Seasonal Adjustments

The days are shortening, and the temperature is cooling. It's time to break out the hoodies and cuddle under warmer blankets. Without an alarm, it's easy to sleep half the morning away, and come mid-afternoon, the slump presses in on the mind like a settling duvet, lulling the unsuspecting into a midday catnap.

Your choice or not, do you succumb or do you resist?

Until this year--until this week, really--I never considered how significant the impact seasonal changes could be on the mind and body. Perhaps I simply ignored it previous years; I'd be very curious to know if I recorded a similar feeling in my journal from this time last year, or maybe I attributed it more broadly, like, "Oh, it's one of those rare weeks where I could take a nap every day." Correlating the tiredness with fall fatigue? It never crossed my mind.

Since I dislike taking regular naps, I needed to reevaluate my routine, more specifically the time following lunch. I could continue to reserve that slot for weight lifting, but with how groggy my mind and sluggish my body felt, I quickly dropped the idea. Yes, I could have pushed through, but the torture wasn't worth it in my opinion. Instead, I decided to shift my mindset elsewhere.

Dedicating myself to regular weight lifting along with trying to reach at least 8k steps, though usually closer to 10k-12k, either via walking or jogging consumes many hours a week, usually filling the whole of my afternoon and leaving only the morning to transcribe, write, etc....

Instead of breaking my neck to achieve both, I'm restructuring my workout routine to one that I think will benefit me better in the long run, no pun intended.

I thrive when jogging in cooler temperatures. I can typically last into the colder months until January thereabouts before the chill becomes too much. Once the middle-to-end of February arrives, it's warmed up enough for me to resume through spring. When summer hits, however, I'm a weenie, humidity being the main culprit and the bane of my existence.

During those months where jogging outside is too miserable and I'm too stubborn to invest in a gym membership, I'll focus more on increasing my strength and leaning into a bulk phase. This rotation will theoretically keep my workout regiment all around more interesting, and it provides clear cut lines for when to bulk vs when to lean.

Yes, I anticipate losing some muscle mass by switching over to a mostly-cardio routine, setting me back on attaining my unassisted pull-up goal, which is still far beyond reach, but it occurred to me throughout this past week that I really want to better my jogging pace again. Variety is the spice of life, or so it's said, and I think that's applicable to exercise as well.

Using Couch to 5k Week 4 as an example, my best recorded jogging pace peaked in 2021 shortly after I'd returned from Japan at 5'24" per kilometer. At the time, I was still 143 lbs (~65 kg), just a little higher than my best weight for my final medical examination in Japan. From 2022, it has slowly increased to my current maintenance weight, fluctuating between 150-153 lbs (68-69 kg) the last couple of years. Even with tracking my calories and lifting weights to build muscle mass, it hasn't budged, and my time hasn't dropped below 6' for week 4 since 2022. Until today.

Now, one important note to make is that the cycle, excluding the warmup and cooldown, is a 3 min jog → 1.5 min walk → 5 min jog → 3 min walk → 3 min jog → 1.5 min walk → 5 min jog. During my last 1.5 minute walk, my lower abdomen was starting to cramp terribly, like period intensity cramps, so I had to pause the program briefly until they subsided, which allowed me to regain my breath. As a result, I don't know whether or not I can count this jog as being under 6', which is why the next two days for week 4 will prove all the more imperative.

I've forgotten how it feels to really push myself during my jogs, straddling the line between overexertion and not enough effort. I could do a light jog at a talking pace without issue for an hour or longer, but pushing my limits on each and every round between walking cycles is a different story entirely.

Why though? Why walk or jog immediately after lunch instead of continuing to lift weights in that timeframe? Well, allow me to dissect the reason. As part of my usual warm-up routine, I would walk with my fiancé to work after lunch and then return home to begin my Built With Science warm-up and program, pumping while the iron's hot, so to speak. Recently, however, the moment I've walked in the door is when my energy would rapidly wane. If I returned inside to finish my warm-up and then left for a jog, I'd instantly feel more awake. Sunlight staves off the lethargy. By the time I finish my jog and return home, the lethargy has passed, and I'm ready to resume working on my projects.

As a result, this week my writing productivity has been abuzz. Monday, I wrote Cael's journal for the 13th of Nudon, totaling ~840 words. Tuesday, I wrote their 1st of Nudon journal, totaling ~1360 words, and Wednesday, I wrote their 2nd of Nudon journal, totaling ~1770 words. None of them were already written and just in need of edits; these were all journals I wrote from scratch. Writing 3 journals in a week, especially a week where my fiancé was off Saturday, Sunday, and Thursday, is fairly substantial for me.

Here's to hoping the momentum continues.

Other Notable Accomplishments:

• For once, there's not much else to note here. We went out to eat with family on Tuesday at a Mexican restaurant, and I stopped eating when I felt full, opting to ask for a to-go box so I wouldn't stuff my face and die of a miserable food baby later. I overeat easily, so this was a win for me.

• 2 journals left to write, 2 to finish, and 13 overall to edit & post! I'll be stoked once I enter single digits.

Questions for Contemplation & Discussion:

• How badly does fall fatigue or spring lethargy affect you, if at all?

  • How might you reorient your routine to accomodate for that inevitable sleepiness?

This Week's Obligatory Cat Pic: Mura

His, "Feed me!" scream.