An update on exercise

Last year, I went running, I did the Hour of Power (HOP) and Pilates, and I started going to Zumba.

I haven’t been to Pilates since the week before the Buffer Retreat in Madrid. I’m not really sure why I haven’t been back, but I haven’t. I seem to have lost my Pilates mojo. And the longer I leave it, the worse it’ll be. I should go back.

I didn’t enjoy HOP. It was the same every week with the same awful music. I didn’t mind the squats too much because it strengthened my dodgy knee. I did mind the weights section, especially having to jog on the spot while doing it. Apart from the fact that it was awful, I kept injuring my calf muscle. This meant I couldn’t run either, and I ended up missing HOPs for ages at a time because I was afraid I’d hurt my leg again. When I did go back, I found I was worse at it than when I had first started it. It was at that point that I decided to give HOP up permanently.

I started going to Zumba near the end of last year. For a while, it overlapped with my sporadic attempts at HOP. The sporadicness of HOP meant my legs ached so much after the squats that I couldn’t do Zumba very well. This was a shame, because I quite liked Zumba. This probably contributed to my stopping going to HOP. I have continued going to Zumba as often as I can, and I always feel better for it. I’m not convinced Zumba alone is the answer to all my exercise issues, but it’s a start. Now, there’s a moment during the hour where I actually feel pretty pumped. This has resulted in me feeling like going for a run again.

I got out of the habit of running because of the whole HOP fiasco. I decided I’d start going out again at the beginning of this year. I diligently went out on the first Monday of the year. I didn’t run far or fast, but just enough to start a new running habit. It failed; I only went back out a couple of days ago, after feeling pumped at Zumba. I did a decent pace, 10:15 min/mile, but I was knackered out after a mile and a half. My lungs and heart are not used to that amount of effort at all. I am wondering whether I should sign up for the Littleport 10k or not this year.