April 4, 2023 - No. I have NOT fallen off the Earth! (Yet, anyway)
Followers of my blog (who, I understand may have gotten a bit fewer in number over the past year or so) have probably noticed that my posts have gotten quite few and far between. Like I posted a Labor Day post last September and haven't posted anything in the seven months since. Some of my followers may have stopped following me, and I can't say I blame them. For those of you still following, perhaps you are wondering, "This guy was so gung-ho about his health and fitness journey. What the hell happened?"
I'll be frank: I think I've been kind of depressed over the past few years. I have slacked off on my exercise journey pretty badly, and my weight has gone up to nearly as high as it was when I began my journey almost ten years ago.
Many years ago, the Hanes clothing company had an ad campaign that I think was called "Inspector 16" Inspector 16 was a tough, no-nonsense clothing inspector, and her catchphrase was, "They don't say 'Hanes' until I say they say 'Hanes'!"
I feel the same way about my health and fitness journey. Yeah, I've been sidelined. And maybe I've had some issues. But, dammit, my journey isn't over until I say it's over! I've come back from getting hit by a car in the Walmart parking lot, and then three months later getting my left leg run over by a guy who robbed me. I shall come back from this, too.
A little news on what's going on here in Wichita: At the beginning of March, the owner of Tom Sawyer's Bicycle Shop (a business I have revferenced many times on this blog) decided to retire after 60 years in business, and the bicycle shop is now permanently closed. There are other good bike shops in Wichita, but I will miss Tom Sawyer's. On a more personal note, about a month ago I had my sleep tested and discovered I have severe sleep apnea. The test revealed I stopped breathing (with a "stop" lasting 10 seconds or more) on the average 63 times every hour. The same test showed I responded well to a C-PAP machine, so I am in line to get one soon.
In the past week I have gone out on a coule of short bicucle rides to get back into the swing of cycling. Today I biked the mile and a half to Sedgwick County Park, rode the 4-mile perimeter route and then biked home. A stiff southerly wind made the ride home a bit of a challenge, but I did complete the ride. Tomorrow they're predicting rain and colder temps so I'll probabl take a rest day. But I am coming back: I've done it before, and I'll do it again.