For some of us this is the beginning of a very frigid week. I brought my running stuff to go after work....but I will see if it is practical.

Yesterday's run turned into a hike, but if we get the snow they expect I hope running will be easier.

QOTD: does extreme weather keep you off the trails? It does not usually keep me off the trail, but it often turns a run into a hike when it is extremely cold and snowy.

moonlight - Hope you can stay as warm as possible.

WC - Sorry Tideland didn't go as well as you hoped.  Glad you are not feeling too sore after the race.  Hope you can get those issue resolved hitting you later in the races.  Rest and recover well.

From the weekend - Most elites only race 2 marathons a year.  The exception would be Yuki Kawauchi who races about one marathon a month.  I'd say 2 a year (at race effort) is a good rule of thumb to maintain health and being able to optimize performance.

Got 49 last week.  All pavement pounding for me for now, so no influence by the weather, except how bad my mood will be during the run.

Enjoyed a great weekend skiing into a USFS cabin w/ DW and Tiny Elvis; 7 miles in, 7 miles out- the out miles easier as a fair bit of descent. More snow than I was expecting- right around two feet and that’s in the bottom of the drainage, hard telling what the higher ridges have.

We got back late afternoon yesterday and decided to hit the local hot springs for a soak, a drink and late lunch. As soon as we got into the water, the snow really started coming down- was pretty neat sitting in the hot water in the middle of a snowstorm!

Back to the grind today, probably a few miles after work.

qotd: it has to be bitterly cold (and windy) before I give up going outdoors

Pretty decent weekend of running here. The Lady and I ran about 9 miles wandering the easy but hilly trails of Nolde Forest on Saturday, and then yesterday perhaps 8 miles on a nice loop in Fair Hill MD, down my buddies house. Decent weather both days for January. Low to mid 30's. Same weather today, but mid-week the arctic temps will be upon us for a few days. Plan for today is a gym stuff and short run after work. Get some miles in before wimp-out weather hits us.

QOTD: Xtreme cold, I don't like that and will juggle days off to work around it if possible but as long as it's not windy I will get out I suppose. Worse thing that keeps me off the trails is heavy snow or combo with bad ice. I remember a few years back, we had a layer of snow, not that deep, ,maybe 8-10" but it was coated with crusty ice. Miserable to run in. I tried a bunch of times but eventually gave up. In 2010 we had Noreaster after Noreaster and probably 3 foot of snow on the trails through February into March. Not runnable. I was miserable that year trying to train for a 100.

No run yet today. Probably 4 miles or so when DS is in the pool tonight.  Or the gym.

Does anyone pay attention to Arrowhead 135? I don't follow anyone specifically, but I do like to follow in general. Temp was -10 at the start this morning, and there is a lot of snow this year in northern MN. Who will prevail under these conditions? skiers? Bikers? Runners?

qotd: I'll run to -5 or so, depending on the wind. I'll ski or snowshoe much colder. Here in the DC area, extreme conditions are when we have a good snowfall that melts and refreezes for large expanses along the trail. If the ice is bad, I'll stay away. Right now, there is ice, but it's not extensive. One year I had to slide down a trail on my ass as the ice was so thick and went over the edge and down a ravine. Even spikes would have been useless.

SRD today. Sneezing and coughing a storm.  Maybe running through this cold wasn't suck a good idea.  It's worked fine in the past.

Jame - I just looked at your MRI again, and I'm confident that you will have good results on Thursday. Good luck, and give me a call / text if you have any questions.

Warden - nice love shack.

XT - I'm lucky Michaux gets snow mobile traffic. I can always find a place to run that's been packed down.

George - sorry it didn't go as planned. From what I saw, the weather really stopped a lot of people from reaching heir goals.

Moon and NH - we're getting a taste of your weather on Wednesday.  People are already freaking out about t.

Bert - good miles. Sorry no trails.

DC - ice has always been worse in DC. My road as a kid (Tiffany, near White Oak) was always a hill of ice.

Sue - got at least 1 chore done.

QOTD:  We'll see on Thursday.    Normally I keep going for snow. Windchill is what gets me. When I can't get my fingers and toes to stay warm, I'm done.

Just an easy loop this morning. They are calling for snow late tonight/early tomorrow with no accumulations. We seem to get snow more often down here than we used to. Normally, when they say no accumulations, we have accumulations. When they say we will have accumulations, we generally get some flurries. We'll see what happens.

QOTD: Lightning is about the only thing that will keep me off the trails down here. If it is raining hard, I will probably postpone a run, but I normally don't miss it. Right now, I may just bail on one if it is raining hard. On the rare occasion that we get snow, I run no matter what. Also, I noticed on my facebook "memories" thing that popped up this morning that January 28, 2014 is a day that I actually ran across a creek that was frozen and didn't break through. I am not sure what I was thinking when I did that, but I am glad the ice held me. Anyway, running across a creek on ice in Louisiana isn't something that happens every winter down here. I may try it again across the same creek on Wednesday morning.