Treadmill Tale #1
They say if you want to be successful at any kind of weight loss or exercise program, you have to be public about it so that your peers can cheer and jeer you on. You also have to maintain some sort of eating journal. How much more public can you get than a blog?
On New Year’s Eve, the G.R.O.W. girls were here for tea and we were setting achievable goals for the coming year. Shannon was here, too, so she joined in. I decided to have some input, and I figured the girls could all be of some help to Old Auntie. Indeed they were. However, I made the decision to make a few changes to the program – a little tweaking, as it were.
I was in pretty good shape a few years back. Then I got a shoulder injury that set me back while I did physical therapy. After that, my knees, which had been showing some bad behavior, got really recalcitrant. So it was off to physical therapy for that. Little by little, I have watched my former strength and stamina erode and I don’t like it. Last year I tried Curves, but that’s when my knees went into full-blown rebellion. Not only that, but in the three month trial period, I did not lose one damn inch, nor even one half pound, as it had proclaimed I would. Luckily, it was an Avon fitness study and it didn’t set me back very much.
Meanwhile, I have had Anna’s treadmill staring me in the face. Now this is why we middle-aged types should always keep a bevy of young people in our sphere. Shannon gave me an in-service. I discovered it wasn’t as hard as I thought, but even though I have this wedding coming up in September, I can’t say I was terribly motivated. Even Oprah’s falling off the wagon didn’t motivate me!
But the girls had to have an example, and it occurred to me that if I made my little fitness project a project they could follow, then perhaps I could stay on the wagon – er, treadmill. So they helped me set my goals, and Shannon, who is a really good listener (this is why she will be such an outstanding lawyer), offered to teach me crunches. (She knows my pot has been bugging me and evidently crunches are the answer.) With her input (that swimmer’s dedication….), we worked out a schedule. I decided to change it up a little, though, and I think it will work. Today was Day #1.
I was about to crank up my iPod when I realized I had no pockets on my sweats or my shirt. Not to worry. I have a really cute boogie bag from my sister and it wouldn’t hurt to use that until I get some sort of arm holder for it. I set up my tunes and got to work. Lesson #1: I cannot walk and chew gum at the same time. That means, do not try to check on what the name of a tune is while working on a moving machine. Oh, I’m okay – just a little abrasion on my knee (not the worse one, thankfully). But I learned my lesson! (That little safety button needs a string and a safety pin on me!)
It’s almost painful to admit this, but I had some trouble deciding what would have enough tempo to keep me going. In the old days, when I walked my hilly neighborhood, I did 2 miles in 35 minutes. I liked it at first – I went out while it was dark and I could be alone with my thoughts, and unseen, as I pounded the sidewalks. I didn’t use headphones because being outside is gift enough. I don’t have a lot in my iPod yet, so I tried Herb Alpert’s Going Places. It worked really well. Some of those tunes had me really boogying along. I even kind of trotted to Spanish Flea!
But I wanted to be mindful of the fact that I need to work into this and not overdo. An old bag like me risks injury, after all, and those are what I want to overcome in the first place. I decided I would stop at either 30 minutes or something close to 2 miles. As it happened, Herb took me to 1.5 miles in about 31 miles, so that was a good start. Shannon says it’s important to work up a sweat, and a little ‘flashiness’ notwithstanding, I managed that. Lesson #2: I cannot walk and chew gum at the same time. Do not try to wipe off sweat with one’s sleeve. One gets dangerously close to the end of the treadmill!
Tomorrow are knee and shoulder exercises, along with a little yoga. If I get a little time today, I’m going to make up a Motown mix for Wednesday. Pray for me, y’all!