Variety really is the spice...

Today I rode my beautiful road bike to work. I left home in South Windsor at 7:35 am, and arrived at Nayaug Elementary School in South Glastonbury at 8:25 am. The trip down Main Street East Hartford was harrowing during the morning rush, but it was fun pretending to be a car. I actually found it oddly meditative having to focus so intensely on the cars, trucks and buses.

As they did last week when I rode to work, my co-workers were stunned that I had ridden "all that way" and couldn't imagine themselves doing "such a thing". I felt great and used the teachers bathroom to freshen up and change. Of course, I've had better hair days, but that's what clips and elastics are for. I parked my bike in Mr. Robbins room, a fellow biker, and counted down the hours until I got to ride back home.

My mainstay aerobic activity is road running. I know that there are two kinds of people in the world, runners and everyone else, but if you love to run like I do, you can find yourself running almost every day. This can lead to a couple of problems. Doing the same exercise routine often leads to injury, burn out and ultimately will slow your fitness progress. This holds true for running on the road, on the treadmill, using elliptical machines, swimming, walking, kayaking, tennis, raquet ball, biking, step class, kick boxing...any activity. Just like in the stock market,

YOU MUST DIVERSIFY!

I really did want to go for my nearly daily run this morning, but my body has been giving me signs that I needed to take a break. Sometimes this means a real day off from any kind of strenuous exercise, but more often then not it's simply time to change things up. Figuring this out can be difficult at first, that's were a professional, trained personal trainer can help...SHAMELESS SELF PROMOTION...

My bike ride today gave my knees a much needed break from the constant pounding they take on my runs. But equally as important, my mind had a wonderful time watching the world pass at nearly 30 MPH as I flew down the massive hills of Glastonbury. I enjoyed figuring out how to maneuver through tricky intersections. But the very best part, was how my heart nearly jumped out of my chest, as I came around the corner, half way home, to see my husband waiting to join me on his bike.

I changed things up today, and gave my body a break, challenged my mind and enjoyed a spark of unexpected romance in my marriage. PRICELESS!