Saturday,
January 21, 2017
I often ask myself what it will take to start
writing…consistently…in my blog again.
I start, write a couple of days, and stop again. I can’t seem to find the necessary
consistency in my life to make the writing…or the exercising…happen.
Then, on Christmas Day, I opened a present from my
two girls.
“Hey!
A Fitbit!”
“Yeah, dad.
Now you can challenge us to step competitions and we’ll see just how
active you really are,” Savannah said.
“Well…nothing is going to happen until this thing
is programmed and I’m NEVER going to figure it out,” I said.
Savannah took the hint and linked me in.
So, since that day, I’ve been averaging about
18,000 steps per day, which is blowing away the competition on my ‘friend’ list
with the exception of Savannah.
She stays close, but can’t quite handle my need to ‘win’. She’s running her steps though, and I’m
only walking.
Until today, that is. It’s sixty something degrees and although I wanted to get in
a ride, ran out of time. Then it
hit me that I could get in a short run.
I’ve been meaning to get myself going again with the thought that I’m
too young to retire from running.
Sure, I’ve had foot and knee surgery and sure, it would probably make
more sense not to run ever again, but in the end I have always defined myself
as ‘a runner’. I hate to get
beaten by physical circumstances and to go down without a fight.
I went to the park as dark was settling in with
Dakota in tow. The trails were
extremely sloppy from several days of rain. My goal? I
figured I’d run a mile, which would mean around 1800 steps or about ten minutes
since I planned to move slowly. I started
out at an 8-minute pace out of habit, but quickly switched gears when I felt
every muscle and organ in my upper body rebelling. I reminded myself I simply needed to get in the steps today
– forget the pace – and finish with my knees intact.
I finished the run on the other side of Clear
Creek, which was difficult to cross since it is running high. From there, I added another 5,000
walking steps before returning to the car, pleased and sweaty.
I don’t know if I will keep writing. I don’t know because I have been
failing miserably for the past year.
I do know there are some things are really need and want to accomplish
this year and exercise, writing, and staying focused will help
tremendously. I have some things
to say about several different subjects and my views, I know, shape world
events and need to be shared. Here’s
some topics I hope to write about over the next month:
Ø Trump
Ø My atrial
flutter.
Ø My high
blood pressure.
Ø Putting
my house on the market this spring and moving out of the place where I’ve lived
for the last 20 years, raised my four children, and enjoyed so many of the most
important events of my life.
Ø Retiring.
Ø The next
big physical challenge of the year.
So we’ll see.
I suppose if I can’t stay committed to writing, I’m not likely to stay
focused on any of the above and I need to. Yeah…we’ll see.
Run
duration: 10 minutes.
Training
Heart Rate: 120 bpm.
Calories
burned: 150.
