Random not quite Friday

The oddest thing happened as August ended: summer arrived. Heat and smog and pollen, hand in hand like old buddies. I'm enjoying wearing sleeveless tops and capri's but there's a slight hitch. In early May I bought a few pairs of shorts and capri's because nothing in my closet fit (uh, as in too tight). Then I spent a few months exercising in fact like I had only been doing in theory, and very carefully watching every bite I ate and now those new pants are very loose. Like, falling down loose. Like, I look like a teenage boy with pants on the ground loose. I'm not complaining, especially since I'll be able to wear older stuff now. Also, I'm pretty sure the heat won't last. Prove me wrong Mother Nature, 'k?

The twice weekly training continues and I like it so much I just signed up for 4 more months. I like me some commitment! And I still think that word should have 3 t's instead of 2. My workout routine changed on Tuesday, right when I was getting the hang of the old one. Katie kept some of the oldies but threw in some new stuff too.

When I started this I couldn't do one single girly push-up, let alone the real ones. Now I can do 3 sets of 15 girly push-ups. Plus the ones I'm doing on the bar. Yippee and ouch. I didn't say I can do them painlessly, just that I can do them. I went from being able to hold a plank for a grand total of about 2 seconds. Now I'm doing them on one leg. Yippee and ouch. Still doing the twists with the 12 pound ball, the one exercise I can definitely see benefits on my body. I'm back to doing sit-ups with the 8 pound ball. Since my knee whined when I did up-and-over a bench, I'm doing quick deep squats instead. The mountain climbers made a surprise appearance at the end of the workout.

A new one for me is jumping onto a ledge. Mind you, this ledge is maybe 6 inches high and is part of a piece of gym equipment. I jump up with both feet together, then step back down. That is, I jump when my brain allows me to jump. To my combined amusement and horror, my body completely froze when I tried to do it. I swayed forward, then backward, then forward, then back again. I was pretty sure I was telling my knees to lift and my feet to move but they weren't listening. A combination of errant depth perception and a bit of vertigo tied up with acrophobia kept me locked in place for what seemed like 20 minutes - although it wasn't. I managed to jump/trip once, then to jump correctly. I even made it through the set. But the first time each set I'm still needing to convince myself to jump. Hopefully after a month of this my brain will catch up and get with the program. At which time Katie will probably increase the height.

I had a great run last Saturday, almost all 18 miles of it. Again the weather cooperated by staying overcast and cool, albeit quite windy. I ran with Bree for about 5 miles and alone for the rest of it. I love running with my buddies but I'm remembering that a few hours running completely alone isn't too bad. Lots of time to think, and lots of time to not think. And then just lots of time.

The sock is coming along well. At this rate by Thanksgiving I'll have knit one complete sock in this pattern with this yarn. I love the yarn so I'm hoping I don't end up with second sock syndrome. A pair would be very nice.

I'm going to be starting some home renovations soon. Don't be silly, I'm not doing the work myself, I'm paying someone else to do it. After 12 years of high sun (and that one flood) my carpet is rotting out and needs to be replaced in a couple of rooms. As much as I'd love a whole house overhaul I know the mess and fuss and noise and dirt and schlepping stuff around would drive me crazy. Not to mention drive me broke. So I'm just doing flooring now and maybe someday I'll do more. I can't believe I've lived here for 12 years.

I'm looking forward to only running about 13 miles this weekend. I love that finally it's back to "only" running 13 miles. I'm still glacially slow (although with global warming I think the glaciers might be quicker than I am) but I'm enjoying running as much as I ever have. Since I'll be running alone I think I might try running with some music, just in case I get tired of my brain jabbering at me.

I think I should go try to sleep now.