Friday, January 09, 2009

I am a slug.


Do you exercise? Do you get your dead writer/artist/reader ass off the couch and actually move your body to no purpose except to move your body?

I do. Mainly because I'm getting older, putting on weight, my cholesterol's high and my pants don't fit.

So I get up every morning and do a brisk mile with my dog, Duncan. It's good for both of us. Then I throw these small dumbells around for a bit, do push-ups and feel smug about it all goddam day.

But apparently, I'm more slug-like than smug-like.

Once again, technology has dealt my self-esteem a stunner. A friend gave me a pedometer that was lying around the office and I stupidly thought, "Hey, I wonder how many steps I walk every day."

Yesterday, I clipped it to my belt and off we went, humming a happy song. I was home 2100 steps later, feeling great. By bedtime last night I'd clocked 5000 steps in my day, 1500 just going for coffee.

Sadly, the national guidelines set by someone who has an inordinate amount of free time, say you should put in 10,000 steps. If you figure 2000 steps to a mile, that means 5 miles a day.

That's a lot of coffee.

So, I'm trying to figure out where in my day I can add another 40 minutes of walking time and if I can do that every single day without blowing my brains out.

I'll let you know how I'm doing.

See you on Monday.

3 comments:

Judith said...

Well, good luck with that, David. Thought you just might like to know that you have a regular reader (and admirer) in rural New Zealand. I read Beneath a Panamanian Moon a few years ago (was pointed to it by a post on Rec Arts Mystery, which I also read regularly) and have been reading your blog ever since. It's about time I made a comment - sorry it isn't actually related to your post, though!

David Terrenoire said...

Judith,

Thanks for commenting. I appreciate it and, considering all that's happening here in the states, I envy you your quiet life in rural New Zealand.

I'm glad you enjoy The Planet.

Beneath the Carolina Moon said...

I love the chart. It reminds me of our organizational chart at work.