I think I am going to die today

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Today’s Blog Post

I think I am going to die today!
I think I am going to die today. It will not be within the possible 10 to 15 years that was originally projected and planned. It will be today. And if it is not today it will be tomorrow for sure.

I have worked out at the gymnasium for about 5 days a week for 8 months steady. I have pushed and pulled and run and walked and done just about every machine in that huge complex. I have sweated and grunted hour after hour just to try and get healthier. I have worked to get my heart rate up to around 125 to 145 beats a minute for at least 15 minutes at a time.

I mean I am not bragging, but I have done 200% more than most of my friends that grunt and groan when they look for the remote to change channels on the TV.

One of my friends told me that he has to hold his breath to do up his shoes… if he doesn’t he sees stars… and twinkling thingies in his head. If he has a knot in his laces he has to get his wife to untie his shoes because he can’t stay down that long.

I am like an Olympian compared to some of my fellow retirees!

But I am sure that I am going to die today. That is the way my body feels now.

WHY?

Yesterday I tried to keep up to my wife as she did her garden work. We started after lunch and went through until about 4:45 PM… 3 hours and 45 minutes of stretching, grunting, pulling, pushing and lifting.

The goal yesterday was to plant three ornamental pear trees, clean up the clematis vines and do some small jobs around the yard. That certainly doesn’t seem like much… except for the length of time…but is it ever.

Today I have stiffness in almost every one of my muscles and I am sure that it is “death” creeping in slowly… and that it will take me before 5 PM this afternoon. Oh Lord, am I ever sore!

For 35 years I have avoided this kind of strenuous work. I always made my way to the office early and stayed late… I drank coffee and talked to people, stretching my mind. I prepared sermons and information for Board Meetings. I prayed… and prayed lots… and every one knows how hard praying is!

All that time my wife has kept doing her gardening each spring and throughout the summer. She has complained about stiffness a little. She flops into bed and is sound asleep in a matter of minutes. And when I encourage her that she should join the Gym with me… she roles over and goes to sleep.

Now with retirement and more time to help her… I have been fitting into her schedule in the backyard more… and I now know that the Gym has not helped me one bit!

I have paid good dollars out to get my healthy routines going and have lost weight, tightened up and feel better… BUT some how never found an exercise machine in that Multi Million Dollar Complex that will work the muscles that gardening does!

Now I know why my wife will live longer than I will. It is the reason that most women will outlive their husbands by an average of 15 to 20 years!

Googling the soreness that I have… by typing in “exercise and gardening” – I hit upon an amazing site that had some answers. It is shown below in the “Sources” line…

Here is the list of suggestions the author has presented…
Your Program
Week 1: Stretch: Trunk Rotation Exercise: Abdominal Marching Abdominal Arm Raises
Week 2: Stretch: Back/Shoulder Stretch Exercise: One Arm Row
Week 3: Stretch: Chest/Shoulder Stretch Exercise: Wall Push -Up 1
Week 4: Stretch: Leg Stretches- Calf Stretch Hamstring Stretch Hip Stretch Quad Stretch Exercise: Squat Toe/ Heel Raises
Week 5: Exercise: Plate/Pot Raise Wall Push-Up 2
Week 6: Exercise: Curls

Now if I get what the author is saying, she or he is suggesting that I do this routine for six weeks before the gardening season begins… or I will be sorry.

Today I am sorry. And I am sure that I will die before 5 PM.

But the Gym didn’t hurt me either. When I began last summer I was in terrible shape. The fact is that I had too much shape.

When I tried the tread mill machine and got the speed up to high… my belly started to do a side to side swinging motion as I ran… so I slowed down! Now it doesn’t swing from side to side so much.

When I did the wicked step machine at first the stupid computer inside tried to kill me. As it increased the resistance with each step I thought my heart would explode… but now it is much easier and I can take almost anything that it gives me.

And one thing that the Gym gives me is the “Bull Session” with the folks afterward. We sit for almost an hour and laugh a lot at the tall stories that everyone tells. It is loosely called the “Wisdom Club” and has grown to two tables now.

I should be there right now, just finishing the weights and the walk…but I am too darn sore… and think I will die before 5 PM.

Sheesh!

~ Murray Lincoln ~
http://www.murraylincoln.com/

Source:
http://www.gardenfitness.com/garden_fitness_plan.htm