Better and Better

That's how I'm feeling. It's like I thought I was pretty much back to my old self, and then I got better, all of a sudden, and thought, Oh yeah -- this is what I used to feel like! (And I've probably even written that before; it happened over the summer too.) Maybe it was happening steadily and then I got set back by the cellulitis and .... I feel like there was some other thing that made me more tired and slow at some point besides the cellulitis, but can't remember what it was.

Anyway I suddenly feel awake, when I wake up in the morning, not tired like I wish I could have another couple of hours' sleep -- even though I didn't fall asleep before 12:30 or 1 or so, and the alarm went off at 6:30. Actually, to be fair, I'd been feeling fine when I woke up for awhile now -- but then I'd feel tired after the kids were in school, and wish for a nap -- but not enough to blow off my plans for the short # of hours that they're in school..... Some days I bike (like today,) some days I have a job or two, and try to work in a swim or a good dog walk before or after, and other days are errand days..... Yesterday I dropped Matthew at school, squeezed in a trip to Whole Foods before my physical, stopped at the library and Grand Mart after it, came home with the stuff, went swimming and came home and took the dog for a good hour walk. So that was an errand day with good use of my in between time -- Em's science club after school enabled the walk, though!

Anyway the point of that whole description was, I'm feeling well and happy to squeeze lots of things into the day to make good use of my time. For awhile there I'd come in from a bike ride and not want to walk the dog. I'd just be tired, and want a hot bath. This was even as recently as a week or two ago -- I almost fell asleep in the tub a couple of times. Now I feel awake, well -- today I came in from a 35 mile ride and felt happy and strong walking up the hills w/Pinky. (COurse I only got 20 mins of a walk in before Em came home, but I could have done the whole hour walk. Maybe I will...she has a friend over.) It's possible that it's partly because the ride was easy -- there was a slower rider today (still recovering from having been off her leg when it was broken for a few months, a few months back) and the other two of us kept waiting for her at the tops of hills. HOwever, I still think that riding in the cold and on the hills for 4 hrs would have tired me out more a month or two ago.

I also wanted to note what I wore on today's ride, because one of the hardest things about biking in the winter is figuring out how to dress to be warm enough. My usual strategy for dressing to be warm (in the rest of my life) is to just wear MORE, but outdoor exercises in the cold weather are trickier.

First, the clothes have to be made of moisture wicking material (not cotton.) Otherwise it will absorb sweat, which will then freeze. Also, too many clothes will make you cold just the same as two few clothes. They say that you should feel a bit cold when you leave your house; otherwiseyou might be overdressed. That doesn't always work for me these days, though -- I often get a hot flash just as I'm about to leave, and then I'm happy to get out in the cold, and have no idea how I'd feel without the hot flash.....and can't wait for it to pass without missing the ride!

Anyway here's what the temps were today and what I wore. When I left the house it was in the mid 20s and sunny – and when I got home it was in the high 40s and the wind was picking up -- felt like high 30s, to me, though. I wore:

Legs -- Liner under long winter grade tights, w/ lined snowpants on top,
Feet – 2 pairs wool socks, gore arctic sox, sandals, toe covers
Top – long tank, long sleeved shirt (white Gore fitted one,)
winter grade jacket (yellow PI, ) orange winter vest on top,)
Arms – warmers (okay, L arm warmer, lymphadema sleeve on right)
Hands – winter grade gloves, & brought shells from other gloves and
put them on halfway through ride (surprised me that I needed them,
but I did!)
Head – ear warmers, cowl on top, old glasses (the progressives fog more.)
No sunglasses but that would have worked too.

Also I only drank part of one bottle and one snack (banana brd w/ choc bits melted in) I biked 32-35 miles (Mc Lean loop) at a slowish pace -- or a moderate pace with breaks.