My Car Repairs are Keeping Me in Shape

A funny thought occurred to me as I ran today. My van repairs are keeping me from totally succumbing to the enticings of my couch.

In 2012, I was putting in between 50-60 miles each week. I was in great shape and enjoying the ability to run a marathon one weekend and then turn around and run another one the following weekend. Lately, i've been priding myself on keeping my Fat Boy Ice Cream sandwich intake in the single digits on a daily basis. I still am able to crank out 5-6 miles at a reasonable pace, but it's been many months since i've run more than 6-7 miles in a given stretch.

I tell myself that these are maintenance miles. By running 2-3 times a week at 5-6 miles each time I am preventing the couch from sucking me in for good. Sometimes though the motivation to get out the door and put in these maintenance miles just don't offer the motivation I need. Lately though, the guilt from my pants fitting tighter my trusty van and auto mechanic have devised a necessary intervention. I'm sure one day I'll thank them for it.

Exactly how I felt when I saw how many calories i've burned

My van has been in the shop a lot lately. My wife works away from the house and as such I can usually count on her for a one time drop off at the house or ride to work. The shop happens to be a 4 mile run from my house (although I have successfully gotten lost and done it in 7 miles before). In the past three months, i've had the CV joints replaced, the oil pan gaskets replaced (twice), brakes done, catalytic converter replaced, O2 sensors replaced, vacuum hose fixed, oil change completed, and a drive rod replaced. Some of these were done together and others were a one time deal.

Here's where i'm going to do some math. Let's say 10 repairs total. Figure my wife taking me one way 80% of the time. That's 8 out of 10 times, I had to get back home on foot (4 mile run) and 2 times where I had go both ways (8 miles). 4 x 8=32 plus 8 x 2=16 miles. That's 48 miles. In calories burned that is 9,540. That's equal to almost 3 pounds worked off or kept off. I'd say that's pretty good.

So thank you to my van that keeps going into the repair shop for keeping me off the couch and on the road. I'm going to go get a combo meal now. After all, it's only 860 calories which compared to the 9,540 I just worked off is totally justifiable.