Like, the bike saddle. But not a real bike. One that doesn’t move.
Last Christmas I had a sudden urge to buy a bike for our home. I was taking Spin classes and doing well, so why not at home? Also, maybe I can get my husband to do some biking so that we can both be in better cardiovascular shape.
We put the bike together, and it became a wonderful thing to throw things on. It can hold your favorite blanket from the couch or a fuzzy. That’s what we refer to those sort of fuzzy pullover jacket thingies as. I will not discuss here why we have so many other than to say there is a Tanger Outlet down the road and there might be a Columbia outlet located there.
We finally moved it downstairs into the room where it might live. Not sure how that will work – the room isn’t that big, but we’ll figure it out. Anyway, it’s been sitting there.
The last few mornings I’ve gotten up and used it. Deal with self: You cannot check anything on your phone until you have done at least 20 minutes on the bike. I’ve done that and some crunches and a little bit of weight lifting.
Why? Because I need to! I weigh more than I ever have in my life and I don’t like it. Also, exercise is good for you! I had been exercising pretty regularly until May. In May, everyone in the house came down with what we lovingly referred to as ‘the plague’ and we were sick. Nasty, nasty colds. That lasted a month. In that month I did not exercise. And then, just as I was getting better? Boom! Cancer.
Well, the cancer was there already, but I found out about it. That led to a month of not much exercise. I walk the dogs almost every day, so I at least was getting that 1-1.5 miles of walkies daily. But besides that I was just eating and not doing much and just kind of sad a lot. So, exercise.
I don’t anticipate it will make me any happier, but I know it will help me through treatments if I exercise and eat right.
Making myself exercise has, is, and probably always will be a struggle. I know that it makes my body healthier, but I don’t feel better after I’m done. People say, “I feel great! I’m so glad I did that 60-minutes on the treadmill/elliptical/rowing machine/etc.” I might say that, but I don’t feel that. Maybe I’ll take up running after this is all done and see if I can find that mystical runners high.
I’ll instead focus on the good things that exercise brings. Fit in airplane seats better. Able to lift heavy bag into overhead effortlessly. Able to help do more stuff around the house as long as they don’t involve tools that vibrate a lot. I have to try to protect my hands – it’s how I get out of using the weed eater.
Because seriously. That 20 minutes is so, so boring. Even with good music. I should go back to classes, but I know that I need to learn to do this myself for myself.
I should dust the bike off though. The frame is still dusty. I need proof that it’s being used.