Tag: stats

Exercising: 2022 review

2022 was the third year in a row after I started exercising daily. Before 2020, I was stubbornly against any form of exercise (I don’t even know why.) This is the review post of my exercising year 2022, following the review I wrote last year.

2022 was a good year. Not as impressive as 2021. I think I overdid it back then!

Raw numbers

I covered 2955 km (1,836 miles) walking and running.

I cycled 1315 km (817 miles) in 4 months.

I exercised 688 hours.

I engaged in 625 workouts.

To put in perspective some of these tallies (generated by the excellent and free Fitness Stats iOS app):

  • In 2022 I walked or ran more than I drove! 2900 km (1,800 miles) vs. 2500 km (1,500 miles)
  • 688 hours of exercise is equivalent to 28.6 days (roughly a month of February)
  • 625 workouts (25 fewer than last year) mean that on average I engaged in almost two different activities per day

Burnout and anemia

I became aware a few years back that I have anemia. I had been giving blood four times a year (following the recommendation for women) until I was advised that however generous I wanted to be, it was better to donate twice per year. I was medicated the first time this was diagnosed but it was just a temporary fix. My body does not absorb iron very well. And since hemoglobins carry the precious oxygen to muscles, anemia leads to fatigue. Meh. I also burned out at work after Summer. So I gradually ramped down exercising to a gentler degree.

My Apple Watch is my sidekick

I respond very well to the daily coaching of my Apple Watch. I start my “activities” on it, launch from it the music, podcasts or audiobooks that I listen to via my headphones (Apple AirPods Pro or Bose QC35, both of which have noise cancellation.) I heed its reminders, enter the monthly challenges, the limited edition challenges.

Monthly challenges

In 2022 again I earned all of the monthly challenges. They are determined based on recent activities and are meant to either keep you at the same level or elevate you a bit, so that at the end of the year you have improved.

  • 366.7 km (11.8/d)
  • 17x double move goal
  • 31x close all rings
  • 15x double move goal
  • 3140 minutes (105/d)
  • 23902 kcal (797/d)
  • 31x close all rings
  • 5x double move goals
  • 22400 kcal (747/d)
  • 14x 700 kcal
  • 3x double move goals
  • 5 walking workouts

Notes: The first challenges of each quarter were not easy and required extra effort. In addition to these three (January, May, September), June was also difficult because burning almost 800 kcal everyday of the month on average required intense sessions during the weekends in order to make up for the work week where it’s usually harder to fit longer workouts. The last three of the year were really easy and I welcomed the break!

The January 2023 challenge is to cover at least 4 kilometers a day 14 times.

New gear

I got myself a nice pedal assist mountain bike 😍 early September.

Me next to my Nakamura eSummit 950 (picture by Daniel Dardailler)

Daniel asked me in the Spring if I might like to go biking with him once. To be honest, I wasn’t that chuffed and I said “sure, why not” but I didn’t think of it anymore until he asked again in the Summer. We finally went on the last day of August. It was A BLAST! We biked in the Esterel and I loved it so much that I bought my own e-mountain bike the same evening!

I bike as often as I can. With Daniel or not. To go places.

My longest and furthest cycling was on 13 November: 6 hours, 96 km (60 miles), elevation gain of 1067 meters (3,500 ft). I managed by saving as much battery as I could.

The advertised range of that e-bike is 80 km but in practice in the area it’s more accurate to plan circuits that do not exceed 50 km.

The part that was actual mountain biking was a small 9-kilometer area which I covered in less than 30 minutes! But going there was fun (and challenging) and going back along the coast was really beautiful. Great memory!

Aside: Even less use of my car

Since my teenage boy started high school in Cannes and takes the train I no longer have to drive him. I drove under 2500 km (1,500 miles) in 2022 and refueled only 3 times (180 liters).

I have continued walking, running (and now cycling) to places, to run errands, instead of driving which I do basically for grocery shopping.

Graphs

Daily average of exercise in 2022: 113 minutes (January peaked at 156 minutes per day on average)
Daily average of active energy in 2022: 747 kcal (January peaked at 925 kcal per day on average)
Daily average steps in 2022: 9,817 (January peaked at 16,712 steps per day on average)
Daily average running and walking distance in 2022: 8 km (January peaked at 14.3 km per day on average)
Daily average cycling in 2022: 31.5 km per day (August is misleading because I biked about 40 km on one day that month)
Activity graphs in 2022: move, exercise (both fluctuated), stand (steady at 19)

Weight graph for 2022: 63.12 kg on average, slight decrease

Strava’s year in sport

One of the perks of being a paying subscriber of the sports tracking app Strava is the yearly report. See below.

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363 days active, walking as top sport
Top 1% of the most active (I’m among 100,000+ as Strava has over 100,000,000 users)
Fastest/longest activities: 22 km/h avg speed cycling, 5:41 min/km avg pace running, 96 km furthest cycling
Total elevation (34511 m)=and distance (2778 km)
Top photos
Strava’s year 2022 in sport

Gentler Streak’s activity recap

In 2022 Guillaume tipped me about this new (paid) app that focuses on gentle and optimal training. It’s not a social network. There are explainers, advice on food or training, and beautiful graphics.

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Journey: body needs met on 355 days
Condition: optimal
States
363 days active, 618 workouts
Activities breakdown
571 hours total activities
Distance
Distance breakdown
Elevation
Elevation breakdown
Heart rate zones
Gentler Streak’s year 2022 recap

SportsTracker’s summary view

Here are some screenshots from the free app SportsTracker, which is very similar to Strava.

Calendar view showing big or small dots in a given colour (green for walking and hiking, pink for fitness-like activities, yellow fir running, grey for other)
Details of each activity type : walking, elliptical, stretching biking, other
Details of each activity type : yoga, hiking, cycling, running, swimming and dancing
Trends
13-month graph of fitness, fatigue and form
13-month graph of fitness, fatigue and form
SportsTracker’s summary view

Exercising: 2021 review

When I last wrote about exercising I found the totals quite unbelievable. I look back at those today with a smile, because the ones I now have 9 months after are even more unbelievable. So I’ll check back here in a year to see how relative this all is.

My Apple Watch is my coach

This wearable wonder of computing makes it very easy to stay on top of sports. The reminders are annoying but useful and I noticed that I got those only when I slacked (hint, hint), which does not happen frequently. That’s how driven I am.

Monthly challenges

In 2021 I earned each of the monthly challenges, which are determined based on recent past progress and are meant to either keep you at the same level or elevate you a bit, so that at the end of the year you have improved. I wonder how big they can be after a while.

  • 10x double move goal
  • 180.9 km (6.5/d)
  • 17x double move goal
  • 30x close all rings
  • 19x double move goals
  • 349.5 km (11.7/d)
  • 3695 minutes (120/d)
  • 26700 kcal (861/d)
  • 4220 minutes (140/d)
  • 318.4 km (10.2/d)
  • 27500 kcal (917/d)
  • 4770 minutes (153/d)

Apparently there is a point after which every challenge rotates between kil(ometers), min(utes) and (k)cal.

In 2020 I earned all but one, which I decided not to go for (24100 kcal, or 717/d) because I knew it was going to be too much even if it was the month of August, and I needed a break.

The January 2022 challenge is to walk or run 366.7 km (11.8/d). I’m not particularly up for it but I want to do it anyway. I miss the easy challenges though.

New gear

I now rotate between 7 pairs of sneakers and running shoes. I have also invested in some proper running outfits for chilly weather. It is to note that all of the sweaters I got were from the Men’s section. Not out of peculiarity but really because the colours are less flashy and the sizes fit me better.

Picture of some of my new equipment, me in it, preparing to go for a run

My sidekick: Gizmo

Gizmo is now 8 years old. He happily prances along and I’m very glad he’s with me. We both get our share of daily exercise, fresh air and adventures, and it gives me greater security to be accompanied by a muscular yellow Labrador. When it’s not too cold and we are next to a river he gets to swim too (but not in the sea because the sound of the ebb and flow scares him.)

Long gone are the days when he would lag at the other end of the leash and need to be dragged, after running only 3 or 4 kilometers. We now go for 5K jogs once a week or twice, come back walking, and it’s perfectly fine. When we don’t run, we just walk. Sometimes for two to three hours on the weekends, and on average for an hour and a half everyday.

Graphs

Daily average of exercise in 2021: 116 minutes (December peaked at 164 minutes per day on average)
Daily average of active energy in 2021: 773 kcal (December peaked at 996 kcal per day on average)
Daily average steps in 2021: 12340 (August peaked at 15859 steps per day on average)
Daily average running and walking distance in 2021: 10.2 km (August peaked at 13.4 km per day on average)
Activity graphs in 2021: move, exercise (both going up), stand (steady at 19)
Tallies of fitness and exercising metrics for the year 2021

Notes on the graphs

According to those tallies (generated by the excellent and free Fitness Stats iPhone app), my 2021 in sport can be broken down as follows:

  • 711 hours of exercise
  • 3746 kilometers walked/run
  • (of which I ran 226)
  • 103 hours on the elliptical
  • 650 workouts

To put things in perspective:

  • 711 hours of exercise is about a twelfth of the year, because it is equivalent to 29.6 days.
  • As I walked or ran over 3700 km, I only drove a wee bit over 5000 km with my car this year.
  • 226 km of jogging are an average of 4K every week (but there are months I don’t run, and when I do it’s 5Ks).
  • 103 hours on the elliptical are equivalent to watching 123 typical TV series episodes (guess what: that’s exactly what I did while on the elliptical)
  • 650 workouts mean that on average I did almost two different activities everyday.

From an addiction to another

2021 is when I stopped smoking. I made up my mind in January or February and my strategy was to ramp up exercising, pick up an electronic cigarette, gauge if that was going to work, and carry on with the routine without smoking. That happened in May. I have not smoked since then. Woohoo!

But ramping up exercising meant that I burned more calories and therefore needed to up my food intake. Stopping smoking made me more hungry too, so I had two reasons to eat bigger portions.

I remember starting to eat as much and then a little more than my teenage boy! (Who abandoned basketball during the first year of the pandemic, and now more or less refuses to walk or hike with me even every now and then.)

I gained a lot of muscles apparently

I was a bit dismayed when I saw my weight ramp up slowly but very very steadily. It has now stabilized after 8 months or so, sometime in September.

Weight graph for 2021: 62.42 kg on average (current trend is 63-64 kg)

But most of my clothes continue to fit me so that means that I lost fat and gained (6 kilos of) muscles.

Strava’s year in sport

One of the perks of being a paying subscriber of the sports tracking app Strava is the yearly report. See below.

Aside: I used to complain a lot about how that app was geared towards triathletes only. They fixed almost all the things I complained about and now it celebrates and motivates every kind of athletes, not just those who cycle, run and swim.

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348 days active
Longest streak: May 1 -December 31 (245 days)
Top sports visualization (walking at 39% is top)
Fastest pace: 5:56
Total time: 637 hours (and visualization per month with a bigger circle for longest hours)
Total distance: 2281 km (and bar chart underneath breaking down per month, E.g. August wins with 301 km)
Longest activity: 31 km (139% longer than other hikes)
Total elevation: 20010 m (with peak —haha— at 3666 m when I hiked in Chartreuse)
Hilliest activity: 1064 m (that wonderful hike in May in Chartreuse)
Top photos: fireworks, Auribeau-sur-Siagne, Mandelieu airport tarmac
Summary cover
Strava’s year 2021 in sport

SportsTracker’s summary view

I was so ready to ditch Strava because it caused me more frustration than it brought me satisfaction, that a former work contact recommended I gave a try to the vastly underrated, and free, SportsTracker, developed by Suunto.

I love it. It’s a nice complement to Strava. I started using it at the end of March.

Calendar view showing big or small dots in a given colour (green for walking and hiking, pink for fitness-like activities, yellow fir running, grey for other)
Details of each activity type : walking, elliptical, yoga, core training and stretching, other
Details of each activity type: hiking, running, dancing, other
Map of the areas where I was
26-week graph of fitness, fatigue and form
13-month graph of fitness, fatigue and form
SportsTracker’s summary view

Exercising: one-year anniversary

A year ago, my Apple Watch suggested that it wasn’t too late if I wanted to earn the 2020 International Women’s Day challenge: all it took was a 20-minute walk!

How it started

My dog in tow, I went for a walk. I earned my first “activity” badge. And this marked the start of my exercising daily.

International Women’s Day challenge award

The mammoth total!

In the past 365 days, I covered 1,172.78 kilometers (728.7 miles) in logged walks, or runs.

To put this into some perspective:

  • That’s about an eighth or a ninth of what I drive yearly.
  • That’s an average of almost 100 kilometers per month.
  • I will note that about half of it was achieved during the first five months (because that’s when I ran.)

As someone who abhorred even the idea of exercising and had stopped any practice of sport for a couple of decades, I find all of this both impressive and very gratifying.

Graphs

Daily average of exercise in the last year: 70 minutes
Daily average of active energy in the last year: 547kcal
Daily average steps in the last year: 7872
Daily average running and walking distance in the last year: 6,4 km
Activity graphs in the last year: move, exercise, stand

Notes on the graphs, key stats

Except the “stand” graph which so far has been steadily increasing (spoiler: it is about to plateau at 19 times per day, or decrease. I don’t sleep so well but I’m hopeful this can improve), all of the bars of the other graphs are consistent (that’s reassuring!)

March and April last year were the slow but steady start, then in May I really upped my game. In June I probably was like, “chill if you want to sustain this.” But July, golly! July was too much. So much that a huge dip followed and it took me all of August, September and October to recover and make really small progress. I didn’t resume running though. November, December and January 2021 were tough too, with another dip and a general but consistent sluggishness. I was back at it in February. And a week into March suggests it’s going to be a pretty good month.

Notable rounded numbers include:

  • May 2020: walked 110 km
  • Jul 2020: ran 100 km (over 12 hours), covered a total walking + running distance of 175 km
  • Aug 2020: 15 hours of core training and yoga
  • Sep 2020: 42 workouts out of 60 were yoga and core training, for a total of 33 hours
  • Dec 2020: daily yoga practices of 40 minutes
  • Jan 2021: only month in the past year where I didn’t exercise every day (only 25 workouts)
  • Feb 2021: 1:40:00 of average walk time (13 walks, over 21 hours, over 106 km)

How it’s going

My primary motivation (beyond the Apple Watch successful nagging of exactly a year ago) was to lose the extra weight that I had put on due to some medication I took for a month or so, and to get back in shape.

In that regard it has been a complete success. Although it took eight long months to complete the former! I am back in shape: no more knee and hip pains, stronger legs and arms, slower heart rate.

Weight graph over the last year: 62.09 kg

But what keeps me going is this: exercising is now a key part of my life. I swear I never thought I would think that! I still can’t wrap my head around it :) but it’s true. This is the only thing I do for myself. This is the only thing I do that is not working, or caring for my child or relatives (both of which, with a little sleep, a little Netflix, or a little art making or reading, fill the rest of my life.)