1-2-3 Sundays: PBs, Sauna & Cooking

1 Theme

Back To Running

After 2 and a half weeks, I laced up my running shoes and hit the streets on Wednesday morning.

What started out as an efficient way of getting a healthy chunk of my steps in for the day turned into me going out fast - and staying at that pace.

Looking at the time on my watch when I finished left me asking myself "Is that all?". It felt like nothing compared to what I'd previously done over the last couple of months.

I had another run planned for the following lunchtime with people from work. I expected to be feeling sore and dreading it.

The truth is I enjoyed it.

Now that feels weird.

The shorter distances make running fun for me.  

2 Positive Outcomes

5k PB

I mentioned I went out fast.

After a few minutes, I decided to go for a new personal best.

I went for it.

I got 22:32.

My previous best was 23 minutes exactly. Chopping 30 seconds off my time is a great feeling.

The next goal is to get it to under 22 minutes.

Hot And Sweaty

An integral part of Scandinavian culture is the sauna - especially in Finland.

Its use dates back to the 16th Century for stove kitchens and winter shelters (it gets cold there).  

The Finlandia Foundation National is the leading source of support for Finnish culture in the US. They hold a National Sauna Week each year.

Benefits of sauna include preserving muscle mass, boosting your heart health and also helping you to relax.

I'm fortunate to have a sauna in my gym. I use it when I can. Training before work means it's not always possible to get a sauna session in before I get ready.  

This week I've managed to get three 10-minute sessions in.

I feel reinvigorated afterwards. The calming effect is noticeable when I go to work. There's a difference on days when I don't go in - I'm still on the high from the workout.

3 Things I've Learned

The Overlooked Aspect Of The Gym

Going to the gym by yourself has numerous benefits.

You can focus on what you wish to develop (e.g a specific lift or your running pace), it may suit your schedule better and allow more efficient workouts.

Conversely, going with a gym buddy has many positive aspects too.

One, in particular, outweighs the rest.  

The social aspect.

It might be the only chance you get to see a friend that week. You can both lift weights and chat at the same time.

Your intensity might drop however your recovery between sets increases allowing you to push yourself a little bit further each time.

Exercising with a friend is the new "going for a drink".  

Consistency To Effortless

5 weeks to go until the PLU photoshoot.

I'm in a good spot. I've been hitting my calories, steps and training sessions.

I've found that when you build a level of consistency the habits become effortless.

Getting 15k steps each day was tough when I set myself the target however its became part of my daily routine to the point where I don't have to think about it.  

Double Your Portions

Meal prepping can be time consuming.

The hour or so you spend cooking on a Sunday to get your meals ready for the week could be time you would rather spend elsewhere.

If you add up the time you spend doing this and then making your Sunday dinner, you're probably spending more time cooking than you'd like.

A simple way around this is doubling (or tripling) your portions when cooking other times during the week.

You devoting time to cooking at that point anyway, why not make an extra portion or two.

I bought turkey mince for my lunch on Saturday. There's 500g in a pack which I decided to split three ways. I made it with a pasta sauce and had one portion for my lunch. The other two will be for lunch during the week.

Sorted.

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