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1828 Days Later

Yesterday I completed my fifth year of doing at least 30 continuous minutes of exercise a day. That means today’s five-mile outdoor walk was my 1828th day of exercise in a row.

As I’ve said before, this consistency is Doug Wilcoxen’s fault.

Doug and I were at the opposite ends of Wig Hall at Pomona College our freshman year. The dorm geography meant although I liked Doug, we weren’t close friends.  I just knew that he was very bright and we shared a definite label of “Not a jock”.

When Doug posted on Facebook in late 2015 that he was pleased that he’d gone to the gym 300 plus times that year, my doing something similar seemed possible. It wasn’t like a football player or my cross-country obsessed roommate was bragging about their workouts. It was a real, normal person doing something another non-jock could do.

So starting January 1, 2016 I started exercising, mostly by going to the gym. I made myself exercise at least 30 minutes straight every day. I didn’t want off days because I knew I needed to get in the habit to disempower the inevitable excuses. Usually I went early, right after dropping Geoff off for work, but if an early airplane flight or a colonoscopy interfered with a morning workout, I made sure that I did something for 30 minutes later in the day.

This year COVID made daily trips to the gym problematic. Instead, early in March I started walking around the city. My first treks were just 30 minutes or so. But, soon I jumped up to 3 mile round trips, and then in summer I moved up to 5 mile circuits.

Sightseers on Eureka Peak waiting for Sunrise

Crowd waiting for sunrise on Eureka Peak, New Year’s Morning 2021.
Click on any photo in this post to see a larger one.
But go to www.sfoutdoorwalks.com to see full-size photos.

Not only were the walks keeping me active and keeping my exercise streak going, the urban hikes were showing me details of the city I had completely missed. Learning how different neighborhoods fit together, seeing the differences in housing stock, lots, and streets, and discovering both beauty and decay have been real gifts of the pandemic.

Looking through the trees in Buena Vista Park at Ambassador Hormel's home and downtown

Looking through the trees in Buena Vista Park at Ambassador Hormel’s home and downtown

Moonset from Twin Peaks

Moonset from Twin Peaks

Who knew that the top of Twin Peaks is just a mile up the hill from our front door? Who knew that there is a canyon 1.1 miles from our house, that the top of Mt. Davidson is just over 2 miles from home, that our new favorite wine bar is 2.5 miles away, … or, or, or? Fun!

Of course, I am way behind in sharing what I have seen. There are just so many interesting views appearing every day that I am tardy in selecting and editing. The photos here are the first of 2021, but there are many more from 2020 waiting attention.  I hope to catch up!

(Checkout the complete collection published so far at www.sfoutdoorwalks.com.  That gallery lets you enlarge the pictures and learn more about the date, time, and location of the shots.)

Going down the Henry stairs

Going down the Henry stairs

1828 days in a row  means that I have been very lucky, too. I haven’t caught a disabling illness or acquired a serious physical malady.  Pretty amazing, when I think about what’s out there.

I should also stress that the daily exercise has not made me an athlete. I have aches, pains, conditions, and several extra pounds. But, I am convinced that the chronic exercise has kept me more mobile and both mentally and physically flexible.

So, thank you again, Doug.

Not only did your post spur me to commit to regular workouts, it led me to learning and loving a lot more about my City!

Happy 1828th Exercise Day! Happy New Year!

Painted Utility box on Sanchez Street

Utility box on Sanchez Street

By |2021-01-01T16:53:15-08:00January 1, 2021|Personal Life, San Francisco|0 Comments
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A New Year’s Resolution, 3 Years Later

I was inspired on New Year’s Eve 2015 to start exercising regularly. Doug Wilcoxen, a fellow Pomona College student and resident of Wig Hall 30+ years ago, wrote on Facebook that day that he had been to the gym 315 times during the year. I remember Doug in college as being sane and not a freakish jock, so I thought that if Doug could exercise regularly, then maybe I could, too.

I decided to go to the gym or do something physical daily as long as I could. I also decided that if I missed a day or two, I would restart the routine as soon as I was able. I wondered what would happen.

I posted on New Year’s Day 2017 that I did something physical 30 minutes a day every day during 2016.

Galen in the Fitness SF locker room

My resolution had inspired me to drag myself to the gym on those days I felt a little under the weather or felt pressured by time. I didn’t want to end my streak, so I’d go and do 30 minutes of core body, upper body, or cardio… or maybe just walk the streets for a solid half hour.

On 1/1/2017 I thought that after My Year of Daily Exercise, I would give myself permission to skip a day here or there.

I underestimated my own anal retentiveness.

Yesterday I completed 3 years of doing something physical for 30 minutes a day. That’s 1096 days in a row.

As today’s locker room picture above shows, the repetition doesn’t make me a young muscle stud, or muscle stud of any age. But, the fixation on daily activity has been good for me.

My routine has me heading to the gym as soon as the girls have been fed and re-settled down. So, I am usually at the gym at 6:30 am, or at 7 am opening on weekend and holidays. This starts my day.

More important than any physical prowess gained is the understanding and gratitude I have because I have been lucky. I haven’t had any serious illness or injury in three years.

No flu, debilitating colds, or Serious Conditions that randomly hit people of a certain age. I am of a certain age, so appreciate not being a random victim.

I thought I would intentionally break the streak at 1000 days. But, I mis-estimated when Day 1000 would be, and didn’t make an accurate count of the days until something like day 1020. I decided not to stop intentionally at some weired, non-milestone day.

Now, after three years, I am okay with missing a day or two. Life will happen. Flu or worse always lurks. And, some day I could decide that just that day I do not feel like walking or gymming.

But, I will restart when I am able and get back into the habit doing 30 minutes of physical activity most days.,

After all, if Doug Wilcoxen can do it, so can I.

By |2019-01-01T16:48:59-08:00January 1, 2019|Personal Life|1 Comment
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366 Consecutive Days of Exercise

Galen at the Gym on December 31, 2016

At Fitness SF, December 31, 2016

I blame Doug Wilcoxen.

I went to college with Doug, and haven’t seen him since around 1975, but it’s still his fault.

On December 31, 2015 Doug posted to his friends on Facebook that he went to the gym 315 times last year.

“Hmmm!” I thought. We are about the same age and I didn’t recall him being a hard-core jock at school.  So, if Doug can keep a commitment to regular exercise, I should be able to, too. I’ll try to match him in 2016.

So last January 1st, I started going to the gym every day and doing at least 30 minutes of exercise.  Most days it was the elliptical machine, but I worked in a day or two a week of core body stretches and sit-ups for my back.  And, for vanity, I mean variety, I decided to do some chest and arm exercises one day a week.  Or, two.

At the end of January, I had a perfect gym attendance record, and I started feeling invested in the exercise mission. Three-hundred and fifteen days of work outs in a year doesn’t allow for much skipping, so I made myself go even when there was no time or I was feeling only 90% well.

By the final week of February, I had kept my perfect record, but faced a road trip to Oregon.  I went to the gym in the morning the day I left but had no gym membership in Oregon.  I decided that even if I didn’t go to my normal gym, I would count 30 solid minutes of exercise as a day of working out on the way to meeting the 315 goal. The aim was activity, wasn’t it —  not just walking through a gymnasium doorway.  So, I did outdoor walks around Ashland for a couple days to keep my exercise record perfect to the end of February.

By March it became a game.  Can I do a whole quarter year exercising every day?  Then, how about 6 straight months? For our 10-day summer trip to Ashland I joined a gym there so I could do more than just walk around town every day, and I realized I was trying for a whole year of daily activity.

Christmas Tree at 18th and Castro

Christmas tree seen on the 40-minute Walkabout

I was lucky that I didn’t get any flu or debilitating colds all year. The day of my early-morning colonoscopy in June I did a 30-minute outdoor walk around our house because the sedative drugs were still in my system.  I also did a local walk on Christmas Day because the gym’s hours conflicted with the need to cook dinner for 8.  The walk was over 40 minutes because I took short stops to take quick pictures… I think the day counts, anyway!

I worried the final week of December about a sudden illness or weird food poisoning that would keep me bedridden. But, nothing evil happened.  I showed up at the gym yesterday morning about 7 and worked out for the 366th time in 2016.

I wasn’t trying to lose weight, and really didn’t.  I was in the range of 175-180 all year. (This morning I was 174.8 on the scales at Fitness SF.)  And, I don’t believe I can exercise my way to immortality or eternal youth. But, I do feel more energetic, calmer, healthier, and, yes, of course, self-satisfied!

Now I know.  If Doug Wilcoxen can go to the gym 315 times in a year, so can I.

Every day in 2016 I did at least 30 minutes of exercise.  Doug, it’s your fault.

By |2017-01-01T12:33:23-08:00January 1, 2017|Personal Life|2 Comments
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