Just Enough

Well, the week started out with a big bummer! All across the country there has been record breaking cold, snow and ice. Here in Missouri we've had snow and extreme cold.  It is 12 degrees F as I write.  To help me accomplish my New Year goals I had signed up for a triathlon swim class to be held at the gym on Monday mornings at 6am. I missed my first class :(. The roads were slick and I was unable to make it in that early. The plows had not yet been through our area, so I opted to play it safe and drive in later to get to work at 8am. I was able to make it to boot camp on Tuesday at 6am. The temps were -2 degrees F. We had a great class and it was well worth getting out for. On Wednesday I did group strength at 6am. There weren't very many people in class. I suppose they opted for a warm bed instead (whose to blame them). Wednesday afternoon we had another weather system come in. It happened to be around 5pm when it came in. I had to stay late at work to get my BLS certification renewed so I was driving home in the midst of it. Blustering winds, more snow and record cold. Thursday morning bootcamp was canceled along with all the area schools. So there went that class :(. Dayle, a wonderful nurse practitioner that I work with, asked me to join her in a Hot Yoga class. I was thrilled! I love yoga and have been trying to figure out a way to incorporate it back into my hectic lifestyle. With all my running my ligaments have gotten so tight that yoga would be perfect for me. Dayle is a runner as well and she loves Hot Yoga. So we planned on Friday after work to go. Then we had record breaking lows come in along with advisories to stay home. The temps were to get -10 to -20 degrees below. So our Friday Hot Yoga class was canceled :(. This weather has certainly put a damper on my goals. So now this brings me to today, Saturday January 9. Mike and I got up this morn, drank our coffee, watched a bit of the news and headed off to the gym for a run.  We decided to do 8 miles on the indoor track. I followed my hubby around an oval and watched his hiney for 72 laps.  The only good things about running on an indoor track is the surface, no wind resistance and certainly no hills, so our pace was a nice 8:50 min per mile. Which is not to shabby for me since I tend to be a very slow runner. Otherwise I don't like running on a track.  It makes me feel like a hamster in a wheel, much the same way a treadmill makes me feel.  You also have to dodge all the newbies who can't read the signs that are posted everywhere that say 'walkers on inside lane and runners on outside lanes'. It can be quite an obstacle course at times with the old people in there SAS shoes and jeans and the New Years Resolutioners in their cotton shirts and sweat pants. I can only hope that some of them will stick to a more active lifestyle this time.  In a couple more weeks the gym will clear out and it will be back to business as usual. After we ran, I swam 20 laps (1000 yards) and it was a perfect way to end our workout.  The water felt so refreshing after a run.
I have a bad case of Spring fever.  It does not help that Mike and I have our new bikes in our bedroom that we look at daily and say "Oh I wish I could ride my bike". It is killing us!  But it also gives us hope, something to look forward to.  I know that this weather will not last forever and that this season makes us appreciate the Spring and Summer.  It is the blessing of 'just enough'. Just enough winter to make you appreciate the Summer, just enough of not working out to make you appreciate working out. Just enough of not running to make you appreciate the fact that you have a body that can move. Yes, this may be a blog that has a lot of gripes in it, but in all actuality it is a blog about blessings. There is a reason for all this bad weather just as there are reasons for every season in our lives.  It forces me to sit down and reflect about how lucky and blessed that I am and that I have just enough. :). Now that I am done blogging, instead of yearning for the sounds of birds singing, I'm going to enjoy the beauty of the prismatic colors and the crackling, soothing sounds of a nice warm and cozy fire.
May you, my friend, be blessed with 'just enough'.
Namaste'