Revisiting Summer Goals
Sadly, Summer is Coming to an End; Revisiting My Fitness Goals for the Summer and Setting My Fall Goals
Note: The next newsletter will be published on September 9th with planned heavy coverage of Apple’s new product announcements with a particular focus on the new Apple Watch. Enjoy your Labor Day weekend!
When the school year ends, I feel like I gain an extra 3-4 hours in my day. No lunches to make. No school drop offs or pick ups. My kids activities are less frequent, though as they’ve gotten older, there seem to be more trips to friends, work pick up and drop offs, camps and vacations. Nonetheless, summer is a little more chill, even with work and other obligations.
Aside from the daily school activities, I’ve maintained a pretty regimented schedule during the summer months. I still wake up at 4:30 each morning to plan my day and to write and record a daily foreign policy podcast. I’ve kept up with my fitness regimen despite some nagging injuries and COVID. So with that, I wanted to revisit some of the fitness goals I set for myself at the beginning of the summer. I find that goal setting is important, but monitoring and revisiting those goals periodically helps me to assess what went right and what didn’t go as planned so I can adjust and address the gaps.
Summer Goals Revisited
Get the hell out of the house - I definitely exercised outside more this summer. Since I wrote that post at the end of May, I’ve logged 234 running miles, including more than 100 in the month of June. It probably would have been more, but I had some weird calf issues and a broken toe that impacted my ability to run. I’ve logged less time on the bike, though the bike has helped me maintain my cardiovascular fitness through the injuries and the incredible hot spell that we experienced in the month of July and into August. Mission accomplished.
Take up a new activity - For this one, I’ll take partial credit. I suggested that swimming would be a logical choice. Well, that didn’t happen, but I did play more basketball this summer than I have in perhaps the last five years or so. It’s a sport that I absolutely love playing and I’m grateful to my friend who hosted the get togethers each week.
Compete in a triathlon - I’m not going to beat myself up over this, but I did did not compete in a triathlon. In the end, the fact that I wasn’t swimming and a couple of nagging injuries prevented me from accomplishing this goal.
Play more golf - Again, I’ll give myself partial credit. I definitely played more golf than I did this spring, but I’ve only got in around 6 or 7 rounds this summer. Work was especially busy during the month of June and the beginning of July and I just didn’t get out as much as I would have liked. I still have several months to make good on this goal and hope that I’ll be able to play more this fall.
Walking - This was another area where I fared fairly well. My wife and I walk our dog most mornings and I usually walk a mile or so after a run so I don’t tighten up. Walking doesn’t have to be idle time either. I usually listen to a news broadcast or a podcast I’m keeping tabs on when I walk.
A couple of other observations from the summer regarding my health and fitness.
Nutrition - I’ve never been a huge snacker nor have I had much of a sweet tooth and didn’t necessarily have an issue with either these areas this summer, but I have found that I have not been eating as “cleanly” as perhaps I did in the beginning of the year.
Strength workouts - I’d say that I’ve maintained my strength workouts throughout the summer, perhaps around 3-4 per week, but they’ve declined in intensity. I find that on days that I run 5-7 miles, I’m less inclined to do a strength workout or if I do, I cut them back to 10 minutes from 15 to 20 minutes.
Sleep - I’ve maintained a pretty regular sleep schedule, which has made a huge difference in my overall motivation and my ability to get things done.
Fall Fitness Goals
Maintain my running - I don’t like running outside when the temperature falls below 40 degrees, but cool weather running is ideal for me and I have the data to back to this up. I run around 30 seconds faster per mile when the temperature falls below 80 degrees and the humidity is lower. With that 30 seconds per mile, I’m further refining my running goals for the fall.
Run a 5K in under 23 minutes; that’s a bit under 7:30 per mile
Run a 10K in under 47 minutes; a bit more challenging to keep that pace
Improve my nutrition - I’m not going to go crazy here, but getting back to clean eating is my goal. For me, this means smoothies for breakfast, no processed foods for lunch, nuts and fruits for snacks, a reasonably balanced dinner AND less ice cream!
Improve the intensity of my strength training workouts - I’m not 100% sure yet what this looks like, but it will require less intense cardio workouts on the days that I plan to train. Back of the napkin looks something like this and I need to work in some recovery so subject to change.
Monday - Run 5-7 miles; core training (5 minutes)
Tuesday - Bike 30 minutes; chest and back 20 minutes; core 5 minutes
Wednesday - Bike 30 minutes; shoulders and arms 20 minutes; core 5 minutes
Thursday - Run 6-8 miles; no strength training
Friday - Bike 30 minutes; repeat chest and back workout
Saturday - Bike 30 minutes; repeat shoulders and arms workout
Sunday - Run 4-5 miles
Continue playing basketball - It’s a weekly 2 hour commitment and something that I love doing, so as long as the weather permits, I’ll continue doing it.
I’m looking forward to continuing the fitness journey with you this fall. As I previously mentioned, I’m going to experiment with some audio formats and incorporate that into my weekly offering. Enjoy the rest of your summer and see you again after Labor Day!