Mornin' everyone!

I'm glad you survived yesterday, Ribs, and hope that you get great news in 5 days.

"Frost heaves are what I get when I workout too hard in below zero temperatures." Good come-back, Dave!

I'm glad (and also not surprised) that you are having such a good time organizing your race, Mariposai. I'm sure you'll get the half course worked out, and that it'll be great.

Good job on the steps, TW! And I couldn't agree more with what Mike said yesterday: "the Runner's World's "Daily Kick in the Butt" quote made me think of you...I'm sure everybody has seen it before...a quote from Dean Karnazes--"Run when you can, walk if you have to, crawl if you must; just never give up."  Yep--that's tomwhite."

Enke, good for you for taking advantage of the warm weather with some car creep fartleks. Beet brownies? Not going there. I might like Mike's version better...

Welcome back, Tselbes. Good luck with the monster shoe sale.

I'm glad the Dish is working for you, Twocat. It seems to me that the whole TV concept/delivery system is in a massive state of flux, and I'm curious to see where it will wind up.

I'm glad the kid is motivated, C-R. That will work to his benefit, and to yours too.What a difference a year makes, eh, Evanflein? I hope you got outside in that balmy 8 degrees yesterday.

Happy Birthday (a couple of days late) to you too, Janie B!

Nice looking trail there, NHLA.

Sorry about the lack of rain, Leslie, as well as all the PT/taping you are dealing with. I hope hub sucks it up and helps out.

Jlynne, can you send some of that snow/moisture to Fatozzig? Be careful out there.

{{{{Holly}}}} I suspect that we've all been there, at least at some point in our relationships.

Yeah, Denise; you need to run more...just like Evanflein.

I hope you got the furnace repaired, Mike.

Glad you got a run in, Tammy! I think we all know how good it can feel to start down that road again.

Last night's meeting was only 2.5 hours, but was stressful. So I was still in the process of calming down when I got home and headed for bed. That and the prospect of icy roads after yesterday's day-long rain and last nights chilly temps led me to sleep in this morning. I have another meeting tonight, so I can't yet say what will happen tomorrow morning, although I'd sure like to get out for a workout.

Have a greta Wednesday.

Jay

Jay,  the black ice was not why I didn't go out (pure laziness covers it, I think), but it sure seemed like a good idea when I skated down our front walk without meaning to.    Same sort of thing on our street, but fine on the main roads.

Trying to pretend that I am 100% over whatever is bugging me I went down to the treadmill this morning with a plan to do every other mile at a faster pace.  I did that twice and then at 4.65 miles I apparently spaced out for a split second and barely caught myself before flying off the back of the treadmill.  I had a brief "where am I moment."

I slowed down but was feeling nauseous so I quit at 4.7.  Not a bad workout in the end, but not what I was aiming for.

Half hour later I am feeling better except for a little headache.

We have had quite a lot of snow, at least for early season, but unfortunately the last couple of storms have been followed by rain/ice/fog events which have pretty severly eroded the snow pack, so the skiing is not as great as it shoudl be.  There is plenty of winter left, though, so with any  luck things will stabilize...

I know - Shocking that I'm here to two days in a row.

The talk yesterday of understanding, semi-understanding, or non-understanding spouses obviously hits home with all of us.  Before Shorty and I had our life hit bottom, he was the semi- to non-understanding spouse to a certain extent, and would regularly "let me know" he wasn't too happy about all the time I was spending away running.  The fact that most of the time I was trying to get away from him - well consciously or unconsciously - was verbalized by either of us.

Now, he is MUCH better and much more supportive, and it sure is nice.  He understands that at least one day on the weekend I am going to be gone for a few hours, and the closer I get to my goal races, the longer the hours will be.  His main concern at this point is knowing where I am and me giving him a fairly accurate time in which I will be home.  This past Sunday I ended up getting home about 1.5 hrs later than I intended, which made him very nervous.

At one point, I truly thought I would be better off without him.  Now, I'd be lost without him.

I got up at 4:30, fed the cats, stood there feeling very groggy and tired, and went back to bed.  Didn't get a whole lot of sleep over the next two hours, but definitely felt more rested.  I like cutback weeks.  I don't feel as guilty for not working out!

We finally got around to watching the ESPN special "Being Mariano" that we'd recorded however many months ago.  It was really good.  A very humble man with a tremendous love for his family and a strong faith in God.

Gotta go to the DMV this a.m. and get a new pic for my license.  I've renewed through the mail the last 3 (4?) times, and now they're making me come in.  Praying this picture is better than the last one!

Tom, yes you can store it in the fridge or freezer - or even just a pantry shelf. It's best to store it for longer term usage in a glass bottle, as opposed to plastic (in case the vodka you bought came in a plastic bottle as some do). Currently my vodka is being stored in a dark cupboard with about 12 vanilla beans in it. hmmm, homemade vanilla extract!

Tom, vodka helps with costo chronditis??? maybe I should switch from chardonnay....thus far that has been the diagnosis with my rib.

and barely caught myself before flying off the back of the treadmill. 

We had a young lady fly off the back of one of the treadmills at the Y this morning. Hit her head on the wall pretty hard and really did a number on her knees. Poor thing. We checked for concussion symptoms but she seemed to be okay. Last Monday night her mother slipped and fell in our parking lot and thought she injured her tailbone. What a weird coincidence...

Glad you're enjoying that snowstorm Steve. I'll let you know when your thank you card arrives.

Holly - I totally understand where you're coming from.  It's hard to walk away from what has been your life forever. But you also deserve to be happy. You give so much to your family and don't ask for much in return.

6 miles this morning, 9:54 pace. I ran 3 on the treadmill and 3 on the track, just to mix things up. I also signed up for more PT sessions with the nice young lady who almost killed me last week. This old bag ain't going down without a fight!

Why would you put perfectly good vodka in the freezer or a dark cupboard?  I can think of a lot better places for it!