Stopping The Slide

Last week’s rewards from Garmin Connect.

I wanted to create a training camp atmosphere for myself last week, combining different activities to pursue multiple Garmin Connect challenges. Adding interest to my workouts and arresting a month-long decline in exercise time was imperative. As recently as September, I was cranking out 20-hour weeks split between cycling and walking. For the week that ended on Sunday, November 2, my total volume was down to 11 hours, 45 minutes. Fewer hours of daylight and falling temperatures were mostly to blame, but it’s also true that my remaining fitness goals for 2025 are well within reach even if I abandon outdoor exercise.

Anyway, for the week that ended yesterday, I was determined to devote more time to my workouts. The result was 17 hours, 8 minutes of total training volume. I took advantage of time away from work. Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday were vacation days; Thursday and Friday were my regular days off. My new work week began at 11 p.m. on Saturday. Yes, it’s weird. My family and friends can’t remember my work schedule, even after five years.

With my training camp enthusiasm running high on Monday morning, I decided to go for a Garmin Connect challenge that I mentioned in an earlier post but thought I might never attempt: Stepping Up 40K. That’s 40,000 steps in a single day, a big increase over my personal record of 30,042. In that earlier post, I said I wouldn’t try to earn the Stepping Up 40K or the Stepping Up 50K badge with only indoor activities, as the tedium would be almost unbearable. Well, I did complete Stepping Up 40K indoors but yes, I was perfectly sick of walking by the end. I won’t say now that there’s no chance that I will complete Stepping Up 50K indoors, however I will need time to think about whether it’s worth the effort. My new personal record for steps in a single day is 41,635. Garmin says I walked 21.4 miles and burned 1,113 calories above baseline to get it, pushing my total calorie expenditure above 3,000 for the day. I spent more than 5½ hours on the treadmill spread over 11 sessions, with meals, bathroom trips, and laps around the house to break the monotony.

Last Tuesday was the anniversary of the bike crash that led to my hip replacement surgery the following day. On this November 4, I was disappointed with my energy. The problem wasn’t the huge walking effort of the previous day; the problem was sleep. In an ill-fated attempt to adopt a daytime schedule for the entire week, I went to bed at 9 p.m. on Monday. By 3 a.m. on Tuesday, I was up again. I passed the day somewhat aimlessly and went back to bed from 5 p.m. until 10 p.m., getting another round of sleep that wasn’t especially restorative. By midnight, I had done just enough not to consider the day a total failure: 11,033 steps and a 30-minute upper body strength training session in the home gym.

Wednesday should have been a bounce-back day. It was only OK, not special. The highlight was a 4.3-mile treadmill walk. I finished the day with 13,715 steps, which isn’t bad but it’s actually a slightly smaller effort than my average over the last four weeks. Thursday was more of the same: 12,769 steps and a 30-minute lower body strength training session in the home gym. That’s hardly “training camp” stuff.

Friday began more ambitiously. I spent an hour on the treadmill before visiting my surgeon for a final follow-up visit. My new X-rays looked great and the doctor was very pleased with my recovery. After the visit I did an outdoor walk for the first time since July 5. Yikes! I guess you could say my hopes for a big autumn of hiking haven’t been realized. Friday’s step total was a respectable 16,210. Still, I didn’t do everything I had planned. When the day ran out of sunlight, I ran out of giving a damn and went to bed.

That decision to go to bed when darkness arrived may prove to be the start of a better sleep schedule for me. It’s certainly more in line with what nature intended. I slept well from about 5 p.m. until about 12 a.m. on Friday night. In my many years of working nights–my current job is only the most recent to require overnight hours–I always have preferred a bedtime soon after the end of the shift. This has meant trying to sleep during daylight hours. I may revert to that schedule when Daylight Saving Time returns, but at least for now I will try to stay awake after work. Morning exercise, a quietly productive afternoon, and a bedtime of something like 3:30 p.m. probably would be beneficial. I have averaged only 5½ hours of sleep per day for the last year, and that’s not enough. Every effort to fix my sleep eventually fails, but I must keep trying.

Saturday was another day of fleeting motivation. I did a solid upper body strength workout, but I couldn’t talk myself into a turbo trainer ride. I finished the day with 10,768 steps. Getting 10,000 steps, 1 mile of walking expressly for fitness, and 30 consecutive minutes of walking have become my non-negotiable daily minimums. More is better, though!

With a mix of televised NFL and NHL games to alleviate the boredom, on Sunday I earned Garmin’s Indoor 50K Ride badge (50 kilometers / 31.1 miles). The next step is the Indoor 50-Mile Ride badge–roughly a 3-hour commitment–and then comes the final boss: the Indoor 4-Hour Ride badge. I have no target dates for those; they sound terrible. I finished Sunday with 15,499 steps.

Last week’s 121,629 steps were more than average but not a record. I somehow amassed 152,122 steps during the week of August 25-31. I spent 13½ hours on walking last week, 2 hours on indoor cycling, and 1½ hours on strength training. As my offseason progresses, things won’t be so out of balance.

My next trip to Pennsylvania is now just two weeks away and I will spend much of that time getting my home and yard ready for winter. Indoor cycling will be a priority too, as I don’t plan to take a bike to PA and these two weeks may present my last opportunities to grab Garmin Connect cycling badges in 2025.