The treadmill finally arrived the end of last week. We had intended for it to go up here in my lair, where there is arguably the most clear floor space, but the delivery dudes said there was no way it was going up this tiny staircase with the turn midway up. So we went for Plan B, which was to put it in the back room with the games and puzzles and most of our books. It completely fills the little space back there that I had thought we'd move the card table into once we got a real dinette set over on the other side of the room -- the side with the buffet full of dishes and the shelf of cookbooks and so forth, where we enjoyed a few meals while looking out at the lights of the city below before we figured out that putting the puzzles-in-progress (and there's always a puzzle-in-progress) out there lets us shut the door to keep the cats from skating in it.
[Can that woman construct a killer sentence or can that woman construct a killer sentence?]
Anyhow, it's actually pretty good back there. I did 30 minutes the first couple of nights while trying to watch a movie on my laptop. The laptop's speakers aren't loud enough to work with the clump of my feet on the treadmill, though, and I'm not up for buying external speakers right now. Spent a couple of days looking for my discman, which has in it a cd of songs I made a long time ago, selected for their tempo for walking. I saw it a couple of months ago but can't find it now. It'll turn up when we retire and sell the house and move and I'll say, "Oh, it was right here all the time!" David suggested I use my iPod, which I thought wouldn't work because the earbuds hurt, but then I found a random headset that fits the device -- and zoom, we're off! It's kind of tricky to scan the menu while moving but I'm having reasonable success as far as finding the right songs for the right walking speeds.
And it works just like it did 15 years ago when I was walking almost every day and feeling better than I could ever remember feeling, physically and mentally and emotionally and all of that. There's something about finding the music with the right tempo and it's only work for a couple of minutes before it feels effortless and I feel like I could keep it up forever. But this thing has a heart monitor on it and I'm not 42 anymore so I'm being a little more careful. Still, I did 40 minutes the first night, 45 the next, 50 -- and last night when I went sweating and beaming to tell David how well it went, it occurred to me: "55 minutes is almost an hour, isn't it? I did nearly an hour!" At 3.5 mph.
This is supposed to help bring my blood glucose under control and it certainly can't hurt it, but whether it proves to be the ultimate solution or not, it feels really really wonderful.
In other happy news, they've decided to try doing our team meeting today *virtually.* So I don't have to make that shlep over the Bay Bridge and through the Caldecott Tunnel and way the blazes out to the back of beyond. Hope this will become something of a habit!
Must work now.
4 comments:
It still cracks me up to think of the cats skating on the puzzle pieces..hahahaha I love it! Lil Neo and what not.
I'm, I think, the only person at the gym who still brings a cd walkman. Yeah. I should upgrade. I'm almost embarrassed..no..I'm embarrassed of it, but I *need* music for walking. It keeps me going..and sometimes when the music is really good and pumping, I'll even run. I've never been fond of that..running thing..but mannnn it feels SO good afterwards! I guess I run like a silly person on the treadmill..but my strides are so long normally that I feel like I'm going to fall off and kill myself if I do it the way I'd like (and I know I probably wouldn't fall off..it's just a fear)...so..Basically..Chelsea tells me I trot. I don't even care though.
I'm so proud of you, mama! Keep it up!
Oh, I am SOOOO glad you have a treadmill and are feeling the groove of walking again! I loved your peppy walking self way back then. (And don't forget I still think of you as 42!) Now, I've heard of lots and lots of people getting their health in such a state through diet and exercise that their diabetes "goes away" and they are off their medication. Might this happen for you? Either way, you sound great. And I hope the virtual meeting sticks, too!
Have you been deleting my comments? I KNOW I've left comments on the last several posts. I wonder where they are? Anyway, lest you think I'm not reading your blog, I anxiously skip over here every day hoping for something new.
Glad you've got your treadmill. I think about you every day when I hit the hills with Conor in the stroller.
I still think of me as 42, too.
And I still can't find my discman, but the iPod is working, I've had to quit for awhile due to being sick, which is a huge drag, but yeah, my hope is to be able to get my numbers so far down that I'm *undiagnosable.* We'll see.
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