It seems as though, throughout my life, I’ve always had to have a “reason” to exercise. Back in college, I wanted to do a marathon. I used to run from Ruston to Grambling and back (about 10 miles.) I never made it to 26 miles, but it was my motivation. Running requires some major motivation for me, because I never found it getting any easier over the years. It’s that initial hump you have to get over (the first 10 minutes of the run.) No matter how in shape I got, it seems as though the first 10 minutes was always the same: huffing and puffing.
Fast forward to 1987. (Yes the last paragraph was before that and I am that old.) Now freshly divorced, aged 28, i went nuts. I joined a country club, bought a motorcycle/leather jacket, and rejoined the dating scene. One of the benefits to the country club was a health club with nautilus equipment. I had always wanted to do that since high school, so I started going. I distinctly remember asking a guy to spot me on the military press with just the Olympic bar .. no weights on it. I should have been embarrassed, but was clueless at that time. Of course the motivation now was to look like Arnold.
I quit pumping iron for a variety of reasons. 1) I changed jobs and lost a great fitness center. 2) Heather showed no interest in muscles whatsoever. 3) I was most definitely not turning into Arnie (after 8 solid years).
Fast forward to 1999. I just quit the rat race, and had enough time to do some exercise. I decided to simply walk around my neighborhood. 1) No membership fees, 2) no driving to the workout, and 3) walking is EASY. I’m currently on year 4 of walking. What’s the reason this time? Well, it started out being to keep the arteries clear. But I have to say, the reason has pretty much disappeared. I just like walking!
1) I have so many ideas on my walks that I’m forced to take along my cell phone to use it’s voice recorder feature. I record sound bites of ideas throughout the walk.
2) I see the same friendly people most everyday. This lady that must be in her 70’s has JOGGED pass me twice on a back road that’s a minimum of 2 miles with no shortcuts. Just saw her this morning. Very friendly, says “Hi, How am I doing”, and is not out of breath in the slightest.
3) On that same back road, I walked past a freshly killed Javelina, probably hit by a car. The next day, the Javelina was half eaten. The third day it was completely gone. Forget about “decomposition” in the desert. Too many hungry critters around to let good meat go to waste.
4) In Tucson, I can always walk in mid 60 deg weather. In summer, do it at dawn, winter around 11AM. Humidities of 15% make walking the most pleasant form of exercise I can imagine.
I guess my point is that if you want to keep an exercise regime going, there should be NO underlying reason. Just do it because you like it, or change to some other form that you DO like.
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