I gave in...

and joined a gym. Although I keep hearing from people that the wind we've had on the island for basically the whole month of December is NOT typical, I have a hard time believing that. And I also doubt that it will be going away anytime soon. And though I have plenty of warm running clothes, I don't have anything to protect my face from Jack Frost's icy blasts. A few people in my congregation belong to a gym just over on the mainland (that's what we "islanders" call it) and they only have good things to say about it, and they also told me that they were running a special and waiving the join fee until the end of the year. So I went to check the place out, with my mind about 75% made up already that I was going to join. However, I was hoping that I would be able to join on a month-to-month basis so that I could use the place for the winter and then get back to running outside, where I prefer. Well of course the cost for paying only month-to-month was more per month than joining for the year, AND you had to pay the join fee (they were only waiving the join fee for those joining for a year). So, since it was more economical, they sucked me in for a year. Though I imagine once the weather warms up that I won't be using it to run much, I probably will still go a few times a week to do strength training or for some group exercise classes like spinning or yoga. One nice thing about this gym is you don't have to pay extra for those classes. And I know that I should be doing strength training to tone my muscles for running, but I haven't been able to do it consistently, so maybe I finally will.