Mornin' everyone!
I'm sorry I missed WCM, but I slept in a bit yesterday, got to the office early, and worked hard all day. I'm glad the goddesses took control of the posting yesterday (well - they are ALWAYS in control, even when they let us think we are). I'm glad that Mariposai is back and that she had a good visit with her dad and with lots of relatives - looks like it was a great trip! I'm also glad that Holly's DD's hair didn't fall out, that LaT is back, that Aamos has a good book to read, that Ribs had a good run on his running-free trip, and that some teams won over the weekend.
We had rain all day yesterday, and when I was out grilling salmon last night, I noticed the gleam of some ice forming on the wet patio. So I decided not to risk my cute little butt by venturing out on icy roads this morning. The drive to work confirmed that it was a good decision, as there was plenty of skim ice along the sides of the roads. My training is pretty casual these days, probably because I don't have a race on the horizon. I guess I'd better fix that.
Today is DW's birthday - Hooray! I gave her a GC for 3 1-hour massages, and tonight we're going to our favorite dive for dinner. I'll have to find a way to sneak in a cake...
Have a greta Tuesday!
Jay
Without ice cream there would be darkness and chaos.
Good morning Jay and all to follow. Happy birthday to your DW! And smart decision not risking it on the roads this morning. Tomorrow IS another day, as Vivian Leigh always told us. Today is also my DS#1 and his wife's birthdays. Yes, they were born on the same day - two years apart. I'm baking them a chocolate cake and making some beef barley and vegetable soup as they both have to work today.
Where is Ribs when I need him?! Today was my first attempt at intervals in a really long time and I didn't do very well. With a bad back and being a more "mature" lady, I start interval training with much fear and anxiety Anyway, a one mile warm-up at a ten minute mile followed with another 30 minutes alternating 8:30/9:30. I know these are "easy" paces for all of you, but by the end of the 30 minutes, the 8:30 mile was hard to sustain for longer than 2 minutes. I guess I just have to work back into this, but would appreciate any advice or suggestions you might be willing to give.
Welcome back Mariposai, and I'm glad your father is doing much better.
Was almost afraid to pop back in here this morning after that call reversing the Dez Bryant catch. But the Packers have been on the bad side of a lot of those types of calls (anyone remember the infamous Seattle game?) and from everything I read, it was the right call. Anyway, it's been a long, crappy winter here. Having one more game at least gives Green Bay folks something to look forward to, though they will have to play much better to even have a chance to beat the Seahawks.
Have a great Tuesday everyone!
Marathon Maniac #957
Jay - Happy Birthday to your DW!
Jlynne - not easy paces for all of us....
Go Bucks!
No time this morning before an early appointment, so I just ran 3 easy-paced miles on the TM. I am hoping to run more this evening, if I don't wimp out.
On the days the kids have basketball games, they are provided a meal right after school, provided by a designated parent or parents. Today is my turn (with another parent) to feed 25 hungry basketball players and their two coaches. I am taking off work early so I can pick up the salad fixings at my house and then to pick up 9 pizzas and head over to the school. The other parent is doing a fruit tray and bringing all the utensils/plates/bottles of water, etc. Hopefully this will be enough food - you would be amazed at how much middle-school girls can eat!
Life is a headlong rush into the unknown. We can hunker down and hope nothing hits us or we can stand tall, lean into the wind and say, "Bring it on, darlin', and don't be stingy with the jalapenos."
Trails are hard!
Not easy here, either Jlynne. But I have this awful feeling that I'll have to suffer through them if I have any likelihood of fulfilling my sub 2 hr HM resolution.
4 miles this morning as I was grateful that the roads had been salted overnight. A day of rain and then sudden freezing temps does NOT make for good traction. With a 20 mph breeze, the 24 felt colder than the teens of last week.
Had a catch-up appointment with my cardiologist that did my ablations almost 6 years ago (yikes!). Pre appointment with another doctor and he said, you must be in pretty good shape, your resting HR is 47. Do you walk or jog? I guess I didn't realize that I was offended by the term "jog", so I said, no I run some. 4 miles this morning, in fact.
Happy Birthday to Mrs Jay.
Holly, according to my tried and true pizza calculation developed from many lunch and learns, you might be a little light on pizzas. # of people x 3 divided by 8, and round up to the next whole pizza. Simple, right? Of course, this is based on older folks than middle schoolers, and you do have other food, so they should make out ok.
Need a fast half for late fall. Then I need to actually train for it.
Busy morning here. Went to the coffee shop; then to Planet Fitness for a run on the TM and short round of weight machines; then to Lowe's to order a stove (which of course looks nothing like the stove we bought 12 years ago!); then through a car wash to clean off the recent crud accumulation; then Meijer's for a bit of grocery shopping and return bottles (did we really drink that much beer since the last time?); and finally to Trader Joe's to pick up the real essentials of life (consisting mainly of stuff covered in dark chocolate).
And shortly after getting home, a setback. I had just been enjoying a few days of my back finally not bothering me, but when I pulled in I saw that the plow had come down the street and pushed the usual mass into the driveway. I grabbed a snow shovel and started moving the stuff, which as many of you know, tends to be icy and heavy. About halfway through I could almost feel something give a little in my back and I "swore a mighty oath" as they used to say. I immediately took a couple of Aleves and so far it is mostly OK, but the true test will be this evening and when I wake up tomorrow.
The good thing is that this issue never seems to affect my running, and with the temps going into the high 30s this weekend I'm looking forward to getting in the first outside run of the new year!
Doug, runnin' cycling in Rochester, MI
"Think blue, count two, and look for a red shoe"
Loved the picture of Mariposai and her fan club yesterday.
Hit the trails for 10 this morning. Uppers 30s now so the trails were a bit soggy as all the frozen ground softened up.
Be safe. Be kind.
Mmmmm . . . pizza. I haven't had pizza in ages.
Happy Bday to Jay's DW. Hope you're able to sneak in a cake.
{{{Roch's Back}}}. I have to be very careful when lifting the big water bottles on the dispenser here at work. A number of years ago at another job, I tweaked my back lifting a box and nothing's been the same since. Something about the way I have to twist with the water bottle will once in a while set my back off. I try to be very good about sucking in my gut and clenching my butt for added stability.
Stumpy - I would have taken offense, too. Jog? Pfft. Am I wearing a velour jogging suit? I think not. I'm a hard core runner.
The Hub and I both slept better last night, but he's still hacking and coughing. I'm glad he took yesterday off. Today he said he only has 4 yards to mow and none of them are big jobs, so he should be home and tucked back into the couch by 2:00.
We both stayed up WAY past our bedtime last night to watch the game - Ducks lost. But man, did Ohio State play great or what? They were like a freaking bulldozer all night.
Given that we were up late (yes, 9:00/9:30 is late for us), I finally dragged myself out of bed at about 5:15 to get in my 6 miles. They were supposed to be EZ miles, which I am really working hard at actually doing - EZ miles - but running late (no pun intended) didn't help in that regard.
Also had a good hour of core/ST last night. I completely forgot that I had planned to workout when I got home until after I was relaxing after just eating a bowl of cold cereal (my first in many weeks and I was craving it). I thought about bagging it, but then remembered I'd told myself I had to stop finding excuses to not do my core/ST. I'm glad I did the workout, 'cause I felt so much better afterward.
Okay - That's it for now. Have a great day, friends ~
Leslie Living and Running Behind the Redwood Curtain -------------
Trail Runner Nation
Sally McCrae-Choose Strong
Bare Performance
mari, I'm glad to see you back. It sounds like good news about your father and his prognosis. I loved the picture of you with your nieces and nephews. Jay, happy birthday to your wife. jlynne, happy birthday to your son and his wife.
Nice long runs for Trackrat, Holly, wild, mari, and Tramps. Good job on the speedwork for jlynne.
This morning, it was about 5° and the roads were icy. I did 6 miles on the TM at a 10:51 pace.
A good day and good runs for all.
TomS
Bad faerie
Mmmm. Trader Joe's chocolate-covered salted almonds. Mmmm.
Have been laying low as my son has been visiting and I'm still struggling with ankle issues, but all is well, if a little chilly. Swam today, will try a little run tomorrow. Probably will use the TM, as -10F is just more than I want to cope with.
Blogjoy
Trader Joe's....can you say "Cookie Butter?" 'nuff said....
{{{Roch's back)))
Laziness and home chores talked me out of running after work. Happens that way a lot, I'm afraid. Add to that the huge amount of food I ate today, and I feel like a slug. I have to try to stay awake until 10:30 or so (yes I go to bed at 9pm almost every night) so I can go pick up DD from her game that was 1.5 hours north. yawn....
Wind chill had us at -31C this morning, so was glad it was a spin day. Will likely do most weekday runs on the TM. ... want to rebuild a wee bit of speed, which doesn't happen with frozen quads.
.....Nancy The road to hell is paved....... run trails!
King of PhotoShop
My second day here in Grand Rapids and it got colder, not warmer as the day went on. Then my cab didn't show up, which finally got me to sign up for Uber, and I was back to my hotel 5 minutes later. Long day.
I am serious about taking the week off and think it is right to do. I don't know where or how I would run anyway so this is a good idea. I am also swamped with work from another project, but happy to be fully booked at least through end of March.
jlynne, you summed it up perfectly. Many non-Dallas fans were quick to point out the picked up flag in the Cowboys-Bengals game a week ago. As the Cincinnati coach, and then Sunday night Jason Garrett both said, "We had 60 minutes to win that game and we didn't. We aren't complaining about the penalty." Very classy.
As to your track workout, that happens to everyone. Just back off the pace and ease back in, as you yourself said. You will be fine. Spareribs
Greetings! I have been busy with work and DS ski races. It has been pretty cold here.I got a bit of frostbite on my left earlobe last week, but it seems to be healing. DS did well in his high school races last week; he won the GS by .03 over his teammate on Thursday; Friday was the "Capitol cup," a championship of sorts slalom race for Concord NH area schools. He skied well but slipped a bit on ice and did a small ballet second run and ended up 4th-- they give three individual trophies. He was disappointed; he is a good enough skier to have placed 2d or 3d, but his team won the cup, and he was the second finisher from his school.
I have been fighting sciatic nerve issues and fatigue, but this week things seem a bit better. I ran about 8 miles on Sunday morning in 5 below 0 temps, then another 8 or so today in about 10 above. I hoped to swim today but could not get the schedule to work. Maybe tomorrow.
Lots of ski races on tap, both HS and USSA.
Looks like a lot of good running going on!
I didn't take my running stuff to work with me because the forecast was for colder temps (a little bit), snow and maybe freezing rain. Well, it ended up being 24° most of the day, and no precipitation. Drat! So, got home kinda late and didn't feel like doing anything, but made myself go down and run 30 minutes on the treadmill. Telling myself I can quit after just 30 minutes usually does the trick, and I frequently stay on longer and get at least 5 miles. But, nope, today I was more than ready to quit at 3.5 miles in a bit over 30 minutes and glad to be done. Glad I did it though.
Lamerunner, hope your sciatica is short lived. That's a miserable condition. Good job by DS, and sometimes not winning outright makes you a little hungrier the next time.