Time to get serious

For those of you who know me, you know I am painfully out of shape and, I will openly admit, overweight. I'm still active - playing softball over the summer, some basketball in the winter. I'd include Bowling in there, but, let's be realistic, it's not exactly the most intensive workout sport in the world. And every once in a while, I would hit the gym for some exercise, but not enough to justify my membership, that's for sure.

So, after reaching a point the other day of being thoroughly disgusted with myself and my current state of being, I decided it was time to do something about it. We did a good deal of walking last week in Baltimore, and I was able to hold my own in the outfield for a game of softball, which was definitely a step int eh right direction, but not nearly enough to really make a dent in what I need to do. So, I've decided to make that gym membership work for me and I've crossed the threshold two days in a row now (please, hold your applause).

Yesterday, I jumped on an open elliptical machine and elliped (do you walk or run on an elliptical machine?) for 30 minutes, which, according to the readout, was good for 2.12 miles. Not exactly burning up the charts, but a decent start in my opinion. After my 30 minute ellip, I hopped onto a stationary bike for a quick 2-mile 'ride' lasting a little over 12 minutes. I felt pretty good afterwards. Legs were a little wobbly, but not aching to the point of collapse. In fact, when I woke up this morning, I was pleasantly surprised that my knees were essentially pain-free.

So tonight, I made my way back to the house of sweat and mounted the elliptical machine once again for another 30 minute journey. This time, however, I accidentally hit the cardio program rather than the manual program, which 'encouraged' me to ellip faster for a higher heart rate. I quickly noticed the difference, to say the least, but I was not overwhelmed by the faster pace, which was...surprising. In fact, before I realized it, I had gone .52 miles in 4 minutes. So I decided to see how fast I could ellip my way to a mile. I could sit here and regale you all with a second by second account of my progress, but the end result was I hit the mile indicator at 8:01. 8:01! (that's 8 minutes, not hours, by the way).

Now, I realize that for some of you (Jeff), this is not exactly a fire-starting pace. But for me, it was actually exciting. I haven't run a sub-ten minute mile since my senior year of high school, before I blew out my knee. Now, for those of you who may want to poo-poo on my moment of self glorification by saying that ellipping is not running, well, I don't care! It was close enough for me. I'm not ready to run the Harrisburg Mile just yet, but it certainly made me appreciate those who can in under 5 minutes.

At the end of my 30 minutes on the elliptical machine, I had 'travelled' 2.68 miles (yes, the pace dropped off quickly after the first 8 minutes). But it was again another indication to me that there is merit to what I'm doing and that my body, as out of shape as it is, wants to get better. I also put in a 24 minute, 5-mile ride on the stationary bike for good measure.

I'm feeling it a little more this evening, probably more so because I didn't stretch out as well before my endeavor this evening. So I will make a mental note of that for next time.

Another reason for my desire to improve my body is our pending adoption. China has very stringent guidelines on the adopting parents, including guidelines on Body Mass. While I have already passed the 'test' - barely, I am well aware that I will need to be in better shape when that time comes for us to travel, not only for the amount of walking and whatnot that will take place on our trip, but because I want to be around a long, long time for my child.