Challenges

This week has been tough. Work was demanding, as it often is, and we didn't get much sleep as a family. Managed to get out for a brief 5k on Tuesday, but I got shut down by the fact that the sidewalks were completely obscured due to snow. I wasn't lacking in desire, but in my little neighborhood sidewalks impassable because of snow means running loops around a very small area, and I find that maddening. I've done it, and I will if I really have to, but I wasn't stir crazy enough.

Anyway that problem is mostly settled now, as we've had a couple of days that hit the mid 50s, and even the 60s today. The weather is nuts. I can actually watch the snow banks throwing off vapor because of the heat. We're also getting a bunch of rain, which means tomorrow will be humid as hell, but the snow will be gone and my typical routes will be clear. So I'd really like to get a ten miler in tomorrow.

Then in a couple of days we'll be back into the 20s. Then more snow. I've lived in New England much of my life, so I'm not naive. I know we'll have another big snow storm at some point (most likely in February) but I'm still tired of winter by the end of January.

Feeling a bit of seasonal affective disorder, too, so I'll need to buckle down and start some light treatments. Skipped them last year, but they really help so I'll do them again this year. It's just so dark otherwise, and it's a bummer.

I got a smart scale recently (before the new year started, so as to keep with my resolution of not buying things.) I've been weighing in first thing in the morning, daily. Previously I've done weekly weigh-ins, but as I'm in need of more routine, I threw it in as a daily thing. Plus, the more data I have the more I can see the trend over time, so hopefully it will be helpful there in helping me stick to my goals. Mostly it's a thing of controlling portion, and making sure I'm drinking as much water as I need to. Those are the big challenges.

If all goes well at these goals, I won't quite be at my fighting weight for the marathon in April, but I'll be much closer than I am now.

Parenting-wise things are good. Fun. The toddler is super interactive, and she's very very smart. Starting to talk to her about last names, and starting to notice more language development as she now commonly uses pronouns. She even named a couple of her toys, which was unexpected. We've been reading Dr. Seuss regularly, and she's enjoying pointing out the characters, noticing their characteristics.

We have a long weekend this weekend, although the weather looks pretty lousy. I'm sure we'll get a lot of good family time in.