February Adulting

It is snowing today. Never a bad thing, so long as you don’t have to be out in it. IT looks pretty, the snow muffles most sound and even the street I live on seems to be quieter than normal today.

I’ve taken a long weekend this weekend to just chill. I am dog sitting for my sister while she and her husband are celebrating their anniversary. I don’t mind, he is a sweetie if not a little obstinate when we are out on walks because of all the smells he is encountering. But it has been a while since I’ve had any sort of animal in the house so it is a bit odd. He’s a little clingy, which I understand, but it cracks me up that he has to wait for me to get situated on the couch before he will jump up and sit almost on top of me. Good thing he isn’t as big as my last dog or I wouldn’t survive.

I’ve been upping my walks as well. Finally broke down and bought exercise leggings so I can stop walking the park in jeans. I realize that not everyone is looking and judging but sometimes it is difficult to get out of your own head. As I walk the circuit around the park more often, which is the same length of a 5K, I hope to decrease the time it takes. Right now I’m walking a mile in about 16 minutes. It fluctuates a bit, but that is the average. If I keep up the frequency I’m hoping to drop that down to at least 15 minutes. My bigger concern is that one of the races I signed up for was looking for a time that I would be walking it. Maybe because they have to open to the public later on that day and wanted to make sure all the runners and walkers would be out of there.

What I find so funny is that I’m still sore when I do these walks. And not in, what I would think would be the usual places. I understand if my thighs or my calves will burn, especially if I’m pushing myself and/or walking up a slight incline. It is my inner thighs that are aching both during the walk and after. I went for a walk this week, and then did some strength training the next day and I am walking like a new born animal today, probably with less control My back hurts from trying to accommodate this cuddle seeker of a dog and my legs are quivering just getting up and down. Ha! At the same time AARP has sent me a new card which is mocking me from my front table.

Honestly, it is enough to make me want to go back to bed, but I had taxes to do, and I hadn’t silenced all of my work notices so I’ve been low key working on my day off. My best look today? Not by a long shot, but at least I got my taxes done, I’ve done the dishes that were in the sink, I am getting ready to start a load of laundry and have even emptied all the little trash cans. All while the old man I’m hanging out with for a few days snores away. Will I do another big walk today? Nah. But that isn’t terrible either. I just need to work on my protein, making sure I’m smart about what I’m taking in and get enough water. I swear that is the biggest obstacle right now. Making sure I’m taking in enough liquid. I forget to grab a drink when I should be taking some in and am not able to just guzzle 800 ml of water at a time. I’m using an app to remind me to grab some water. I should be smarter about the creating a shortcut on my iOs device, but I’m kinda lazy and haven’t wanted to work on it.

For now,, though, I’ll continue to use the app – Waterllama, and keep working on making good choices. It is all a part of the journey. Who knows where it will end up.