For the Love of Exercise

Monday, February 22, 2010, 3:12pm

I've been exclaiming lately, "I love to sweat!"

I posted that on Facebook the other day, via my sparkpeople account, and a young man had the audacity to write back, "Women don't sweat! They have perfume!"

I wrote back, "Not in this century, buddy!"

I was surprised to get that kind of pushback from a young-looking man (young as in 25-ish). We aren't in the 19th century, buddy! Cheesh!

Hey, I love to sweat. Once I realized that that's what I like about exercise, I could go for it. Like today! I'm proud to say I did 35 minutes on my Nordic track, with arms going most fo the time!

If I walk the neighborhood, though, I don't get my sweat, not at my regular pace. I guess that means I'll have to pick up the pace next time I go out there!

My body is craving more exercise. I've been doing well at twice a week, at doing sweaty aerobics. But, I realized last night that my body wants more. So our goal (my body and I!) is now three times a week! I am so happy to have my love of exercising back!

Walking

I haven't been walking outside for the last few months, or maybe the last year. I honestly don't remember. i don't mean the once in a while walking around the lake with my mother-in-law. i mean the 2-3 times a week walking in my hilly neighborhood to admire the roses and trees and smell the fresh air of the day. I mean stopping at the ridge to admire Mt. Tamalpias in the west, across the bay. I mean enjoying the rhythm of my limbs swinging in syncopation, stretching and releasing, and the oxygen effortlessly pumping in and out of my lungs. I mean feeling the breeze on my cheeks, and feeling my always cold hands warm up because the blood is pumping pumping coursing through my body, all my limbs, my extremities. I mean the kind of walking that let's my mind wander, and flit like a hummingbird. Oh! Look! There's a hummingbird! And crows wheeling and cawing making fun of the air currents they glide upon. That's the kind of walking I mean.