Functional fitness

This blog has been all about running and my other workouts. I feel like, because it's a blog mostly about running, that unless I do one I don't have anything to say. If I don't log a workout, then I feel like I haven't earned my fitness.

I didn't work out today. I had a 4-hour commute to get to Stamford (2.5 hours to get home), my ears are clogged up and I feel a little feverish, I'm sore from last night's CF, and I'm just tired. I needed a day off. Thinking about it though, I got in a different kind of workout, one that makes me realize the true benefit of all the ones I blog about.

At the train station, I went up 2 flights of stairs with a loaded laptop bag wearing a heavy coat and I didn't break a sweat.

When I got off the train, I walked really fast with that heavy bag and my winter coat and my heart wasn't racing at all when I got to the office.

Going home, I jogged uphill back to the train station with my laptop bag because it was raining so hard and I didn't want to miss the train. I never got out of breath.

When I got to the train station I ran up the escalator steps because just standing on it felt like I was moving too slow.

When I got home I shoveled snow so heavy it felt like concrete and since the sides of our driveway were already piled high I had to fling it over the banks. I did it quickly and without getting winded.

All of these things weren't possible for me not that long ago. This is where the miles run and the pushups done mean something other than a blog entry. It's even more than being about burning calories and keeping the weight off. It's about life and what it throws at you and being able to take it on. That's functional fitness. And that's a blog entry!