muffin top

Date	Place of run	Duration (min)	Start time
1 Aug	Whalen, MN	29	12:45
6 Aug	Dog Patch, NW DSM	42	18:00
8 Aug	Machine	20	07:05
9 Aug	Machine	30	08:03
13 Aug	Machine	30	06:04
14 Aug	Machine	30	06:28

               Whalen, Minnesota was when we were on vacation at a pleasant resort cabin that slept 25 family members.  Very hot.  Dog patch was again with my friend who lives in the most northwestern part of Des Moines. My legs are slowly becoming a bit looser.  I get in the position of ‘downward dog’ at times during exercise.

               I’m concerned that I may not have the opportunity to work up a sweat often in Tirana. I have met two people this summer who have stopped running altogether because of the damage it does to their bodies.  I’m thinking that I may have to do this, too.  No running means less sweat. On the other hand, I have been running with a dude who is a few years older than me, and he is still running 5 times per week. 

               Another trouble I have encountered this summer is my spare tire, or muffin top.  The spare tire is the roll of fat that has appeared around my midsection. It weighs some 15 pounds. For 20 years, I have weighed 165 lbs/75 kilos…I was so consistent with this weight that I stopped stepping on the scale.  THIS summer, however, I went in for a doctor’s appointment and discovered that I weighed 179 lbs./81 kilos.  A muffin top is a ring around the waist.  It looks a bit like a the cake of a muffin that spills over the top of the muffin paper—except in a person’s case, it is a layer of fat that spills over the top of the belt. 

               The machine that appears in the last days of August is a running-type machine in the basement of my sister’s house.  The legs move forward and back, and slightly up and down—much like the movement involved in cross country skiing.  The exercise does not stress my muscles so much, but I do get extremely sweaty.  This would easily take the place of the sweat I build up running, but I don’t have such a machine, or any machine in Tirana.  One of the great things about running is that a guy doesn’t need to have any special equipment.  I do not want to join a gym.  I am bringing over a few exercise bands. I can stretch these out in an effort to stress my muscles.  I got the bands from my physical therapist.  They are great things for use in small places where you are particularly sedentary with lots of down time, like airports. When I am using the bands in the airport, I don’t meet anyone’s eyes.  That way, I don’t know what they are thinking.