Tennis, Running, Hiking, Thursday Track Workout

Yesterday was a great and really productive day from start to finish. Ate healthy foods, lots of good exercise, made plans for future exercise, saw family, had an awesome salad, overall a success.

I used to play tennis when younger, but because I was so short it was really hard to serve and I had quite the hot head, it wasn’t a great combination, and I unfortunately quit. I stopped until college and then began playing with a few friends every week for a few months, and occasionally throughout the four years. I was so close to beating my friend for the first time ever (he played in high school and has beaten me in all but 1 set). Unfortunately we will probably never finish the match because it started on clay, and thus must be finished on clay. Soon my friend, soon. This morning I went to my Dad’s and we hit balls for a while. We’re going to keep it up and I plan to continue playing and when I have more time getting involved in a league. If anybody is interested in playing once a week let me know, I really want to start getting back into it.

Tennis is a great game because it combines cardio and quick bursts of strength, concentration, and composure. It’s a great game and can be played with 2, 3, or 4 people, or I suppose by yourself if you have lots of energy and happen to be a little crazy. Plus there are courts everywhere, and the balls are relatively cheap.

Running is also a great workout, once you learn to love it you’ll never want to stop. I’m having second thoughts on training to qualify for the Boston Marathon, it’s just too ridiculous, id rather have fun doing half marathons a bunch of times each year, and work on duathlons and maybe a triathlon here and there.

Run outside if you want some serious results. It’s easy to find great routes. Just the other day I ran to the Stanford Dish, ran the dish, and ran home, it was a solid 10 mile run. I don’t expect most people to run that much on any given day, but just being outside was an incredible experience and set up the rest of the day for noticing the intricate details of the world, and not just staring blankly at a television or glancing around a weight room to see who else is there. On my running days I plan to start biking to the Stanford dish and then running the dish once or twice. It’s also great because it has hills, and time spent declining, which is a great recovery. I’m going to time my next one and then see where I am by marathon time.

Another great way to exercise is at a track. Interval training is the way to build endurance and is the key to athletic success, jog the curves, run the straightaway. It is workouts like these that trick the body into working harder and ultimately lead to a better workout and improved results.

Or simply go on a hike with a friend, challenge yourself to jog portions of it, or the entire thing, who’s stopping you? I’m going to use my old running shoes as my trail shoes, maybe putting some screws into the soles for traction. I heard to do this in icy conditions or for trails.

These suggestions are all under the assumption that you are in the shape to go out and jog, or get a solid cardio workout, if you aren’t ready for that, walk around the block until you’ve gained the stamina to tackle a local hill, and then make a goal to dominate a harder one. Any region that has a mountain or foothill area will have a park or trails nearby, 99% of the time they are free and have public access.

I believe in enjoying the workout, for some that means staying indoors and listening/watching the news during stationary biking or treadmill, for others it means seeing the green of nature, for me it’s both. Some days I need to be in a gym to really function properly, other days it’s running around town visiting friends, enjoying the beautiful spring days that are now officially here.

Learn to love the outdoors, and find exercise while being there. Too many people are stuck in their family rooms watching television when they could just as easily be at a community event or hanging out with other people. Walking with a group of friends to the event, having a great time, safe in numbers and ultimately being out of the house enjoying life.

In about an hour I’ll be at my Stanford track workout, hopefully feeling the great workout. The weather is perfect, and I plan to take full advantage of it. I’ll probably head over a little early so that I have plenty of time to warm up and be fully stretched. The coaches recently started ramping up the workouts, which makes the running that much more interesting and challenging.

Exercise is the greatest sleep aid in the world.

Thank you to all the people who have donated to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. It really means a lot to me to have your support, and you’re helping out a great cause. Here is the website for anybody that would like to donate.

http://pages.teamintraining.org/sj/rnr09/rgreenfield

Just throwing it out there, if there are any companies looking for cheap advertising, I am offering space on my running hat and shorts in return for donations. Keep in mind that there will be thousands of runners and just as many spectators in San Diego, plus you can write it off.

Anyway, have a great night or day.

Take care,
Ryan