  In nature.  I have lived in a  city for 18 years, sure I went to college in Maine, but I have lived in a city for 18 years.  I don't hike.

The idea was inspired by a local newspaper piece about spooky trails to hike in New England (for those of you in MA, we went to Freetown State park in Assonet, it wasn't the least bit spooky) and I put it out there to our regular Girls' Night crowd as an alternate activity (generally our outings involve vodka and good food).

It was a blast!  Now don't go signing me up for any mountain climbs or anything, I almost fell down standing still, but I kept up with my friends (one has actually climbed some mountains and the other has run marathons) and while I was slightly startled by a dog I thought was a deer... I did pretty well.

The moral of this story is, it was a great work out -- lots of steps, some hills and uneven terrain making it a little more challenging than those same # of steps in the city.   It was a beautiful day and we had a lot of laughs.  It didn't feel like a workout, it felt like a fun day out.

I kicked off 40 Days of Fitness over 2 months ago and while the 40 days are long up I have continued with the goal of making each day more active.  Having fun outings like Sunday make that super easy.

How do you combine exercise with fun?  What do you do to avoid workout boredom?  I'd love some tips, please leave a comment.  Thanks!

Working Out the Brain

Meet my challenge for the next 8 weeks!  For the next 8 Thursdays I am stepping out of the gym and into a classroom to read the one big gaping hole in my Russian Literature cannon.  It is going to be a very different kind of work out.

Luckily I am embarking on the journey with my college roommate.  She and I read a lot of the big long scary Russian novels together 20 years ago, so I have faith we can conquer War & Peace.

Here is some sage advice for those of you still in or much closer to the college experience than I:

1.  You will miss going to class some day, enjoy it while it lasts.

2.  Take calculated risks in college, the stakes aren't nearly as high as you think they are.  To this day I kick myself for not taking a studio art class.  I thought it would be hard, I thought I might not get a good grade, I thought I might embarrass myself with my stick figure drawings.  Who cares?  No one.  I'm not saying load your schedule with every random thing you want to try, but don't hesitate to try the few things you think are too silly, because they are not.

3. Your college roommate can be the person who knows you better than almost anyone else.  That will mean a lot in the years that follow.

And so my War & Peace journey begins... "Eh bien, mon prince, Genes et Lucques ne sont plus que des apanages..." Wait, this book starts in French?  Mon Dieu!