The Crack in the Mirror

This morning's sunshine and somewhat mild temps inspired me to run again.  This time I just went around the neighborhood, nothing fancy.  I did ten intervals of 1 minute running, and 30-60 seconds walking at an easy pace, depending on how much wind I was sucking.  It felt pretty good, natural.  I even corrected a posture issue I noticed (my chin was leading me, I must have looked pretty comical).  I'm not sure if I get a runner's high just yet, you probably need to run for more consecutive minutes than I do, but running makes me feel fit, smart, and strong.  When I see my shadow next to me on the street I think, that's me, running.  And I look normal doing it, WHAT A TRIP!  So forget what I said about letting my interval cardio dictate when I would be running.  I started my interval cycle over on Monday (which means it is a lot lower intensity the first week), and I didn't want to wait until Sunday, when the weather's supposed to be garbage, to run because chances are, it wouldn't happen.  The most I can ethically committ to during the weekend is a little cardio, indoors, where my guys can see me.  Anything else is just a bonus, as far as I'm concerned.
Since I had so much muscle tightness after I ran last time, I made sure to get a good stretch in afterword, and I took a long bath to relax the muscles.  So far, I think I will be able to walk tomorrow.  Thumbs up.
Now, I wouldn't normally tax my system like that on a weight training day, but I was just going with what felt right at the moment.  How my body handles doing both in a matter of just a few hours, is yet to be determined.  But it has been a few days since I've had a good solid weight session, so I went ahead and laced up my shoes yet again.  To my surprise, I had plenty of energy to get a great weight session in, my only modification was I had to leave out the lunges, because after only five of them I noticed my knee was irriated again (from the running).  And, I have noticed that, I happen to be "in between" the weights I have available for the kickbacks, so I have swaped them out for Skull Crushers, which feel a lot more natural and effective for my triceps.  I can't wait to get rid of the loose stuff on the back of my arms! 
While I was training my hamstrings on the stability ball, I watched myself in the full-length mirror.  It has a long crack in it (my kids love to play in closets) and for an instant, my stomach looked so small and flat, but I realized that it was being distorted by the crack in the mirror, which split my body in half. I thought to myself, that even if it was a distortion, it was nice to get a glimpse of where I could be someday.  Then I moved over to get my full image in one side, and realized that it wasn't a distortion after all.  When I am laying down, my stomach looks that way.  It is my mind playing tricks with me again, thinking I am still 223 pounds.  Then I thought back to this morning's run and it reminded me of my newfound strength and much improved fitness level, and with a quiet, content, smile I thought to myself, I am on my way, and it is only going to get better as it goes!