The "Penguin" daily threads were originally conceived to emphasize that all members of the community have a place on the boards. Encouragement, motivation, a little love nip (you will love one, give it a try!) or even a little kick in the pants when needed -- it can happen here. Basically, we celebrate just getting out there and moving our tails!What is "slow"? "Slow" is a perception but one of the common benchmarks is the 10:00/mi pace; but there's no firm line. In fact, there are many of us that have slipped past this, and just hope that no one notices and revokes their "igloo privileges."  It can be confusing for the forum newbies, but we're not one of the teams in any of the fine games. It's a totally open group, so stop lurking, post an introduction of yourself dive in and join the fun! No application necessary! There might even be a lovely picture for Scotty (we love pics!)

We have a new member of the family. Her name is Penny. She was one of my coworker's cats that was looking for a loving family to take her in. My coworker found her a few months ago frozen to some stairs. He took her in. She had a little bit of frostbite to her paws, but otherwise in good health. He wanted to keep her, but his other cats liked to pick on her. I offered to take her in as I was looking for another animal to keep Baylee (dog) company while DH and I were at work.

Baylee is already protecting her. Her previous owners brought her over today to introduce the two of them, and one of the previous owners (fiancee of my coworker) brought out Penny's cat brush and Baylee started barking at the previous owner. Baylee thought the previous owner was trying to hurt Penny. This was after about 30 minutes of knowing each other.

Penny is a great addition to our family because her demeanor is very calm and relaxed. She is being shy right now, but I know she'll come around. I know her and Baylee will be good friends and possibly cuddle buddies.

This is Penny:

Aww hi Penny!!!!

off to the gym! so happy to be exercising even if I'm not running. Haven't been in 2 weeks!My knee hurt too much, then I got sick, now I'm back to working out! Gonna wear my new running shoes to the gym to break them in a little and I really just want to put them on my feet lol!

Nice new member to your family, Rach!  Glad she and the dog get along!  Sorry to hear your knee is still bothering you a bit.  Dang, that is some crazy weather you have up there!

Dang, Bin, said it before, continue to say it...you have a lot of patience, all those laps around the track! Congrats on your 10 miles!

Hope the workout went well for you, Kristin, and hope your knee behaves.  Enjoy the new shoes!  Sorry about your missed 10K, but you did the right thing.

Glad to see you are running again, Gustav!  Altho that 'feels like 11 degrees' does not sound too pleasant!

Wishing Damaris all the luck for her marathon today!

Glad your 10 miler yesterday went well, Zelanie and congrats on the 5 yesterday!  Now pass over some of those baked goods you made yesterday.

Sorry you run got canceled, Dave, but hope you enjoyed the after-party!  Wow,  9 miles in the snow for you, way to go!

Congrats on your longest run ever, Mitch, way to go!

Awood, sounds like you are staying active!  Snow running can be tough.  I don't miss it at all.

Wait a minute, Ginny, I thought you had a pelvic stress fracture.  Wouldn't shoveling snow put stress on that with all the bending over, etc.  Be careful out there.

Coralie, in answer to your question on my race report - nope, not new shorts, my same ole Race Ready shorts that I always wear.  Love those things!  Lightweight, lots of pockets, very comfortable..plus, they last me about 10 years, so I definitely get my money's worth!   Congrats on getting your 12 miles in for the week!

Congrats on your longest run yet, Jen16226!  Hope you had fun at the hockey game.

Wow, Jen2011, that is a lot of straight days of working, no days off until Feb 9!  Sounds like you are going to need a rest after that!  What do you do that you have to work so many straight days?  Congrats on the 11 miles!

Hope your 5 went well, Liz!  Nice seeing you back here again!  Miss that beautiful smile of yours in your avatar.

Congrats on your promotion, Mickey!  Sorry about the chest cold, but glad you are feeling somewhat better.   Take it easy, and don't relapse.

Congrats on your windy miles, She Can!

Way to go on your 13 miles, Vance, in those conditions!  Bet you are looking forward to Florida.

Congrats to you and DW, Jerry, on your track run.  Shiner beer, yeah!

Lauren, you are turning into a weight-training masochist!    Maybe you should put some 'stickum' on your hands while weight training...

Think I'm all caught up on personals now for yesterday and today.  AFM:  no race today in our area   - which probably makes my doc happy .   I'm waiting for Gail to get home from church and then we are going to go over to the park for a nice outing.  Temp right now (8:45 am. central time) is already 62 degrees and will be 70 degrees by the time we go to the park.  Humidity is a whopping 96 percent!  Here is our temp forecast for highs for the rest of the week:  Mon-78  Tues-82  Wed-71 Thurs-72  Fri-71  Sat-71 Sun-72.  Crazy Mother Nature. This time of year our temps are usually in the mild low 60s for a high.  With these temps already,  I'm guessing our summer temps this year are going to be super high!

Yesterday I did Race #7 for 2013.  My report with the photos is on the main page somewhere.  I did pretty well, 33:03 chip time, averaging 10:40 per mile, even with 5 photo stops.

Gym workout: done. 30 minutes on the elliptical, keeping the incline at 1 to go easy on the knee, but varying the resistance between 1 and 10. Hip and core exercises, and lots of stretching. Now....coffee. Then.....errands. Enjoy your Saturday!

Rach - when you moved to Alaska did you have to set your car up for that kind of weather? Things like thinner oil, more concentrated antifreeze, softer compound tires come to mind.

Yes, when I got here I had to winterize my vehicle. Although winterizing around here is something totally different than in the lower 48. First, I put on a set of snow tires. Second, I had to switch the antifreeze from a 50/50 mix to a 64/36 mixture (rated for -66° weather). Then I had to get the arctic cord. Basically what this does is low wattage heat pads on the oil pan, and on the transmission. The cord comes out of the grill of the car and we plug it into a light socket basically when it is below -10°. My car was already running 0W-20 synthetic oil. Up here your car needs to be on synthetic oil because there is less chance of it freezing at such cold temperatures.

This is what plugging in your car and the post you plug it into looks like:

Those polls usually have four outlets (sometimes more) to let cars plug into. Not all places have them either, so you would have to start your car every so often (if you're out and about) so it doesn't freeze. I usually don't have to think about plugging in the car until it gets to -25° or so if I am just running in for an errand. If I am at work and/or I will be there for a while, I will plug in at -10°. You just have to know your car too and know at what point is it possible of freezing. Older cars here usually plug in if it were to be in the negatives (-1°.

This is what the arctic cord looks like coming out of the car:

Then you buy an extension cord (made for taking the cold) and plug it in each time you need to. Mine sits on the floorboard behind the driver seat.

I don't have to worry about plugging in overnight because I have a heated garage. Most places around here don't have that, so you would have to plug it in overnight. Now that I am up here (and if I were to stay after I got out of the military), I would definitely have a heated garage!

And there you have it! A crash course on how to keep your car from freezing in Alaska!

Rach- Congratulations on the new cat!  I'm assuming that cats in that area are usually indoors only?  The car pics are interesting too!  I had a vague idea of how the plugs worked, but that was it.

 

Yes, cats around here are indoor cats. 

Most domestic dogs are kept indoors as well and let out with proper winter gear in cold climates. Baylee has a jacket I put on her when it is cold outside. She isn't a big fan of her muttluks (dog snow booties).

Sled dogs are kept in a "dog lot" or dog yard which resembles a miniature dog village. Rows of dog houses line the streets, with each dog in its own house. The dogs sleep, eat, or play with their neighbors. The sled dogs stay warm in the winter time with straw on the floor inside each house. With insulated houses and naturally warm fur coats, the dogs' body heat is enough to keep them cozy even in very low temperatures. In the summer, the houses act as shade from the sun.

Hi, guys.  Marathon # 12 was finished.  It was hot, humid and it sucked.  What else is new?  At least my maybe broken foot behaved. 

Rach, thanks for saving her.  And thank the previous owner for taking her in.  I'm very happy with the result and that Baylee seems to love her already!