107 days to goal.

I have patellar tendonitis aka jumper’s knee. I’ve had it since I was a teenager. It doesn’t bother me very often, but when it does it feels like someone stabbed the side of my knee with an ice pick. Serious pain. No way can I even stand up when it’s like that. Thankfully, it is very seldom that it flares up and I am sure that this regular walking at the track is good for keeping that at bay. I don’t run much yet, and that’s why. I may jog a little, but I am working up to that kind of strength. Years of laziness takes its toll.

That said, I’ve learned how to feel the different muscles I use when I stretch and when I walk. I can change my gait a little and feel how that affects different muscles. I always keep in mind, however, that the most important muscle to keep in shape is my heart. I make sure my heart is pumping for at least 30 minutes straight. I don’t need it to pump out of my chest! Just working solidly for that amount of time is sufficient, for now. If I’m breathing so hard I can’t catch my breath, my heart is working too hard! I remember to work up to where I want to be.

I told you I smoked for years (try 12+ but it’s been 4+ since I quit) and that sure takes its toll, along with being lazy; so my heart needs to build up strength too. It’s most amazing to recognize how much better I feel everyday and it’s only been a week!

Don’t misunderstand, I am exhausted! just ask Matt. I fall asleep on the couch (I used to do that before I started this routine, but now it’s not dozing… I am OUT!) But I feel better; lighter.

I think the lightness comes from the yoga too. The word yoga is related to the word yoke. I can see (and feel) that connection. We don’t realize how heavy being non-active can be; our blood gets as sluggish as we are and our bodies show the weight.

If you just can’t get motivated to move, if it seems like a chore, let me put it to you this way: The time will pass anyway. That’s what time does. You might as well take that 10 minutes you were going to waste on Farmville (or take 10 OF the minutes you ARE going to waste on it) and do a few squats right there at the desk. Walk around the block one time. Move around and feel your muscles, how they work. Trust me, it doesn’t take much time to feel better. I walk 2 miles in less than 30 minutes everyday. I walk.. I don’t run it. You can walk around the block in 10 minutes, easy.

I’m not an exercise guru or anything, I just know that we are a nation of lazy asses and we need to take back our health instead of letting someone else benefit from our laziness and its side effects. It costs NOTHING to get moving, to lose weight and to feel better. That’s my mission: to show how to feel better about our outsides and our inside. But to even make the inside better, we gotta get the blood flowing to the brain. So get to movin’, dammit. Or am I in this all by myself?..