07:39 PM
Butt-moving There's exercise and then there's the real thing

Since I started riding the bus last September, I stopped riding my bike, plus it was just way too hot back then anyway and then daylight savings time ended and it was pitch dark when I got home every night. I kept thinking I'd ride my stationary bike inside but I never did. I never have really, it sits in one corner of my bedroom, accumulating clothes each week till I do laundry on Sunday.

I've realized why I just never could do the stationary bike regularly and also why a gym doesn't work for me either. Riding my bike is more than the exercise, it's the sense of motion, the wind on my face, the sense of *going*, somewhere, anywhere, nowhere, and the speed, I love being able to just roll along or to go fast when I want. I can usually keep going to the halfway point before I want to quit and then I have to keep going just to get home so I'm forced to do the whole way and it becomes a matter of pride in myself to not quit early.

But with machines in a gym or my stationary bike, there's no going, there's no halfway point, I can stop any time and even without thinking it, I know that. Plus riding my bike is about being outside, being in the neighborhood, I moved here because I wanted a neighborhood with people and kids and pets out and about and I look around and I think about things or I think about nothing and that's good too. And when I get home, I'm tired, a good, used-my-muscles type of tired.

I was thinking last summer that I wanted a new bike, one that was a bit easier, where I could sit back a bit more, have higher handlebars but I've also realized that this is the best bike for me. I've got a mountain bike, with the straight handlebars and it forces me to lean forward just enough to work my back muscles and my shoulders and arms and even my wrists to help with the CTS and RSI from all the time on the keyboard. Mot importantly, that workout of my back and shoulders helps to cut down hugely on the migraines and tension headaches I get otherwise, my back and shoulders just get more and more tense, especially if I'm stressed.

I got home a bit earlier tonight than usual and I wanted to get out on my bike, just cause it feels good for my body and my soul to expend that energy out in the (mostly) fresh air. And it did feel good, even though it was fully dark by the time I got back, the clouds helped keep it lighter and it felt so good to be out and feel the wind and pedal faster, faster, faster!

07:55 PM
Butt-moving Getting my lazy butt off the couch

Three weeks ago I started walking. My sister-in-law joined me for the first couple weeks although she's flaked out since then but I am determined to keep going. Even after just three weeks, I feel better, I can climb a flight of stairs without huffing and puffing!

When I drove thru Starbucks the other day, they had flyers for a 5k walk in March and I've signed up. It's a benefit walk for the Aids Foundation Houston and about a dozen other AIDS/HIV related groups here. I figure making a commitment to this and raising funds will keep me going!

You can see info about the walk at AIDS Walk Houston. If you'd like to sponsor me, the walk is prepaid, not dependent on the number of kilometers or anything, just lump sum donations which they want us to collect in advance of the walk on March 13th. To donate, click the Paypal Donate button below:

[button removed as walk is now past]

Any donation, no matter how small is much appreciated, $5, $10, whatever you can give! If you'd prefer to pay by check, you can make it payable to Aids Walk Houston and snail-mail it to me. Just email me at aidswalk [at] ttlg.net and I'll send you my mailing address. You can also check up on my fund-raising efforts thru my profile at the AIDSWalkHouston website.

To keep an eye on my progress in walking and biking, follow my exercise blog, Getting Off My Butt! Right now I've been walking or biking at least three times a week. To figure how far I'm walking or biking, 4th to 11th and back is 1.9 miles and from 7th to 14th and back is about the same distance. I've started riding my bike again and I'm planning to do a mix of walking and biking to keep from getting bored and to do one or the other five to six days a week.

5k is about 3.5 miles so I need to be walking further by then but also faster, it's been taking me about 50 minutes to walk the 1.9 miles and I want to walk faster so that I can walk at least three miles in an hour or less, you'll see some of the entries will say "fast" meaning I pushed to walk a good fast clip the entire distance. I figure riding my bike regularly will also help me get stronger and increase my endurance faster.

FYI, Andi's my sister-in-law, Nimrod is one of my parents' dogs, we started walking at their house because it's right on the main street with a huge median and walking/jogging track in the middle. Their other dogs are McDuff and Bismarck but they're not as well behaved as Nimrod so we haven't taken them out yet.