Day 2

Hmmm.

So last night, I went to bed late because my wife was working at the kitchen table, and I have a hard time going to sleep knowing she’s still up. She finished what she was doing at about 12:15, and when she climbed into bed, I was out in seconds.

Our dogs, Penny and Sam, got into bed with us at some point.

Penny the long dog

I know this because, at around 3:30, I woke up with a dry mouth and found myself on the far edge of my mattress with Penny laying parallel to me. I drank a glass of water and gently pushed her closer to the center of the bed. With her enviable canine ability to sleep soundly anywhere at any time, she barely noticed.

I slept fitfully, which was strange, since Sunday was my third day in a row of strong exercise. I had worked out with Art and my buddies on Friday for an hour, played two-plus hours of basketball on Saturday, and I had my long walk on Sunday. I should have been comatose.

But that would come later.

This morning, I got up at 7:15, did some housework, read a little bit, then got ready for my Monday workout at the gym.

When I got there, I did a tasty ten minute warmup on the treadmill, and then we worked on our quads.  Here’s the team:

Look at these people - so much positivity! 

I was energized and committed, and I tried harder than usual through my one-leg presses, sled pushes, weighted stair climbs, and one-leg extensions, attacking the exercises and even doing some extra reps.

“The feng shui of this gym is all wrong - I’m moving this sled to the other side of the room.”

After the workout, I announced that I was going to walk another four miles at home. Avina was interested in joining the walk, but she had to pick up her kids.

So I drove home, planning to stop at Tom Bass Park to walk the pond loop. Two things then happened: I noticed how warm it was for November (87 degrees!) and I really wanted to eat some lunch.

Instead of getting my walk in, I went home and heated up last night’s spaghetti and scarfed it down. I then found myself walking into the bedroom, laying down, and completely zonking out for about two hours.

By the time I woke up, it was too late for my walk. A poker tournament on the other side of town was on my schedule, and frankly, I was still punch-drunk from the nap. I think my new commitment to exercise had caught up with me for one day.

I asked Art during the workout whether I could/should walk every day. He said, “I don’t see anything wrong with that, but keep a comfortable pace. If it becomes a run, you’ll need a rest day.”

I guess today became a rest day. But I learned something new: go ahead and get that walk in when you can, because life is short and full of unexpected naps.

I’ll try again tomorrow.