"I've fallen and I can't get up!"

A scary thing happened to me the other day. My wife and I took a drive to look for some fall color here and ended up at a somewhat local forest preserve. We decided that we were both up to a short hike around the basic loop trail there, which was only about a half a mile in total. 

We were most of the way around the loop trail with our car in the parking lot in sight, and I spotted some cool fungus growing on an old log. As I tend to do in such situations, I got down on one knee to compose the shot. When I tried to get up, though, I couldn't do it!  My legs were literally too weak to help get me off the ground. I had my walking stick nearby, so I tried to use that to help me get up. Nope. 

I was starting to struggle (and maybe panic a little) so my wife came over to where I was. (She had stayed on the trail while I went off trail for the photo.) She put a hand out to try to help me get up. We tried several times and I still couldn't get up! My legs felt like wet noodles; like they had no muscle whatsoever and were useless limbs. I was really panicking now. Was I ever going to be able to get off the ground?

There was a decent size log about 6' behind me, so I scooted over to it and was eventually able to position myself to sit on it. My wife kept asking how she could help get me up but I said I just wanted to sit there and catch my breath. I was huffing and puffing, and probably at least partially because I was freaking out. Once I did catch my breath, I was in a better position for her to help so, with her on one side of me and a walking stick in the other, I was finally able to stand up. 

The story doesn't end there, though! Once I stood up, I could barely walk! Again, it was like my legs were wet noodles, likely exacerbated by the strain I had put on them to get up. It took almost as long for me to hobble the short distance from there to the car as it did for us to walk the first 80% of the loop trail. I've never felt anything like that in my legs before! I've also never felt the kind of panic I was feeling when I couldn't get off the ground, even with assistance from my wife.

I most definitely need to get some exercise, and I hope that's all I need to do to avoid situations like this in the future.