More on Trying to be Fit as an Old Lady

I am keeping my promise to myself to walk/run almost every day. So far so good. On the left is a picture of myself doing my run. And if you believe that I have a missile defense system to sell you (no one wants a bridge anymore).

I set out walking one minute, jogging another, alternately. Now I am jogging five minutes and walking one or two. I need to warm up, walking five minutes first. I never needed to do that in my fifties (Ah, the good old days!). My knees complain but not a lot. I sweat and that feels like I'm accomplishing something. Maybe I'm an accomplished sweater now? Or sweat-er. I can be proud of that!

I am happy with this decision. It spurs me to use time more wisely. I'm awake at six anyway, thinking about how much I don't want to get out of bed. Why not get up and get moving? So I do. I notice progress. Yesterday I didn't feel like my muscles were on strike, at least a third of the time. During the school week I could go up the two flights of stairs (and down, and up, and...) with ease, surprised that my legs were happily complying. I do have a reputation to uphold at work. I am the oldest staff member, and I MUST be fit. I CAN'T be a pansy. The running helps me feel like I can pull my weight there.

My old lady within is still talking to me, saying that I have earned the right to sleep late, drink beer, eat  banana chocolate creme brulee bread pudding at the staff luncheon on Teacher Appreciation Day. What are you waiting for, she asks querulously? You will die eventually. Everyone does. Relax! Take it easy. Sit and drink coffee and complain about the world over the paper like everyone else! (She's a cynical old soul, that one.)

But that isn't really fun, and as an older adult I feel I have the right to some fun. Fun takes work. It's a weird truth I have learned. I no longer diet and exercise for vanity, like when I had to wear a body-stocking in a Washington Opera production of Un Ballo in Maschera, back in the day. In another blog I'll tell you about how I am vain. But not now.  When it comes to my "figure", I just try not to look too squishy. So jogging, and some workouts at Gold's, keep me feeling alive and well. That's what the old lady wants the most.

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