Misplaced Machismo or Delusions of My Physical Peak

I have a tendency to overdo my exercise from time to time. Like tonight.

I've only been back on my 'regimen' for about five days, so good sense should dictate continuing to ease into it. But, on too many occasions, I leave good sense at the door and take with me, instead, something that I can only describe as misplaced machismo or delusions of my physical peak. Tonight was one such occasion. I don't think it was misplaced machismo tonight; tonight, it was a matter of "oh, damn, I forgot my 25th birthday was 27 years ago!"

My wife and I decided, after doing grocery shopping and stocking up on wonderful things like New York strip steak, a really fabulous-looking piece of pork, beautiful smoked salmon, and the like, that we really didn't feel like preparing a meal at home. So, we went to a sushi place near our house, a place we hadn't tried before. It was very good.

But that is all beside the point. We went home and I immediately decided to go for a walk. Initially, I had planned to make a simple loop around the subdivision we live in, which would have been a relatively easy walk without a great deal of stress on the legs, bones, and muscles. After I started walking, though, I thought to myself, "You need to push yourself a little further each day...failure to go a little further every day is going to do you no good." So, I decided to make a loop around the group of subdivisions beginning with mine and stretching north for about 3/4 mile to a minor east-west artery...then back west for about 1/2 mile, then back south 3/4 mile or so...I don't really know the distances (not really very far, but far enough for an out-of-shape, arthritic, overweight, water-retaining geezer who had just eaten a nice-sized meal). The 'thing' is, there is a gentle-looking slope on both the north-south legs that really puts pressure on my shins and the muscles on the front outter edges of my shins. And, the extra exertion seems to tie in nicely, for some reason, with getting chafed.

I arrived back home cursing myself for insisting on 'pushing my envelope' this evening. I'm angry at myself as I feel and see the large knot of muscle just above my foot on the outter front quadrant of my left leg.

Tomorrow will reveal whether my idiocy tonight will have consequences for my exercise regimen. I hope the chafing, etc. is not really bad and that it was just enough to remind me that I need to pay attention! Normally, I'd wake up on Sunday morning and make a nice pot of coffee and ease into the day by reading the newspaper, looking at news online, asking questions of the world and getting responses via sometimes unreliable Internet rsources, and generally kick back and relax. But I had planned on another 'real walk' tomorrow morning. I've decided to call it off. Tomorrow will be the perfect day to slip into the day slowly. Tomorrow evening, if tonight's negligence doesn't interfere, will present an opportunity to get back to the modest exercise I should be starting with.