I think I have to take up walking.  I've always been active and tried to exercise every day.  Back in the eighties I swam, then switched to aerobics three days a week and weight lifting on the off days.  I had a group of friends who joined me at the health club every morning.  We all had little kids and the club had free baby sitting.  It was how we stayed sane (and fit) while raising toddlers.  Unfortunately, when we moved back home I continued to eat like someone who worked out ninety minutes a day.  I began running.  Then Josie was born.  I continued to run but instead of getting easier, it got harder.

Then came 9/11 and Jay and I inadvertently adopted a new life philosophy; Have Seconds; the Terrorists are Coming!

Now it's eight years later and while the terrorists are still coming, there's no good reason to be fat and crippled when they get here.

Add to that the very real possibility that our own government is trying to take over health care in the entire country and the only way they can control costs will be to ration treatment, us old, fat, crippled folks will be the first ones cut off without so much as a band aid and a box of aspirin, the time to relax and become indolent is certainly not now.

So I run.  I'm not fast, which doesn't bother me at all.  I'm not in training for anything, I just want to get my heart rate up, remind my body what it feels like to move and be able to eat the occasional cookie (okay, dozens of cookies) without looking like Wynona Judd.  This gets harder and harder to do the older I get.

I never liked running.  When I was very very young I did it only because I was good at it.  Also, I was a sprinter, which really doesn't constitute running at all.  I was good for 100 yards or 15 seconds, whichever came first.  You can't stay in shape doing that.  I can't even get ten yards in 15 seconds anymore.  I can barely get my back door open in that amount of time.  That's got nothing to do with my current predicament, anyway.

My problem is that no matter how I do it, it doesn't work.  It's been fifteen years since I could go more than two miles without injury. No matter how long I've been training, no matter whether I go slow or fast, my knees and ankles just collapse if I try to push further than two miles.  And now my hip hurts even when I do a slow mile. 

I like doing Pilates.  Core exercises are great; strengthening my back is wonderful.  I've never had a back injury and I never want one.  Pilates are a wonderful safe guard against that.  I strained my rotator cuff trying to do a T-stand, so I don't do those anymore, but I do like the rest of it.  After 35 minutes, I feel like a human wish bone.   I know I'm getting stronger but it's not enough.

I think I need to start walking every day.  I have always loved to walk.   I  enjoy walking around the lake and hiking when I get the chance.  Since my legs simply won't cooperate as far as running goes, I'm thinking maybe I should just do the core exercises every day and then walk.  If I start with a walk down to the lake and back, that's two miles.  I'm thinking I could build up to five miles.  If I do that every day, I'm hoping I can remain fit without the constant injuries that plague me when I run.  I suppose I could stop eating cookies every meal day, but who wants to live like that?


Also, Josie's team did have one more game after the sad results of the City Championship tournament.  It seems that since we finished conference play undefeated, we still claimed the title of conference champs and that entitled us to play the St. Paul conference champs in the Twin Cities Tournament.

All three of our school teams beat the St. Paul teams.  Both B-squad and JV won in two but the Varsity had to go the length to beat the St. Paul team.

All in all, a great season finished up and our girls racked up spectacular records.

 

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