By way of disclaimer I don't leave for Rome until May 17th. If you are reading this to get in on the highlights of my trip but have no interest in the pre-departure angst you might want to wait until mid-May to follow this blog!
As soon as I knew I was going to Rome there was one obvious thing I had to do. Get in shape! It's no secret that I'm overweight and out of shape. (How much over is the secret!) I decided I must start walking every day...a little bit at first and gradually work my way up to about an hour a day. With Rome as my goal surely that would be motivation enough!
With my elliptical trainer in front of my big screen TV I was all set -- even if the weather outside was frightful. At first it was all I could muster to do 10 min. a day. No matter, there's still plenty of time... After a week or so I was up to 20 min. at a time. Yeah! That's great progress. A couple weeks at that level and I decided I needed to push myself a little. Could I do 30 min? Yes. Barely.
Surely it will get easier soon, I thought. Just give it time. But here I am two months later, still struggling to get to the 30 min. mark. On the few nice spring days we've had I walk outside in our beautiful countryside. My lungs burn, my legs stiffen up, and I dread every minute of it. How am I ever going to keep up in Rome? It's discouraging enough to make me want to give up...but I know that won't serve me well in the end. I just have to keep struggling through.
As the time before departure gets shorter and shorter my goal has changed from "getting into shape" to "just not dying." The picture in the guidebook of the Spanish steps has gone from picturesque and charming to daunting and even menacing! I have visions of myself huffing and puffing at the tail end of our group, finally saying, "That's okay. You guys go ahead. I'll just wait here and eat some gelato. You can tell me all about it later!"
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