Journey to Nowhere

Photo credit: o0o0xmods0o0o from morguefile.com

I’ve spent the first forty three years of my life avoiding regular exercise like a germ freak avoids gas station bathrooms but this goddamn cancer fatigue is going to force me to try it. I don’t know if it’s the Tamoxifen or a leftover effect from the radiation or what but everything I’ve read says exercise is the best thing you can do for it. I’ve never set foot in a gym and the thought of driving someplace to sweat in front of a crowd of people just doesn’t appeal to me so I crossed that option off my list first.

I did briefly consider the yoga center at the end of my street because I could walk there, but even as a child I was stiff as a board so I wasn’t sure stretching was the right thing for me either. Then I read that you do yoga barefoot and because of my foot cramps I haven’t been able to go without socks and shoes in months so that was out too. The one exercise I do engage in occasionally is walking but the temperature in Tucson is well above 100 degrees for a good part of the year and that didn’t really seem compatible with my hot flashes, so I finally decided to break down and buy a treadmill. I can use it in the privacy of my own home and watch TV while I’m doing it.

Plus, it will help me get in shape for my next Adventure Bus trip http://www.adventurebus.com/ap_home/index.asp. A lot of people assume because I’m thin and go on a hiking vacation every year that I’m actually into physical fitness. Nothing could be further from the truth. I’m not as bad as my ex who used to say that if you couldn’t pull a car up to it, it wasn’t worth seeing, but I don’t really want to feel the burn either. That’s the great thing about Adventure Bus, everybody goes at their own pace so you can hike as much or as little as you want. I do enjoy getting out in the wilderness but for me it’s not about how many miles I go, it’s what I get to see along the way. I keep trying to picture myself looking like the woman above but I'm afraid it’s going to be more like a Dog Whisperer episode where Cesar has to drag the bitch to the treadmill kicking and screaming the whole way.