John Kerl’s exercise log

3-mile jog-with-dog — temp in the mid-30s with clear, dark sky and no wind.

Spleeeeeendid 4-mile jog-with-dog ... mid-50s and misty. :)

30 min in the pool, about half breaststroke and half crawl. Later than usual — a nice treat to have a lane to myself for most of the time.

3-mile dog jog — with (as last week) a high-intensity last half-mile. The dog was digging it; I was digging it. Weather in the 50s with just a little sprinkle of rain coming down, and lots of brown leaves all over the place. Sigh ... :)

What S calls a “triathlon day” — the bike commute plus swimming (before work) and running (after work). Very nice!! :)

Ran 3 miles at the PSA-Y track. Reminds me of all the time I spent at the UA track ... . I tell myself I’d rather run outside, in the weather, under the trees ... and that’s true ... and yet, inside on a flat surface I can really let loose in ways I just can’t do with people, dogs, bumpy sidewalks, traffic, etc. So: a very nice change. Light interval work too. :)

About this log ... originally I started running, was blown away, wrote down every mile; later swam a little and biked a little, and wrote about those only when something was noteworthy. Now I’m a bike commuter and biking is my primary exercise — yet it’s a commute and so there’s little to say day after day — and I jog a few miles once a week, and swim once a week. So writing only about the running part seems a bit off now.

3 miles, dog-jog — perfect weather (60s).

Subway to the Y, swam 30 min, ran home. The swim was fine, as expected ... re the run, at first I felt like I don’t waaaanna ... but by the halfway point I was feeling luurrrrrrvley. :)

I finally found my NYC exercise sweet spot. Constraints are that I don’t like exercising in the morning (not being a morning person); I have a job and a family and reasons to be home in the evenings; I like to exercise regularly but not overmuch. So: the YMCA is halfway between home and work — today after work I ran to the Y (3 miles), then swam half an hour, then took the bus the rest of the way home. (In the future I can run the remaining 3 miles from the Y to home.) This is great since it all fits together so snugly.

Ran 4 miles, on the way home (also partway home by public transit). First trial of this — it worked out great! :)

Ran 3 miles, around the neighborhood.

Swam!!! For the first time in a year :) :). 30 minutes, mostly breaststroke but 4-5 laps crawl — the latter burned my triceps rather quickly. I think S & I have found a good place nearby. NYC is not much of a swimming town, so this is an accomplishment.

Ran 3 miles: another dog-jog. :)

3 miles, very very nice. It was in the 90s ... that was the humidity ... temps mid-70s. Sticky, but good summer weather — variety which I love. Man+dog jog, first time in a long time.

First jog at all in a month and a half :/. I’m commute-biking 50-70 miles a week, which gives me 40 minutes of exercise twice a day, and am in probably as good of cardiovascular shape as ever — yet I still feel like a slacker for not running much. Things were abnormal for the last month, to be sure, but I could have squeezed in a jog or two.

Ran 3 miles — only 70+ degrees, but 100% humidity. Blarrr ... :)

Jogged 4 miles — first time doing more than 2 miles since the ankle sprain. I felt kind of heavy, sluggish, and meh before; went out just out of stubbornness. And it was a great outing. Beautiful, just-right-or-a-little-warm, breezy weather; people out on the streets; my body ticking along just so. :)

Biked 26 mi — out to Forest Park again, then back via Williamsburg this time. Temps in the 70s, cloudy, and a little humid — a nice summer day.

Jogged 2 miles. After the ankle sprain two months ago, of course at first I could barely walk. After about a month, I jogged 2 miles, then another 2 the next week — all was pretty well except for the occasional creak. Another week after that, after a weekend of long bike-riding, I had a flare-up — now, bike riding was easier on the ankle than walking, for sure, but perhaps I rode too much that weekend (25 miles that Saturday and 43 that Sunday). Anyway ... for the last couple weeks I haven’t run — just being over-cautious I guess. Even though I’ve walked multiple miles on several occasions since then, and a couple miles jogging surely isn’t worse than that. But tonight: very nice. I felt literally nothing twingey in my ankle while jogging, so I see no reason not to ease back into it. Real hot though — 88° even now, in evening, with mid-90s for highs this week. And sudden — just a few days ago it was in the 70s.

I ride-marshaled Tour de Brooklyn — a non-race 18-mile ride. Lots of fun and so many nice people. :)

Biked 35 miles — out to Forest Park which was only 10 miles; then for variety I took the Shore Parkway home. Every bit as gorgeous and gentle a day as yesterday was. :)

A gorgeous 25-mile bike ride through lower Manhattan, Pier 25 (got off and walked along the pier), the High Line (also a place to walk), Queensboro and Pulaski bridges, and spent half an hour at Grand Ferry Park just looking at the gorgeous river. 60-65 degrees, some breeze, partly cloudy ... simply an amazing Saturday afternoon. :)

Another 2 miles — 3 next time. :)

Ran 2 miles — first run since twisting my ankle. Very nice physically; very nice out. Sixty degrees with fog thickening; traffic lights and walk/don’t-walk signs made colored beams in the mist.

Twisted my ankle Wednesday — while walking across the street near work (I stepped half-on the curb, half-off). I’ve been running for some years now and never a serious injury; I bike daily in NYC, and some people I know think I’m taking my life in my hands. (I do exercise due caution and defensive-driving techniques.) And yet I hurt myself walking ... the irony. Anyhow the dr. said nothing is broken or torn; just an overstretched ligament which needs a few weeks of the usual RICE (rest, ice, compression, elevation) — also biking is good to do. I visited the Brooklyn Museum today and took an extra lap biking around the park — very nice. I won’t be running until April is almost over. But ... life happens.

3 miles, usual loop. 40 degrees and starry; last night’s inch of early-spring snow didn’t last through the day. :)

Ran 3 miles, usual loop. Very nice out — temps in the low fifties. News: I just signed up for a 3.5-mile race in Central Park in mid-June. It’s some kind of corporate event; my employer is fielding a team. Who all among us, is TBD. Should be fun, though. And it gives me something to work toward — my first race in many, many moons.

Biked home in the rain — more than a sprinkle and less than a downpour, but I did get good and wet. Thought about taking the train but went for it. Hoo-wee, that was some fun! :)

Ran 3 miles, usual loop — like last time but cloudy. A nice little run. :)

Ran 3 miles, usual loop. A little chily but not outright cold; mid-30s, with starry sky.

Biked to The Cloisters (gorgeous!!), and circumnavigated Manhattan Island along the way — 50 miles total. Nice, cool, clear weather for it; a little breezy but not a problem. :)

Ran 3 miles, usual route. A few late-winter snowflakes falling, with temperature just above freezing.

Bike commuting back to normal the past couple weeks! :)

Ran 3 miles, 6th Avenue route. Not too cold; just a few snowflakes drifting down.

Ran 4 miles, around the neighborhood. Blue sky, sunshine, a few high wispy clouds, no wind — and nonetheless fifteen degrees out. I was fine with layers, perhaps even a little warm; was glad for a scarf.

Bike-commuting is a bit hit and miss recently — the cold isn’t a problem but ice and snow are, and they don’t melt off the streets so fast when it’s well below freezing. :(

Ran 3 miles, around the neighborhood.