My best friend & neighbor Jen announced that she will be walking in the mornings, 6:15 - 7:15, if I would like to join her. "Like" is a funny word. We tried this exercise thing last year, leaving the house just before 6am to trek around our block for an hour. It worked pretty well since I would check the substitute system for jobs the night before and be able to spare the time. It worked pretty well, that is, until we remembered we live in the Pacific Northwest. We are fooled into believing the climate is better than it really is; days upon days of sun and goodness and light at the end of August/beginning of September. But no. It's an illusion.
The rain doesn't bother me so much because I grew up on an island in the Puget Sound. Rain, bah, whatever. But wind I don't love so much, especially when it blows the rain into my face. That's just Nature's way of saying (shrieking), "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU THINKING, WANDERING AROUND IN THIS DARK STORMY WEATHER? YOUR TAXES ARE PAYING FOR A PERFECTLY LOVELY, WARM, ECO-FRIENDLY COMMUNITY CENTER FIVE MINUTES AWAY!" She's wordy, Nature. Long-winded you might even say (groan). So we abandoned the walking in the early morning plan just after school started last year.
Well here we are again, being duped by these late summer days. And now that I have a job that doesn't need me until 9am, it makes sense to fit exercise into the morning. My heart (and thighs) is only going to take so many chocolate covered, icing filled Krispy Kremes without some sort of healthy counteraction. After a fitful sleep during which I stressed about the fact that I gave away my athletic walking shoes and all of my sweats, I slogged out of bed just before 6:00 to brush teeth and put a sweater over my pajamas. I chose the Keds over Converse for no good reason other than they're easier to put on in pre-dawn consciousness. When I stepped outside, it was 6:17 and I figured my friend, determined as she is, had already set off so I started walking the opposite way (we live on a loop). That way we'd run into each other instead of creating a race of sorts - my early morning brilliance was stunning. But halfway around, I didn't yet see her. So I went home. That's how committed I am to this exercise thing, people.
Looking forward to Day 2.
