2019 Workout Review

2019 was a strong year for me. This was the year I decided to get myself into a running/workout routine and stick with it. Of course there were days that went by without getting a workout in, but for the most part I am happy with all I accomplished. I became more aware of what I was putting into my body and listening to it when I was sore, tired, or sick. I learned how to push myself when needed and when it was necessary to slow down and enjoy the little things in my workouts and runs. I also learned how important goals are and what it feels like to accomplish these goals. Each month there were goals that I beat and others I added to the next month to try and overcome. These are things I want to continue in 2020. I want to keep running and pushing myself to do even better than I did this year.

These goals will be laid out in my January 2020 workout blog post. One thing I started doing about half way through my workout routines was keeping track week by week how many days I ran, did abs, and rested. Because of the analytical training I have gotten through my studies at Western, I decided to track this data and see what trends I could pull from it.

The above graph shows how many days per week I was active, this includes both running and gym days versus how many rest days I took. It is also important to note that the weeks are not ordered chronologically, but go from the most days I was active (6 out of the 7 days) all the way down to the one week where I didn’t work out at all. As you can see, a majority of the weeks were spent with 4 days of working out with 3 days of rest. There was only one week where I took the entire week off. If I remember correctly, this was the week where I had the flu and was bed ridden for most of it. I also had a sold amount of weeks where I worked out 5 of the 7 days. I like how this graph visually breaks down how many days per week I spent working out.

Below is another graph that breaks down how active I was for the whole year. This is the graph on the left and labeled “Active Days and Rest Days”. As you can see, I was active 50.82% of the time. This means I worked out 50% of the year. I broke this information down even further and calculated what percent of my active days were spent running versus how many of those days were spent weight training or doing abs. This can be seen in the far right graph labels “Run Days and Gym Days”. As you can see, there was a fairly even split between gym and run days. Gym days were about 10% higher than my running days. This is something I hope to maintain in 2020, if not push to have more running days over gym days.

Overall I am happy with the progress I made this year. I really wanted to get into better shape and I feel like this is something I accomplished. Of course there are things I want to work on in 2020 but I am happy with the progress I made in 2019. I am starting to realize that this blog is a great way to hold myself accountable and reflect on what I accomplished every day. This is something that will continue through 2020. I am excited to see what another year will bring and I can’t wait to update you on all my accomplishments!

Week 1

January 1st- Rest

Today was another “Day at Sea”. Alex and I planned to hit the gym today but with the boat rocking so much due to the choppy water we decided not to go. By mid day we were both feeling sea sick and ended up trying to sleep it off.

January 2nd- Rest

Today we were off the boat by 7:30am and at Disneyland by 9am just in time for opening. I couldn’t believe how busy the park was and how many steps we got in for the day. We ended up walking 11.54 miles the whole day. I could definitely feel it in my legs and knees.

Unfortunately Alex is starting to get sick so we ended up cutting Disneyland short and left around 6:30pm. I’m hoping he can sleep it off before our flight tomorrow.

January 3rd- Abs

I’m back home and was just about to crawl in bed when I had an urge to do a quick ab workout. I’m glad I did, as it’s been awhile since getting a run in. Now that I’m back vacation, I’m hoping to get back into a solid routine and start the New Year off right!

January 4th- Abs

January 5th- Rest

I’m starting to feel a little under the weather.. I’m hoping it’s just a cold that will pass soon. This would explain why Abs were so hard to complete yesterday.

Week 53

December 30th- 3.1 treadmill run

The gym on the boat was packed! I had to wait a bit to actually get on a machine. There was an impromptu “Day at Sea” due to rough waters. I’m sure everyone had the same idea we did to hit the gym and get a solid workout in.

It was a lot of fun hitting the gym with Alex and the run felt so refreshing. It reminded me of our time at WWU when we used to go to the gym together and periodically check in with one another. I can’t wait to start this up again once we move in after graduation!

December 31st- Rest

Today we traveled around Esenada Mexico. We did a lot of walking around the local shops and even got to try some authentic churros and tacos! It was a fun day being immersed in such a different culture and way of life. Can’t wait to get back to the boat and celebrate New Years tonight!

Week 52

December 23rd- Rest

December 24th- 4 mile treadmill run

While spending the evening in the hotel I decided to put the small gym to use and go for a run. My mile times were a little slower than normal, but it felt good to get back into the swing of things again.

December 25th- Rest

Merry Christmas!

December 26th- Rest

December 27th- Abs

December 28th-Abs

December 29th- Rest

I woke up this morning at 4am to drive up to Alex’s house and catch a flight down to Long Beach for our 4 day cruise and 1 day at Disneyland! I’m not sure how much workout time I will get in while on the boat, but I’m hoping to get a lot of walking in to balance it out.

Week 51

December 16th- Vegas (Rest)

December 17th- Vegas (Rest)

December 18th- Vegas (Rest)

December 19th- Vegas (Rest)

December 20th- Rest

I’m finally home from Vegas and took the day to rest up. Tomorrow is the Candy Cane Lane 5K! I haven’t trained in awhile but I’m hoping tomorrows race will get me back into a running mindset!

December 21st- Candy Cane Lane 5K

Today was the 5K I’ve been excited for all of December! The course was a lot of fun, as parts of it were from my old Cross Country routes we used to run. It felt good to get back into the swing of things. I am hoping to get more workouts in this week and next to try and push through my 1 year of committing to be healthier.

At the start line for the run! I think you can tell who was most exited for the run.. (me!)
Post 5K on the way back home with our bling!

December 22nd- Abs

Wow am I sore from that run yesterday. I should have taken more time to stretch out and cool down after the run. I opted for a 6 min ab workout to give my legs a break from the race yesterday.

Week 48

November 25th- Rest

November 26th- 4.03 mile Fairhaven Run

I opted in again for a reverse Boulevard Park run. I got up 7:20 this morning and got running around 7:45am. It was super cold out, but I really enjoyed doing a morning run. I want to try and do more of these once classes are over.

November 27th- Rest

November 28th- 3.1 Mile Green Lake Run

Happy Thanksgiving! I’ve been wanting to do a Green Lake run for awhile and I finally make it happen while home for Thanksgiving. I was surprised to see so many people walking and running this morning. It was fun to people watch and made the run go by fast.

November 29th- Rest

November 30th- Rest

Today we got our Christmas with my immediate family and then spend the rest of the afternoon with Alex and his family. We decorated their house and had a Mexican fiesta afterwards. It was fun day spend with family and friends.

December 1st- Rest

Week 50

December 9th- 25 Min yoga sesh

December 10th- 3.3 mile treadmill run

I finally broke my non-running streak! It amazing how busy I got with finals, but after my last one today I made sure to hit the gym before leaving campus.

December 11th- Rest

December 12th- 30 min yoga sesh

December 13th- Rest

December 14th- Rest

December 15th- Abs

December

As November draws to a close and December creeps right around the corner, it’s crazy to think how far I have come this past year. Everything this blog encompasses are the things I have been working towards this past year.

I’ve retaken up some photography.

  • I actually just bought a new Nikon D3300 camera earlier this quarter and am hoping to get to put this to good use over winter break.
  • I have been reading up how to shoot in manual mode (something I vaguely remember learning in high school). I can’t wait to put this to the test.

I’ve done more hiking

  • I still haven’t done as much hiking as I would like to, but with having homework on the weekends or spending time with friends and family makes this hard.
  • I am hoping to get to see some new places and try some new hikes this upcoming year. One goal of mine is to do some falls hikes while it’s still sunny out.

I’ve gotten in the habit of working out consistently.

  • This took some getting used to and I’ll admit I wasn’t always the best at going all the time, but I did get more consistent with my running and trying to make it to the gym.
  • I am to the point where after 2 days if not working out I get antsy and feel the need to run. Which is a great feeling and always rewarding when I finish.
  • I also started eating healthier, making sure my body got the nutrients it needed after my runs.
  • I’ve been more conscious of how much water I am drinking. As staying hydrated is very important for so many reasons.

It’s been a rewarding year tracking the progress I have made. I actually even started tracking my data on excel to help me visualize exactly what I have accomplished. I am hoping to share this in January’s post, as the year isn’t quite over yet and I don’t want to cut my data short!

Monthly stats

December saw a drop off in motivation, but that doesn’t mean I didn’t get good workouts in. There were a few weeks with high rest days, but I did get at least one run in a week.

Week 47

November 18th- Rest

November 19th- 3.3 mile treadmill run

It was tough to motivate myself to get to the gym after class. I was mentally exhausted and was coming up with a million reasons why I should skip the gym. Fortunately I did the opposite and pushed myself to go.

I’m glad I did! It felt good being able to sweat all my stress from the day away. As dead week and finals draw closer I need to remember this and use the gym for my benefit when it’s too dark to run outside.

November 20th- 20 min yoga sesh

My back and neck felt really tight when I got back from classes today, probably due to stress. Instead of going for another run, I decided to try to do a beginners yoga session.

I found a 20 min YouTube video to follow. It was great to get to stretch. It made me realize yoga is something I want to incorporate into my schedule next quarter by either taking a beginners yoga class on campus or attending one of the evening classes at the rec center.

I think this will be a great way to heal, stretch, and stay toned on top of running.

November 21st- Abs

November 22nd- 3.71 Fairhaven Run

I decided to run down to Boulevard Park and along the water front. It was fun to run this route backwards. Something I hope to do more of, even as the weather changes.

November 23rd- Abs

November 24th- Rest

Week 46

November 11th- 3.2 mile run

With having today off of work and no classes I had some extra free time to get a mid-day run through campus. I was surprised how quiet campus was, it made my run go fast as I was able to take the outside world while running. I decided not to use headphones today, but to be present while on my run. This was a great change and I really enjoyed this freedom of taking in the world around me.

November 12th- 2 mile treadmill run

Tonight I was on a time crunch and wasn’t able to get to the gym until 8 pm. I decided to sprint a few miles to get the blood pumping and start sweating. Although I didn’t get 3 miles in, it still felt good to push myself with my mile time and run the stress off.

November 13th- Rest

November 14th- Abs

November 15th- 4 mile run

Today I was able to get outside and enjoy Lake Padden. I got around the lake at a decent pace, but decided to push myself a little further and venture to hit 3.5 miles. To my surprise, I hit 3.5 and decided to push an extra 1/2 mile to make it an even 4 miles.

I’m so glad I did. It felt great to push myself like that. There really is something to be said about the first 3 miles of a run are the hardest. Normally when I push past the 3 miles I find myself more motivated to continue. I guess thats the Runner’s high kicking in?

November 16th- Rest

November 17th- Abs