The Triathlon

Every year the road in front of our house is closed for one morning in August because of the Apple Triathlon .. today was the day .. we watch as people cycle up the hill faster than I can go downhill. As I watch .. I think .. what on earth makes these people torture themselves like that. Possibly the glory of winning is a motive .. but personally .. I really don't need that kind of glory. Maybe it's the physical challenge that they find exciting .. this also is not my kind of excitement. I am just not a triathlon kind of person. I really get excited over a good book, a cup of hot chocolate and a fireside .. but .. I guess that won't get me very fit.

We do have something to keep us doing our exercise on a regular basis. It is the treadmill in the playroom .. I am not liking it so very much. When the alarm goes at 5:45 each morning .. I find myself wishing away a half hour of my life. I would just like to get to 6:15 without having to experience the treadmill. It would be nice if I could do the exercise while under the influence of whatever drug the doctor gave me before the colonoscopy. That way I could do the exercise without any remembrance of the discomfort .. so that I want to get up each morning instead of dragging myself down the hall to the dreaded treadmill. It comes to mind that the original treadmills were used in prisons to keep the prisoners busy .. I don't think it was to keep them happy .. but rather as an intensification of their punishment. This I do to myself on a regular basis .. and tomorrow morning .. I will try to wake up before the alarm .. because it always shocks the schnutz out of me .. then I will go put on my exercise shoes .. fill my water bottle .. put on my iPod and do my 30 minutes.

The hope is that one day I will grow to love the buzz caused by the exercise .. hasn't happened so far and it has been a few years now .. so I'm not really holding my breath in expectation. But .. maybe it will help me to keep my heart in shape so that I can grow old with my children .. and I guess that is what makes having the treadmill worthwhile.