A change of pace (or three)

No, no, do not try and adjust the color on your monitor--the sky is supposed to be blue! What a wonderful surprise to finally see a clear sky while walking the dogs this morning. It got very, very cold last night, so all of the trees were enveloped in frost, and the sunlight turned the tips of the branches a scintillating white. It was a breathtaking sight against the deep blue sky; the photo does not even begin to do it justice.

I had hopes of trying to run outside today, but careful inspection of the roads as I walked the dogs made me change my mind. The roads themselves are clear, but the areas to the sides are still quite icy, and it only takes one slip and fall to pull a muscle (or worse) and put yourself out of commission for longer than you can afford.

So off I went to the gym...again (yawn). Just looking at the gerbil wheel (aka treadmill) made me feel bored, and I was equally had-it-up-to-here-please-not-again-I-am-so-sick-of-this with the indoor track, where I would have to complete 19.2 laps to get my three miles in. So I decided to shake things up and try...

...yes, that's an elliptical machine. Hard to believe I have lived this long and never been on one before. Basically your feet go up and down in the pedals and your arms push those skinny poles back and forth. Except I don't remember mine having any poles. My hands were on the heart rate sensors. Oh, no, I did it wrong! It does measure distance, though, and I "ran" 1.5 miles in about 17:30. The motion of your feet going up and down in the foot pads makes a nice little "choo-choo-choo-choo" sound, like a steam engine leaving the station, but after seventeen minutes of imagining myself as The Little Engine That Could while failing to get my heart rate to go much of anywhere, I hopped off and went back to the gerbil wheel to do the remaining 1.5 miles. I actually got into the groove and ran a few minutes extra, just because I felt like it. Unorthodox though the session was, I completed the mileage, so that's another check on the calendar and another YES! for next week's report.

I was waylaid by this soul-searing craving for barbeque a few days ago and couldn't shake it. (I think it's my body's way of trying to deny it's the dead of winter.) Tonight I threw up my hands and succumbed. Never mind that we still had perfectly good leftovers--I needed BBQ STAT! My husband and I shared the incredibly delicious rib platter you see in the picture, and there were even enough leftovers for my lunch tomorrow. Sah-weet! (Oh, and Seth, I'd be happy to go again later this week whenever you have time!)