Back At It

It has been a long time since I blogged, but with most of the recovery from my broken ankle behind me, I believe it is time to write again. When I signed off, I said I would be working on a book. But I didn't. There were lots of reasons why I didn't; for example, drinking coffee until 11:00 am each morning is a lot less stressful than writing a book. In fact I did very little, except have fun during my break. Despite my infirmity, I did lots of traveling in a wheel chair, cookie baking, and grand parenting. But now, with the new year well underway, I want to again address my goal of running a mile. And, I might just write a book too.

I am returning to my exercise plan of four blocks of exercise per day, five days per week. Saturday and Sunday are reserved for watching sports on TV and general lallygagging. (For those of you who don't remember a block in my system is twenty minutes of any kind of continuous movement.) ( For those of you who are too young to remember the word "lallygagging" it means messing around.) Right now I am at two blocks per day. I am working gradually up to an ideal schedule that would be something like this:

Monday: 2 blocks Stretch Class/ 2 blocks treadmill Tuesday: 2 blocks lap swimming, 1 block water walking,1 block deep water cycling Wednesday: 2 blocks Tai Chi/ 2 blocks tread mill
Thursday: same as Tuesday
Friday: 2 blocks Zumba/ 2 blocks treadmill

I have joined the local Senior Citizens Center, so the classes are inexpensive, and access to the treadmill is free. This is one reason I love living in Montgomery County, Maryland -- we invest in social capital..... but that is a topic for a whole other blog. In any case, I enjoy going to the Center because it makes me feel young and healthy. Most everyone else there seems to be suffering from a disease that makes them shake or be rigid. I know is not nice to make myself feel better by comparing myself to older, sick folks, but I can't help it. Besides, I like many of these shaky or stiff people. They are funny and lively. And the gentlemen notice that I paint my toe nails.

Today is Wednesday so I went to a drop-in, free Tai Chi class. This is the first time I have tried Tai Chi and the continuous slow movement is more difficult than it looks. My instructor is Lennie, a spry guy who moves without any hitches. My favorite parts of the class are the moves during which you kick or punch. I guess I must have a lot of pent up aggression. I also like the terms that Lennie uses, for example: "address the monkey" and "salute the lady at the bus stop." I signed up for an hour class, but I can only count it as 2 blocks because we took a ten minute break in the middle and Lennie likes to visit with his students; however, I did break a sweat and feel like I have done something with my body, so I am happy.

So, there you have it. I am back working toward my goal of running a mile and writing about it. I can't wait until Spring so I can get back on the track.