Finally ─ A Short Walk

With the target in mind of getting out early this morning to see if I could handle the four-block hike to the nearby Shoppers Drug Mart ─ my first true walk since early October, the month that was to see me fall prey to a severe "COVID pneumonia" infection that hospitalized me for just over 11 days ─ I did not spend time overnight sitting up when I found myself unable to sleep due to nasal passageway blockage.

When I checked the time overnight, it was well after 3:30 a.m., so essentially all I did was rise to blow clear much of the rather bloody mucous clots that seem to attend and spoil my nights.

Then I returned to bed and never checked the time again until just after 7 a.m. ─ which was something of a shock, for I needed to smartly get myself up. The pharmacy opens at 8 a.m., so I wanted to try and be there as soon after that as possible.

But of course, it would depend upon whether I could handle the walk ─ my legs are unaccustomed to the activity, and my scarred lungs have not been challenged with anything as sustained as this sort of venture. Also, I have not been outdoors for any length of time, so the chilly and moist November air was an unknown factor for me.

Due to prolonged readiness preparations, it was after 8 a.m. before I was on my way. I set off on a good pace, and applied myself to the hill just a few homes from my own.

The hill is possibly a half-block in total length, but before I was halfway along it, I was breathing quite heavily through my mouth, and my hamstrings were tightening as surely as if I was doing thigh curls with a weight. And I slowed my pace right down. 

Due to the chilly, moist air, my nasal passageways were aflow, preventing me from breathing other than through my mouth. But at least I did not seem to be falling into the grip of any spells of embarrassing coughing. However, that did not mean that such a state would not strike as soon as I was into the dry environment of an air-conditioned pharmacy.

The morning was sunny, incidentally.

Well, I walked for maybe three blocks, and by then had given up the plan to shop. Judging by how spent I already was, I didn't care to add on that extra distance, and then have to deal with the pharmacy's dry air.

I basically just came back home, but via a different route that added a further half-block of distance. So in all, I may well have put in seven blocks of walking by the time I was back home.

I definitely did slow down. Even so, I know that with some practice, I would quickly reacquire the ability to handle such a relatively short distance as was my goal this morning. And so hereafter, I am going to do my best to force myself to get out in the wee a.m. each night and walk some blocks. Otherwise, I will never build the stamina.

One good thing is that after getting back home, the air here within the house did not set me off on any coughing spells, so my lungs are not affected in the same fashion as they would have been if I had a bad cold.

Also, I now see that I could do some shopping as early as tomorrow, but only if I rode to a store with someone. In the late afternoon / early evening yesterday, I got busy and shaved my head and beard, for I had done neither in nearly two months. I left myself with a moustache joined to a bearded chin. The way I had been, my beard growth was unkempt and would have required lengthy work to make it presentable if I wanted to go public ─ thus, it was not feasible that I would have been able to go anywhere with someone to do any shopping.

Now, I can do so in very short order. 

As for the rest of my day, despite it being so auspicious, I fouled my afternoon from roughly 2 - 3:30 p.m., and my younger brother proved quite the spoiler where my evening's T.V. with him was concerned.

Since I have no desire to relive any of this, I am going to end this post here.