My favorite part of the weekend....

I have been doing a lot of exercise in the past year, it has steadily increased to at LEAST an hour a day!  I feel that it is AS important as my choice of foods.

Triple B!  My home away from home

 I LOVE weight lifting- LOVE LOVE LOVE doing all those reps, learning new things, adding more weight!  It makes me look different than I was before, and makes my life very much easier!  I now go to the gym and lift 4 times a week- one day of chest and triceps, one of back and biceps, one for legs and one for shoulders.  Plus I am doing a killer ab workout at least 3 times a week.  BIG thanks to Laurie and Brian Duba for their assistance and friendship!

I have also been attending both Ballet classes and Dance Fitness classes at Triple B and I find them a wonderful compliment to the weight lifting!  They are a great way to stretch and do cardio during this long winter that we have.  And the complex movements are so challenging and exhilarating!  If I have a free night, I have the elliptical, treadmill and the recumbent bike that can be conquered.

Then I have gotten my awesome snowshoes, which are really helpful to get out and about in the snow.  You know, when it is too dang snowy to do anything else!!

BUT, the best part of my weekend, my favorite activity is to go for my walks....

Walking is how I got to where I am right now, or at least most of the way.  I walked when I began this journey, including walking in place, on the road, at school through the halls, where ever I could get a little exercise in.  I have been walking for exercise for years, but this time, with the help of the Loseit! app and my friends there, it had a different effect.

So last weekend, I took some pictures as I walked my "Head East- long" route (according to my Runkeeper app), because I reached the road after not walking for 2 weeks, at least not here, and I realized how HAPPY I was to be back into the groove.  What a JOY I was feeling to be back in my running shoes, heading down good old Hwy E, seeing my familiar sights, annihilating hills that used to make me huff and puff and limp.

Omaha Road

Weinberger's farm

Hwy E

Tuscobia Trail

Smith Creek

Hilgart farm

HUGE freaking rock!

The MASSIVE rock in Hilgart's field

Waiting for spring

Tracks on Smith creek

The sad thing, visually, is that it looks almost exactly the same this week as last!  I like a little variety when I walk, at least something!  Oh well, so I went the other way this morning and took a few photos going west!  Again, the same basic look, but it was another relaxing, yet energizing, run/walk.  I don't feel like I have done enough now if I don't go at least 4.5 miles!  I'm really looking forward to a slight improvement in road conditions that will get me around the blocks again.

I wish you could see the dropoff of the gravel pit better!  It's a visual joke!

Another visual funny- no small trees to be seen!  :)

Looks like an ancient ruin

Another view of the stone house with it's ghostly companion

Favorite tree, slightly different view

As fun as Thanksgiving and Christmas can be, it is really nice to be back in the groove of regular life!  The comfort of my walking paths and my improving times, speed and health make this year sure to be full of promise and maybe a 5 K run!  We'll see.

Walking gives me time to think, to imagine, to solve problems.  It gives me time when no one is talking to me, the only voice I hear is the artist who is singing on my iPod (and those occasional voices in my head!  LOL!).  I savor this alone time..... it is something I need to have to keep my head on straight.  So no matter if it takes 20 minutes to get ready to go- because of the long underwear, jeans, wind pants, t-shirt, sweatshirt, running coat, wool socks, running shoes, gloves, hat, phone, ear buds (I need new ones) (with a microphone) (and they need to be way sturdier than the cheap pieces of junk I've been buying lately because they are cobalt blue or pink), camera, lip balm, reading glasses, sunglasses, HRM watch and HRM strap or if it is summer and it takes a minute to throw on the shoes and stuff the camera/phone/ bug bomb into the pockets, it is worth every second of preparation.  Because I am worth the time and effort that it takes to take really good care of myself.  And then I will be more able to take care of all the other people that need me!

Do yourself a favor today, go do an activity you really love!  It'll make you feel great, it'll get your heart pumping and improve your fitness, and it will pour some joy through your body.....  and that is the best side effect of all!