Quickest Workout Ever!

I'm a slave to my routine, but my workout schedule is highly dependent on my dog, and on the weather.  Today is a perfect example of how that all works together on the good days.

Monday is a run day so the routine dictates I work till 5 or so and rush home to change and take Coty out.  The temps today and tomorrow are completely insane.  I mean, ridiculous!  Wind chills below zero - we're looking at negative 15 tomorrow afternoon. That's Fahrenheit.  Crazy cold.  By Wednesday all will be right with the world again, but for today, I took one look at that nonsense and texted my husband, who had the day off for the holiday, asking him to take Coty on her daily walk for me. I figured if I planned to walk her, I'd only give her the quick one-miler again, and after this weekend's indiscretions I really needed a proper workout.  Jason could walk her during the day when it was, well, as warm as possible, and I could hit the gym where it's warm.

The plan worked perfectly.  I got out of the office just before 5pm, rushed home and changed my clothes, confirmed the dog was all taken care of, and out the door I went.  (That's also a dangerous proposition, coming home to change is an incredibly easy way to talk myself out of going to the gym, but I was determined today so it was fine.)

Took a while to find a parking spot at the gym, which would be surprising, but it is still January, and let's face it, I'm pretty much one of the New Year's Resolutioners myself this year, so who am I to complain.  What I love about my gym is that even when the lot is packed, there are plenty of machines open once you get in the door.

My knee is still feeling pretty stiff so the treadmill was not on the menu.  I hit the stationary bike for 40 minutes.  I'm not a veteran user of the stationary bike, still figuring out what the right resistance level and other settings are.  I tried out the Interval Training setting, Level 5.  It was pretty challenging, seems like a good place to start for next time.  I got 10.2 miles in 40 minutes, even got to read a bit of my book (on my phone), and bolted for the door by 6:30pm knowing I got a solid workout done.  I could hardly believe I got done so quickly!

Jason made chili while I was gone and when I got home I made the cornbread to go with it so we got a reasonably healthy, home-made, high-protein meal to finish the day.  Great stuff!  I do love chili & corn bread, and it's the perfect meal for this weather.

I'm not sure what the plan will be for tomorrow but if the temps are as low as predicted, I don't think I'll be going on my Tuesday night group run!!  We'll see what I can figure out.  For today, I'm glad I found a way to change up my routine and make it work around a little obstacle that Mother Nature threw into the mix.

My puppy is taken care of, and so am I.  All is right with the world.