Goodness It Was Cold

If anyone had told me that I would willingly go outside and walk for an hour in 15 degree weather, I would have laughed and said no way. Well, way; that's just what I did yesterday. My top half was warm enough in three layers but my bottom half was chilled to the bone, I only wore a single layer there. At least my feet were warm; I guess wool socks are good for more than preventing blisters.

The plan for today is to put in 3 to 4 miles depending on my pace and time. It is supposed to be warmer today, about 27 degrees, I'll take that.

I have been wondering about relationships lately. Husband/wife, friends, siblings and even parents it seems to me that when you set aside the ideal and hard worked for attainable goal of unconditional acceptance and peer into the depths of what is left, you will either find the glowing ambers of the loftier love or the rusty foundation of a disintegrating wall. The cause of the disintegration is, I believe, hate; born of jealousy or resentment or any of a number of things but it grows slowly and it festers until it finds a way to release some of the toxic sludge through a raised fist, a fowl word, a venomous look or some other vent. I have noted that in relationships where hate creeps in that the appearance of a solid, loving relationship (to the world) is very important. However, the astute observer may discover this lie by listening because in a love/hate relationship the hater cannot resist throwing out the occasional barb, almost as if it irks them for their partner to be too well liked. I have seen this in all sorts of relationships and have been on the receiving end myself, maybe I've been thinking about it because I'm cooped up with nothing much to do but think.

So…I am looking forward to walking later, it gives me other things to think about.

There is always hope.

 

A Wet Walk

I walked 4 miles yesterday. The sun did not come out to play, in fact it snowed the entire time I was out there and I was pretty much soaked through by the time I finished. My Yaktrax (correct sp) did a fine job in the snow and ice, though I have to admit that screwed shoes work just as well. I did walk on Wednesday, 2.3 miles; there was a time when that sounded like a long distance to me. Now I have to walk over 5 miles to impress myself.

I saw a dear friend today. I haven't seen her since before Christmas and I have been missing her badly. She is a good listener and an excellent conversationalist, we didn't get to visit for long but we made the most of our time together. There was a lot of catching up to do, she, poor dear, is recovering from a broken shoulder and I, having experience in that area told her she was doing very well. It's funny really how one can be friends with another for years, as we have, and I do not know how old she is. I would venture a guess of somewhere in her mid to late sixties. At any rate, it was wonderful to see her and we both agreed it should not be so long between our next visits.

There really isn't much more to say about what's going on in my life at the moment. I am going to try and distract myself so that the cabin fever that has set in entirely too early doesn't get me too far down. Strange, talking with my friend today there was no end to the things I wanted to say. I'll try to do better next time.

There is always hope.

I Need Motivation

Dear Sun, please come back to Ohio and brighten up my life. It's one of those days, you know, cloudy cold and icy; the kind of day that can bring you down even if you are lucky enough not to suffer with SAD during the long cold months of winter. I just looked at the extended weather report. Big mistake, more of the same through the entire forecast period, cloudy, cold and snow; boy oh boy am I in trouble it's a little early to have cabin fever.

Putting all of that gloomy stuff aside and looking forward through rose colored glasses (figuratively speaking) I have been thinking about my birthday that is coming up next Friday. Fifty-two, that's how old I will be. A nice round number that, to match a nice round woman LOL. This fifty something thing hasn't bothered me yet and I hope it doesn't.

I have taken off more days from walking than I should so far this month. Don screwed a pair of shoes for me so I can be more confident walking outside in the snow and ice. I bought myself a pair of Yaktraks (sp?), why I don't know, the screwed shoes are working out nicely. I believe it must be the weather, the reason that I can't seem to stay motivated to walk every day. The Garmin I received for Christmas has only been used a few times. But wait! I just remembered why I took at least 5 days off, I was sick with a terrible sinus thing that went to my chest (Don was sick at the same time with the same thing) and I couldn't stop sniffling and blowing my nose and coughing long enough to breathe let alone try to go for a walk. Don didn't run either. Well, that explains 5 days but it does not cover the others like yesterday, I just could not make myself get off of the couch and do it. The weather is no good excuse as I have a perfectly good (if somewhat noisy) treadmill. So here I am today, determined to walk but open to the smallest excuse not to. You know, my left pinkie hurts, maybe I need just one more day off or not. I think not, I hope I will walk today.

There is always hope.

You Have to Breathe to Walk

I am a few days late in posting my very short summary of 2010; it was a mostly quiet year with no health problems and no financial crisis, which I suppose really made it a very good year, and my goals for 2011. Partially because aside from walking, I really have not set any other goals, I am not a goal oriented person.

The biggest reason I haven't posted is because I have been down with the flu or a cold or a bug of some kind since last Monday. To make matters worse, I can get no sympathy from Don because he has it too. All we do is cough and blow our poor sore noses and moan. We communicate with each other in those moans; God, I can't take anymore, me either, oh no here comes a coughing fit, damn I have to blow my nose again, I can't believe I have to get up off this couch and go to the bathroom. Yes, lots of messages in those moans. We must be getting better, we are bored out of our minds but too weak to do anything but watch TV or sit at the computer.

So, I got a Garmin for Christmas and have only used it 2 times. It is sitting on my desk charged and waiting to go for a walk and I can barely walk from the kitchen to the den. I also got a walk in a box from JB, it had walking shoes and pants and wool socks and Gel Blasts and a cool music CD with walking tempo music and earmuffs with headphones built in. Now I just have to be able to breathe and then I can get back to doing the thing that I enjoy most.

That's enough for today, I think. It's time for a nap.

There is always hope.