Before I discovered Janathon, I would put on weight every January.  The holiday seasons have never been a problem for me; I’ve rarely overindulged in Christmas party buffets.  Then when that was all over, I would start indulging, possibly giving in to post-holiday doldrums.  But the past two years, Janathon cured me of that, and staved off the new year’s weight gain.  Until February, that is.  My January weight gain has now apparently become my February weight gain, which then folds into something to give up for Lent.  This year I’ve successfully (so far) given up pizza, and eventually resumed my daily yoga and mile.  I ordered several pizzas in February, which means I ate several pizzas. Pizza orders are a leading indicator that I’m on the slippery weight gain slope.  Then eventually even my ‘fat jeans’ start feeling snug, and then I know it’s time to stop indulging and step up the activity.

And now Spring is here, with light in the evenings for running, and milder temperatures.  All is good.  I did my mile after 7pm last night, and it wasn’t dark out.  I can’t say enough about the daily 15 minutes of yoga stretches in the morning, and a mile run in the evening.  The distance is nothing to brag about.  Some (me included at times) wouldn’t even count it as a run. But making it part of my daily routine is, along with the yoga, making me faster.  My posture is better, my stomach is tightening up, and I am energized with good spirits all day.  These things become evident after less than a week of the routine.  How can this not be a good routine?  I will have to start building in some weekly long runs, because I’ve got a few races planned this year; the first in early June.  But for now, I’m celebrating the success of this seemingly small daily effort.  It is making me feel good.

And then there was a superb tribute band that came to town.

Just like that, it’s gone.  I really don’t know where February went.  I was terribly busy, but on what?  On watching Downton Abbey (and knitting) on Sunday nights.  And then there is basketball.  Lots of basketball.  What a season!  And then I’ve been blessed with lots to do at my “day job.”  All is good.

It is still Winter, judging from this past weekend’s ice and snow, and frigid temps.  I do hope this is the last blast of the bitter, bitter cold for the season.

I did a 3.5 mile run-walk on Sunday evening, when the outside temperature was 7F/-14C, with a windchill of -15F/-26C.  I bundled up in a hooded down parka and pants, with a wicking layer underneath, and suede ugg boots, with face and hands well-covered; yet another strange ensemble, but it worked.  I took along my ‘good’ camera, and cradled it like a football while running.  The boots are not waterproof, but it was too cold for anything to melt and soak in.  My feet, and the rest of me, stayed toasty warm. I ended up sweating quite a bit inside the down layer, but that doesn’t mean I wore too many layers.  I needed that level of protection against the cold, because I quickly got cold when taking a walk break.  This kept the walk breaks short and infrequent–not a bad thing, since I really don’t need them as much as I’m just using them to change up the pace, or to pause and admire a view with my camera.

The only signs of life I saw on the entire 3.5 mile loop, were an old pickup-snowplow making his rounds, and this guy, who had a faaabulous coat.

Once again, I got started too late, and finished in the dark.  This is becoming a habit.  There is a captivating vibe, being out on foot on a snowy road at night.  It is a beautiful stillness that belies the upset routines and daytime chaos of vehicles trying to conquer the snowy streets.  The bright snow and occasional street lamps make it just light enough to see.

Apparently, I’m not the only one March has snuck up on.  *smile*

This weekend, if the forecast holds, I’ll be back in my cropped tights.  I’m crossing my fingers for that, and imagining the warmer air.

Yesterday I’d planned to run my lately-much-neglected 3.5 mile loop.  But word in the neighborhood was that there were bald eagles in the area.  So I took along my ‘good’ camera, and made it a 5-mile loop.  It felt great to go more than a mile, which has been my daily distance through Janathon.  So anyway, there was a lot of walking, i.e., eagle stalking, mixed in with the running.  I need to perfect my eagle stalking technique, because I never got very close before they would see me and fly away.  I also need a more powerful camera lens.

 

And Canada is invited to come and retrieve their geese, hehe. 

The miserable and obnoxious cold symptoms continue, but thankfully there has been no fever.  I bought a new running skirt-cropped tights combination in the after-Christmas sales, and thought I would have to wait at least two more months before the weather would be conducive to trying it out.  But it was a lovely sunny warm day yesterday.  I wore a long-sleeved fleece turtleneck, which was too warm for the conditions, but intended to keep my neck and chest extra warm.  It was a real treat to run in cropped tights in January, and be perfectly comfortable.

My unplanned 6-day rest from running probably helped my ankle sprain get stronger.  It did start feeling tender at about 3.5 miles, but that is better than on the first step out the door, as it had been in the days right after I got the sprain.  I feel a strong, healthy Spring coming just around the corner, with lots of miles.

Well, I just couldn’t keep it going with a daily run and/or yoga while on two back-to-back trips that lasted a total of six days.  Unless you count carrying luggage and a ton of walking …where we definitely saw some interesting sights along the way.

We went to a museum where even the benches were informative.

(For us evening runners, I think it’s a few more bugs than that.)

And in another museum we were solemnly reminded of September 11.

So now I’m back home; still buzzing from my trips, but anxious to resume my fitness routine and normal life.  And wouldn’t you know it, the cold weather has returned.