Exercise Sucks

Someone please explain to me the purpose of exercise again? I seem to have forgotten. What exactly am I trying to accomplish here? Three days ago, I felt fine. Nothing hurt...no aches...no pains. Three days ago, I was living large and loving life. We had lunch at the Midtown Global Market on Saturday. I had some delicious tacos and amazingly sweet and scalding green salsa from Los Ocampo. I had a decadently rich truffle from one of the little Norwegian shops there, as well. Life was good. After working in the yard all day on Friday, I was enjoying the fruits of my labor.....though their were no actual "fruits" involved. Unless you count the lime in my Corona?

Then Sunday, I got the bright idea to begin exercising. I have walked/jogged on the treadmill every day since Sunday. Three days in a row now. Suddenly, I am not feeling so wonderful. My knees hurt. My ankles are sore. My hips ache. My feet are throbbing. Even my neck is feeling a little stiff...I guess from swinging my arms as I walked? As a matter of fact, my knees are making a horrible grinding noise now that I can only imagine is their way of politely saying, "What the hell are you doing to us, you freaking loony?!" I feel a full 10 years older than I did on Saturday. If I understand correctly, exercise is supposed to raise my endorphin levels and subsequently, give me a mental lift. Right? But my questions is this...what good is a mental lift if one is crippled and sprawled out on the couch unable to move? What is the benefit of a mental lift if I cannot physically lift my body from this couch? I am sitting here not moving a single muscle in my legs and my knees are throbbing. I can practically see them pulsating. This cannot be a good thing....right?

Time to take a boatload of Ibuprofen, head to bed, and pray for improved range of motion tomorrow. Wow...does that sound downright geriatric or what?! Exercise sucks.