Triumph!

It's ended up being a very good afternoon.

One, I rode home. The emphasis on ride. As in, not walking up any hills. Not a single one, not a single time. It took me 38 minutes, which is 8 minutes longer than getting to work (I ride really slow), which is a new record. This totally kicked my ass, and I was so happy that I thought I'd float. Can't wait to bike again!

Nigella is home. She greeted me at the front door when I came home. She's been eating and drinking, and while she's not destroying things, I'm hopeful she'll resume that in the next day or so.

I signed up for a 5K on Sunday. Mela's doing it too. It's tiny and goofy and concludes with a pancake breakfast!

I went to the gym over lunch to work in my upperbody stuff, and decided to try the elliptical again. What a joke. This time, I tried a machine called the Free Runner, which I ran backwards with for awhile. It was weird, running and having absolutely no impact as you ran, which should be great, right? But your feet are in, I don't know, stirrups or foot cages or foot holders pointed straight down, which made my blackened toe rub against the end of my shoe. Not good. Not happy. So much for that idea.

Everyone seems to be sick. My sweetie -- very sick, most of the male Running Blogging Family members, sick, most of my coworkers, sick. I am hitting the vitamin c and zicam hard-- I really don't want to get sick.

I went to pick up some chinese take-out tonight, complete with the healing hot and sour soup. A guy came in right after me, and started to chat me up about my Helvetia Half Marathon t-shirt. It's weird--I don't think of myself as attractive, but I'm more confident than I was, and I no longer wear clothes that are two sizes too big. I was really uncomfortable. I'm sure the guy was just making conversation. It's no real surprise that I'm 100 pounds overweight, that weight--built up over years of not exercising much and eating too much--has protected me. I'm trying to change that. I will protect me--I don't need that fat anymore.