Nothing will make you feel inadequately out of shape as much as hiking or biking up a steep hill.
I am starting to get the routine down for my new job. As soon as I get the hang of it, I’ll be switching to the other park, Fort Casey. So, no worries.
My biggest gripe I have with my job isn’t the hours. We’ll see if closing four days a week will wear me down, but it’s kind of nice having the place to myself for a couple hours to get what I want/need to, but I do miss dinner with the hubby. Even when I was at the zoo, I didn’t come home late every night.
But so far, the hours aren’t the killer for me. Neither is the hard labor. I do need someone to work with me on the weed whacker and lawn mower before I just giddy-up and go. So, for this first week, I am finding I have a good bit of downtime. This doesn’t actually bother me too much either.
No, the only thing that bothers me about this job is how much DRIVING I do all day. I think I spend more than half my day driving around the park.
To fix the situation, I brought my bike to work today. I didn’t use it in lieu of the work vehicle. For today, I just used it on my break. I wanted to see A) if I could bike remotely comfortably in my work clothes (jeans and polo) and B) how long it would take me to bike to my destinations.
To answer my questions, I can bike fine in jeans, but I’m sure I look like an ass. And it only takes ten minutes to bike from the office to the campground. I didn’t go to the beach section. I’m sure it will also only take 10-15 minutes.
It didn’t take me long, but holy heaven above, it was ALL uphill. The office is in this little valley of the park, and to get anywhere else, you have to go uphill.
I thought I was going to die. I think a couple campers thought I was going to die as well. At the end of the short 10 minute ride, my legs were so shaky, I couldn’t get off my bike. I just sat there for a couple minutes, gasping.
I know I’m not in great shape, but I didn’t think I was that bad off.
If I bring my bike every day, and I bike my route for checking in on areas, perhaps by the end of the summer hills won’t be a big deal for me.
I can’t use the bike for everything. But it’ll be fun to get in shape while on the job and save some resources, too.
How can you make your job a little greener and a little more fun?