Friday love

Pre-workout breakfast: Cinnamon raisin English muffin with apple butter

Workout: Ran 5 miles; average pace, 8:48.

I have to be honest. I haven’t found my love of winter running.

In the mornings, I sit around on the couch and see how long I can wait before I absolutely have to leave. I resent later sun rises and wind chills. I dread the cold air in my lungs, the heavy feeling of so many layers, the 22 degrees outside.

And then, as it always is, something running happens. I find myself feeling hot after a mile. I get into a rhythm. I even laugh (out loud, sadly, at stop lights) at the sweat turning my hair into little icicle daggers.

Then I come home, take a nice bath and flip through the J. Crew catalog and decide that winter is awesome because you need a flannel shirtdress because flannel is warm; a bonfire cardigan for all those bonfires you’re not invited to; an orange Coletta coat for funsies; and a pair of black boots because you only have one pair.

And now that we’ve all sufficiently drooled, let’s get to some Friday love.

Food. Carrot cake is yummy. Especially with gobs of cream cheese frosting. Unfortunately, it’s more of a treat kind of thing as opposed to an “eat for breakfast” kind of thing. Sad, really. And all though there’s no substitute for that frosting, I did get a flavor similar to the cake in Kroger’s store brand Carrot Cake yogurt. It was creamy, spicy and had just a bit of an aftertaste but I’ve come to expect that with some of the lower-sugar yogurts. I wouldn’t eat it all the time but I do think I’d buy it from time to time.

Fitness. For a good two months, maybe more, I was all about following someone else’s routine for strength training – OnDemand instructors, Jillian Michaels, Jackie Warner. And while I’m not abandoning them, I have enjoyed doing my own thing this week, usually as a supplement to one of those routines. It gives me the chance to focus on my favorite muscles (bis and tris) and use heavier weights.

Life. Our refrigerator was a sad state of affairs yesterday. Our milk was spoiled, eggs were gone, orange juice was low, the bread was down to the heels that I never eat and usually give to Denali. Mark was out of cookies, cereal bars and ice cream, and he was down to one beer. Rather than tough it out till the weekend, we opted to go to TCBY after dinner and head over to the Kroger in the same shopping center. I wouldn’t advocate Thursday night shopping but it was nice. Nice to have some fro-yo. Nice to have a helper at the store. Nice to have the shopping done before the weekend.

After all, you have to have time for those big plans. We’re going to do some holiday shopping, maybe stop by a party (if I can stay up past 9 p.m.) and try to see a movie. Who’s doing something fun?