Oh Vomitous Groundhog Day

Something’s been missing for a little over a month.

Oh…wait…that’s me at the gym. Or doing exercise of any kind.

I have a million excuses, one of which is actually even really good. But that’s exactly what they are: excuses. So it seems I can “talk the talk” but not “walk the walk.” This really doesn’t sit well with me. I don’t like being that guy.

So, today was my day of reckoning. And it was ugly.

I hop on my bike for a quick 20-mile bike ride and things skidded downhill quickly. (To be clear, I finished a 20-miler in early July without a problem. I was fatigued at the end, but I was never hurting at any point during the ride.)

It’s a beautiful day in DC: low humidity, upper-70s (maybe mid-80s??). It’s a perfect day to hop on my bike. At mile 1.5, my chest is tight. This concerns me. At mile 2.5 my breathing is extremely labored. At this point, I do a self assessment:

• Am I having a heart attack? No.
• Am I going to pass out? No.
• Am I biking at 100 percent rather than pacing myself? No.

The logical conclusion: in the five weeks its been since I darkened the door of a gym or raised my heart rate doing any shred of cardio, I have gotten really out of shape.

Crap.

So here’s my promise to me: in the next two weeks, I will run/walk three times a week and bike once a week. In the two weeks following that, I will add lifting twice a week to that routine. And I will blog on those days.

While I’m dejected at today’s bike ride, it was a helluva wake up call. I’m motivated. Stay tuned for the results.