Mornin' everyone!
The only thing a groundhog would see around here today is snow falling all around it. It has been snowing since about 4am, and schools and town offices are all closed. We are supposed to get 12 inches or more by the time it stops tonight.
I spent time shoveling snow off our roof yesterday, in anticipation of today's storm. We live in a ranch house, so getting up there wasn't all that challenging. The roof was pretty slick, so I tried to stay in the vicinity of our fireplace chimney so if I slipped, I'd stop at the chimney instead of when I hit the ground. I almost got down to get my Yak Traks, but I was afraid they'd damage the roof shingles.I got about 1/2 of the worst drifts shoveled before I ran out of steam. Last night, my legs were rubbery, and my shoulders and back were quite achy. A couple of glasses of wine helped. No workout today, except for more snow-blower and shoveling cross-training later on.
Have a greta Groundhog Day!
Jay
Without ice cream there would be darkness and chaos.
King of PhotoShop
Morning Jay and others.
Well, I said on FB that while I would root for the Seahawks, I thought the Patriots would win in a rout. I was wrong about that, as they barely squeaked in with a win after a poor coaching decision on the final Seahawks play, but there was no doubt it was an exciting game.
Now I have a bit of work to do this morning, but I'm packed and off to Cleveland for the week. Good running for all. Spareribs
Sayhey! MM#130
Good Morning!
jon, you cracked me up with your SB analysis. Eggzackerly. That play will be debated for decades. And how neat to read about your meet-up with ras from both perspectives! Hi Mike!
Does Seattle have some empathy for how Green Bay felt after their last game? We watched dispassionately as possible, given my New England replanted roots and DH's replanted Washington State (Ft. Lewis and UPS) roots. ANd are still speaking to each other.
Waiting to hear on stumpy's view and if marj and henrun got into any celebration parties in Phoenix.
Anyone else hear the chubby while guy on CBS this morning commenting on the SB ads? He said the Coke ad, with the coke main frame spill bringing more positive messages to phones and PCs had a lot of fast images and that "a 60 year old wouldn't get it." I'm about to send good ol' CBS a little note.
Still chuckling at Icicle A$$ and sleeping pool and oatmeal recipes...can't believe our wonder chef Ribs never tried cinnamon in oatmeal. I like to cook up fresh cranberries in steel cut oats and make this same lament every year about how you can only get them (fresh cranberries) around T'giving and Xmas.
tselbs, impressive out there on the trekkies at under 11 minute pace.
Wow, Holly, 18 years old is really hard to believe.
Robin, Deez and Mike, impressive prudence. Good speedy healing. And Erika, taking a rest day as it should be taken!
Hi Dave!
ANyone get randomly selected at Micky D's yet?
Tramps, glad you're sproinky, bodes well for seeing you in Reston.
Just a couple of no-watch miles this am for me. As things went incredibly well this weekend, was able to lope through a 5K (part trail!) at a second over 25 minutes and then the Melbourne Music Marathon (we have one here in FL, so no, I didn't jet off to Aus.) in under 4 hours (3:49). And so the rehab continues.
Melbourne is a beautiful town and on the Atlantic Coast, so we got to see the sun come up over the ocean (we get the sunsets, of course, here on the Gulf side). And the marathon had a pianist stationed on a bridge over the Indian River (yes, that same Indian River as the Indian River Citrus you've prolly heard of and enjoyed) that we had to cross at mile 6 and 19, so cool! It was a white grand piano, with a bowl of oranges on it, of course. Love it when RDs do things like that, especially with everything else they have to do.
I'm really sorry that Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow, but remember that Spring Training starts this month.
Happy Groundhog Day anyway.
grins,
A
https://agratefullifedotnet.wordpress.com/ (for a piece or two of my mind)
Happy Monday, Friends ~ I haven't had a chance to go back and look at the weekend's posts, but sorry to see on the news that so many of you are still getting slammed by the snow. Hang in there!
We didn't watch the SB yesterday. I gave The Hub his chance and he said no, so we watched "Moneyball," which I'd never seen and loved, and watched the first two episodes of "Sons of Liberty." Eh. There's only 2 more hours left so we'll finish it, but I'm not impressed. As soon as the pretty blonde chick showed up on scene, you knew she was gonna end up with bed with someone who wasn't her husband.
I ran the Clam Beach Run on Saturday (it's actually called the "Trinidad to Clam Beach Run"). It has three different lengths: 3, 5 3/4, and 8 3/4. I ran the 8 3/4. It starts about 3 miles outside of Trinidad, then you run through the middle of town (a very small town), then continue following Patricks Point Drive which is high above the ocean with stunning views. It was an absolutely gorgeous day. You drop down to the beach, cross a creek, and run the last 2+ miles down the beach. The depth of the creek depends on the amount of rain we've had, and the date and time of the race is based on when it'll be at the lowest tide.
At the deepest part, the creek was at about knee level this year, and was running fairly swiftly. I was happy they had a rope stretched across and, of course, they always have the Coast Guard guys "to watch and protect." I tried to run through the creek, but it was running too fast for that. As soon as I hit the other side, "Eye of the Tiger" came on my iPOD and I got myself into a good groove. I kept playing that and Jackson Browne's "I'm Alive" over and over, and I ended up finishing 3 minutes faster than last year in 1:27:01. I was so frigging happy!!
I leap frogged with this one older guy almost the entire second half of the race, but when we hit the hill down to the beach, I passed him and didn't see him again until the end. He came up to me and said, "Good race! I tried to keep up with you on the beach, but I couldn't." AND right at the end I passed a woman who is known to be a good runner around here. Supposedly she was having a bad back day, but I don't care. I passed and beat Chris H.! Did I say I had a great race and time? 'Cause I did!
Okay - that's it. Have a good week, peeps ~~
Leslie Living and Running Behind the Redwood Curtain -------------
Trail Runner Nation
Sally McCrae-Choose Strong
Bare Performance
Totally cool report Leslie. There are local runners here like the ones you describe; one in particular if I pass in a race, I immediately look at my watch as I think "OMG, I'm going way too fast!"
Only one thing.......at the SB, Katy Perry led off with "Eye of the TIger," so you might want to catch it on youtube. It was very colorful.
Amy - The last 20+ feet of the race, they make you go up into the soft, thick sand. By the time I got there, it was so chewed up, it as hard to get good footing. That's where I passed the woman. I also chicked a few young guys - the ones who run hard, then have to walk, then run hard, then have to walk. I just kept my nice steady pace, even on the uphills and eventually the 2 or 3who played this game with me finally gave up. I wanted to say, "Look dude, I realize I'm older than you by XX years, I'm a woman, and I'm not exactly fast, but I have the distance endurance and I can do this all day, so you might as well give up." . . . . but that probably would've been rude.
A I wanted to say, "Look dude, I realize I'm older than you by XX years, I'm a woman, and I'm not exactly fast, but I have the distance endurance and I can do this all day, so you might as well give up." . . . . but that probably would've been rude.
I actually did say something like that once in a race, in jest.... but regretted it ever since... that was rather unkind of me. And on beating those that we normally don't, I finished before one woman who I've always known as better than me in a race a couple of years back. When I asked her "How on earth did I get past you?", she told me she'd needed a potty stop. ooops......
Nothing for me today, since I decided to work at home because of the snow and it's cold enough to deter me from going out solo. And yes, the car seat has finally dried out.
.....Nancy The road to hell is paved....... run trails!
So Leslie, you run the second half with wet shoes? I wouldn't like that... and yes, while it's tempting to say something a bit catty at the end, always best to keep it to yourself (which I do!). I passed an outstanding masters runner in the half marathon this past summer. I came up behind her in the last couple of miles, and thought something didn't look right. It was obvious she was hurting. So I remarked that I could tell something was wrong if I was passing her at this point in a race and she confirmed she was in bad shape. I have only beaten her a couple of times, and both times it was because she was injured or not feeling well. I feel really bad, especially since she was out for the rest of the year after that. But inwardly, it is good to know on some level I can come in before her! And yes, I realize that's not being very charitable, but hey.
Sorry about the continuing round of storms bringing snow and then cold to our East coast frens. Seems like you guys have been getting a lot of it the last couple of years. Careful on that roof, Jay!
It's still not warming up like the forecasts indicated. Funny, we were supposed to have low to mid teens for highs yesterday (from looking at it earlier in the week) but I don't think it got warmer than -5° all day. I always kinda wish in hindsight I'd gone out for a couple miles, just cuz I really hate the big gap in my log summary (and "3 rest days" in the calendar!!), but oh well. I did bring my bag to work to try an outdoor run this afternoon. It does look pretty nice out there and I'm hoping it'll get above zero by then. Hope is eternal, right?
speaking of saying things, or not saying things, to competitors in a race. . . . I recall one year I was in a hilly trail race and was surprised that I actually passed a woman in my AG that ALWAYS beats me. Always. I didn't make any snarky comments, but just said "Hello, how you doing" and might have made a comment to her like "I don't think I've ever passed you before Susan - have a good rest of the race" . . nothing snarky and we are on friendly terms, always have been. But come to find out later, she was actually undergoing chemo for cancer at the time of that race - but still out there running whenever she felt good.
She's now back to beating me handily at every single race she's in though
coach gave me a pretty light schedule this week which is good since it's supposed to rain all week and i have a pretty full week with other obligations. just 3 miles with fartleks today, which will have to wait til i'm done working, since it's raining and i don't particularly want wet hair while working.
Tammy
And perhaps Coach is celebrating a particular report card???
Anyone hear the lunkhead (Frank Luntz) on CBS this morning talking about the Coke SB ad? He said "if you're 60 and watching the SB, you're not gonna get it."
CBS heard from me on that one!
O dear Leslie; those fellas are going to be gunning for you, comment or no! Way to go!
...slow day at work today.....sorry for butting in every few....
I hope you all enjoyed the SB. I only watched it sort of. I did not stay awake until the end. Now, for any of you depressed about the finish. I have just one thing to say, "I am a Jets fan!" Yes, laugh. However bad you have it with your team mine is worse. Last SB appearance (forget win, I will take just getting in) was in 1967 when Namath's team won it. I WAS 7!!! Now a SB since! I had not seen the Coke SB ad but just looked it up after reading AamosY's post. I hate to say it but I think whoever it was saying on TV you had to be under 30 to understand it, was at least mostly right. Most people I know (me included) avoid the internet outrage outlets and thus have only second hand experience with the vicious tweets and FB posts I read about. More to the commentator's possible point, when we were in junior and high school there were no personal computers let alone cell phones. None of us has experienced social media bullying by our peers in the high pressure social setting that 12 to 18 year olds live in. I cannot say I am sorry.
About snarky remarks near the finish, I suspect they are a bad idea unless you are looking to motivate someone to beat you. Maybe you are, who knows. My last race a guy passed me towards the peak of a hill 0.3 miles from the finish and as he did said, "Almost!" As in you almost had me beat. Well! Relatively speaking I am not all that fast up hills. But we were cresting the hill and I am a pretty good pacer, meaning I had enough left at the finish to put in a good kick. Beat him to the finish by about 8 seconds! Ha! Which is why I keep my trap shut during a race other than to occasionally try to make remarks that I think will get other runners to laugh as I go by. I tell you it is not easy to come up with jokes while gasping for air, let alone getting the breadth to spit them out!
The snow is coming down in buckets here in SW CT! It took me forever to get to work. Then forever to get back home when I left early (right after my classes for the day). As an aside, why do truckers think it is a good idea to go 55 on ice and snow covered roads? On my way home I first had to navigate past a truck that had jack knifed off the highway and over a bridge (a bridge!) which blocked 2 of 3 lanes. Did that slow the trucks down once we were past? Not that I could tell as several went zipping by me!
My paper is coming along, my computer code is churning out results, I am home early (left right after my last class since the roads are getting worse and worse by the minute) so perhaps I will manage some time on the elliptical today.
Live like you are dying not like you are afraid to die.
Drunken Irish Soda Bread and Irish Brown Bread this way --> http://allrecipes.com/cook/4379041/
Aamos, this 68-year-old didn't "get" about half those ads! I think they've been trying a bit too hard lately and the message is getting lost in the over-cleverness or something. For example, I wasn't sure about that Nissan ad that used Harry Chapin's "Cat's in the Cradle" as a background song; that was a song about a guy who was a failure as a dad, wasn't it?
What is the big deal about "steel cut" oats anyway? I know it sounds high-tech, but what is the difference? From my understanding, the only difference between "quick" oats, standard "old fashioned" oats and "steel cut" is the thickness that they're cut at. Otherwise (except for the "instant" variety) oats are oats.
Well, apparently the snow we just had is the third-most ever for a single snowfall, although I seem to recall a couple last year that were just as bad. We had 13" at our place and were basically snowed-in for the day. We could have gotten up the street in the Outback, but the places we might have gone were closed anyway.
We did go out on snowshoes from our house to the woods behind City Hall across the main road. If you haven't tried it, using snowshoes in deep, fresh snow is a lot more effort than you might think. We were both really worn out by the time we got back and I wish I'd had my HR monitor on. However, we were bummed that one of our favorite trails along the river was impassible because sometime over the summer there was apparently a washout and the ledge that carried the trail is just plain gone. Maybe someone will bushwhack a bypass later this year.
Maybe tomorrow we'll get out for some x-c skiing, although I'm not looking forward to clearing the end of the driveway once the plow comes through.
Doug, runnin' cycling in Rochester, MI
"Think blue, count two, and look for a red shoe"
Well, we bit the bullet and submitted an application for The Hub to get insurance through me here at work. $400/mo - for now. Everything could change come Sept. He went and talked to a guy he knows re "Covered California." Dave told him (1) he doesn't qualify, (2) it's terrible insurance, and (3) nobody up here accepts it. God's been protecting Shorty for 4 years now, but like he said, we've probably stretched our luck as far as we can. At least now he won't get his knickers in a wad (well, at least not as much) when I suggest he go see the doctor, which he should have done for this crud he can't seem to shake. My next goal? Get him to go in for a complete physical.
We've been getting buckets of rain since mid-morning. Yay! Unfortunately, I don't think it's cold enough to snow in the mtns. Boo!
About 6-8 inches of snow here. I got it all cleaned up this morning so the carpet installers wouldn't have any issues getting to the door. We're getting the basement re-finished (again). Second time we've done that since we lived here, but now all the "causes" have been fixed so it shouldn't get wet again. But if it does. we know how to clean it up without having to redo everything down there. Live and learn I guess.
No run today. I am taking a few days off to rest my hip some more.
Work today...................... Lands...sakes....alive People slamming me from Cleveland to Dallas with questions and problems. So much for an easy day back at the home office after the 7 days of insanity down in WV.
I'm am definitely going to kick back and do nothing but vegetate tonight. (Except for a software install I need to do after hours (about 9:15 or so.)
Nice racing Leslie. Always fun to pass people at the end.
No snow here - Casa Grande ruins halfway between Phoenix and Tucson. Haven't run, but doing some easy hiking!
Stay warm and dry all of you fighting blizzard # xxxx, Marj