Planning my work, working my plan

Went to the gym last night, straight from work. Resisted inner voice telling me to go home first, which is a recipe for missing the workout completely. Did my 3 miles on the treadmill, and tried to focus on staying in the center of the tread, which allows me to take longer strides. I think the reason I take such short strides is that when I started all this in the winter I would always have my headphones plugged into the tv/music system on the treadmills at my gym. Why it took so long to figure this out, I don't know, but last night I was comfortable going just a little faster than usual. Only problems - forgot my socks and water bottle. So not that comfortable.

Tonight I have swim class, which is always a good workout for me. I think I will kick it up a notch by jogging over there (it is ~a mile), and maybe doing some crunches or dumbbells beforehand. Definitely shoud do some arm and feet stretching before I go.

So, everyone knows there are a lot of good things about exercising. It's good for your heart, it relieves stress, it gives you a sense of accomplishment, burns fat and makes you look and feel good. But there are some negatives, some of which were surprising to me. I like to make lists, so here are a few I could think of:

• bigger feet. I think the running has made my feet a half size bigger -- all my work shoes are tight, and I just can't stand to wear heels anymore.
• dry hair and skin. chlorine, all those extra showers, and that crappy shower gel at the gym.
• frustration at progress. yes, I've made progress. I've lost fat and inches and some of my pants hidden at the back of the closet are starting to fit again. But the damn scale just hasn't moved much, if at all. grrr.
• laundry. all my sweaty gear makes a lot of extra laundry

Of course, these are pretty small complainits in the grand scheme of things. And hey, it gives me an excuse to buy new shoes and cute workout clothes. Just had to be said.