My girlfriend, who is Latina, calls me Slowpoke Rodriguez. It has nothing to do with being slow in la cabeza (the head. She gave me the name based on the character from the Speedy Gonzalez cartoons. Never heard of Slowpoke Rodriguez? Look him up in YouTube. He's hilarious. I'm Slowpoke because I'm too heavy. I want to lose weight, but I am not very active -- at least I was not until a week ago. I participated in the 5k walk organized by New Smyrna Beach resident Danielle Oldham in honor of the troops. I finished dead last, but I finished.
I was looking for something to jump start my exercise initiative and I figured what better example to see how serious I was than with this 3-mile walk?
It started at Riverside Park and south across the South Causeway Bridge, left onto Peninsula, then left onto Flagler Avenue, the across the North Causeway Bridge and back to Riverside Park.
No problem... Yeah right!
I almost quit before reaching the summit of the South Causeway, the larger of the two bridges with a much steeper incline.
When the race started, I saw a lot of parents pushing baby strollers, an older person with a poodle and an 8-year-old boy tugging onto his brother's stroller. That should slow them down.
I figured, this is going to be a piece of cake. At least that is what I thought at the starting line.
Well, before we got to the first bridge, the poodle was far ahead and the baby-stroller family was 20 yards ahead.
By the time I reached Flagler Avenue, I was by myself, with the exception of the Citizen's Patrol car that was part of the traffic routine.
A couple of NSB paramedics made sure I had plenty of water and I completed the walk in 90 minutes, about 10 minutes slower than the last of the stragglers.
Since that walk I have joined a gym -- the downtown Athletic Club on Canal Street -- and I'm watching what I eat. I've already lost a couple of pounds.
I have a long way to go, but it feels good to see the pounds actually do come off with a little bit of effort. And so, unlike Speedy Gonzalez, I go for the diet cheese, instead of the fattening kind, when I am hungry.
In no time, my girlfriend will be calling me Speedy Gonzalez.
Arriva! Arriva! Andale!