Why I Don't Like Winter

Sometimes, it's cold. And sometimes, it's wet. And sometimes, it's both, and that can be downright miserable, in my opinion. Why? It keeps the NLBG indoors on the trainer. Not a bad thing, mind you, but it's so much more splendid to be outside, especially considering that we spend too much time in a so-called "windowless environment" (at work, bien sur!).

In any case, when the sun comes back, and it warms up a tad, cedar skyrockets. And that makes ME miserable. I always figured there had to be a price to pay for living here in Austin. Cedar's mine, I think! I thought I was quite clever our first winter here as I cruised through cedar season without as much as a sneeze or puffy eyes. "Cedar," I scoffed, "Ha!" Well, I'm convinced it's getting the last laugh!

Even on my third month of a daily antihistamine regimen, it still punches through. Just like it did three weeks ago on a gorgeous, sunny afternoon, when we declared it time to take the mountain bikes down the Shoal Creek greenbelt to Lady Bird Lake. By the time we were heading back to the house, I couldn't stop coughing, and my nose couldn't stop running. According to Ricky, I've been hacking my head off all night, every night, ever since. Finally, I headed to the doctor last Friday. Quelle surprise! It's a good ole sinus infection. I'm trying to bust through this congestion fog and breathe clearly once again.

With this cedar fever, what's the NLBG training update? Spinning on the trainer, and to keep things interesting, throwing something new in the mix: weekly Chen T'ai Chi class. I've been twice so far, and it's really good. We're both looking forward to improving balance physically and otherwise. We've also undertaken a belated attempt at training to walk a half marathon. Sometimes, I get these ideas, you see...