I’m happy to be able to say that I’ve really kept up with my fitness level, despite the weight gain of the past few months. Having a healthy body is not something I take for granted. Especially as I careen ever more precariously close to the half-century mark. Yikes.

After moving to Wisconsin, the two factors which really conspired against me were winter and de-urbanization. By which I mean to say that I find cold weather really discourages me from wanting to be active, and living in a less densely populated city requires me to give up walking and biking in favor of driving.

Let’s be clear, however — my weight gain was entirely due to overeating. I’m not making excuses.

Fortunately, after a lot of adjusting, I’m moving back towards a more “normal” level of daily activity. For one thing, I’ve been running a lot, and for long distances too.

In fact, when I think about it, I can hardly believe that running 14 miles is something that I can do with relative ease. Granted, Devin would tell you that it left me feeling cranky and tired this evening, but during and just after this morning’s run, I felt great and alive.

Another thing I’m planning on doing is biking to my new job. It has been a challenge so far –bitterly cold weather conspired against me last week, and my fingers came close to getting frostbitten. And I find that riding 5+ miles to work is a LOT different than riding 2 (which I used to). I’ve discovered that panting and sweating are probably going to be a part of my daily commute, which was never the case before.

But I know this — it’s worth it.