A New Exercise Theory

I just read a study that said that people who watch a lot of television don't live as long as people who don't. It actually concluded that it probably wasn't the t.v. watching, but the sitting that was actually causing the earlier demise (wouldn't I love to get paid for research like that), and if that's true, then no doubt we'll be seeing a similar study coming out on computer usage, though they'll probably blame it on the nasty electromagnetic pulse emanating from the power supply or the alien rays that come at us through the screen, before they ever get around to realizing it's just that if people are sitting there, they aren't exercising. So exercise is not my favorite thing. I wish it were, because that would make it a lot more enjoyable, and also if it were, that would mean that chocolate wasn't, which would also help out in the weight loss battle. It's a dilemma; however, I think I did make a little headway on Saturday. It was the annual Nestle Fun Run, where a couple of thousand people show up to travel a distance of 5K in whatever time it takes them. You have some people who take this thing seriously and actually try to win, even though they're racing against old people, and mommies pushing babies in strollers, but if that makes them feel good, well, who am I to give them a hard time about it?
We showed up at a little after 7 in order to stand around and wait for it to start, and to do a little stretching, in case my blazing speed might cause me to pull something. I had family in town to celebrate Mom and Dad's 50th Anniversary, and it was a nice surprise to see my sister in law, as well as my mom and a sister show up along with some of the cousins. It turned out that Fun "Run" was a bit of a misnomer, considering how long it took us to finish that little course. My usual time, as near as I can recall, is around 30 minutes for that "race," and I walk a little and sort of jog a little until I get to the final 1/4 mile, which is the track at the high school, then I run, and end up feeling like I'm going to be sick when I finally get to the end. It's a fun family tradition.
This time, however, I just walked, or maybe "sauntered" fits better, with my family, having no idea how long it was taking us. When we got near the finish line, I was in a bit of shock to see the numbers 60:48 on the timer that was ticking away. It hadn't seemed anywhere near that long, but there it was. I slowed down just a tad, figuring that if my time was 61 minutes even, it would be easier to remember, just in case I wanted to brag to anyone about it. So far I haven't, but I guess blogging about it is just as good, and Look! I did remember it! :) After the race, part of the tradition is to sit around while they draw names for several hundred door prizes. We had taken two cars, because I have decided that I really have better things to do so I went home. In order to get back to my car, I had to walk 10 minutes back to my brother's house where I had parked it. Now, here comes the theory I mentioned in the subject line, that I know you've been dying to get to: Since I walked 20 minutes round trip to the car, and 61 minutes on the track, that's a total of 81 minutes (in case you're impressed by my quick math there, just know that I had it figured out before I started writing this). Usually we park closer than that, and I don't count the time it takes to walk to the car, so I only log about 30 minutes of exercise. I figure that doing it this way all the time, I pretty much take care of my whole summer's worth of exercise in one day, and then I don't have to worry about it any more for awhile. So slower is better. That's all. :)