Do I have a problem?
I know I'm chemically dependent on exercise. I used to think I got depressed without it. That's not true. My life used to be depressing, and coming down from the exercise high made me feel my real life. I do, however, get more short tempered without it, and decisively less mellow. Not that I've ever been accused of being mellow. Laid back, I am not. But without exercise the intensity that is Ken is geometrically larger. This is why Ken is a verb. Must keep moving.
Today I went to the boat house intent on doing one piece. We have a 20 minute test piece on Tuesday, and I haven't done a 20 min piece all out for nearly 6 months. I've done many other pieces which I can use as benchmarks (60 min, 10k, 3x 15 min, 10 x 500m), but not the 20. When I arrived, a teammate was there doing a light piece. I told him what I was there for. He suggested I not blow it out today, so that I'd have something for Tuesday. While I think I'd be fine Tuesday no matter what, his point had merit. Taper and kick ass. He suggested 15 minutes, instead of 20. I could experiment with a pace, and use the piece as a guide. Good call.
So I did my 15 min at 1:49/ 500m splits. I'll pace to hit 1:48.5 on Tuesday, I think.
As I finish, another teammate arrives. Seems he and some others have come down to do 2 x 20 min. They talk me into joining them. They suggest we do them at halfway between our 20 min pace and our hour pace. So I do the first at 1:52.4/ 500m. Then we take 10 min off. I say "I've done two pieces already, I really don't think I should do the third, so I'm fresh for Tuesday." They tell me to just cruise the last one at 2:00/500m. I agree. I go off. I cruise. But then I notice the guy next to me is going a little faster than I am, and I decide to match his pace. So I pull even. And he starts to pick up his pace. So I stay even. And I feel good, so I stay with him. Then I decide to pull ahead. So I increase the power, drop my split. I finish ahead of him. I finish the last at 1:54.5.
I went down to do 15-20 min. I end up doing nearly an hour.
I feel good. It's not like I can't handle the work. But I feel really good exercising. And I can't say no. I enjoy the company. Working out in a group is great. But I think one of those "are you addicted" questions usually reads "Do you find yourself engaging in [addictive behavior] even when you had promised yourself you wouldn't?"
My name is Ken, and I'm an exercise addict.
Today I went to the boat house intent on doing one piece. We have a 20 minute test piece on Tuesday, and I haven't done a 20 min piece all out for nearly 6 months. I've done many other pieces which I can use as benchmarks (60 min, 10k, 3x 15 min, 10 x 500m), but not the 20. When I arrived, a teammate was there doing a light piece. I told him what I was there for. He suggested I not blow it out today, so that I'd have something for Tuesday. While I think I'd be fine Tuesday no matter what, his point had merit. Taper and kick ass. He suggested 15 minutes, instead of 20. I could experiment with a pace, and use the piece as a guide. Good call.
So I did my 15 min at 1:49/ 500m splits. I'll pace to hit 1:48.5 on Tuesday, I think.
As I finish, another teammate arrives. Seems he and some others have come down to do 2 x 20 min. They talk me into joining them. They suggest we do them at halfway between our 20 min pace and our hour pace. So I do the first at 1:52.4/ 500m. Then we take 10 min off. I say "I've done two pieces already, I really don't think I should do the third, so I'm fresh for Tuesday." They tell me to just cruise the last one at 2:00/500m. I agree. I go off. I cruise. But then I notice the guy next to me is going a little faster than I am, and I decide to match his pace. So I pull even. And he starts to pick up his pace. So I stay even. And I feel good, so I stay with him. Then I decide to pull ahead. So I increase the power, drop my split. I finish ahead of him. I finish the last at 1:54.5.
I went down to do 15-20 min. I end up doing nearly an hour.
I feel good. It's not like I can't handle the work. But I feel really good exercising. And I can't say no. I enjoy the company. Working out in a group is great. But I think one of those "are you addicted" questions usually reads "Do you find yourself engaging in [addictive behavior] even when you had promised yourself you wouldn't?"
My name is Ken, and I'm an exercise addict.
posted by Kenneth at 9:43 AM
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