Red Hot

I really meant it when I said yesterday that I was going to get more regular about going to the gym, but today there simply wasn't time.  After nursery, church, lunch and then a matinee of the documentary"Bill W." (about the guy who started AA), I pretty much collapsed when I got home around 5:30 and skipped dinner in favor of a nap -- no way would I have the energy to walk five without one.  At 8:10 I started the loop around the neighborhood, followed by St. Ed's (my mental list of open buildings with drinking fountains continues to grow).  I didn't take Banks for any of it.  I was just too tired to deal with his recalcitrance, and interrupting the walk to take him back home sometimes throws off my stride.

Which tonight was workmanlike and rythmic.  Long, rolling strides which didn't change whether I was on flat streets or climbing hills.  When I'm really tired, and it's really hot, sometimes I need something to hold onto, a template, a structure, to at least get me started, and then it takes on its own momentum.  My strides seemed longer than usual, but slower, so when I got to St. Ed's, I timed myself around the track, and was  surprised to learn that I was making the oval in five minutes rather than six. I think I'm getting stronger and stronger, and my endurance is building, even though it doesn't always feel that way.

I've been home now for close to an hour, and my neck and throat are still bright red and hot.  The sun had pretty much gone down when I started, so I'm not sure what that's about.

I liked and learned a lot from "Bill W." but it was a little slow so I'm not sure I can give it a wholehearted endorsement.  I learned that Bill was a devout walker; one of his acquaintences said that he probably walked five miles a day (and he didn't blog about it?), and they showed him plodding about the grounds, with his hands behind his back....good lord, if he walked five miles it must have taken him three or four hours.

Oh, God, I have GOT to get a new pair of shoes....