I Have A Cunning Plan
May. 8th, 2005 02:08 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sinanjuEndurance. Stamina. Lower blood pressure. All of these are good things to have. And all within my grasp if only I make the effort.
The next to last time I saw my doctor she told me that my blood pressure was a little high. It's always been marginal--in that middle band on the test machine at the supermarket. Not high exactly, but not normal either. But now it's a little higher. She told me that I needed to keep it down and that there were two ways to go. Drugs or exercise.
I chose exercise. "Better living thru chemistry" be damned. I've always been healthy and I have no desire to start a regimen of taking pills for the rest of my life if I don't have to. So I made a follow-up appointment for six weeks hence and began exercising three times a week for 20 minutes. Just basic aerobics, and just enough to get a minimal result.
Nonetheless, it worked. When I checked in with my doctor at my last appointment, my blood pressure was within the acceptable range. Go, me! No drugs needed.
Naturally, having accomplished my immediate goal, I slacked off. Oh, I still did some exercise occasionally. But not nearly regularly enough to do any real good. Walking in place sucks as an exercise. But I do need the exercise, so last week I went back to a website I'd discovered some time ago and began following its prescription.
It's called Couch-to-5K Running Plan (http://www.coolrunning.com/engine/2/2_3/181.shtml), and it's a nine week outline to go from couch potato to running five kilometers. Specifically intended to ease you into it so that you don't start off too enthusiastically, discover how much you hate it (and how much your body rebels at the unreasonable demands you're making on it out of the blue), and quit.
Been there, done that. Many times. So I'm going to try this plan. I went out and bought a cheap electronic stopwatch so I can time my running/walking. I've got the first week under my belt. I did my 20 minutes of jogging and walking three times this week. Next week I walk a little less and jog a little more.
And now I've announced my plans to the world, or at least to my voluminous readership. Heh. Well, my readership. So that if I fail to follow thru I can count on at least a few people to mock and revile me. Tht's the stick. The carrot will be better health (i.e., lower blood pressure), stamina and the ability to run away from zombies and other slow-moving threats--I'm a jogger, not a sprinter--without stumbling to a crouching, gasping, sweating halt within a couple of blocks.
Stay tuned, sports fans.
The next to last time I saw my doctor she told me that my blood pressure was a little high. It's always been marginal--in that middle band on the test machine at the supermarket. Not high exactly, but not normal either. But now it's a little higher. She told me that I needed to keep it down and that there were two ways to go. Drugs or exercise.
I chose exercise. "Better living thru chemistry" be damned. I've always been healthy and I have no desire to start a regimen of taking pills for the rest of my life if I don't have to. So I made a follow-up appointment for six weeks hence and began exercising three times a week for 20 minutes. Just basic aerobics, and just enough to get a minimal result.
Nonetheless, it worked. When I checked in with my doctor at my last appointment, my blood pressure was within the acceptable range. Go, me! No drugs needed.
Naturally, having accomplished my immediate goal, I slacked off. Oh, I still did some exercise occasionally. But not nearly regularly enough to do any real good. Walking in place sucks as an exercise. But I do need the exercise, so last week I went back to a website I'd discovered some time ago and began following its prescription.
It's called Couch-to-5K Running Plan (http://www.coolrunning.com/engine/2/2_3/181.shtml), and it's a nine week outline to go from couch potato to running five kilometers. Specifically intended to ease you into it so that you don't start off too enthusiastically, discover how much you hate it (and how much your body rebels at the unreasonable demands you're making on it out of the blue), and quit.
Been there, done that. Many times. So I'm going to try this plan. I went out and bought a cheap electronic stopwatch so I can time my running/walking. I've got the first week under my belt. I did my 20 minutes of jogging and walking three times this week. Next week I walk a little less and jog a little more.
And now I've announced my plans to the world, or at least to my voluminous readership. Heh. Well, my readership. So that if I fail to follow thru I can count on at least a few people to mock and revile me. Tht's the stick. The carrot will be better health (i.e., lower blood pressure), stamina and the ability to run away from zombies and other slow-moving threats--I'm a jogger, not a sprinter--without stumbling to a crouching, gasping, sweating halt within a couple of blocks.
Stay tuned, sports fans.
