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Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes
By Mike | April 4, 2008
Ten years ago, if you told me to get up at 6am to go for a run, I would have laughed in your face.
Ten years ago, if I had told my friends or family I was going to get up at 6am to go for a run, they would have laughed in my face.
Yesterday, I got up at 6am and went for a run. The world did not end, the universe did not implode, the dead did not rise to feast on human flesh. More importantly, I didn’t die. Panted and wheezed? Sure. But die? No. I compounded it with 2.5 hours of karate class in the evening, with the last half hour devoted to Judo sparring. While I mangled my big toes on the judo mat, I have no lingering soreness from the added workload.
I suspect I’m finally getting into some semblance of shape. I still have quite a few pounds I’d like to drop, but looking back at my exercise logs I can see I’m getting in a workout more often than not. There are weeks I worked out every day, and never is there a gap for more than two days (with the exception of the weeks I was very sick — damn this winter!) without some form of a workout, be it calisthenics, karate practice or class, kobudo practice, or punching and kicking the bag. I feel better than I have since I was 19.
So I’ve got that going for me. Now if only I can figure out what to do about a proper hairstyle…
April 4th, 2008 at 12:26 pm
Congratulations on your fitness success! Keep working…
I’ve been trying and trying to get fit without much success at all. I know I have to do this because my father died much too soon due to his lack of fitness. I want to be there to see my kids grow up, get married and have kids of their own. For some reason, I just can get it going…
I guess I’m going to have to read a lot of your earlier postings to see when you began this journey. Maybe there is some magic in there that I can use.
Keep being that person that folks like me can admire and strive to be…
April 4th, 2008 at 2:28 pm
Thanks, Ray! That’s the first time anyone’s called me an inspiration. Heh.
It’s hard to put my finger on just one trigger, but I was laid off for a few months in 2005 and that’s when I got started. I picked up a copy of Men’s Health magazine and have been a subscriber since. I didn’t work out as much in 2006 because I commuted two hours a day to the new job, but once we moved I started looking around again.
Since starting karate, I’ve become a big proponent of folks joining an activity they enjoy. I love my karate classes, but I’ve found myself wanting to be in better shape to perform better, so I work out more on the side.
If you follow the Fitness and Shuri-ryu categories, you should find my yapping about this stuff. Also, some friends and I have started a fitness blog if you’d like to check that out: burnwithus.wordpress.com.
Take care,
Mike