Just don't get out of shape...ever.

I've decided that this is the way to go, because once you're out of shape, exercise is not nearly the joy that it ought to be. I used to be a fat child; I'm not tall, and I used to be even shorter, and when you're only 5'8'', 180 lbs isn't chubby, or husky. It's fat. Then, one day in high school, it just sort of disappeared.

I can't say why it happened. I don't remember ever exercising, and I feel as though my diet didn't change (and it's just as bad now). My appetite certainly decreased, but otherwise I can't really take credit for any spontaneous weight loss. It just melted away, and suddenly I was a much more normal 135 lbs. Surprisingly, better lifestyle choices didn't precede an improved body, but emerged because of it. Suddenly I took to running, moving around, being out in nature, like I never did when I was heavy. When freshman year of college rolled around, I found a luxury I had never known before: a "free" membership at an excellent recreation center. While my other friends were bemoaning the fifty hours of required UREC time, I exceeded it.

While I was not, and still am not, by any means a serious athlete, I can run circles around my former self, and have a vastly different attitude about physical activity than I used to. It's the choices I made later in high school and in college that affected my decision to take part in Bike and Build, not only to challenge poverty housing, but to challenge myself. The butterball I used to be would never dream of taking on this sort of challenge, but it makes me hungry for it just thinking about all that riding. Sadly, I feel recently like I've fallen off the horse a little.

You should never stop exercising, ever. Really, it's a bad idea. Don't let yourself break routine, even once, because the second that you do, you start backsliding into the depths of out-of-shape-Hell. I've been there, and I'm trying my best to crawl out even as I'm writing this. As I mentioned in previous posts, I'm running an 8k this month. In a little under two weeks actually. The training regimen started great, for both me and Jaime. Sadly, as it always does, the real world will throw obstacles in your way. And if you're like we were, you'll make the incredibly foolish choice of giving in.

I'm paying for it now. Until tonight I hadn't run since Wednesday, and as I mentioned before, my eating habits were never healthy. Thankfully, I'd been able to stay superficially healthy by exercising regularly. Well my body definitely showed the lack of exercise and incessant over-eating today, something my parents both pointed out this morning. Ohh yeah, I'm back home for spring break. I decided to take the bull by the horns. I biked some thirty miles today (yeah I know, not far, but I'm out of shape, remember), in gnarly headwind. Then this evening I ran about 3.5 miles.

I have great calves. They're really some of the few muscles that never let me down when I run. Tonight, at least for the first mile, they gave me the finger. They're probably going to be sore tomorrow, and I can't even remember the last time that happened. On the lighter side of things, I didn't stop, and I feel considerably better about myself than I would have if I hadn't done both of those things. But I'm bummed out that my limbs are probably going to retaliate against me tomorrow. And that's why, you just never get out of shape... ever.

Peace out, hombres!