Volunteers

It’s that time again. Time for my yearly physical exam and I’m not looking forward to it. I have grown fat and lazy during the past year and that’s embarrassing. I already have my excuses prepared, but I think the doctor will have heard them all before. Cholesterol levels? I don’t want to know! Triglycerides? Scary thoughts!

But, on the plus side, I have more energy than 99% of the seniors I know here on the Planet Orland. We had a fish fry here last night and we were sharing our photos of our week in Disneyland and we kept hearing the same thing from our guests, “You didn’t go on those rides, did you?” They would shake their heads in dismay when they heard that we rode them all!

What’s the secret for staying fit and active? Walking. And then walk some more. Sure, it helped that I took up walking at an earlier age (7 years ago?) and have kept it up; except for the past 7 months. (Shame!) But even if you’re in far less than perfect health, walking is good for you. If you need a cane to walk, walk a block and back every day. Increase the distance every two weeks. If you’re in good health, walk 5 miles a day. That’s one hour and 15 minutes of great cardio exercise at a good walking pace. Try and cut down the time so that you can do the 5 miles in 70 minutes. 65 minutes. I’m not a doctor and I know that everyone has a different story, a different condition, but you can’t be content with the status quo!

I’m not sure how I will explain to the doctor that I didn’t get around to doing a marathon this summer or fall. He knows that I’m a racewalker, so I better have a good story as to why I didn’t race after March. The dog ate my shoes? I better plan on telling him that I will be doing the Portland Marathon next year and hope he forgives me.

I belong to the Chico Running club, but I have been avoiding them as well because of my laziness. My plan… is to begin walking the 6.2 miles around Bidwell Park at least 4 times a week. That will restore some tone to my muscles and drop some weight. I also need to volunteer to help at some of the races. No, I’m not a runner. Don’t want to be a runner. Running is not necessarily good for you. But being around runners is always good for you!

And I need to look at all of the activities that I volunteer for. As much as I enjoy them all, I can’t let them interfere with my plan to regain my fitness levels of a year ago. My Blogger profile says that I'm an Athlete, among other things...well, I need to be one again.