New Career’s Resolutions

OK, so it’s not a new career exactly, but after almost 10 months of being away from regular work, it kinda feels like it.

Like new year’s, I tend to approach new beginnings with wildly optimistic ideas of how my life is going to go from this point forward.  Some things pan out, others don’t.  (Starting to exercise regularly was one such idea that, fortunately, managed to stick.) So, in the week since I accepted my job offer, here are some resolutions I’ve been kicking around:

• Drink more water.  I just could use a little more in my day.  I plan to keep a bottle in my car and at my work space.
• Swim at least twice a week, ideally three.  Thank heavens the local Masters team has 5am workouts three days a week.  Without ’em, I would have been hard pressed to do any weekday swimming at all.  I did a trial swim-bathe-commute yesterday and confirmed that I should have enough time to make this happen before reporting to work (although it means an 8:30pm bedtime).
• Find a way to bike to work, and do it on a somewhat regular basis.  I have a few thoughts on how I might do this.  I might drive to a park-and-ride and do two short rides a day, or occasionally wake up early and go the entire 35 or so miles in (and take the train back).  Either way, I’m just thrilled that I’m now living somewhere where there is enough bike-friendly weather and infrastructure to make this possible.  I plan on doing a test ride later this week.
• Ride my bike at least three times a week.  If I commute by bike two days a week, this should make this a little easier…but I’m also assured that the glorious weather we’ve been experiencing all summer can’t last, and I’m not sure I have the willpower to ride in the dark AND the wet.  One option might be to dig out the trainer from the garage.
• Run at least twice a week.  Yeah, I have no idea how I’m going to get this in.  But, among other things, I told my husband that I’d run a 10k Turkey Trot with him in a few weeks, so I’d better start figuring something out.
• Eat more veggies.  I hear that the cafeterias at my new campus aren’t half bad.  If they’re even a shadow of the spread they have over at Google, I ought to be able to score me a tasty salad at lunchtime.  Actually sucking it up and packing some vegetables is also an option.
• Work on my flexibility.  I inherited my family’s poor flexibility genes, so I really need to put some conscious effort into this.  Might be a nice wind down before bedtime activity.

Food for thought: Running Outdoors vs the Treadmill

Another interesting Los Angeles times article today, this one about the differences (and similarities) between running on a treadmill and running outdoors.

If you don’t feel motivated to click through, I’ll just summarize: from a fitness standpoint, there is only a marginal advantage to running outdoors.  But from a motivational standpoint, there’s some science that suggests that folks who run outdoors are able to push themselves a little harder, while feeling like they’re not working as hard.

To which I say….. DUH.  I mean, wouldn’t you feel more energetic and alive looking at this:

Source: Runner Jenny on Flickr

…instead of this?

Source: "I am drunk" (seriously, dude...that's your handle?) at Flickr

(Although I do have to give this guy props for finding a way to add some movement into his life.)