Inside or Outside?

I have to thank God this week for the wonderful weather. Having just returned from a trip to the Sunny Bahamas, it certainly helped ease the transition to come home to mostly sunny days and warm, spring like weather. Even my cold has not kept me from enjoying the onset of Spring. In fact, I would have to say that the only thing that pushed me past my cold to work-out yesterday afternoon was the spectacular day.

I was still feeling pretty run down when I got home from work yesterday, but I just didn't feel right about skipping my work-out another day. I was too concerned it would be the gateway decision to returning to old habits; one missed work-out becomes two, two missed work-outs become three and eventually I'm back to square one. But I was struggling with the problem of how far to push myself. If I pushed myself too hard, I could sabotage myself further by bringing on a bout of bronchitis which would definitely knock me out of my routine for multiple days. As I pulled on my work-out clothes and pondered the situation, I glanced out the window at the beautiful sky. Perhaps what I needed today was not a jaunt to the gym, but a walk outside in the fresh air away from the subtle pressures of "keeping up" that come with working out surrounded by other people.

I decided instead of worrying about my pace, I would just concentrate on time. I would pace myself based on how my body felt and hopefully, that would keep me from overdoing anything. I glanced at my watch, decided to shoot for 45 minutes and set out on the walking path around my neighborhood. I realized very quickly that in my previous life when I had taken up walking around the neighborhood, I had seriously been underachieving. I had several walking routes I had used in the past, but I had never been diligent enough to time myself or determine how far I was really walking. In the last month, however, I have worked myself up to a pretty standard fifteen minute mile. On a day where I was feeling a little challenged as I was today, I might slow to a 16 minute mile, but 45 minutes should equate to approximately three miles. After I completed my first route in under 15 minutes, I had to laugh at myself. Previously I would walk that one route, consider that my work-out for the day, and feel pretty proud of myself. I had apparently come along way. I still had another thirty minutes to go, so I moved onto another walking trail and kept up the pace.

This particular route was much hillier than the previous one, and I started to feel my heart rate speed up and my legs tighten. Without the television to distract me, my mind was busy with introspection. This was actually proving to be a pretty tough work-out. I was keeping my pace up and the hills were providing an extra something, something, and surprisingly my body still seemed to be managing OK. I started pondering, "What was harder, working out on a treadmill in the gym, or completing the same three miles outside?" When I was in the gym, I perceived that I pushed myself a little harder because my slightly competitive nature took over in front of other people. I tended to walk a little faster and tried to last a little longer. But as I continued walking and thought a little longer about it, I realized the opposite was true as well. I didn't challenge myself to do things that might put me in a position to fail in front of others. I typically stuck to one level of difficulty and avoided adding inclines or alternating speeds that might cause me to have slow down or not go as far. Walking outside forced me to challenge my difficulty level. If I went down a hill, I had to go back up to get back to where I started from.

It was a question I realized which didn't have one right answer, it was really a matter of perspective. Pondering the differences kept me entertained, however, through the remainder of my work-out.  Ultimately I decided that both inside jaunts and outside jaunts brought something different to my fitness efforts, so alternating them probably provided the most rounded approach. More importantly though, I had managed to make it through the day's work-out, despite feeling bad from my cold, and I was still on track for my weekly goal. My walk proved to be just the right thing to get me heart pumping without pushing my cold into Bronchitis, and I was satisfied that I was finally beginning to understand how to listen to my body better.