Tuesday, April 19, 2016

Day 1 of #mymidlifecrisis

Today was the beginning of a new chapter in my life. I'll go into plenty of details later about why I left my previous employer. Today, I wanted to focus on the positive side of a fresh start.

The first day of my midlife crisis is nearly complete and it was pretty good. A little more tiring than I expected but I did everything I wanted to do and a few things I needed to do.

My first, and biggest, goal for today was to go for a hike to my secret, but not so secret, beach at Caledon State Park. I had envisioned myself taking a quick jaunt down to the water, unrolling my towel, and just sunning myself for an hour or so. Turns out it was a hike, not a jaunt. The sun disappeared. And I felt restless. As I hiked myself back to the car, I realized I'm following my father's footsteps in not really taking to retirement. So I decided it's going to be more like a working retirement. And even though I keep saying I'm unemployed, I'm not. I have a job. That pays. It's all about the mindset.

My second goal for today was cutting the grass. Which turned out to be harder than expected. The hike really sapped my strength and gave me some hotspots to deal with. But I toughed it out, spent what felt like forever picking up branches, and got the grass cut. I was going to power through my lunch break and finish and I finally stopped myself and said screw this, I don't need to push so damn hard, I can stop and eat whenever I want.

So I stopped and had lunch then went back and finished cutting grass. By then I was wasted. So I cleaned up, took a nap, and did some laundry. I can envision myself watching Mr. Mom at some point as a training video on how not to have a mental breakdown.

Anyway, that was the meat of today.

The saddest part was the weigh-in this morning. I'm so damn fat. I've put on so much weight, it's scary. But today's just the first day. One step at a time. It won't happen over night.

Photos:




Video:
 


Weather:
Temps were about 70F and rose to about 75F. Sun was out but skies were overcast at times. Wind was light to moderate.

Fluids and Fuel:
Breakfast was one egg and one slice of toast. During the hike I had plain water and some NUUN. I had an apple granola bar when I finished my hike.

Aches and Pains:
Ball of my left foot is about a 2. Chafing is about a 2. Right knee is about a 1. Got way too out of breath hiking back. Not like a medical emergency kind of out of breath, more like "I shouldn't be this fat and out of shape" kind of out of breath.

Gear:
Wore shorts, t-shirt, and a hat. Also packed my Mystery Ranch bag with camera gear.

Today's Motivation:
Quitting my job yesterday. I've been dreaming about the hike to this beach for months.

Naughty Neil:
I caught myself dreaming about lunch on my hike today. I ended up eating hamburgers instead of fish like I had planned. But it's the thoughts that concerned me more than anything.

Splits:
Not exact numbers.
Distance - 4 miles
Time - 2:00:00

1 comment:

Lauren said...

Love the video! :)