Walking Briskly in the Park

What a morning!

First let's talk about yesterday, and how this morning came about.

I was at work (as usual) with Deirdre, when Nancy stopped in. Nancy designs and sews skirts, dresses, and tops, which we sell in our store. Her stuff is always fun and funky, while still being fairly conservative with a great fit. We never have enough Nancy stuff, because it always sells. Nancy herself is quite a character. She's extremely talented in the creative side of designing clothing, but not so good with the business side (which she is the first to admit).

Anyway, she got to talking about exercise and how she'd like to, you know, do it, and Deirdre told us that she used to run through the park. In fact, Deirdre used to run in marathons. She hurt her back, though, and now mostly does yoga. Still, she'd like to get back into at least walking around the park in the mornings. Nancy said that sounded great, she'd love to do that, and I (with my big mouth) chimed in saying, "yeah, I really want to exercise more too."

"Great," Deirdre said. "When do you want to start?" Deirdre's like that. Even if you say casually that you'd maybe like to do something sometime next month or so, she'll want to nail you down to a time and place right there and then. She also manages to get a lot done. Perhaps there's a lesson there. (You would think I would have learned this lesson long ago, since my mother is very much a doer as well. And, I've noticed that when she's around, I get stuff done. Go figure.)

Suddenly, I found myself agreeing to meet them at the park (a good 25 minute walk from my apartment) at 9:00AM. And if I planned on being awake for this power-walk, that meant getting up at 7:00AM.

It all went rather smoothly. Nancy and Deirdre and I arrived, along with Louise, a friend of Deirdre's whom I had met before. We walked around the whole park which is about 3 miles, and it took us 50 minutes. It was just chilly enough that I was glad for the sweater I was wearing, but the day was bright and clear, and the park very beautiful in the sunshine.

At the end of it, we made plans to do it again on Monday. Oh boy. Well, I suppose it's for the best. Working out alone is always harder than working out in a group.

I still want to do some weight lifting (and luckily I have weights) to strengthen my upper body, and tone my lower. I'll have to do that on my own. (Mostly. I will have the Firm girls supporting me from DVD-land.) There was a time when my arms were quite strong, and I miss that. I feel like I can barely lift my own groceries anymore.

I topped the morning off with a trip to Dunkin Donuts for a latte. (Meaning I probably just undid all that hard work, but the latte won't be a regular thing; I just happen to be out of coffee right now. I need to buy another barrel. Sigh. Wouldn't it be lovely if coffee came in barrels? Furthermore, I think it may be time to invest in a grinder so I can have fresh-ground coffee every morning. Coffee...*drools*)

Later,
Jules