Here you can see our little set-up - the tread is in the background.

(Sunday Paper, Year VIII, Issue 9)

I think about this every once in a while: if I had to pick a time in my life when I was in great shape, I would say it was around 2000.

There was a stretch in 2000, 2001, 2002 where I belonged to a gym through work and I was working regular day time hours (I guess that narrows down when it was, because I was often working overnights or late nights in those days), and I would get up early, take the T into the city, and work out in the gym, then shower and walk over to work.

I felt great.

I was also in my very early twenties, which didn’t hurt.

But I think that right now - after three marathons (hopefully) by the time you’re reading this -I’m in better shape than that….and it’s because of Peloton.

A quick scene-setting reminder: If you’re reading this on Sunday, yesterday I should have completed my third marathon - in Wilmington, North Carolina. I’ll write about that experience next week. (Look to the end of the Notes section to see where you can find out more sooner.)

And, I haven’t written about it in a long time, so it’s worth saying again here: We got a Peloton bike during the pandemic…January 2021, I think, is when it finally came. (Maybe the very end of December 2020?) And I liked it all so much (and was running so much) I bought the Tread about a year ago - I think we just passed a year since it was delivered.

For those of you who don’t know, you can also just use the app and have guided workouts…all of it has been perfect for me. It gives me structure to do workouts whereas when I was going to the gym I had a routine that I often got bored of.

(So bored, in fact, that I stopped going to the gym. I don’t remember the last time I went to the gym. It might have been in 2019 but could have been even longer ago.)

I started out biking consistently, then Kathy and I organized that area you see in the picture above with the weights we have (and gotten a couple of other sets) to use the strength classes too.

When I started running like crazy during the pandemic, I used the outdoor running classes, and then it all came together when I got into the Boston Marathon. There was an 18-week marathon training program on the app that I followed that used outdoor running and indoor strength and it gave me the routine and guidance I needed to train for and run the marathon.

For the second marathon I took what I liked the most from Peloton the first time - especially the strength classes (tons of core) - and customized my training.

And I did that again this time, combined with the best practices from my Team Framingham runs.

The bottom line is I love all of it. (Well, I can do without some of the instructors’ social media feeds…but I guess that’s part of the appeal for some people. Also…I wouldn’t model business practices after the company. They’ve had some struggles, unfortunately…though I hope that has been turned around recently.) Without those coaches leading me through workouts I don’t know how I get through two marathons. (Hopefully three by now!)

There’s a bit of a lull now before I ramp up this summer for Chicago in the fall. That’s always a good time for me to explore the different classes and try some different workouts…and then, depending on how yesterday went in Wilmington, I’ll start looking at which classes will help me best train for October in Chicago.

I don’t think I’m exactly lazy when it comes to working out. Maybe I’m just indifferent.

Having the Peloton app keeping me on track - whether it’s timing the duration of the workout or telling me how much effort I should be putting into something or just telling me what to do - certainly helps keep that indifference at bay.

And that’s why I think I have Peloton to thank for being in the best shape of my life right now.

What I’ve Been Enjoying

For the majority of my life this time of year would get me excited in anticipation of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament. That’s one thing that hasn’t come back for me since the pandemic canceled the 2020 tourney…and now when I do watch college basketball I’ve been watching the women more than the men. It helps that I now have a connection to the University of South Carolina and they’ve been the best team in the country the past couple of years…and also that Boston University’s team has been good these past few years.

Anyway, I went to the BU game on Wednesday and they beat Army in a very well-played basketball game. I think my filling-out-a-bracket years are over, but I certainly have more of an interest in the women’s tourney than the men’s these days.

Notes

*I did my Monday run and my Tuesday workout and then called it a day for the week ahead of the marathon. Figured at that point it was time to rest my legs and feel as fresh as possible on Saturday. How did it turn out? I don’t know!

*Here’s what I do know - I was watching the weather all week. There’s a better than 50% chance I ran in some form of rain yesterday…I certainly went to Wilmington with a suitcase filled with stuff that might help me cope with running in the rain.

*People were talking about a couple of hard Wordles this week. I forgot to mention last Sunday that I had a 78-word streak snapped with ‘cache’ last week. It didn’t bum me out as much as I thought it would. Just a word I never would have figured out.

*Below you can find my social media links. The running Instagram is likely to have some information (if not today, certainly this week) about how the marathon went. I’ll post about it next week.