All-time workout day (stairs included, of course)

Monday 3/16/26

This will sound impressive, but it wasn't actually as impressive as it sounds, because I had a hard time in the Bunker Hill Monument and it took quite a while--a lot longer than it should--and I was more uncomfortable by the end of everything than I ought to have been, such that I was moving back up my street Uncle Joe from Petticoat Junction style ("That's Uncle Joe, he's a'movin kind of slow..."), but still, the numbers are the numbers and they look okay.

I awoke yesterday at midnight and began work, which I did straight through until 11 AM. Meaning, I worked harder on a Sunday morning than doubtless all the Guggenheim-gifted frauds will in the next six months combined. Typical morning for me.

Then, I set out for robust physical activity so that I can stay strong enough to 1. Endure this worse-than hell I am in and a netherworld of discrimination and 2. Be around long enough for if and when I prevail and am out of the worse-than hell and can impact the world to the good more than anyone ever has.

As I mentioned, I'd not run any stairs for a couple days. I think it may have been a mistake on Wednesday, that first day back after much Monument downtime (though I was running stairs elsewhere and had some Monument days sprinkled in) to come out blazing and doing ten circuits.

The sensible thing is likelier five circuits, then you ramp up to some days where you hit ten the week after or the week after that. Or you should just know, anyway, that if you do ten on the first day, you're going to feel it more in the days after, and that will limit you, and if you want to do ten again, you'll have to gut your way through it.

You know, really make up your mind that that's what you want to do, because it won't just be happening on its own. You'll have to come in being committed to telling yourself "No it isn't" immediately after you've told yourself, "Okay, that's enough." File this in the Good to Know category. Either way works, though, I think.

I had been doing push-ups since shortly after getting up. Work on fiction, do a set of push-ups in the hallway. Work on film book, do a set of push-ups in the hallway. I began walking at 11 as I said, from here to South Station and back two times, and then on to Charlestown for stairs, stopping on occasion to do more push-ups. Did those ten circuits in the obelisk, and began my walk back to Boston.

Upon returning, I'd still be a mile short of the number I wanted to hit, so despite being kind of achy at that point, and wet and cold--it was a windy day, with a "feels like" temperature of thirty-two degrees--I kept going until I reached the total I wanted.

In the end, I ran ten circuits of stairs in the Monument, walked ten miles, and did 300 push-ups. There was an added degree of difficulty. Or two, depending on how you look at it. Starting work at twelve and then starting to work out at one is akin to the person who wakes up at seven going to the gym at eight o'clock at night.

People don't really do that. Also, I take no food before two o'clock each day, and it isn't as if I whip out a granola bar mid-workout or walk. Also, I had had no water since half past twelve in the morning. Lots of coffee. The water is obviously my fault. But I also don't want to be stopping to use bathrooms as I go along. There's method to my madness, even when it's of the "I don't know about that..." variety.

Didn't take any Advil after, because that's not what I want to be doing unless I have a bad headache. I should be able to put my body through a lot without needing a pain reliever. Some soreness is fine. It passes fast. I awoke this morning without so much as a twinge, and was back in the hallway doing push-ups, though I'm unlikely to run stairs again until Wednesday when the Monument reopens. I probably drank half a gallon of water last night. You do have to drink it slowly at first and resist the temptation to just start gulping away.

But I'd say this was a mixed bag, and I realize that will sound crazy to others. I have certain expectations for myself. If I'm where I'm supposed to be physically, there would have been less discomfort after. Having said that, this was pretty good for March 15 after the Monument being closed so much over the winter, and for winter in general.

I am typically at my worst--again, this is relative--in winter than I am the other three seasons. It's just easier to get out there and spring around on May 15 or September 15, and even July 15 in the humid air after the many months of good, strong workouts.

Uncle Joe was played by Edgar Buchanan, by the way. Wonderful character actor. Check him out in any of a number of fine 1940s noirs and Westerns like Framed and The Walking Hills.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRhi8Tk9nNE