I walked this morning ...

I did indeed -- I walked 16 minutes too.

And that damned hill is going to do me in yet!

This time, my heart rate was only 110 and I was dragging bottom (again, John offered a hand to pull me up but I insisted I was going to get there on my own steam).

This is craziness!

Why is it getting more difficult with each outing, rather than easier?

I just don't understand.

Seems to me it should be getting easier each time.

This morning, I wore my TENs machine, followed by my compression shorts, plus my back brace -- and still I couldn't do it without great difficulty.

What else do I have to do?

John has suggested that we avoid the hill altogether; that we head out in the other direction where there is no hill to contend with, mostly flat surface.

And I guess that's not a bad idea, in the scheme of things.

There are slight inclines along the way but nothing like the hill that we've been facing each morning.

So I guess on Friday (which is the next day I'll be able to walk), we'll go the "boring route" and see if I can pick up my pace at all.

Because walking at the pace I've been going lately can't possibly be a "work out" of any kind: witness the fact that I'm not losing any weight (in fact, my weight continues to climb!).

I see my doctor on Thursday morning and will discuss the matter of my lungs with him; perhaps we need to address my asthma a little more vigourously than we have been.  Maybe that's all that's wrong right now; this heat wave that we've been "enjoying" has really taken a toll on me, and my lungs seem to be in a constant state of aggravation.

Oh the joys ...