Last night's walk was nasty, brutish, and short. It would have been the first longish walk I'd done in a while, but my goal of doing even the 9K to the Han and back wasn't realized. I'd been dreading walking outside because it's the worst phase of summer (which Koreans define with three "dog days" that they call chobok/초복/初伏, jungbok/중복/中伏, and malbok/말복/末伏—the first, middle, and last especially hot "lie-down" days), but when I stepped out very late last night, my first impression of the temperature and humidity was that it wasn't that bad. The problem arose when I started walking: as I could feel in my heart after only a couple hundred meters, I'm currently way out of condition after staying cooped up in my apartment for months. And it's not enough to hope that cooler weather will make everything better. I need to start walking again, even if it's just modest distances. Last night, I managed only a kilometer—one lap—around my local park before I gave up and came back inside. All the pre-heart attack symptoms were back except for angina: breathlessness, lightheadedness, pressure on the heart and chest. I'm not doing myself any favors by staying indoors and just using my little hydraulic stepper (see pic below).
I didn't walk to the point of angina, but that's because I deliberately rested twice during my short, one-kilometer trip around the park. I might try making modest walks like this a habit, perhaps building up distance over time through August. Resting twice during a one-kilometer walk isn't something I've done since last August, after I'd gotten out of the hospital. Am I back to Square One? I'd like to be able to do at least one more trans-Korea walk before I finally kick off, but if I do zero training before that walk, I'm pretty sure I'll die within a week of starting. So I need to get off my ass and move. Tonight, then, there'll be another walk, even if it's only a single lap around the park.
My stepper:
And now, I'm going to enjoy some keto fettuccine and keep plugging away at my free Substack entries for this month. Later this week, I'll switch to generating paid content... which no one will see unless they start paying to subscribe!
That's pretty scary! It has to be more than the heat, don't you think? I'm not sure if you have room for a treadmill in your place, but at least you could "walk" in the relative comfort of aircon. Or maybe become that mall-walker guy. Anyway, I don't have to tell you not to give up; you'll find your way back to strength. Good luck!
ReplyDeleteIndeed. That's why I wrote, "And it's not enough to hope that cooler weather will make everything better." The problem goes beyond temperature. I may have to try straight starvation to get myself back on track.
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