Changeable winter weather

Saturday morning at sunrise

This past Saturday, I joined the walking group, the ladies plus one, in front of Adagio's coffee shop. I went in to use the facilities before we took off on our short walk in the rain and snapped this picture. It had been raining for days and days, and frankly it seemed to be normal to have rain, along with moderately mild temperatures.

Then we got a real change in the weather yesterday: the temperatures dropped precipitously and all the rain changed to heavy snow. We are much farther north than Seattle, and the cold air from Canada came to us first, and the cold north wind picked up. This morning when I woke, not knowing what to expect when I looked outside, I was surprised to see that not much snow had fallen, but the temperature had dropped more than 20 degrees F. I put on all my winter weather gear, my headlamp so I could see any patches of ice, and set out for the bus, a half mile away. It wasn't bad at all, except for that awful windchill. I was happy for every bit of warm clothing I had on.

When I got to the Y, however, all the classes had been canceled. Apparently we were in much better shape here, being in the north where the cold dry air kept us from getting too icy, than people who live only a few short miles south of us. I saw plenty of cars with lots of snow on them, and reports from people who made it to the Y that any icy patches on hills made for treacherous driving and even walking.

So, I had a bit of fun with the exercise bike and some weights, took a shower and caught the bus back home. It seemed like a perfect time to do laundry (finished) and turn on the TV (just starting) and staying home where it's warm! I hope tomorrow will be better.
:-)

The YMCA will keep me sane

The stationary bikes at the Y

Today I went to the Y for my usual 9-10:00am class of Strength and Tone, which was fine, no pain at all, but then again it's mostly upper body weight work. I rode this bicycle for fifteen minutes before class, also without pain, and asked my friend Carol (who was in the 9:00 class too) if she would take a couple of pictures of me using the gym. She was happy to do so. Behind this particular very comfy bike style, you can see the ones with the skinny little seats, which are nowhere near as pleasant to ride as these. There are six of this particular style and at least one is always in use. You can make it hard or easy to pedal, and since I'm trying to keep my knee happy, I'm using a lighter setting. I might work up to making it harder to pedal if my knee cooperates.

The rowing machine

Yesterday Al saw me on the bike and suggested I give the rowing machine a try, since it would not only burn more calories but also give me an upper body workout. So today I tried it, and I found that it doesn't hurt my knee at all to use it, and in no time at all I could feel myself begin to perspire. Yep, these kinds of machines are going to be my new pals to help me get through without my hikes and fast walks.

Tomorrow I'll be going to my first yoga class since I hurt my knee and hopefully I'll find that I can do most if not all of the poses without knee pain. I guess it's noticeable that I'm limping: I walked by a little boy of three or four with his mom today, and I could hear him telling his mom that he can walk like that, too. He stiffened up his little legs and marched alongside her.
:-)