Seriously, it's ok, I'll wait. Guess.
Have you guessed yet?
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(I just threw that last one in for kicks :P)
So what's your guess? Wow...that's a good guess. But you're wrong. And I know you're wrong because I, myself, have never done this before. I've thought about it a few times, several, in fact, but I have never actually built up the gumption to do it.
What did I do? I got my butt out of bed at 5:45 AM this morning and I went for a run. Outside. In the dark. Outside. I was outside in the dark with just my little half-dog, and my husband's cell phone for company.
I will confess that I didn't really run the whole time. I speed-walked, and then I jogged, and then I ran for a little while. Then I had to walk again. Part of the problem was the puppy (who's not really a puppy anymore, but is still small, and so he's a puppy), who was super-excited to be out and about and therefore wanted to sniff-inspect every blade of grass and square inch of road or sidewalk we came across; he also heard nature's call and we had to stop a few times for that. The other part of the problem is that I am woefully out of shape when it comes to running, and I have asthma, which was only aggravated by the lovely humidity that TS Fay left behind. So I did the best I could while I was continuously calling to Harley to get him to keep up (which is rarely a problem), and trying to remember that I wasn't actually trying to breath water.
Here's the point: I set a goal for myself of getting out of bed, going outside, and walking/jogging/running/doing some form of exercise for 30 minutes. And I did. I was out of the house at 6 (with hubby's cell because I couldn't find mine and didn't want to be out in the dark without one), and I walked/jogged/ran for 15 minutes, and I went about a mile round-trip. Then I got in the house, dried off the puppy (wet grass...thanks Fay), and continued to exercise for another 15 minutes doing strength-training for my pitifully weak arms.
The reason I had to do all this? Gas prices. Really, I promise, here's how: Gas prices reached their peak just after Michael had to get a new job because of the state's budget cuts. Because our work schedules now coincided, we decided to start riding together. The problem with that is that it severely cut down on my Curves (women's gym) time, because Michael didn't have anything to do after work while I exercised for 45 minutes*. So I had to stop going after work. I tried to work while he was at my office for lunch and then take my lunch break later, but they are closed from 1-3 p.m. That forced me to either take my true lunch from 11-12 or from 3-4, since I can't routinely take lunch from 4-5, or come in at 9:00 a.m. Neither of those are very appealing. With the earlier one I would have to leave work just as I was flowing along nicely in a work groove that would take me to my 12-1 lunch without noticing the time pass. Then I would have to come back and work from 12-5. Ugh. Taking lunch from 3-4 requires me to work from 8-3. That's 7 hours straight! Then I would take a lunch and come back for one measly hour. Not happening. By the time I got all this figured out through trial and error, gas prices had started to come down a little, but the numbers on the scale (gasp, shriek, horror of horrors!) were going up. I couldn't let that happen. So Michael and I started driving separately 2 days a week. Which often turned into one or no days because of various things (Michael's lawn care business being the root of all of those various things).
I had to come up with another plan, and this is it. I'm keeping my Curves membership, because Curves is awesome, and I love getting there when I can, but this is the new main exercise plan. Wish me luck!
K8E
*Curves says it's 30 minutes, but by the time you get over there, change your clothes, work-out and stretch, it's 45 minutes.
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