Treadmill Hiatus

Sometimes it's the small victories that mean the most.  Exercise does not come naturally to me.  It makes me tired, often sore.  I rarely find it recreational.  Over the years, now decades, I've had a number of schemes to keep me at it.  A one-year participation on an athletic team in college which harmed my grades.  An after work jog with good New Balance shoes through a very pleasant path as a resident. JCC gym membership as a young adult.  Always a chore, never a destination.  To be fair, I did feel better the months that I engaged in physical activity.  And I really don't remember why the lapses occurred.  I've purchased exercise equipment at yard sales, now adding to clutter in my basement and garage.  I've purchased a bicycle.  I've had a garden which I found enjoyable but did not accelerate my heart rate.  Neither did fishing, though I had to walk from the parking lot to the water.

I bought a treadmill, used episodically.  The elevation mechanism broke.  Otherwise it works well.  As a senior, though, exercise became more like a prescription, self-prescribed but put on a schedule with a set time to perform.  I chose to stay with that treadmill.  If I had to leave the house to get someplace else like a gym, there would be an excuse not to.  It's much harder to rationalize not going downstairs to my family room, especially if I need not get dressed into street clothes first.  I put running shoes and braces for my right knee and ankle next to the treadmill.  A suitable timer for each session attaches to a magnet in the kitchen.  The treadmill itself has a timer that counts up.  I prefer one that counts down.

And so, I've done a good job, now spanning a few years.  Unless physically unable, I am on the treadmill at about 8:15AM on scheduled days.  Dates divisible by 3 are days to let muscles recover.  And the final three days of each month, modified for 30–31 variations, are designated restoration, like leaving a field fallow.  I look forward to these.

As the new month begins, I'm not exactly eager to resume, but those 22 min/ 22 sec at 3.1 mph, my most customary settings no longer get excuses.  I am there at roughly the appointed time.  After coffee.  Sometimes postponed to midday if I need to be someplace else before 9AM.  And when the timer counts down, there is a transient satisfaction, though probably not a full dopamine surge.  

I've struggled to add intensity, though when I do extend the time or speed I tolerate it.  However, it registers more as a disruption than a new norm.  I don't really like the treadmill time, but I think my consistency with doing it has only benefits, no downside.