I'm Over It

The fear of running in the cold, ice, and snow. I'm Over it. I ran every day this week even the day with single digit temperatures. THAT was cold! I got about 50 feet from my house and thought, "This is craziness! What am I doing out here!? Why am I not running back into my house?" I actually had one of my fastest times that day. If I stopped, even at street corners, my body started to chill. So I just kept going...faster and faster...until I was home. I've got to write these little victories down, they help outweigh the dorky stuff.

Like Today, I tripped and fell. And before you leave a comment telling me to get off that ice, it had nothing to do with weather. I tripped on a crack in the sidewalk. Nice. There was a girl waiting at a bus stop about 20 feet in front of me when it happened. I swear I heard a giggle as I passed her. I also, feeling very uninhibited because of my black winter hat (that makes me almost unidentifiable to the untrained eye), busted out a couple of dance moves at a stoplight this morning. Someday I'll get Aaron to hop in our car and follow me on my run. There's a video post for ya.


Since I'm too lazy and tired to connect these in any sort of cohesive paragrahs, here is a list of some of the things I've learned over the past week. Enumerated.

1) Although I think I lost weight this week (1 of the 2 pounds added over the never-ending holidays) I'm finding that I'm not having the same physical and emotional reaction to the number on the scale. Maybe I'm just tired of caring, I don't know. What I do know is this could change at any given moment and so I am enjoying the freedom from the oppression that is the scale. I still weigh myself every couple of days, I'm still running, lifting weights, keeping my food journal, everything. Maybe it has something to do with focusing on other things in my life right now, or the fact that I go running by the cemetery where Clay is buried on a regular basis. Every time I pass it, my heart hurts a little; I stop thinking about stupid things and start thinking about life. Family, goals, big picture-type things. Or it might just be that some kind of hormonal biochemical switch flipped. I have no clue. I may very well be back next week whining about some weight fluctuation (a very real possibility people). We'll still keep the Friday weigh-in...I think. Just for the accountability.

2) I like running. In the past it has always been a vehicle for calorie-burning but I can honestly say I'm growing to really enjoy it. Don't get me wrong, I miss my gym membership hard, but have been pleasantly surprised at how much I crave a good run. Even in the cold!

3) Every time I go, I have a turning-lemons-into-lemonade feeling. I actually in a weird way am glad we couldn't afford to renew my gym membership. Being shoved out of my comfort zone has payed off so far, and I've actually been *gasp* grateful.

4)It's been a week. Winter doesn't really end here until April. I've got a long way to go.