One blister and a flat tire

I've resolved to lose my gut and get in some sort of minimal good shape again. Anyone else out there who is over 40 with a pot belly understands my frustration.

This Dilbert cartoon makes me smile wryly.

When I was in college I was best able to improve in my workouts because I had a roommate who was also in crew, and a teammate who ran at exactly the same pace as myself.

Trying to exercise alone when you are relatively housebound (by culture, not physical impediment) and out of shape is a bit of a challenge. I've finally decided that running isn't going to work. Its not pleasant, and without a running companion, it's simply not going to happen.

Therefore the rollerblades. Oh, sorry "Inline skates." I highly recommend them to anyone with access to a couple of nearby paved exercise trails and dollars enough for good blades. Or alternatively perhaps you'll have the same luck I did and have a friend with the same size feet who bought really really good blades but decided it wasn't for her. That was how I scored mine.

That's how I score most of the well-built things in my life. Second hand.

I had originally purchased a cheap set of Kmart knockoffs about eight years ago, and immediately learned you were more likely to get killed than in shape in a pair of those. Gail cast a critical eye on my white-with-pink-accents knockoffs and said "I have some real Rollerblades at home that I'll never use again," and they were nice respectable BLACK...not purple, or pink, or vivid yellow.

Major score! What a difference. Friends are golden.

But after a summer of experimentation on the sidewalks of Ithaca College, I seldom got on them again. I was just too timid about hopping potholes and curbs.

Last week, I dusted off the blades, bought a cheap new pair of knee pads, and went in search of exercise paths. WOW...is it fun. I found two spots (to which I must drive....a drawback), the Rail Trail in Vestal and the Cayuga Waterfront Trail in Ithaca. I have to go to both cities now and then for errands, so will try to have the blades with me at all times. There were other skaters on both trails and all were thinner and faster than myself, but so what. I've lost 2.5 pounds in a week. I'll gladly look like a fool for that kind of result.

I could wear a purple mumu as I age, or inline skates, and look equally silly, so I'll take the roller blades.

Unfortunately I blistered my feet a bit and need to take a break off to heal. But it is surprisingly easy on the knees and joints, and definitely more enjoyable than running. On flat trails, the problem of how to stop fast is mostly a non-issue.

Unable to skate for a bit due to blisters, I turned to the bike. My bike is also a freebie, that Mark scored in his many contacts in the world of reduce/reuse/recycle. It's too small for me, but it's a good bike. For my birthday he got it spiffed up, but again, I didn't use it.

I finally purchased a helmet two weeks ago (for both blading and the bike) and took the bike out for a ride with Mark Thursday night. Hey, that was also fun! We rode about four miles out to look at some bridge construction and headed for home. Mark of course was soon far ahead...

And that's when I got the flat tire.

3.2 miles from home.

And it began to rain.

Oh well. Walking is exercise, right?

On my long walk back pushing the bike, I began to wonder how long it would take Mark to decide he should come looking for me. A rainstorm helped push it along. It started pouring at home and when I hadn't showed up within ten minutes (I'm impressed---he expected me to arrive less than ten minutes after him!) he jumped in the car and fetched me just as the serious rain began. I only ended up walking about a mile and half.

So the bike sits with a flat tire.

I still have my rowing machine. This instrument of torture is the best exercise machine you can own...if you can afford one. We used to own a Model A which was a discard from my college crew team, obtained for a donation. It lasted a few years before totally falling apart.

We now own the Model B. We couldn't possibly ever get a new one, but we again asked my college crew coaches to let us know when an old erg was being removed from the lineup. Last fall one became available. So for a donation to our alma mater we got an erg that wouldn't survive a crew team but will do quite nicely for a couple of forty-something non-athletes.

You really need to spend 20 minutes to a half hour on an erg to get any substantial benefit out of it. But because it is an all-body machine, ten minutes a day gets rid of some calories and gets the blood moving enough that I'm less like to sit on my butt the rest of the day.

So, we'll see how it goes. I'm down to 141 from 143.5, the question is, can I keep the momentum going?