The toy train hobby is very sedentary in nature - you sit or stand at a layout running trains, you sit at a bench working on equipment, you stand in one place and work on the layout. Not quite as sedentary as TV or computer games, but not exactly "fresh air and exercise." I look at myself and I'm in better than average shape for my age, but still somewhat overweight and out of shape. I look around me at the train club and most of the guys are more overweight than I am - many of them obese and not a few morbidly so. Same thing at train shows - looks like a fat guy convention.
I feel that I've been spending way too much time on trains lately - both on benchwork for my own layout and on projects I've taken on for the club. This has cost me in terms of fitness - I can only ski for a couple of hours before I start feeling tired, and a lousy five or six miles hiking and I'm done for the day. As for skiing a race course, forget it. I haven't run gates in years, let alone picked up another NASTAR medal. This has gotta change. Well, I'll be laying track this week at home and the latest club project is just about finished. I declined to run for re-election to the train club board and they are on notice that I'm not rebuilding any more layouts any time soon. Time to go hiking, lift some weights, and get some weight off before ski season starts.
Sometimes I think I made a big mistake building the layout at all. Maybe that space and money would have been better used for a weight bench and some exercise machines. I could join a health club, but given how far out of town I live I'm not sure how often I'd want to make the drive.
Bye. I'm going outside and play.