A Review of Progress.

Sometimes I go look at old copies of my CV to see the professional progress I’ve made. It’s stupid and vain, yes. But it’s meaningful to me to see how over the course of two or three years, I’ve increased my publication and grant output, I’ve changed positions and added invited lectures, etc.. I feel effective for those few minutes while I look at the paper version of the old me.

A friend that I was talking to about fitness today suggested that I review some of my very old blog posts from years ago when I just started exercising right after I quit smoking. So I did, and found this wonderful little passage:

The running is still misery inducing. My thighs ache a lot after I run, especially the right one. Deep bone ache. Not soreness. My shoulders tighten, my abdominals get sore, my lower back aches. And this all from running roughly 8 minutes a day. I still cannot go further than 1/3 of a mile on flat ground before having to rest.

Shocking. That was from October of 2009. I was 235 pounds, and had been smoke free for about 75 days. I was still married, but on the downslope. I didn’t keep it up. I did that for a month or so and gave up. I didn’t start exercising again in earnest for about a year. It’s taken almost 5 years to get from there to here.

This weekend I ran a total of 14.6 miles, over about two hours and forty minutes. And walked a lot more. I’ve been stalled at about 184 pounds for a while, but I’m changing shape a little. I still have a huge, long way to go. But I need to remember to look back, and let may progress propel my investment.