Day 6 of 300 - Treating it like a job
Over the weekend I took two rest days, I was initially planning on only one but I was just exhausted. More from lack of sleep than over exercise.
Yummy Sri-Lankan food and a delicious side quest to find Chinese hot pot was undertaken over the weekend. Not a single beer or alcoholic beverage was had.
This morning I’ve come upon the realisation that in order to be consistent I should treat this project like a job. Keep consistant and log everything I do.
For years, I have treated fitness like a hobby. I did it when I felt like it. The stars had to align and the portents had to ring true. If I was tired, I skipped it. If I was busy, I deferred it.
If I treated my actual career the way I have treated my health for the last decade - inconsistent, unmeasured, and prone to excuses - I would have definitely been fired years ago.
And so, I am clocking in. It doesn’t matter if I’m tired, if I slept poorly, or if I’d rather be doing literally anything else. The work gets done, the data gets logged, and the results get published.
Week 1 was about stability. It was about proving that my frame could handle impact for five days straight without falling apart. I stuck to a simple protocol: 1 Minute Run / 2 Minutes Walk.
Today is Monday. Week 2. I feel fine, it’s time to push ahead.
Old Protocol: 1 min Run / 2 min Walk.
New Protocol: 1 min Run / 1.5 min Walk.
Cutting 30 seconds of recovery doesn’t sound like much, but over the course of an hour, it significantly increases the density of the work. You get less time to flush the lactate, less time to catch your breath, and more time under tension.
I stepped on the treadmill expecting my heart rate to spike. I assumed that by removing 25% of my rest time, the cardiac cost would go up.
The data told a different story.
Total Time: 1:00:00 Distance: 6.33 km Average Pace: 9:29 /km Average Heart Rate: 134 bpm
Compared to my run on January 1st (where I rested longer), I ran faster (9:29/km vs 9:31/km) and covered more distance (6.33km vs 6.31km).
But the most critical number is the heart rate: 134 bpm.
It stayed exactly the same. I did more work, with less rest, for the exact same physiological cost. This may be the definition of aerobic adaptation, slowly slowly.
The double session was also completed.
- 1 hour on the exercise bike
- Distance: 20.54km
The new standard is locked in. 1 Run / 1.5 Walk is the baseline for Week 2 and Week 3. I’m not celebrating, just moving onwards.
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