Dearest Rachel -
It's not unprecedented, mind you, but it's admittedly unseasonal for December to start off in the mid-forties, especially before the sun has risen. It really should be colder out, especially since it's still dark. I don't think I'll even need a jacket as I head off to the gym – which is appreciated, as I'll not even be wearing my sweatshirt on my way out in any event, and I'd just as soon not be burdened with carrying the extra bulk home.
The one problem with such unusual warmth is that it conflicts with the cold weather that's already been here. You probably already knew this, but warm air can hold much more moisture than cold. However, when two pockets of different-temperature air collide, the cold air mass can't handle what the warmer mass brings to the table. As a result, I'm waking up early this morning to confront a drizzling rain. Now that I think about it, this might explain why the neighbors' backyard light was streaming into the bedroom all last night; being motion-sensitive, it was probably triggered whenever a drop fell too close to its sensors – which was basically happening all night.
As a result, I'm awake plenty early to show up as they open the doors, but as always, it's an question of getting motivated to do so. While it seems that my body hasn't decided to gang up on my mind and prevent it from taking charge like last week, the rain is putting a literal damper on my motivation (to the point where maybe my body decided it didn't see the need to try to talk me out of going, assuming that the weather was going to be sufficient)
However, what my body apparently wasn't aware of (because it's not generally on speaking terms with my mind) was that I'd found an additional reason to spend the time at the gym. You know that fitness app that Erin convinced me to join, so that I could go through her pictures of her trip to Italy and the like? Well, it so happens that it offers various challenges to its subscribers; fitness goals to achieve in a given period of time, usually a month. Most of them are beyond either my ability or desire to accomplish (particularly in terms of running, or even cycling, a certain distance in such a time span), but this one actually seemed doable; 250 minutes of workout time in the course of a month. So, I enrolled.
It wasn't until now that I discovered there might be the possibility of an actual reward, although I have no idea who Le Col is and what I might use £50 for there. The point for most of us, of course, is (and should be) to just reach this specific goal, not to win the prize.
Since I have the freedom to work out for longer periods of time than most people do (Have I mentioned how the place clears out by the time seven o'clock rolls around? It seems most everyone else is just getting a workout in before hopping the train into the city and their real work, which I don't have anymore), I can fast-track this particular goal in a way that others can't. And if I manage to hew to the schedule my brain wants me to, of working out every Monday, Wednesday and Friday morning, I should have this already accomplished by next week!
On the other hand, when I did finish my workout this morning, I was informed that, after seventy minutes of actual activity, I'd already completed twenty percent of the goal. Now that's true, yes, but twenty percent of two hundred fifty is fifty. Was the app not counting the time spent on the stair climber or the rowing machine? Or did it only mark progress in terms of increments of ten percent? I'm hoping it's the latter, but even if it's the former, it means I only have to keep at this through the following Monday to complete this. Either way, I'll find out next Monday, when it informs me of where I stand in terms of progress at that point; either forty or fifty percent, not that the former should suggest that I set aside the stairs or the rower for the sake of the goal. The real goal is to keep burning calories and building muscle; reaching this relatively simple (even for me!) goal is ancillary.
With that being said, and today's workout in the rearview mirror (it is nice to have it out of the way first thing), I need to get on with the day. Have to get a little shopping done, including some cold medicine for the folks. So, for this reason or that, keep an eye on me, honey, and wish me luck. I'm going to need it.
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