(Hooray for Holidailies!)

We bought a good treadmill several years ago — my goodness, it must be around nine or ten years now — and have gotten a lot of use out of it. My wife loves it for doing brisk walking with a bit of jogging (she’s a tennis player with no desire to ever run a race). My son (26) is more into lifting weights than running, but he knows he needs aerobic training so he uses it. My daughter is a runner and, although she prefers to run outside, she loves being able to run indoors when the weather outside is unpleasant. I also run on it for the same reasons — although truth-be-told I prefer to use our semi-recumbent exercise bike for extended aerobic workouts (probably because I can read while using the bike — well, at least until sweat is running into my eyes or my glasses fog up).

However, I about two months ago I joined the local YMCA so that I could use their fitness center. More specifically, so I could use their Nautilus equipment for a good overall workout (and have my choice of stair-stepper, eliptical machines, bikes, and treadmills for indoor aerobic workouts). I also hope to get some swim lessons this winter — I can swim (i.e., not drown) but want to learn how to swim efficiently — and get in a lot of swimming for low impact exercise but also with the thought of maybe trying a triathlon. I had tried swim membership at a nearby university pool, but their hours were limited, parking was terrible, and I always felt like a not especially welcome outsider. (Last year’s Achilles tendon surgery followed by hernia surgery put a hold on thoughts about triathlons and I am still struggling to get into some kind of age-appropriate competitive shape.)

Ran in a four-mile race yesterday and had a good time. There was light rain through most of the race but but on an August morning the rain actually felt good. I’m delighted to find that — as slow as I may be — I have reached the point where I am fit enough that running has become fun once again.

Good luck with your treadmill!

There is a ten-miler that I like coming up at the end of July but I think I am going to skip it this year — no way I can train up to that distance in only a month. Still, I am happy that I will be able to stumble through the upcoming 4-miler — and think that I will be able to do a decent job on another 4-milre in early August. One thing I have discovered to be true: it is increasingly harder to get back into shape the older I get. (In a few more decades you may find the same thing to be true.) My answer to this is that I think I must never again let myself get out of shape.

My plan to get back in to shape included using this vacation week to jumpstart things and get geared up for 2011 but instead I got floored by bronchitis so my big workout for the first day of the new year will probably be a one mile walk (if my wife lets me).

Happy New Year! And success in your running!