Oct 2023 fitness and training was all over the place. A week in Cologne for the Anuga Food Show with lots of drinking. Yes drinking. Something since Q1 of 2022 that I had largely eliminated.
Never been much of a drinker all my life but during the pandemic lock-down period-- found myself grabbing a bottle of whisky off the shelf to replenish just before the last one dries up in the house. Soon it kinda became a habit.
Those 2 years also saw my highest running mileage ever and my cardio fitness was back right up there to my ultramarathon days... so I thought a few drinks was ok. But when life returned to normal going back to office, that's when I it dawned on me that something was not right and I need to kick the bottle away.
So why this "binge" week during Anuga this time? Call it an experiment. First I can certainly still drink pretty copious amount but the fact is I really do not like it at all... Alcohol. Especially beer, it just smells rotten somehow. Call it overnight cat piss, reconstituted baby puke or whatever, that's how I see it.
Sleeping heart rate and sleep data were pretty messed up for that week and a few days after... Didn't like seeing what I had to record on my tracking file...
The quantity in that one week is probably 15-18 times more than the total consumed between Apr 2022- Sep 2023!
So-- for the final time/ experiment to prove, with data and numbers... I'm absofrigginglutely done.
NOT TOUCHING ALCOHOL FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE.
Been there, done that. Certain that there is nothing to miss. 0%-Proof Life from now on.
If anyone now at social gathering be it personal or work asks me-- I'm just gonna show them this blog article.
Nothing much significant otherwise for the month,
The focus has been further tightening up on the forms in all the staple exercises. Noticing improvements in different areas. Things got better as the nagging shoulder issues had finally subsided to negligible levels. Gotta say, convalescence while still continuing with daily training is quite a challenge for the past year with lots of volume/ intensity tempering and tweaks trying to progress while recovering at the same time
Doing things strictly means having to drop the volume as each rep is now intensified requiring longer time and concentration to do it properly. That got me trying to "catch up" with my monthly quotas again towards the last ~10 days of Oct as the gap was wide compared to Sep totals, for each of the tracked "Daily - Salad" menu.
Guess I really shouldn't be too concerned. These "numbers" aren't the same as say, trying to max out in a set type of challenge nor chalked down as some ego boosting statistics. But having ingrained myself with this month-to-month comparison for over 1.5 yrs now, it's a little hard to shake it off from the skull.
Pull-ups were the most lacking in Oct-- so in a spur of the moment on the 28th, I decided to knock the remaining lag against Sep out of the park in one fell swoop, a 1-hr PullUp session.
Didn't do quite as well as I thought. Overestimating and expecting ~300 reps but managed only a paltry 238. No training or whatsoever this time for the session and the only prize medal is a big-ass blister on my right palm. I might re-visit this in maybe 6 months time or +/- a little and do it on the day that marks my 54th year on Planet Earth.
Proprioception gotten a lot more fun with improved functional fitness on the new balancing board bought in Sep. It serves as a great aid during warmup to the daily workout session even if nothing else. Definitely a good investment and fun toy to my scant but sufficient home arsenal of training equipment. A Minimalist's pride.
Mini sub SMART GOALS I have written up in Sep. Self tests been done in most of the things listed except.... next 2.4km run due in mid Nov...
This new "fitness-gauge" comprises of Cardio, Strength, Flexibility and Balance" markers. Mobility is already by default in some of these so no specifics on this fitness component included here. These tests will probably be tweaked further over time like most things I came up with...
Goals can and will change as we embark on a journey once we set out-- but sub goals and way-point mapping along the way is still a must not to get lost.
and a constant reminder from one of my 2 favorite tag lines in life...
FAIL TO PLAN, PLAN TO FAIL