Up at 4:20 AM, my alarm buzzing in my head–it actually made it to its “second” stage (a faster, louder buzz) because I was in such a deep sleep. Breakfast and then I headed into the office. The snow hadn’t started when I left the house (just before 5 AM), but about halfway through my cardio workout this morning it began coming down. By the time I left the gym, it was a fine dust that was coming down, nothing heavy or noticeably sticking. Forecasts are calling for 1-2 inches in this area.

I did 40 minutes of cardio this morning, burning 540+ calories in 2.92 miles on the elliptical. I kept a nice steady pace and today there was no knee pain at all. In fact, the entire workout felt very smooth and very good.

And I think my metabolism is getting back to where it was last spring. Today will be my third day at 5 smaller meals/day–about every 3 hours or so. I ate a bowl of cereal, milk, juice and a banana at about 4:30 AM. Already, I’m hungry again.