More running in place

Somehow, we fell off the exercise routine six or eight weeks ago and just never bothered to get back into it. We had been going pretty strong from March up until the beginning of summer I guess the crazy FC6/RHEL5 schedule is to blame, though laziness probably has a lot to do with it too. Anyway I finally got sick of not exercising so we went back to the gym downstairs this afternoon. Even though I didn’t push myself, it was still pretty bad since I haven’t done anything but occassional hikes in a long while. I’ve lost a lot of flexibility from not doing regular stretches. My running has also suffered - I only did 20 minutes at 4.5 mph, though my joints quickly reminded me that they still hated it. Outside is much better for running than the treadmill. I finished up the exercise with some arm weights on 85 pounds (not so good) and some sit-ups.

Doing regular exercise the past couple months really made me feel good and it was nice to see actual progress after a week or two. It definately helped the hiking over the summer. But with that season winding down, it’s important to get back into the gym habit for the winter or it’ll be like starting all over again next March. Really, the goal all along has been to make hiking much less painful. I just need to stay in shape for the next year’s hikes.