One good thing about being unemployed is that I have time to get fitter.
I’ve had a step counter for a few years. Over the winter I was working so much that I struggled to reach 6,000 steps per day. Now 8,000 steps is a bad day. During the strict lockdown I used to walk 18 steps from the door to the street to the door to the balcony, backwards and forwards and backwards and forwards for about 5 minutes each hour or so. As soon as we were allowed out I grabbed the chance of course. After about 3 days of outside walks I got the urge to get properly fit and do the volcanoes route by the end of the year. That’s not trivial: it’s 17.5 km, but the real challenge is the 400 m climb (about 1,650 ft) at the beginning followed by 1,200 m descnet. I need to get much better climbing at hills!
So last week I tried to get to the top of Montaña de la Breña, which is 200 m above home. I failed, runnng out of steam and time after about 170 m (I think). I was really tired when I got home, too. On Monday I did it!
I still need to get a lot fitter, but I can feel the difference.
It would be nice to say that the extra exercise produces more mental clarity and increases my productivity, but I’ve been in a bit of a writing slump. I hope I can do better this week.
