Still no miles. . .

Well, I haven't hauled myself to the gym yet to cut some more miles away. I'm procrastinating on moving to week 4 of C25k. Maybe today is the day? I have done some exercise in the past two days--one day of strength exercises and yesterday I cleaned my house pretty well, which was active. Good for me.

The other day, I read somewhere (sorry I don't remember which blog) about how food calories seem to really add up, but exercise calories are so much harder to accumulate. I've been thinking about that, so I used fitday to look at how many calories they estimate you burn during certain exercises and then figuring out how long it would take to burn 100 calories doing it. Here's my list (I rounded up to the nearest minute):

100 calories in 12 minutes
* Running 10-minute miles
* Biking, at a vigorous effort

100 calories in 15 minutes
* Biking, at a moderate effort
* Running 12-minute miles
* Tennis, playing singles
* Swimming sidestrokes

100 calories in 17 minutes
* Backpacking generally

100 calories in 20 minutes
* Biking, light effort
* Hiking

100 calories in 25 minutes
* Snorkeling
* Shooting hoops in basketball

100 calories in 34 minutes
* Walking at a moderate pace--20 minute miles
* Hatha yoga

100 calories in 50 minutes
* Weight training, light to moderate
* Bowling
* Playing with a frisbee
* Canoeing, light

Of course, these are activities that I like or would like to do so the list may be a little skewed. I just thought it was an interesting general compilation, and it makes me feel good in some ways because for me a good day of hiking will be about 3-5 hours long (900+ calories) and the same for long days on my bike. Those are both activities that I LOVE though, and would do even if they burned 0 calories. The key to exercising is to find that thing you love, and to do it, in my opinion. What have you always thought would be an interesting thing to try?

For me, I would love to go backpacking. I've been on one semi-backpacking trip--we hiked into an inn, so we didn't have to carry everything, but I probably had about 10 pounds in my backpack. It was so wonderful and tiring! I read about backpacking, and I plan little trips out. I have a wish list, and when I get the opportunity I pick up some things. In the meantime, I go on dayhikes and learn about wildflowers and birds and geology.

I also love biking long days. I'm not fast, but to me the trip is about the journey and not about pounding out the miles. Riding out in the countryside is mesmerizing and very relaxing. It's not always fun--my recent bike ride was all about mental strength and tenaciousness, but realizing that is a gift is important, too.

And I would love to be a runner! I love reading running blogs and seeing their accomplishments. I love the sense of achievement I have when I push through C25k and meet that goal. So, I read about it, I think about what races would be fun to try and what I need to do to get there.

The formal exercise that I do when I do it--spinning, basic Pilates, the C25k--is all about supporting those activities that I dream about. They are not ends in and of themselves--not to health or thinness or anything. But I know that I will be able to do more of the things I love if I practice these other things in my off-time.

Do you have an "active" dream? What do you do to support that in your everyday life?

P.S. On the weird fitness goals front, I am going to add some yoga to my week in order to work toward my latest goal: a backbend from standing position. Tee hee. It's a good thing I don't have time frames for my goals.