I am not being paid to write about this. This is just something that I want to try at some point.

Once I am comfortably able to walk a mile without… there being any problems (and I mean any problems), the next step in the process for me will be to sign up for virtual marathons with Yes.Fit. I may decide to wait until we are out of a global pandemic, although I may do these on my treadmill at home. It all depends. Yes.Fit is a virtual marathon app — or website — that allows you to participate in virtual marathons no matter where in the world you may be at, and you are rewarded with things like medallions and T-shirts that you choose from before you sign up for the marathon as incentive and as a reward for you completing the marathon. You can log the miles that you do any number of ways, including “by hand” if you’re not into things like FitBit or their very own tracker. For someone like me, the medallion at the end of the marathon would be the most incentive. I’d love to collect those. And of course I’d also love to get into better shape!

For instance, there’s one called The Unicorn which is 121.1 miles. Obviously I’m not going to be ready to do that one for quite awhile, but I do aspire to do that one at… some point. The medallion for it is the most adorable, and at some point in my life I would like to say that I got into good enough health to be able to walk 121.1 miles, even if it took me an entire year to do, just to say that I actually completed that marathon.

I definitely have aspirations for improving my health, even though some of them — like that one — are lofty.

I find it humorously ironic that I get to decide whether or not I get to continue taking the medication that has caused me to gain the weight that I have. Apparently this is a… thing with this medication, as in, this is a distinct possibility that can occur with it. I do wish that this had been explained to me as I was being prescribed it, or even in the earlier stages of me taking it, so that I could have made a better decision about whether or not I wanted to take it or even stay on it, but I digress. It does actually work single-dosing it for particularly troublesome migraines, though, so I probably would have chosen to stay on it and to continue taking it. But like I said, I do wish that I had been informed about this side effect. This was actually one of the reasons that I spent the last of my economic stimulus check (“Coronavirus check”, or “Corona check”, as some people are actually calling it) on a manual treadmill for home. I had just enough money left over to actually do that, and I’m glad that I made that “investment”. It’s been something that I’ve wanted for awhile.

My first long-term goal is to eventually work up to comfortably being able to walk a mile. I’m going to do this on my own time, no matter how long it may take me. That will help my asthma, and it will also help me get into better shape. My neurologist knows about it, and (bless her heart, probably never having actually dealt with someone like me before, even though I’m sure she had to have had some kind of… training on chronic migraine disorder since she knew what it was) she is supportive of me undertaking an exercise regimen with it. I mean, she knows that I bought it. She knows why I bought it. She knows that I want to get into better shape and lose some of the weight that I have gained. The rest of my care team will eventually find out too.

The mile won’t be timed, by the way. It will simply be me working up to comfortably being able to walk one.

https://raceroster.com/events/2020/31983/the-lokai-virtual-run-for-hope-2020

…and if it weren’t for me being so high-risk if I did contract it, but also, the pandemic.

We meaning me and Bub, enjoyably walking this over the time span of however long it actually took.

Why does this have to happen during a global pandemic that will probably still be here in October?!

It’s honestly like more and more people are forgetting that we are still in the throes of a global pandemic, and they are becoming more fast and loose not adhering to safety guidelines to keep themselves safe and prevent themselves from becoming infected with the virus. This is exactly why the United States can’t have nice things. We’re out here planning marathons while a global pandemic is going on. This really bothers me.

This is why other countries are starting to “get over” the pandemic and why it is still booming in our country.

In case anyone’s actually wondering, the schools in this area are set to open up around here in the middle of the month… unless something changes, they open back up and there is a surge of infections directly related to this and the school district gets pie on their faces as a direct result of this (which would not actually surprise me), or there is an actual Hail Mary and someone along the chain of command comes to actual reason. Parents and guardians have the choice of deciding whether to send their students to school for in-person instruction or allowing them to continue doing the distance learning that was mandated back in the middle of last school year when this pandemic started and schools were forced to close down, and any student who is doing distance learning can get a laptop as a loaner from their school at request. Again, this state is prioritizing “the economy” and “getting everything back to normal” over people’s lives, and it shows.

At this point, I can see the school district getting egg on their faces at some point. It’s just a matter of when.

Meanwhile, the superintendent continues to be smug about it, even though members of the board were surprisingly hesitant about it. It seems that the school district is actually in a position to lose funding if they do not open up, and this actually drove the decision to open doors when they are scheduled to be opened. This does not surprise me at all. It will all be about money, and access to federal dollars, at the end of the day. It always is with this district. It will always be about access to federal dollars, and foolish decisions made to secure access to federal dollars, at the end of the day with this district. This is exactly why I called our pompous, smug superintendent a bald-headed fuckface when he was live-streaming about this decision on one of our local news agencies’ Facebook pages, and why I do not regret my decision to call him that at all. I will gladly attach my name to the decision that I made to call him that. He is pompous and smug, and he thinks he knows more than the CDC. He deserves it. He is an educator, not the scientist he thinks he is…