and winter drags on and on

I really don't like winter. I don't care for the cold at all; I have Reynaud's phenomenon, and my fingers & toes go numb when outside too long (unless I'm racewalking, in which case usually they are fine). Even when I'm inside, I have trouble at times. I like to keep my house at 65F to save $, but sometimes I just have to turn it up to 70F to keep my hands from getting too cold. I don't really like the dark, either. It bugs me when it gets light at 8 am and dark again at 5 pm. I know, I'm lucky I don't live farther north where it's even worse. Finally, I dislike driving in the snow - intensely. It just freaks me out. It's better now that I have 4-wheel drive, but even so, it's not good.

I woke up in a winter mood this morning. Icky. The scale has not been kind (despite the fact that I've been disciplined about my eating), and I'm running about 150 right now. It was dark. I was not in the mood to go out to the gym to do the bike & elliptical again. Oh yay. But I got up and did it anyway, and I do feel better now. I've been doing the video stationary bikes that have courses and gears, and it's a lot like biking outside - it's much better than the regular bike. My friend Dorothy even told me how to adjust the pacer to get it just right, and you can get a really good workout. I did Sleepy Hollow today, at average power of 185 (that's what the pacer was set at), for 30 minutes. Then I followed that up with 15 min on the elliptical before it was time for weight training class. I was still in kind of a bleak mood at the start of class, but by the end I was feeling better. I did a lot of challenging exercises, and it made me feel stronger mentally. Push-ups, walking lunges, assisted pull-ups (like most women, I really can't do pull-ups unassisted, and to do sets of them I need the assist machine), and 21s (bicep curls, in 3 sets of 7: bottom half, top half, full curl) were some of my favorites today.

While on the workout topic, I did racewalk yesterday. The gym is not open until 10 am Sundays, and so that was just not an option. I decided racewalking would be OK, and it was all right. My foot feels fine. I know this is a bit illusory since the cortisone is still helping me, but the doc said it would be OK occasionally. At least until I get in to see someone who can really help me, I may racewalk on Sundays if I can't get to the gym. Next Sunday I think I might be able to swim at 11:30 am, so that might be an option sometimes. Anyway, I racewalked 5.32 miles at a 10:53 pace (I put 10:48 on facebook by mistake - close, but not quite right) and it was so nice to be out there.

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I get to be home with the kids today :) which I'm happy about. I feel like I've been at work a lot lately, so it's good to be home today. We're going to the grocery store, to Kindermusik (Michelle has moved up to the next level!), and Calvin will practice the piano. I started giving him piano lessons! He had his first lesson Saturday, and I think he is doing well so far. He seems to be ready now, and I'm enjoying it a lot. Hopefully we'll continue to have a good working relationship in the piano lesson department. It saves a lot of money for me to teach him. Other plans for today: work on the family finances, clean the house, cook dinner, and prepare the crock pot for tomorrow, since I'm working then. Oh, and I'm calling a podiatrist today. Can't hurt, might help.