year-end

2019 by the Numbers

I struggled physically all year in 2019. I felt tired nearly every workout and struggled to finish what felt easy before. I felt zesty and invigorated only a handful of days. I felt like I spent weeks and weeks feeling too fatigued to move. As you can see from the weekly bar chart, my activity trended up and down all year long, like a wave. It’s like I spent a few weeks working really hard, only to find I never got to the reward of feeling better. Then I’d rest. The cycle repeated over and over. The chart matches my memory. in 2019 I spent many weeks feeling like I was “peaking”, like I reached my personal best. The weekly bar chart matches that memory. You can see a gradual build until a few weeks of peak performance in the summer, after which I rested. The weird thing is I feel like I didn’t do as much activity in 2019 as I had in many years. However, my activity was quite higher than 2017. I did have some technical difficulties with my hardware in 2017, so I had more untracked workouts that year than the others, but I don’t think I missed so many as to make the difference shown. Why did 2019 feel so bad? It is aging? Is it because 2018 was so fantastic? Is it a glitch in life, perception, or my hardware? Who knows?

While I can’t help but be full of intentions and expectations for my physical self in 2020, I want to also take time to congratulate myself and recognize that I am still doing well even if it doesn’t feel that way.

2018 in Summary: Most miles in 6 years

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2018 turned out to be a fantastic year for physical activity. I logged 3,750 miles total. 3,600 of those miles were logged on the bike. My past few years have looked like this:

  • 2018: 3600

  • 2017: 2,897

  • 2016:2,760

  • 2015: 2,744

  • 2014: 1,784

  • 2013: 3,048

I am happy about the year in so many other ways. I rocked it in the boxing gym, too. Overall, I kept pretty consistent whether it was cycling, boxing, skiing, yoga or hiking. I added a lot more meditation to my regime this year and kept great sleep hygiene. I stayed healthy with no major upsets. I managed stress well, although 2018 didn’t bless me with any severely stressful events. I feel healthier than I’ve ever felt before, and even felt like I was at my “peak” a couple of times. It’s an amazing feeling.

From Strava