Burn With Us

Dawn – The Jersey Shore

I haven’t seen the sun rise in about 10 months. I’d thought I’d bid sunrises adieu. After spending the last 4 years getting up at 6am every morning to drive an awful long time to work in the dark, I moved closer to my job (15 minutes away) so I could change my schedule. Sleep in a bit. I figured me and 6am, we were past all this.

I figured wrong. The alarm clock ensured this in its usual snobby way this morning.

I got up, hopped into my sweat pants and hoodie (the fat man’s equivalent of the little black dress–and man, am I sexy in it!), slid on my atrociously undersized running shoes (that I hadn’t worn in 5 years–the last time I had any exercise program) and stepped out into the brisk 45 degree morning air. Kicking on “Ceremony” by New Order on my Chocolate phone (who needs an iPod when you’ve got a cheap knock off that doesn’t work right in your pocket? [God, I gotta buy one of those] ), I took my first few steps into the waking dawn … and remembered just why I loved exercise so much.

The world didn’t exist as I proceeded to walk around my neighborhood this morning. 45 minutes of brisk walking (hey, I said I hadn’t done anything in five years, give a guy a break) and I was alone, just me and my own puffy self and New Order to urge my feet along. I was able to take that time to step back from my busy work schedule and organize my thoughts. By the time I was done this morning, I knew exactly what I had to do when I got into work and pretty much had my meeting schedule done (in my head). Interesting side note: my day at work went incredibly smoothly today. Not something I’m used to. A big part of it was getting organized during this morning’s walk.

OK, so I didn’t so much as start the Couch-to-5K program. But I got up, and I got moving and I didn’t stop for a donut. Tomorrow I start the program and I have a good feeling I’ll stick with it. Why? What the hell else am I going to do at 6am? Sleep?

Overall, I’m really excited to start up again and get exercising. My doctor recently put me on blood pressure medication due to EXTREMELY high readings. With exercise, I’ll be able to bring my weight down and subsequently bring my blood pressure down, too. It’s been long enough allowing my eating and laziness to rule over my weight. Time to sweat.

Tomorrow – Workout 1 – Week 1 (according to the Couch-to-5K Running Plan)
Brisk five-minute warmup walk. Then alternate 60 seconds of jogging and 90 seconds of walking for a total of 20 minutes. (Then I’ll keep walking for another 25 minutes to hit the 45 minute mark)

On the phone: “New Order – Singles”
Weight: I’m thinking 218 … wishing … I’m wishing 218 (I’ll find out tomorrow when I start weighing myself)