But alas, that is the old me. On the advise of my trainer (ooooh, doesn't that sound cool...) I am now supposed to seek out opportunities to get to my destinations the healthy (difficult) way such as using the stairs instead of the elevator or escalator and parking far away from buildings, even taking a bike if that can happen (which it will, after I actually buy a bike with a seat big enough to accommodate my awesomeness). While this goes against every time-management technique I have trained myself to do, I recognize that this is a big step towards "dealing with it."
My first attempt at embracing this more active lifestyle was to walk to church last Sunday. It was the first of January, after all, and people driving by would be impressed by the fat chick's attempt at yet another stab at a New Year's resolution (boy, would they be in for a surprise when they saw me walking again every other week to church because this was not a resolution but a lifestyle change, after all...). It was a beautiful day, the weather was perfect, and I was off. I left plenty early since I had no idea how long it would take me to get there, again destroying my usual time-saving plans to putter around the house until the last possible minute, jump into the car, and speed over to the church to get there just in time to start playing prelude music for all of the people over 80 who get there way too early.
The half-block walk to the first turn practically flew by and I was confident that walking to church was going to be the weekly norm for me. No, I wouldn't have the convenience of having the car at church in case of an emergency (like running home between meetings to start dinner so that we could eat the minute we hit the door after the meetings), but this was nice, being out in the beauty of God's nature, breathing in the fresh air, not being lazy.
That lasted until the next curve in the road. It was then that I began looking for some sort of makeshift seat where I could take a small break and take some of the pressure off of my back that was starting to hurt. After a bit, I found a power box in the ground that I could sort of sit up against, taking care that I kept my skirt down so as not disturb all the lazy people actually using their cars to get to church.
It was as I was catching my breath that I realized I had broken a sweat. Really? Less than a full block of casual walking and I was already glistening? That would never have happened in my car with air-conditioning. I reminded myself...the old me.
I talked myself into grabbing my bags and setting off yet again, but this time I went into focused-athlete mode. If I was going to be sweating anyway, I was going to get to the church and I wasn't going to be stopping anymore. What is the key to a successful marriage? Never get divorced. What is the key to a successful walk? Just keep walking. And walking. Don't stop before you get there.
And so I didn't. I got there. I even got there five minutes before I thought I would actually get there. Victory! But it's a good thing I arrived early because it took five minutes sitting in the overstuffed chair in the foyer to get my breath back enough to walk down to the bathroom to spend another five minutes paper-toweling myself off enough to get my core temperature back to normal so that I could actually make it to the organ without looking like I had just been in a rain shower. And even though it took until the end of the first meeting for the back of my hair to dry off, I did it. And yes, it was worth it.
As for the walk home? My knee was killing me. I got a ride. But you have to start somewhere, right? And I did.
So looking forward to your posts! You are such an example to me! Hang in there!
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