New December - March Exercise Log

[ny biker]

I can think of reasons to not like Florida but right now I wish I could go someplace warm. I'm bracing for the polar vortex that's coming in a few days, and apparently will be back next week. For the weekend we're expecting warmer weather but with rain that will start as snow/icy/mix. I'm already tired of winter coats and hats and gloves!

On the flipside, the gym has been way too warm lately. They send out an email saying that they were working on improving the temperature after receiving a number of complaints, but last night it was too warm again. The locker room is especially uncomfortable, despite the thermostat being set to 55 last night. Clearly something is not working right. This is a problem with bad weather coming, because I can barely stand to do weight training when a gym is too warm, but I can't do cardio at all. I hope they fix it soon.

Meanwhile I continue to forget to update the log when I'm using the only computer that can access Google docs...

[Catrin]

"small" ice storm this morning certainly changed MY plans for the day. It's supposed to warm to 40 today for a few hours, hopefully that will be enough to thaw the 12-foot river of ice between my apt's sidewalk and my car. Given everything I'm far more scared of ice than anything else - can't risk falling again! Looked at Amazon for Yak Tracks - I do need to order them but would have gotten same-day delivery for the very first time ever if I could have. I do need them though so will get them.

So instead of TaiChi and walking/hiking today, it is one of my Kettlebell swing workouts + flexibility/mobility work.

[Crankin]

Catrin, I found the Yak Tracks not to be of good quality. I had 2 pairs and they broke! I got some called Ice Spikes, or something similar and they are awesome. I had an 800 ft. driveway, with a 13% grade at my last house and sometimes, the ice stayed, despite plowing. They worked like a charm, as well as on icy trails.

[Catrin]

Catrin, I found the Yak Tracks not to be of good quality. I had 2 pairs and they broke! I got some called Ice Spikes, or something similar and they are awesome. I had an 800 ft. driveway, with a 13% grade at my last house and sometimes, the ice stayed, despite plowing. They worked like a charm, as well as on icy trails.

Thanks Crankin, that's what I found through reviews. I purchased the STABILicer Hike XP after checking them out on different places. I was going to get them directly from the company, but this way I save $9 AND get them tomorrow I think they will do well for both the kind of hiking I enjoy AND walking across ice rivers to get to car and work. Pity how many bad Yak Traxs reviews out there - and the reviews for the less expensive STABLicers aren't as good - apparently the cheaper ones do well as long as they stay on your shoes... I probably would have gotten the less expensive version if I wasn't planning on actually hiking.

[Crankin]

Good idea. That's why I got the spikier ones, too.
So... we decided to go out and walk during the snowstorm, which is now over. We live on a private road, which means, our condo association pays a company for the plowing. Thus, i can't tell if the other streets have been plowed. We decided we didn't need snow shoes, and then walked on the little trail to the next neighborhood. When we got out to the street, we discovered the streets hadn't been plowed at all! We could have skied in this neighborhood, lots of small ups and downs. Not sure if this is because it's a Saturday and they were just waiting, or because our experience in Concord is based on living on the top of a huge hill that was plowed immediately and often, as to avoid issues for the residents. So, we walked in the tracks of the few cars that had gone in and out. We had our hiking boots on, should have had gaiters, too. When we got back, we cleaned off our cars, as it was getting close to the time when the snow was supposed to stop. Walked probably 3.25 miles and then a little extra work car brushing and shoveling around the car.

[ny biker]

Thanks Crankin, that's what I found through reviews. I purchased the STABILicer Hike XP after checking them out on different places. I was going to get them directly from the company, but this way I save $9 AND get them tomorrow I think they will do well for both the kind of hiking I enjoy AND walking across ice rivers to get to car and work. Pity how many bad Yak Traxs reviews out there - and the reviews for the less expensive STABLicers aren't as good - apparently the cheaper ones do well as long as they stay on your shoes... I probably would have gotten the less expensive version if I wasn't planning on actually hiking.

I just bought the LL Bean Stabilicers to give to my nephew, since his job requires him to be out in all kinds of weather. They got good reviews* and have a velcro strap across the top of the toe to keep them from falling off.

* I've since learned that LL Bean only posts reviews from people who have used the product. So if you receive it, take one look and realize there's a problem so you return it, you can't post a review to tell prospective customers about the problem. So the reviews are all skewed positive. Anyway there's still the lifetime guarantee if there are any problems with them. I saw reviews for the Yak Traks on the REI site that indicated various problems with them.

I dealt with our ice storm by heeding the warnings to stay indoors; I stayed up late the night before and slept till noon. It was still only 32 at that point. A few hours later when I left to go see Rogue One, there was still ice on the front steps of my building because it's in the shade. I know several of my neighbors had already gone out at that point but none of them bothered to clear the ice; I was almost late for the movie because I spent several minutes stomping on it with the heel of my awesome new half-price Uggs to break it up so that none of them would fall. Your welcome, self-absorbed neighbors.

But I digress. I've been missing workouts a lot as I try to get all my Christmas shopping finished while also struggling with a bout of laziness and hating the weather. I did manage to get out for a walk last night.

I have a list of 17 things I need to do before I leave town later this week and "pack for vacation" isn't even on the list! And neither is two loads of laundry. Yikes.

[vicyharper]

This is good. Now everyone in the forum can challenge each others goal too.

[Catrin]

Pleasantly surprised about being able to be active daily because of the Tai Chi. It becomes more difficult to separate my mobility work from Tai Chi so I've removed that separate goal to my overall total, and the the accumulated time as well.

So between daily practice of Tai Chi, kettlebell swings twice a week (depending on how my shoulders/neck feels), and walking/hiking as the weather allows I think this will work well for the winter...and beyond.

[ny biker]

Glad the Tai Chi is working out for you.

I'm not getting much exercise this week due to being on vacation. Today I raked leaves which was enough to warm me up on a chilly day but was not strenuous.

[Crankin]

So, I am less than 10 hours from meeting my goal. With about 6 weeks left, should I up it?

[ny biker]

Yes. And congrats!

I have lost track. I can only access the spreadsheet from my pc at home but I only ever use that pc when I am connected to work via VPN (when I can't access it). Also I have some weeks when I get in some good exercise time but other weeks when I don't, for various reasons only one of which is flat out winter laziness.

[Crankin]

I think I will add about 50 hours. I am always conservative in my estimates, and also, I know unless there is good snow, or I am doing longer hikes, most of my winter exercise is about an hour per session, at the gym or at home. But, I have 2 weekends of nordic skiing coming up, and then hopefully, some riding closely following.

[Catrin]

So, I am less than 10 hours from meeting my goal. With about 6 weeks left, should I up it?

That's up to you - I've already upped mine once and may need to do so again (but mind was set low due to my broken bits). If it's helping you then there is nothing wrong with it - and kudos for blasting through your winter goal already!

[Catrin]

Crankin, it looks like we were both posting at the same time. While my activities have certainly changed, it's wonderful to be able to do an hour of Tai Chi daily and walk/hike when I can. Crossing my fingers that I can actually hike this Saturday for the first time since Jan 1! They say it will be 65 degrees...in February

[Crankin]

Yeah, it is supposed to be 55 here, but I will be in Stowe, VT. Thankfully, it will be around 40 there, still cold enough that the snow won't melt for skiing, and not the lovely -21 we had last year. It's only a 3 day weekend, as opposed to our previous trips, but I am thankful to be getting up there at all, when I didn't think it would happen. Since we waited so long to decide on this with our friends, we couldn't get lodging in Stowe, as it's school vacation week in southern New England. We are staying in Morrisville, a small town that has some up and coming microbreweries and restaurants. It's close enough for us to ski at Craftsbury, in the Northeast Kingdom, some of the best and reliable trails around. So, I hope we get there and a couple of days at Von Trapp (yes, the Sound of Music family runs a wonderful trail system) and Stowe Mountain x country.