Oct.16/12

Hey Oh...
   Evening to you all. How is everyone doing this evening? I am fairly well this evening. How is everyone getting along with their "new" schedules? Of course, by new I mean the kids back in school, dance classes, hockey starting and so on and so on...Things are pretty good in the Metcalfe household. They of course have already begun to get busy, but that is a good thing. Nice to have some purpose sometimes and something to look to. My kids have been pretty busy with school already and their dance classes. Probably around January it will get a little busier as Gabriel wants to get into a karate class or something like that; swimming lessons for both and skating lessons again. Man, I either better start getting paid more money or I better get another job!
   So as I mentioned a blog or two ago, I have set a goal for myself to race next summer in the Spartan Race in Calgary. In order to do that, I of course need to start training and getting myself back into shape. I've enlisted the aid of my best brother, friend and buddy, Doug to help me get on track. He's going to help me out with some good exercises and try to aid me in changing some eating habits. The easiest part of this is going to be changing the eating habits. We/I eat pretty healthy here at home and don't do a whole lotta junk. We eat plenty of veggies and fruits, limit the sugar intake, eat a good chunk of proteins and try not to go crazy on the breads. The exercise part I think is going to be difficult for me.
   Why is that? Well, the obvious reason is that I am out of shape and getting back into it will be a little hard on the body. But, the obvious answer is not always the right one. In this case, I am more anxious about being anxious than anything. I've been worried, well not worried, but have thought about how sweating, bringing up the heart rate, increasing the breathing would be on my mind. Whenever I get jacked up I am very susceptible to an anxiety attack. Lucky me, eh?! Anyways, I had not gotten to the gym yet until this evening. Wow, waiting a bit to get going eh? No. Just with school starting up and everything else getting going, September wasn't the ideal month to get started. And with 10 months to go before the race, I still have/had lots of time to get started.
   So I went to the gym this evening. I have a feeling that I am going to be a little bit sore come tomorrow, but that is all good. I didn't go crazy or anything there, but I think that just the beginning of doing the exercises is the killer. It will take a day or two to get back in the groove of things and until then, I am sure that I will be in a little bit of agony. Okay, maybe not agony, but I'll definitely feel it. The point of all of this is that I started this evening AND I really didn't have any anxiety build up. I was actually surprised. Now, I did have a little 30 second feeling of anxiety when I couldn't catch my breath right away. But with breath like mine, I suppose I should be thankful that I didn't catch it. waka-waka-waka...Seriously though, I slowed down on the treadmill for a minute or two, got my deep breathe and got back at it.
   I don't know if any of you have heard this before and you probably have; but people who go to the gym regularly or work out regularly, always say that they feel really good after doing so. I have had this feeling before and I must say that I have it again this evening. I DO feel good after going and working out. I only walked the track and then went on the treadmill, but I did a solid 45 minutes of walking. I would really like to encourage those of you who follow my blog and struggle with a mental disability, to get back into the gym or out on the sidewalk getting some exercise. Not only are there mental attributes, physically you are doing your body good. Especially to some of my over-weight friends, and I am NOT singling you out because I am overweight too, get to the gym. You don't need a trainer or any of that crap. Go to the gym and see how many people support you there. Everyone will give you a huge pat on the back and tell you that you're doing great.
   They might not physically give you a pat on the back, but they will for sure be thinking it. Anyways, just wanted to share with you my one night of going to the gym and how it affected me. It was good and will continue to get better. Again, set a goal for yourself as I did and work toward the goal. I know you can do it!!