...kinda...err...at least got me back into working out.
For the past few months, I've been pretty sedentary. Like 50+ pounds overweight sedentary. Last week was DrupalCon 2014 in Austin, TX. Austin (not Texas, in general) is one of my favorite places. Austin is incredibly walkable - according to my step counter, I walked over 8 miles one day. The next, about 7 miles. The day after that, another 7 miles. Then my ankles swelled up and I could barely walk (even with a healthy dose of anti-inflammatories). That same day, a button on a newly purchased pair of shorts popped off. Poor manufacturing? Probably not. Maybe...but I'm going with "I'm fat."
After a painful flight home and a day's rest and recouperation, I checked the photos others had taken at the Con. There were a couple that astounded me. Not only am I the tallest person in my department, I'm the biggest. By far. At 6'3" and 245lbs, and skinny arms and legs, I kinda looked like an ice cream cone person.
Saturday, after returning home, I went out to purchase a new pair of shorts, to replace the ones whose button had popped off because I couldn't find a replacement button in the house. During my excursion, I went to Old Navy (yes, I understand I'm probably too old to be shopping there - shut up), where workout wear was 40% off, bringing a $16 pair of training shorts to about $10. I admit, sometimes I'm oblivious to the clues the universe sends me. This time, not so much.
Wearing the new shorts and shirts (thanks to my son for the tip on those), I went out for a 4.5 mile walk last night at our local city park. I would've gone further, but I didn't put on socks and my shoes started to rub my feet. Today, I feel better than I have in ages.
There's a new fitness gadget on the way (a Jawbone UP24, on the advice of a friend) and a renewed sense of not "I need to do this", but "I can do this". I'll try not to post about every workout I have, but maybe once in a while, a check in on how I'm doing might show up.
PS: To the folks on Facebook who saw a similar post last night...sorry. I'm trying out a new system where I auto-post my blogs to FB...I'm writing this post to expand on that one from last night.