Tuesday, March 22, 2005

Mixed feelings...

On the one hand, the numbers on the Nautilus weights are still, on the whole, going up; I haven't strained anything yet (I am remarkably good at doing this); and on Sunday I wore a skirt that's been in the cupboard for a couple of weeks, and it was looser in the waistband than before.

On the other, the numbers on the scale haven't moved appreciably (this is the first time I've weighed myself since The First Time). Maybe I need to ratchet the healthy eating up a notch.

OK, I know that if you're exercising, you might gain muscle which would hide any loss of fat. But I don't believe that muscle would show up after what is still really only two weeks of exercising. Come to that, I'm not sure I believe the numbers on the scale are going to move. Motivation is not at its highest.

On the other hand, it must have been higher this morning, when I rashly sent an e-mail saying I'd do the Race for Life 5K as part of a team from work.

What was I thinking of? It's in eleven weeks, and I am really not a runner. Never have been.

Over the years, at one time or another I've regularly danced, ridden horses, cycled, dry-skied, played tennis and badminton and football - but none of these has required distance running. Maybe I'll have to give the treadmill a go on Wednesday.

Still, I now know that Dietgirl is doing it too... and it's all for a good cause.

On the non-exercise side, this weekend I rediscovered (after 10 years) Ursula Le Guin's Earthsea novels, and enjoyed them very much - probably more than I did when I was younger. I must be tougher though, because I remember finding "The Farthest Shore" very frightening indeed. Back then "The Tombs of Atuan" was my favourite, but now it's probably "Tehanu", which was written about twenty years after the others. I think it's a very fine novel, which transcends genres; but I didn't have sufficient experience of life when I first read it to appreciate all its nuances. I may write at more length about it later, when I've reread them all again.

I feel it makes a wonderful conclusion to the story, but I'll have to get hold of "The Other Wind" now, which I haven't read before, just to see where it goes from there.

I also managed to find an hour this evening to listen to Neil Gaiman's radio play, Mr Punch, and enjoyed it very much indeed. So now I'll have to seek out the graphic novel. Sometimes it seems that everything I read (or in this case hear) just leads me on to another book. Which is lucky for me...

Am going to bed now, to read "The Stainless Steel Rat", which I can guarantee won't lead anywhere but sleep.

1 comment:

Christina said...

Hey there -- I followed the link to your page from the comment you left at Ointy -- I too am a relatively new blogger and I'm always excited to read about other people's experiences (plus I also dig Shakespeare, being a former English major -- King Lear was always my favorite). Anyway, I just wanted to say hello and let you know I'll be following along.