Running

This is a repost from a few years ago, while rereading I noticed some sleeping and grammatical errors.

I decided a while back that I needed to get back into shape. Needless to say I did little about it about other than taking long walks when time and weather allowed. Until yesterday that is. I have two goals in starting an exercise program.

First, is an overall concern for better health. My mother recently had bypass surgery. Now my mother is very active, and fit, she skis, bikes, works out regularly, and pays attention to her diet, so needless to say it was a shock to all of us. So that made me think about my own health and while I try to eat well, working as a bartender does not lend itself to good habits.

Secondly, I have noticed that my strength and conditioning are not what they used to be.

So before jumping in the shower I did some crunches and push ups. Went until I was fatigued (it did not take much) and I felt good afterward.

With the nice weather I decided it would be a good day for a run. I set out with the idea that if I could go 30 minutes I would be pleased.

I am not much into the stretching thing and have never suffered because of it. I decided to warm up by walking until the blood started to circulate. As I was walking down our street, I intercepted my brother-in-law Mark walking the kids home from school. We walked and chatted for 5 minutes or so. Nice to see the kids and I was thinking in the future this would be a good time to go out. Hang with the kids for a bit and then hit the trail.

So how far did I get? Anyone have an extra pair of knees? Only half kidding. I went for about 15 minutes and made the turn back towards home. About 5 minutes into the return trip my knees started throbbing.

This is not a new occurrence. I have really bad knees from skiing competitively throughout high school. I was prepared for a little pain, and I was able to hobble home. But this does point to the fact that at my age I will need to ease into this work out thing. Next time I will put on my roller blades. My knees are still sore today, and really I should have known better. Roller blades, roller blades, roller blades. The pounding from running is just to much for my worn out knees.

Having said that, it felt good to get out in the sun and expand my lungs. The key now will be to see if I can keep it up.

Until next time.