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.