It’s a fitness obsession but why? Last year’s stricture was to jog an hour four times a week and to attend gym three times a week, plus stretch daily. I called that a Jogging Big Year because I wished to instill a habit of strenuous runs. This year, needing to mainline on energetic writing, I’ve shied away from big-time physical goals. Instead I’m mixing up the exercising: three cycles a week, two jogs, two gym trips. What makes it a Big Year is insisting all of it is compulsory, from January 1 to December 31.
In essence, each week I substitute two bicycle trips, of two hours’ duration, for two of 2016’s one-hour jogs, and also switch one gym session to a one-hour cycle. A few people have told me that an hour pounding the streets on jogging shoes is “better for me” than twice as long on wheels. Perhaps that view makes sense? Will I “lose condition” in 2017? What is “fitness?” How does one judge if one is “fitter” or not? Should I be doing anything special to turn my dailies into a “fitness regime?”
Using so many quotation marks tells me I’m messing with rubbery concepts. How do I conceptualise “fitness” and make something “big” out of this Big Year? I’d better ask around . . .