Running

I have a love/hate relationship with running.  I have exercised induced asthma, so running is the fastest way for me to have an asthma attack.  However, it is also the best way I have found to lose weight and trim up fast.  So what do you do?  Me?  I run.  I find that in addition to the benefits of weight loss, it also helps me control my asthma.  By running daily, I am able to control my  breathing more than I normally would be able to without regular exercise.  Since anyone with asthma knows how bad it sucks to not be able to breathe, this is definitely a huge benefit.

Jason and I were lucky enough to get a free treadmill a couple of weeks ago.  A friend was moving and didn't need/want it so he gave it to us.  Score!  We set it up in our unfinished basement and I began using it to run on.  It was nice, but I find that I have plenty of excuses not to use it.  "It's hot in our house..." and "My ipod blocks the screen when I run"...blah blah blah.  So last night I "pimped" out my space.  I found a fan that I haven't used in years and hooked it up to the top of the treadmill, and got some awesome computer speakers and set up a stereo for me down there.  It was enough to motivate me to run right then and there, blister or no blister.  Now that's what I'm talking about...

I was feeling pretty proud of myself last night.  I had mowed the lawn (also a nice calorie burn) and then ran/jogged/walked 2.75 miles.  I figured I would see a nice move on the scale this morning.  Or not.  I weighed in at 165.4.  I think this is one of the reasons I get so frustrated when trying to get in shape.  When you do the right things and make the efforts, sometimes it just doesn't translate to the scale.  That's why I need to remind myself that the measurements are the important things to watch, NOT the scale.  In either case, I am not getting discouraged by the numbers.  I will just work that much harder today!