Hi!

It’s after midnight which means it’s Wednesday! On Monday my office closed early due to the snow forecast. We were supposed to get somewhere between 1 to 2 feet of snow overnight. I grabbed some computer files and a spinach calzone at the pizzeria on my way to the bus about 1pm. The calzone was because I was anticipating the worst. I thought it’d be a long commute home with the snow steadily falling and I hate being hungry when I’m stuck on that bus. =) But amazingly it was one of my fastest commutes ever and I was home before 2pm! I don’t regret the calzone though—better safe than hungry.

I have spent the last 15 years riding out most blizzards, hurricanes, blackouts, etc alone but since our office was going to be closed today I had this crazy idea that instead of working from my home maybe I could ride out the storm over at Mr. SOTSS’s house. He liked my crazy idea so I packed up my laptop and the doodle and headed over. I brought over some goodies including a pint of Ben and Jerry’s and we watched a movie and caught up what’s been going on in each other’s lives the last few days.

Yesterday morning I had a conference call early in the morning and then worked most of the day, but we snuck out go for a walk in the woods about a mile away to let the dogs play in the snow.

happy feet!

happy feet!

Brown dogs look good in white

Brown dogs look good in white

This just might be one of my favorite shots of Chester

This just might be one of my favorite shots of Chester

Always with the phone in my hand. Busted!

Always with the phone in my hand. Busted!

The only makeup I have is the rosy cheeks provided by Mother Nature :)

The only makeup I have is the rosy cheeks provided by Mother Nature 🙂

Houston: We have a problem.

Houston: We have a problem.

lick

Someone loves his dad so much he’s not afraid to show some PDA.

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Snow legs!

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I never grow weary of nature’s beautiful scenery

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two tired pups!

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I love how the snow covered branches frame this shot

It was exhausting to trudge through the snow. I’m guessing there was somewhere between 8 and 10 inches of fresh fallen snow. We didn’t get the full on blizzard that they said we would get but apparently just 40 miles north east of us in parts of Long Island and up in Massachusetts they got hammered.

So you know that my knee gave out on me on Sunday while trying to get in my long run. And it bothered me walking in the snow as well as tonight when I came home and shoveled my driveway.

It’s actually hurting right now and I’m just sitting. Somewhere during that walk in the snow this afternoon and writing this post I made a decision. I am taking another running hiatus. I’m thinking of taking another 3 weeks off. And I might even try and see a doctor. I know. Crazy! I’m actually relatively calm about this. I’m grateful that my life is filled with so much these days. Between my regular job, my freelance jobs, spending time with all my friends and family and Mr. SOTSS I’ve got lots of life in my life and I’m in great spirits. So taking this running hiatus is really fine. I just had this conversation with Mr. SOTSS today about how I met him just a couple of weeks after the last full marathon that I’ve run and then i was injured so he hasn’t known me as marathoner. He hasn’t seen me on days I’ve put in 20 mile training runs. He hasn’t seen me over-the-moon from running a marathon without hitting the wall. This made me realize that I can’t imagine not being able to run more than 3-5 miles without having knee pain and I must fix this so I can have a long future of distance running.

Tell me something about your week so far. I want to hear it….the good, the bad, the ugly. 

Have you ever gotten “hangry” (angry from not eating) before?

 

Hi!

Before Duncan and I get too involved watching the Golden Globes I thought I would just share a li’l recap of my weekend.

labradoodle

Golden Globes? Snooze!

It was the first weekend I had no commitment to anyone. No family get togethers. No friend get togethers. No dates with the boyfriend. Just me and the doodle. We enjoyed some time just before sunset on Friday just running around in the snow. We he ran around and I just took too many pictures watched.

labradoodle-snow run-free winter-walkAnd then for dinner I opted for a healthy combo of cheese, chips, chocolate and some wine.

My version of a healthy dinner

My version of a healthy dinner

Yesterday I did some cleaning and some finally finished my 2014 running highlights post in the morning and early afternoon and then I made the last minute decision to do my first long run.

looking all fresh BEFORE my run...

looking all fresh BEFORE my run…

7mile-long-run

I was originally planning on doing the run this morning. But after looking at my weather app although the temps looked to be a few degrees warmer today, there was only partial sun in the forecast. And at 3pm yesterday afternoon the sun was so strong I decided I’d rather have the solar power to warm me so I drove out to the flat path that runs adjacent to the beach. I was 100% right that flat terrain is exactly what I need to keep the knee happy. I covered exactly 7 miles and it didn’t really give me an issue. I also took a few minutes during mile 6 to test out my new iPhone tripod and timer camera app. Enter exhibit A: jumping shots…
up

up

jumping

jumping

All in all I call it a success!

I started off today with laundry, grocery shopping and a little more freelance work and then spent about 20 minutes doing strengthening and stretching exercises for the knee, hips, glutes and hamstrings. Later in the afternoon I met my friend and her dogs for a walk. It’s amazing how fast a day can go when you have no real plans.

Here’s to a great week ahead!

 

I had a nice change of scenery, AND routine today. The weather forecast called for our first snow of the season so I decided to work from home to avoid dealing with the bus later in the day. Our office was only open until 1pm anyway. But instead of working from MY home I drove to my brother’s house early this morning and spent the day here. It just made sense since they are hosting Thanksgiving tomorrow so I’ll just sleep here.

My view from the "office" today

My view from the “office” today

It was Forest's first snow!

It was Forest’s first snow!

Since it was our first snow of the season I could focus on how beautiful everything looked in a blanket of white. Ask me how I feel about snow at the end of February and I’ll probably tell you I’m sick of it!

The dogs (Duncan and his cousin) loved it too!

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doodle butts!

doodle butts!

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#twinners

I spent a few hours working. And then I took advantage of my brother’s lovely finished basement with an elliptical just waiting for me to hop on!

#crosstraining

#crosstraining

cat dog nap

cat dog nap

I busted out a solid 30 minutes and my trusty sidekick sat on the beanbag chair to my right. Such a loyal doodle.

Tomorrow I’ll be heading out bright and early to see the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade from my office. I have never taken advantage of this perk before but our office is moving in March so this was the last year I’d have the opportunity and I figured I should check it out.

Well Happy Thanksgiving to all you wonderful readers. Have a great day with family, friends and loved ones.

And don’t forget, take the meal like a marathon. Don’t start out too fast! You’ve got to get to dessert before you hit the “wall”! =)

Who’s hosting? Who’s just going to be a guest? Are you cooking at all?

 

Hi all! It’s been a while….hope you’ve enjoyed your weekend (holiday weekend for all the US peeps)

This winter has been one wild ride! We’ve been hit with storm after storm. Somehow I’ve managed to maintain just about every workout. I’ve been very crafty 😉

Saturday morning some of my glorious running peeps came to Staten Island to run the Cold Feat 10K, a local trail race. We ran it together last year and had so much fun that it was a definite to have a repeat performance. In the world of overpriced races this is a breath of fresh air. $30 and you get lots of great swag and hot chocolate too….great volunteers and a really tight knit community of runners. If you’re local and interested you can learn more here.

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swag! instead of a t-shirt we got nice fleece ear warmer/headbands

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Lisa, Mike and me at the start

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Me and Elvia along the course

Mind you, last year it was warmer and MUDDY! This year, snow….LOTS OF SNOW! Fresh fallen snow on top of older snow. Probably at least a foot on the ground (although the trail we ran on had been packed down some from the runners in front of us) and just as we began the run it started to snow even more! My Garmin said we actually only completed 5.66 miles but it felt like forever. As a matter of fact it took me an hour and 27 minutes to complete but I felt like I had been sprinting. Effort level was through the roof. The race director said we’d feel as if we ran a marathon in the sand when we were done. He wasn’t kidding.

Both Mike and Elvia placed in their age group (50-59)

3rdplace

Winning! (3rd place)

elvia-first

Winning! First place

And Lisa gave new meaning the to event title. Cold Feat became Cold FEET. She had some major foot carnage. Multiple blisters led her to make the dramatic finish by removing her sneaker and sock. I think she was trying to one-up Mike from his blister situation last fall when we were running in Nebraska on day 5 of the Center of The Nation Series.

ouchie!

ouchie!

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the start/finish area…this is actually a golf course. so pretty.

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there were some fallen tree limbs. Lisa opted to climb over. I crawled under =)

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after the race. snowflakes still stuck to my hair.

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A great shot of Mike almost at the finish. Photo by Neil Flip (King of the Mountain Events)

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Stepping gingerly…Photo by Neil Flip (King of the Mountain Events)

After the race we came back to my place for lunch. Eggs, Bagels, chips, nuts, fruit and coffee.

Yesterday morning I started the day off with a walk with the dog in the woods… I let him streak naked (no winter coat) out in the snow. He doesn’t complain about wearing a coat but when I leave it off he’s definitely happier!

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i stepped in something cold ma!

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mmm it tastes delicious too!

Then, around 11am when the temps warmed up to the mid 20s I finally set out for my 14 mile training run. I have to admit, it wasn’t anywhere near as hard as I was expecting it to be. Thank god! It’s nice and flat there (a national park/beach area). The running paths weren’t cleared so I just ran on the street like I did previously. I had to do 4 round trips of the same route to get to 13.75 and then ran a quarter mile past my car to hit 14.

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i was still trying to decide which sneakers to wear.

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This boat name describes my run perfectly.

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hello happy!

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looks like about a foot of snow. LOL!

photo 3 photo 4 photo 5I averaged a 10:51 pace. And that’s even with walking through some slushy areas that were a bit slippery. Flat makes things so much easier. And since I’m training for a marathon that’s pretty flat I don’t have to feel bad.

With all the running, navigating uneven snowy and icy terrain, and shoveling I spent since being on vacation I’m actually exhausted and sore and can’t believe I go back to work tomorrow!!!! I plan on getting to bed super early and I’m skipping my run tomorrow. I’ll try and just take a walk instead. Must recharge.

So that’s my long weekend recap. How was your weekend? What exciting things happened?