Fit and Flustered

"Exercise is king. Nutrition is queen. Put them together and you've got a kingdom." - Jack LaLanne

Alexi jumped out of bed and said she needed to “knock-out” 20 minutes on the treadmill. Next to her treadmill was an elliptical machine, so I decided to give it a go. I hadn't worked out since high school, and today seemed as good a day as any to start. I had dabbled with free weights a bit when I had a few roommates’ years ago, but nothing serious.

The machine was set to the lowest level when I got on—no incline, and it was very easy, I could do 20 minutes while she ran next to me. Five minutes in, I started sweating, and my heart rate increased to a level not seen in years. The first signs of worry began to hit me. “How could this be so hard?” I thought. Alexi was running fast next to me and talking about something. I wasn’t paying attention because this was a little harder than I’d realized it would be. She looked over and asked, “You alright?” I replied, “Yeah… of course.” “Just checking, your face is a little red.”

At seven minutes, I was panicking, “How the hell am I going to do another thirteen minutes?” I got another, “You sure you are alright?” and again replied, “I’m good.” I was trying not to panic, but the feeling was beginning to overtake me. She looked concerned and a bit amused. Sweat was pouring off of me. I checked to make sure the level of difficulty hadn’t gone up, it hadn’t. How could a minute seem so long? I couldn’t think straight. By the eight-minute mark, I was spent. “I might be having a heart attack,” I thought, I wanted to quit and pass out, but I couldn’t. What would she think of me?