Fiona, that fitness goddess, has inspired me.

Recently, she chronicled her adventures in running, and one of the things she said was (paraphrasing slightly) that if you want to do something, you can do it. And what I want to do is to get into better shape in advance of the Mystery Baby’s arrival.

Now, it used to be that I got into shape by playing volleyball. It was a good workout and I played it every day for about 2-3 hours. It was a lot of running and jumping and a fun way to workout. Well, 10+ years on, and I have to admit that I am too old for that sort of thing. I am well and truly long past my playing days, as much as it pains my vanity to admit (but my knees, OY! They thank me). It’s hard on the joints that took so much abuse during those years of everyday workouts. And quite honestly, a year and half of infertility treatment hasn’t done much to help with things, since I’ve been stationary for a lot of that time and, frankly, swelled up like the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man from the drugs bytimes. So, that’s out. And coaching, even if I were not taking time off, would not be enough of a workout.

So then my thoughts turned to various gym-related activites. Yoga? I hear people fart a lot during yoga, and really, don’t you think that would be, to say the least, distracting? Seriously. I don’t want to be around my cats when they fart, let alone total strangers. And doG forbid, finding myself in the “dog chasing cat saluting the mountain” pose, and suddenly… (*shudder*) No thanks. I think Rodney Yee and I can just commune by DVD in the privacy of my living room, thankyouverymuch. Next. Join a gym? Well, all my free cash is invested in Mystery Baby right now, and most gyms in the area are fairly expensive. Swimming? PLEASE. I’d have to, like, WEAR. A. BATHING. SUIT. So, NO. Not until AFTER I am a svelte domestic goddess.

But then, reading Fiona’s post reminded me of the treadmill in the basement. Yeah, I’ve been walking, but maybe it’s time to rachet things up a bit. Maybe it’s time to set a schedule and push a little harder. So today, I am starting on a new fitness routine, trying to build upon the progress I am making. I am going to try mixing things up a bit, maybe adding a minute of jogging into every 5 minutes of walking, or something like that. Something to increase what I am doing, and also adding a little variety so I don’t get bored and discouraged. Because if there’s one thing I hate to do, it’s run in the “jogging for exercise” sense, so if an opportunity presents itself to quit, then I’m on that like a duck on a junebug. And I need to NOT quit. BDH has also offered to move a TV and DVD player and some speakers into the basement to keep us distracted while we exercise, which I think might help. Anything to help distract me is good.

So we will see how I do. The Goddess Fiona has inspired me. The treadmill will help perspire me. And hopefully, because I want to do it, I will be able to do it.