The weather is here... wish you were beautiful

The weather here is FANTASTIC... it easily dipped into the 40s last night, and as I'm writing this, it's still in the 50s. I'm loving it, sitting here at my computer, my deck door open, me wearing a long sleeved t-shirt. I went for a run this morning, but I had a new strategy. I went to the track. I figure some place nice and flat (and not as hilly as my hospital/stadium run) would help me run. And it did! I made it through a mile (at about a 14 minute pace, which is better than my "die at the end of 20 minutes" pace I've been doing at the stadium) in no time. Then I had to walk. Y'know, I love the cold weather. But there is just something about exerting myself in the cold weather that, um, makes my chest clear up. I sound like an old man who has smoked for 40 years. After I was finished with my run (I'd say I went for about 23 minutes, but I forgot my watch at home, so I really couldn't tell you), I coughed all the way home. But... I stuck with it and made it through, even though it wasn't a whole 25 minutes again.

I have to say thanks for all the comments and/or emails of encouragement from those of you who read my last desperate-ish blog post. I'm NOT giving up on the weight loss. I'm seriously half way there! And sure, it's taken a lot longer than I expected (why on earth WOULDN'T I be able to lose 100 pounds in a year, I thought to myself last year... who knew how DIFFICULT it would be), and there are a lot of frustrations that keep popping up, but at the same time, that's life. What would life be without frustration and challenges and roadblocks, not just in the fitness/health department, but in our work lives, our love lives, our every day lives? One of my favorite quotes about life comes from the movie "Scent of a Woman". It's the scene where Al Pacino is going to tango with a very young Gabrielle Anwar, who is scared about messing up. Al tells her, "There are no mistakes in the tango, not like life.... If you get all tangled up, just tango on." Actually, I disagree with Al on this one. I think the tango is ALOT like life. And instead of getting hung up on our mistakes, whether it's eating a whole tube of Pringles in a matter of 10 minutes or getting married to the wrong guy and ending up divorced before the age of 30, we just need to learn how to move on. And I'm getting there... slowly, but surely.