Changes in the Cages

I've been blogging for a little over a year, using Yahoo 360. I was frustrated with the fact that people had to be a Yahoo 360 user in order to leave comments, because I didn't have that many friends with a 360 account. Rather than trying to make Y360 work in a way it wasn't intended (i.e. more like Blogger) I decided to move blog sites. It's hard to move, because I've put a lot of work into my old blog, but with change comes growth. Right?

I've also changed health clubs. I belonged to the same health club for 16 years, but it was sold several years ago and the corporation that bought it seems to just be exploiting it; they haven't invested much money into it. They bought some new equipment, but basically the place is a dump.

Still, it was a difficult decision to leave. The only reason for me to stay was the running club; I've gone through a few of their marathon training classes and have made friends with some of the runners. And they just hired a new director; she was the top running coach for years. Because I admire her, I wanted to stay and support her. But the swanky digs of LTF, not to mention free towels (!), won me over. They also have a running club and I went on a trial run with them a few weeks ago. Unbeknownst to me, they were the fast runners and a simple 3 mile run kicked my butt! I'm hoping when it comes to marathon training time they will be runners more my (slow) speed.

Every since my marathon in October, I've been running by myself and haven't been pushing much. I've also put on weight and remember fondly how great a shape I was getting into last summer. It goes fast. So I'm working on increasing my aerobic capacity and trying to cross-train. I've mostly been running outdoors this winter, but the past couple of runs I used the treadmill. It enforces a pace, which I need. Plus having other 'mill rats around brings out my competitive nature. Not that at 12 mph I'm kicking anybody's butt. Still...

Today I went to a spinning class. Although I used to enjoy spinning, I haven't gone to a class in a couple of years and it shows. Was that really me who used to do the 2-hour spin classes? Yet, it was fun and I want to go back. I think it will help increase my aerobic capacity, and burn some excess calories too!