I Probably Should Make My Blog Public again

Snow day #1.  Lazed around most of the day, played Wii with the kids (and husband and nephew) instead of grading, finally did something productive (working with pictures) late in the day.  

I am relegated to the gazelle for the next few days, at least.  

 I've decided that I am going to change my weekly running schedule.  For the past couple years I have not run on Sundays for a lot of reasons, but I think I am going to start running on Sundays and take Monday off running instead.  Monday I didn't run--got lazy and decided to watch the weather/news as they got us pumped for the big storm.  And I'm noticing that it's a pattern the past few weeks that Mondays aren't the best day to run.  

I feel like using the gazelle is just phoning it in...

Snow day #2:  husband and brothers have already been snowblowing for 3+ hours.  Haven't even been to our house yet.  

Could there be a snow day #3 tomorrow?  Dare I dream?

I'm grading today just in case.  But first I will play Mario brothers... 

I planned to go out this morning and run on the roads, but it's snowing now and visibility is not great.  Running on roads makes me nervous anyway, not in all areas but anytime I leave my neighborhood...

So I'm going to wait a bit.  If I can't get outside today I'm going to the gym.  I can't deal with the gazelle anymore.

I took some pictures on Saturday of our loads of snow to do a visual blog entry.  I've been waiting to log my miles till I could upload the photos, and my computer is not cooperating.  So I guess I'll just log my miles.  Maybe I'll have pictures for you tomorrow.

Our streets were snow covered till Sunday because my town does not believe in salting (and not because they love the environment).  The roads finally cleared after the temperature got above freezing.  So I'm able to get outside. Yay. 

I have decided to make some changes in my workout routine since I'm feeling, I don't know, blah.  I woke up at 5 and did Shred level 2.  But I ran at my usual time.

I wasn't sure how much I wanted to run, so I just played it by ear.  It was frigid.  11 degrees, colder (hovering around 0) with the windchill.  The only part of me that was cold was my shoulders, and I don't even know why.  I felt pretty good once I got warm. 

This was the first time in many months that my run was mostly done with the sun still out.  Probably the last mile or so the sun had set fully.  I like when the days get longer :)

4 easy miles.  I find that when I run outside in the cold, my shoulders hurt later.  I think my shoulders feel like it's their job to keep my neck and ears warmer...

In the am I woke up and did the Shred level 2.

In the pm, I broke down and went to the gym.  Just paid for a one day membership because I'm not planning on doing it again.  It's supposed to get to 40 this weekend, so I'm hoping the snow will melt.

I did most of the run at 9:13 pace, but I picked up the pace periodically.

It was very hot in there, though.  My treadmill had one of those fans on it, but it didn't help at all.

Sad story:  Eli's baby sitter brought her dog in to be spayed today.  The dog died during the procedure.  The vet doesn't really know why.  She was a beautiful yellow lab.  I felt so sad for Eli's sitter because she was crying when she told me.  She didn't explain it to Eli because she wasn't sure how to, so we talked about it when we got home.  Poor doggie.

Last night I took the boys and went to our school's annual battle of the bands.  It was really great to see many of my students put themselves and their talents out there.  I don't know who won the battle because I took the boys home before it ended to get them in bed at a reasonable time, but I hope it was my favorite act.  

To explain this properly, I have to give a little back story (forgive me).  Our school has a significant Asian population (mostly from Korea).  A lot of the Asian students do not participate regularly in extra curriculars, although that is changing a little.  Most of the students that we have are pretty traditional--they don't mess around when it comes to academics.  However, one of my students this year is a Korean boy.  He is not your typical Asian.  He's huge.  He plays football.  Although he hangs out with the other Koreans, he is also pretty popular.  He doesn't like school too much. 

But man, can that boy sing!  My favorite band was headed by him with 3 other Korean boys playing drums, bass and guitar (he played guitar too).  And they were a Christian band, singing praise songs.  It's rare when you see a high school crowd go wild over a Christian band, but this one did.  When their second song ended, there was a moment's pause, and out filed 10 choir members (in robes) from stage left and a violinist, viola(ist?) and cellist from stage right.  I don't even remember what song they sang, but it was very moving. 

Really all the kids that performed last night did such a wonderful job.  It's nice to see kids directing their energy into something positive.

Anyway, onto the running.  I'm glad I got over 7 miles today.  It felt good.  My average pace was just slightly under 9 minutes and it felt easy.  I guess now I'm building and sorta enjoying running again.  It helped that it was about 30 by the time I got out.  Isn't it sad that 30 is warm?  It was windy (weather says between 10 and 15 mph) but I only felt it when I was heading west.

I'm getting into a rhythm now.  I'm going 4 easy, no stress miles along a well-worn path, then running a couple more miles the following day, throwing in a little speed in the end.  I have no concrete plans for training yet, but I have decided that in 2 weeks or so, it's time to get a little more serious. 

Got up early to do the Shred, level 2.  I am not impressed with that marketing name.  It's pretty stupid. But I do like the workout.  Good old Jillian.

The track team was leaving for their run after school wearing shorts.  It was sunny and felt warm.  When I got in the car, I was surprised to see that it was only around 40.  I was hoping for a change in the normal wardrobe, but by the time I got out of the house, the sun had gone down and it was not quite so warm.  Dropped to around 30, with a strong wind.  My run was nice, a nice and easy average of just under 9.  I'm happy that this pace feels comfortable again... 

A glorious 6 mile run in 50 degrees and sun!  Got home early enough to complete this before dark.  Wore light tights and two long sleeve shirts and felt comfortable (though I did need something on my head and I wore gloves).

I saw so many people out taking advantage of the beautiful day.  I haven't seen that many people outside in MONTHS!

I have been sleeping horribly this week.  The worst thing I ever did was embrace TV in the bedroom.  Now  I can't fall asleep without it and sometimes can't fall asleep with it.  Watched a few episodes of Three's Company in the wee hours before finally drifting back to sleep, but when my alarm went off for my date with Jillian Michaels, I blew her off.

My p.m. run was later than normal, but it was warm and windy today, so the run was easy...sorta.

Yesterday was a travel day, so no run.  I thought about working out when I got to my mom's, but instead we all sat on the couch and watched Phineas and Ferb OnDemand.  I love that show.

This morning was chilly when I started out, but sunny, so I kept taking my hands out of my sleeves when they'd get hot and then put them back in after a few minutes.  My hat was also on and off, but I kept a headband around my ears.

With all the talk about high fiving people, I decided to take my first opportunity to channel Burt (that's gotta be where it all comes from, right?).  When I was running by the river, I saw a guy running towards me (on the wrong side of the street, so that we on a collision course) and he looked like he was in pain.  So I shouted "High Five" right when we were about to pass, and he grimaced as he raised his hand. My high five was a little mocking.

Then I crossed the street no long after to high five a woman that I had seen running when I first set out.  She was already moving across the street anyway, so this high five business must be growing.  I know her, though she doesn't know me.  When I was a kid she was always running, and then she was always at the local pool.  She wore a black bikini every year and she was impossibly tan.  She's gotta be in her late 60s by now, and I bet she's really wrinkly.

Then after that, I saw the first guy again, still running on the wrong side of the street.  This time no words were exchanged, just a nice hand slap.  I'm fairly certain that he cut a couple blocks short on the river run just so he could meet me again. 

I then ran for a while without seeing anyone.  When I ran towards the railroad tracks about a mile from home, there was a freight train, so I turned and ran parallel so I could tack on a little extra distance.  And wouldn't you know it?  In the distance, still on the wrong side of the street, I saw my friend.  So now I suspect that he planted a tracking devices on me during the second high five.  He pretended to be reluctant to high five me again, but he probably knew that this would be the last opportunity to get his tracking device back.  I didn't see him again.

When I got by my mom's I realized that I was only going to hit just more than 7 miles, so I ran around the blocks by her house to get to 8 miles.  I overshot it, but just a bit.

A dreary day outside, but a day off school's a day off school :)

Did Jillian first, then ran.

I had a smaller window for running than usual, but after I was done I realized it wasn't as small as I had originally thought :)

Easy miles.  My schedule has been messed up this week, and the colder weather is making me a little crabby.  The word on the street is that we are supposed to get 4-8 inches from Thursday into Friday.  I'm crossing my fingers that it doesn't happen.

6 easy. It was dreary and windy, but almost 40 today.

We got 2 inches of snow last night, but it essentially melted before I got out for my run.  Sweet.  I think we might get an inch tomorrow, but hopefully it'll be gone just as soon.  It was warmish (low 30s) with light wind.  

I came home and since my family wasn't back yet, I did Jillian.  But I confess, I skipped the 3 cardio parts on level 2.  I figured that I got enough cardio with the run.

We went on a spur-of-the-moment mini-vacay in smelly Decatur.  We were hoping to hook up with a friend of mine who just had a baby but didn't want to go all the way to her house in Springfield if we couldn't meet up, which is why we chose Decatur.  We didn't end up hooking up with her, but that's okay.  Soon enough I'll get my hands on her baby :)

So we just hung out as a family and went swimming in the hotel pool.  It was pretty fun.  Right before dinner I went down to run on the hotel treadmill while the kids and Chuck rested.  I planned on 9 but really wanted to quit from mile 2 onward.  It was really hot in the exercise room.   I wish I had brought stuff to run outside because it wasn't too bad out, but I didn't plan real well.

Once I got to 5.5 I thought about quitting because that would have brought my miles to 30 for this week.  But instead I kept going because I knew I could do better.  I threw in the towel after an episode of Sex and the City ended, which I do not generally watch, but it was the only thing I could find.  When I was coming back up to our room I met my boys half way.  They were coming down to look for me since they were hungry, so it was perfect timing.

6 easy miles.  It was pretty windy.