Welcome to the cold everyone,

 

You really did brave all that last week's weather sent your way, that was so amazing guys.  It's just more proof to us that we can adjust our exercise to the weather and still remain outdoors.  And yes, we did have class yesterday morning at 6:45 am as the wind swept snow across the roads and I know you'll believe me when I tell you that we had sweat dripping down our backs and faces by the end of class.  I was prepared for the chill and varied the route and threw in some variety to keep us out of the full head wind. 

 

On to my thought of the week.  Stress is a familiar topic in the media and self-help books.  For me personally, stress comes when I become fixated on a particular issue in my life to the point where it creates a buzz in my head.  I read an article a couple weeks ago that suggested one of the best ways to relieve stress was to make sure that you were scheduling in "fun" for yourself.  At first I thought it seemed rather trivial, but after thinking about it for a few days I realized they were onto something.  In order to release and free my mind from the buzz, I needed to spend time away from the issue, away from the dirty kitchen floor and away from the computer screen.   So for the past two Fridays I have forced myself to take just 1 hour during the waking hours (versus at 11 pm when I should be thinking of sleep) to do something "fun".  You might be chuckling saying that 1 hour is nothing, but think about what that post-TP coffee chat means to you in your week!  The first week I wandered in a store looking at one of a kind knick-knacks and last week I did some cutting and pasting for a special project.  It may sound silly, but scheduling this time in for myself at the end of the week made the days leading up to it a little more stress free.   

 

If my Friday 1 hour anticipation brings a little more sanity to my week, think about what a personal goal that will require mental and physical preparation could do for you.  You may choose to do this to set a personal benchmark time if it's your first race, to increase your fitness level even further, or to just have fun and join with your fellow group members!