It's a marathon not a sprint

So two years ago I was in the hospital recovering from my 3rd surgery, you know that whole debacle. Anyway for some time now (oh maybe a year or so) I've had the good intention of getting back to working out and back on the track I was prior to going on that little sabbatical. As it turns out armed with only good intentions had me in the fast lane leading to no where good. Enter stage right Santa Claus (playing the part of Santa my lovely bride Ann Marie) who magically transformed a room of the house into a workout room complete with uber cool treadmill. Presto.... a little motivation and the proper level of gadgetry and bam here we go. So me being me and on my second session with the before mentioned treadmill and I've now discovered some of the neato features. As it turns out by the power of Google Maps I was able to download a route mapped out just about anywhere I could imagine. I, for the sake of ease and some geographical interest, downloaded several routes in Central Park (as in New York, New York). Ah this should be just lovely and let's be honest just pretty dog gone cool. So sure enough it downloads as expected and with little to no further research I'm off and running, ok close to a quick stroll and eventually something that might emulate running. I have to tell you this feature is very cool indeed, headphones in..,tunes playing and sure enough hey look at that I'm viewing my progress along the route with a combination of three alternating views map, satellite, and street views (well done Google). Ok this is not virtual reality by any means but let me tell you it is a nice distraction. Now back to the action, there I am emulating running through Central Park things are going ok but ya it clearly has been a while since I had worked out. Another feature that I like is as one zips along the virtual trail changes in elevation are translated to the treadmill as adjustments of the incline/decline. Hey that is a neat feature, I said ,as it started out at 0 and then just a few ups and down between 0 and maybe 3% incline. And then I discovered a secret mountain right there in the midst of Central Park. Yes folks you heard it hear first there is a mountain right there in Central Park.... 9% incline. Well that isn't bad really, right? Only 9%... I now know that 9% is plenty and I mean plenty. This all just became real and it wasn't long before I admitted defeat yet vowed to return.