Tread Lightly

I walked to Daphne's house this afternoon.

Not exactly a riveting start to a blog post but it WAS a cold, wet and thoroughly depressing day weatherwise and normally that opening statement would gain me some kudos as well as a cup of warming tea and maybe a few jaffa cakes from Daphne.

But before she reads this and adds a comment asking why I didn't knock on her door and ask, Oliver like, for some sustenance, let me quickly explain that I never left my house.

You see I've slapped on a few pounds since returning from Florida at the end of March and I've also been sitting wayyyy too long in this armchair either watching tv or surfing on t'internet for hours on end. I weighed in this morning and although I could still see the display on the scales, the all too visible amount of extra flesh was confirmed by the digital readout. Something had to be done.

So I threw the scales out the window !

Well no they cost too much so instead I decided I needed to get back to regular walking and cycling to generally get myself much more healthy so that I'll still be blogging into the next century. Might need a few new body parts and huge leaps in medical science to help me get there, but hey, one has to aim high.

By 3pm the omens weren't good. It was still raining and the outside temperature had just dipped below 60F. Not exactly time to get out the thermals and hitch up the huskies but still, a bit too uncomfortable for this unfit wuss. I mean I didn't really want to start exercising in the first place. I felt my usual "oh I'll start tomorrow" attitude kicking in and swift action was needed.

The solution was in my extension where I keep my home gym equipment. Hehe. Home gym equipment.

This 'equipment' consists of a powered treadmill, a static (in more ways than one) exercise bike and one of those devilish contraptions designed to make doing situps a bit easier. All these were covered with a light dusting of....dust and some spiders had been using the gap between the treadmill hand holds as their personal web site for over year.

A quick vacuuming and an even quicker going over with a duster and I was ready to go. The equipment, on the other hand, took a bit longer to get ready !! After 15 minutes and with a few miffed spiders on the sidelines, I stepped onto the treadmill and set the controls. I wasn't ready for even a gentle jog and actually I never will be. Jogging is the exercise of the devil and I stay well away from it. Nope, it was a gradual build up to a slow walk for me today as, after all, I didn't want to pull a muscle or anything.

I've never been sure if the display shows imperial or metric figures but if metric, then I was soon bombing along like an Olympic trialist. I decided to ignore the speed and just concentrate on my walking pace and I tried to get it as close to how I'd walk for exercise if I was outside. And blow me, after a few minutes, I started to enjoy it. The radio was on, the music was playing and I was walking along at a nice steady pace with my arms moving like those of Peter Kay in his "Amaretto" video. Think that's what it was called. My little legs were a blur and I couldn't have been happier. There was a spring in my step, a smile on my face and probably a fatal blood clot approaching my heart.

40 minutes later I reckoned I'd walked far enough to have taken me to Daphne's house. See, it's all falling into place now, isn't it. I don't just throw this together, y'know. S'all planned.

I wasn't mugged. I didn't have to cross to another treadmill as no teens approached me. There were no hills. No uneven pavements. It was warm and dry in there and so was I. I was even able to stop halfway and fix myself a bacon sandwich. Well it's tiring, this exercise lark. Can't do it on an empty stomach.

I was pleased that, like riding a bike, I'd not forgotten how to do it. How to 'tread' I mean. I could've fallen over. I might have shot off the end. But I think I came through the experience with flying colours and none of them were black or blue.

Assuming, and it's a pretty safe assumption, that it continues to be wet and miserable, I might just do it again tomorrow.