November may be an odd time of year to start a new routine, but a few things happened recently that have me repacking my gym bag and getting out of the house for my workouts a few days a week.
Still my favorite gym bag!
Repacking My Gym Bag
The powers that be at work are fed up with people not coming in to the office. I am facing reality, sucking it up, and commiting to going in 3 days a week—give or take a day. 😉
The worst part of going in to the office is getting to the office, a/k/a commuting. Traffic is so much worse at 7:30 than at 7:00, but I have not been able to get out the door at 7:00. Pre-pandemic, I went to early studio class workouts several days a week—Cylcebar, Orangetheory Fitness, and Corepower Yoga. As I shared at our coffee date, I just started going to Corepower yoga. I don’t have any plans to go back to CycleBar, but they do have Peloton bikes at my office gym.
This week I finally got organized enough to try one out. I packed my gym bag with my cycling shoes and brought my AirPods case so I could synch them to the bike. The worst part of using a bike at a gym is the log in process. It takes me forever to type in my user name and password. When I used a bike at my hotel in Dallas I had to figure out how to change the keyboard settings because it somehow was set on a non-English version that didn’t have the symbols I have in my password. I was wishing for an easier way to beam my account information from my phone to the bike, when low-and-behold, my office gym bikes have a QR code log in!
Once you open the link, it asks you to confirm the code shown on the bike,
and logs you in with one tap!
I’m not sure I’d want to use the bike if someone else was on the other one, but I had the whole gym to myself most of the time and only encountered someone heading to the bike once I was done. Overall, being able to use a Peloton bike vs. my Schwinn IC4 at home isn’t enough of a draw to get me out of the house, but adding the abilitiy to beat traffic may sweeten the deal just enough to make this part of my new routine.
The last piece of my pre-Pandemic fitness routine is Orangetheory. I haven’t reactivated my account yet, but once I get used to getting up at 4:45 one a week for yoga, I may be able to face getting up at 4:15 once a week for Orangetheory.
Weekly Wrap
Here’s how my new routine is shaping up:
Monday: Short Run + Strength
Tuesday: Corepower Yoga
Wednesday: Longer Run
Thursday: Peloton Cycling + Strength
Friday: Strength
Saturday: Long Run
Sunday: Bike Ride
I haven’t quite figured out how to rebalance my strength workouts and fit in those PT exercises I am doing for my hip flexor. This week I did those Tuesday (on my mat before class started), Friday, and Sunday, which is probably enough.
We had crazy warm weather last week, but it was still dark until 7 am, so I only ran with Scooby on Saturday. We left the house at 6:45 and it was just getting barely light by the time we got out of my neighborhood.
63F and 89% humidity. 🥵
Sunday morning started wet, but after the showers cleared out we went on a nice bike ride—in short sleeves!
I got to try out my new Peloton (padded) cycling shorts which already were a bargain at $25, but turned into an even better deal when they accidentally put two pairs in my box.
A huge thank you to Deborah and Kim for hosting the Weekly Run Down link up.
Have you switched up your routine lately?
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I laugh. I may train live and that means packing a bag for after work runs.
It’s been such a longtime.
Yes crazy warm weather but now there will be darkness after work… Maybe I’ll go back to before work runs…
Our weather got cold (abruptly!) yesterday, but the forecast is showing that it may be on a slight warming trend as the week progresses. We won’t have last week’s low/mid-70’s temps, but at least we’ll be well above the freeze zone. That’s great that you have access to a Peloton bike at your office gym!
It’s got to be tough to get back to the in-office routine! The log-in process just sucks in so many respects. I love the idea of a QR code!
The QR code is such a great invention!
Well, this is good- I’ve been trying to wrap my mind around going back to the gym, and you’re encouraging me! Yikes, those are early mornings for you. Using the Peloton bike at the office gym sounds like a great solution.
It’s still stressful — will the bikes be open? will too many other people be there? — once I’ve been a few times and have that figured out it will be better. 😉
I’m sorry you have to go back to work in person. Don’t they realize people can actually be more productive at home?
I’m sure you’ll get used to it and find a new routine that works for you.
I do not envy you your commute, but you do get some very cool photos when you’re running in DC! God, I haven’t been in DC for 38 years!
Hah! The latest “please get your assess back to the office” email (I’m paraphrasing) actually said we’re not all about productivity and billable hours. Blah, blah, blah. 😉
Those are pretty early mornings even for you! I admire your perseverance-I would not do it if I had to do that early. Are you liking the Peloton bike more now? I remember you not liking it when you first tried it. A QR code sounds super convenient
The classes have grown on me, for sure. It’s still not as fun as running, but I have accepted I can’t do that every day any more.
Do you have a shower at work? I tried riding my bike to the office–loved it–but I was so sweaty when I got there! If there was a place to clean up and change, I would have made it a habit! I do get up at 4:30 on the days I go to the pool and it does get easier but I do go to sleep at about 8:30, lol
Oh, yes, we have a nice locker room with fantastic water pressure in the showers, towels, and hair dryers. If I couldn’t shower it wouldn’t be possible.
I still don’t really understand why there’s such a push to have employees back in the office. It’s so much easier to be efficient working from home since you don’t have to commute, etc. But it sounds like you’re definitely making the best of it and at least you have a nice office gym!
It would be awesome if you go back to Orangetheory! The templates have changed quite a bit this year but it’s a good change.
I don’t know how you find the willpower to get up at 4.15am for a fitness routine. You are my hero!
Well done on your PT sessions, too. Three times a week sounds perfect to me. I’ve been slacking on mine although they should be my priority. I’ll make sure I’ll get back to them this week!
Ugh on having to go back to work in person after being spoiled for the last couple of years working remotely. Right now is a great time for trying to get up early with the recent switch back to standard time, though. I hope the office Peloton bike continues to work out for you.
ugh at having to go back to the office, but I love that you are making the most of it. Having an office gym is a super nice perk.
No major changes to the routine for me. I’m waiting until after this stupid hurricane to restart the run streak.
Dang, nice mix up on those bike shorts 🙂 Soon I’ll be finding a new gym and getting motivated to go! Looking forward to getting back into that routine. A log in via a QR code sounds like a huge time saver!
this is high time i change my workout plan and the best part is our gym has peloton and I can try the different workouts
i should totally do the same thing starting this week