Walking. How we manage to move and keep balanced on only two feet is unexplicable to me. I have been making various types of 3-D ‘art’ in my life and I know how hard it is to get something that only has 2 ‘feet’ or ‘legs’ to stand up. It has to have perfect balance. And I mean, perfect balance.
I do not have perfect balance, but I do manage not to fall over 99.8 percent of the time. (the other .2 percent of the time is none of your business.)
So Mr. Downeastdoingstuff, recovering from open heart surgery, needs to walk. Walking is good for his heart. It’s good for lots of stuff, but there are only so many times he can walk from one end of the house and back again to get a good workout.
So off to the Maine Mall we go. To walk. Before hours. They actually open at 6:00 am for walkers!
He still is having a bit of trouble with fluid in his innards and sometimes he experiences what appears to be hyperventilation because of that. (He’s on some new meds for that...hopefully he won’t have to experience possible deflation again by having a hole punched into him with the biggest needle ever made.) Walking from the car in the subfreezing temps to the mall caused a little episode of this, but he quickly recovered.
“Are you OK?” (A question I have asked him about every 5 minutes since the surgery. Heck, I asked that question every 5 minutes even before the surgery.)
“Yeah, I’m fine” said Mr. DEDS as he was sitting on the curb trying to breathe. “Let’s go.”
So in we go. None of the stores are open yet so I don’t even recognize the place. Who knew the Mall had halls!
I read somewhere that if you walk around the perimeter of the mall, into every nook and cranny, it’s about a mile.
So here we go, walking at a pretty good pace, into every nook and cranny. ) (OK, so maybe we missed a cranny or two...)
All the way around....non-stop. Us and a bunch of other athletes doing the same thing.
When we got back to our starting point we sat down on a couch to rest. I had picked up a local community newspaper along the way and started reading a story. I barely got through one paragraph when he said,
“OK. Let’s go.”
“OK”, I replied, ready to put on my mittens and bundle up my scarf.
“No. Let’s do it again.”
“What?”, I gasped.
“Let’s do it again.”
So off we went and did it again. Two miles (ish).
Not bad for our first marathon, doncha think?
10 comments:
Bravo, bravo! Two miles is amazing. That Birdman has got some legs! And look how beautifully you balanced as you trotted around the mall on two legs, E! If you grow tired of the scenery in the mall, come on over to Vermont and you can climb up and down our stairs twenty times or so. ( :
Yea you two!!
Balisha
Wow! Good going. I always forget that I could walk the mall instead of staying home whining that it's to cold to go out.
You two go for it!!
WEE HHOOO!!
Yay! Hopefully the exercise will help keep the fluids at bay... if the cold air bothers him, have him cover his mouth and nose with a scarf to filter out the cold. I do that when my asthma kicks up. It helps a lot.
My treadmill is one of my best investments. I use mine all the time. Especially from about October to May... living in Canada. My sister fell on an icy parking lot 8 years ago and got a serious concussion that resulted in some residual brain damage. My neighbour fell and got a concussion and kept right on walking til she got lost... somebody brought her home... other friends have fallen and injured hands, backs and knees...I stay home and use my treadmill. I love it.
If you do get one... make sure it is a good one... get it from a store that knows treadmills... not just a sporting goods store. Mine was not cheap...but, it is now 13 years old and still in premium shape and doesn't owe me a penny. It has worked out to be mere dollars a year after this long... and I use it every day still.... Mr. Birdman could be busy walking twice a day and end the boredom as well as begin the strengthening. I'm sure the fluid retention would disappear if he could get in some good walking each day.
Hurray for not falling over - and for the good long walk. I'm ever so glad we 1. don't have snow and 2. have a treadmill.
Way to go, both of you! Three miles next time?
Our closest mall is in Bangor 40 miles away, but that is wonderful to be able to walk inside this time of year. You both done good. ~Lili
You are both doing great. There are no limits to your success. Hugs, kathleen
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