Day 1

So I'm going to give this a shot. I enjoy different aspects for fitness, for various reasons, and I enjoy writing, so I decided to begin a new blog. I'll explain more later, but for now my goals are relatively undefined. I have several other writing endeavors that are primarily meant to help people through sharing thoughts. I'm not sure how much this blog will help people, but it may help them understand me more as a person, if that's something worth reading about. Regardless, this blog may help me "keep writing", which is always a healthy thing.

Training, or "working out", has been something I have spent a significant amount of time doing, for the last 25 years. This is not to say that it is something I am "good" at. There are countless who spend much less time than me and enjoy much better results. But it is something I enjoy doing (at least, when it is over), so perhaps it will be easy to write about.

My latest quest is to determine a foolproof plan for working out through the North Dakota winter. I am a "garage gym" type of person--I like to wake up early and train in the garage. When we moved to Fargo in the summer of 2010, this was my plan. It worked OK until December, when the warmest I could get the garage was a meat locker "32 degrees" from an electric heater, which eventually quit working several days later.



Because I enjoy CrossFit as my physical training protocol, my workout plan went in the gutter. We were members of the local YMCA, but it isn't exactly CrossFit friendly. Really, my own lack of discipline was the culprit. Without beginning the day by "facing the struggle" (something I will discuss in a later post), the winter became long--very long. Now that we have our first North Dakota winter under our belt, my wife and I have decided that we need some better fitness plans. I have decided that by the end of September, I will have my primary plan set: either to heat the garage better, or to join a CrossFit facility.

While I salute those who run CrossFit facilities, I have never been a member. When possible, I have enjoyed the convenience of working in my garage. I can wear whatever I want, do whatever I want, and play the hateful music I want. The convenience is very nice, plus I don't have to mess with travel time to and from, and when I'm done, I'm done. I don't have to lug around hygene stuff or clothes to change into afterward. However, I have come to realize that these niceties may simply not be possible, and the price of not continuing to train is too great (weight gain and bad mood).

So today I checked out both of Fargo-Moorhead's CrossFit facilities. I spoke with the owner of one (the other was closed) and things look pretty promising. Of course they do not have a shower (very few affiliates do), and I would have to use the University gym. I checked out the University Gym (free to me as a student) and it is quite nice. They do not have CrossFit type setups, but do have an awesome climbing wall, which is something I would like to get into eventually.

Our other option is to heat the garage. Not wanting to repeat my amateur attempt from last year, we asked one of our neighbors, who does a lot of home improvement, for some help from their contractors. Not surprisingly, our neighbor has a "heating guy", who hopefully will contact us this week for an estimate on how to heat the garage effectively and at a low cost.

The comparison of options resembles something I learned over the last year of decision making models: a comparison of finanical and non-finanical cost. I'm betting the CrossFit gym membership alone will be cheaper than the cost of installing and running a heating device for the garage; however, there is also the "inconvenience cost" of having to drive to the facility, then to the University gym to shower, then to school. Also, having to leave the house early in the morning would leave my wife alone to prep the kids for school each day. Not that she isn't up for this, but I would miss seeing them as well.

So, more to follow. We'll see what the heater man brings.