Snow day and Training

Today was a snow day for us. The weather yesterday afternoon and evening was the weirdest I have ever experienced. Just as our snow was almost gone, it started raining/sleeting yesterday afternoon. Once I got home from work, the lightning and thunder show began. The snow started in the evening and overnight.... leaving us with heavy drifts and a day of no school. I don't know how much snow we got but I think it was close to 10 inches. As happy as I was to have a day off from work - to get work things done at home, I am sad to see us have to make it up Easter monday. Oh well.

I wanted to post my Week 7 of half marathon training... not because it was great, but because I have posted the last 6. Anyone notice that my last two weekly posts said week 5? hehehe.

Week 7 HALF MARATHON TRAINING:
MONDAY (3/14):
REST

TUESDAY (3/15):
REST

WEDNESDAY (3/16):
BODYPUMP (1:00:00)

THURSDAY (3/17):
REST

FRIDAY (3/18):
REST

SATURDAY (3/19):
REST

SUNDAY (3/20):
REST

Isn't that sick? What kind of traning is that? Two nights of conferences, another late night at work, and a weekend of wedding planning sure got the best of me. Oh well. That's life. This week is already looking better!

Today's workout was supposed to be BODYPUMP class. Instead I spent over an hour doing a shady job of shoveling. It felt more like I was shoveling sand, instead of snow. That stuff was stinkin' heavy! It was a nice core, back, shoulders, legs, and glutes workout! haha

Clarification & Television Shows

I have to clarify my chose of words for yesterday's post. It was not just a "snow day" but more of a blizzard or storm day. Agreeing with what Leana said about Calgary - if we were to get out of school every time it snowed, we would have more days off then on between the months of October and April!



Here's what led up to this wonderful storm day, using the word wonderful lightly:

• Friday night we got about a 1/2 inch of rain. It was surreal to be driving home from the bar at 9pm in downpour, on January 22. weird.
• Saturday the rain from the night before and new fallen snow mixture left roads very slushy.
• Sunday evening the temps were cold enough to start freezing that slushy crap and the winds started picking up - throwing around a bit of new fallen snow.
• Monday morning the temps had really dropped and the slushy crap was frozen and covered by snow. The wind was pretty nasty - gusting to 50mph. I guess visability was so bad that when sitting at a red light you couldn't see the car on the other side of the intersection unless their lights were on.

And this morning, school and buses are running 2 hours late for some reason that I haven't figured out yet. But, I decided to use a sick day today to get one more day of rest in before heading back to work. This Strep Throat business totally knocked me off my feet but I am feeling so much better.

Anyone following The Biggest Loser? I am looking forward to seeing the drama tonight. That girl from the red team is totally rubbing me the wrong way and I can't wait to see her get the boot, in addition to a mouthful from Jillian. Buwahahaha!

How about American Idol? I love that show but it conflicts with the BL. I am thinking I need to really contact my cable company and get my HD rollin' as well as my DVR machine! I have had this tv for almost 2 months but haven't taken care of that... trying to save a bit of money..

What kind of tv shows do you watch? I like to catch the above shows when I can, in addition to 24, Private Practice, and Grey's Anatomy when possible. Other than these shows, I usually have some sort of game on which I am sure many of you readers out there already know.

Make sure to check out Marlene's Lift Your Sole Giveaway today over at Mission to a(nother) marathon!

10 Things That Make Me Happy...About Snow Days

School was cancelled today due to the weather. I was surprised to see it called off so early, but supposed the rain that came friday night combined with the slushy-snow that came Saturday, froze laste night and is now being covered with snow, making driving "treacherous".

So, with that in mind, I am going to list 10 things that make me happy about snow days:

1. I didn't have to use a "sick day" - for those of you who didn't catch my post yesterday, I have Strep Throat.

2. Catching up on tv I usually don't get to watch, especially the Today Show, and maybe Oprah.

3. Reading - I have at least 12 books on my shelf that I haven't read yet.

4. Movie watching

5. Cuddled up on the couch in my pj's all day.

6. Access to good homemade coffee.

7. Baking goodies

8. Watching the snow fall

9. Catching up on FB and the Blogworld

10. And last, but not least important, naps naps naps.

What a week....

First and foremost, I am currently typing this post from my brand-spankin-new-computer! I am so pumped! I can finally get itunes up and running and update my music, rather than listening to the same 100 songs I had on my ipod for the past 6 months!

I think we all are finally coming out of a funk from this week's blizzard. What did we get, 10-14 inches of snow? Somewhere in there. yuck. Here are a few more pictures from Wednesday, when I was finally able to leave my house!

Yesterday we had a long day with evening conferences. It is so hard to unwind after a day like that. But, I shouldn't complain because it is nothing compared to my sis' busy season. I was really tired this morning and afraid I wasn't going to get in a workout at all today.

However, the temperatures are finally above zero again, and will be above freezing for the next week, so we are hoping for a nice, slow, melt. When I left school at 4pm, I knew that I had to take advantage of the warmer temps and bright sunshine! It's 30 degrees out, man! That's a 60 degree difference from yesterday morning!

Today's Workout:

Run - 2.25 miles (outdoors!) .... knee felt a little quirky.

Shoveling - note picture obove of snow outside front door...

Gone Stir Crazy

Yesterday I slept in, caught the Today show, watched the drifts grow, listened to the wind howl, finished reading Eclipse and started Breaking Dawn.

I took a mid-afternoon nap and then proceeded to do some canvas painting. My sister and brother-in-law got me some fancy new paintbrushes, acrylics, and canvas' for Christmas and I couldn't wait to dive in!

I didn't have anything in mind but just started playing around with colors. It's been a while. It's no where near done, and who knows, I might paint right over it, rather than building from it. I stopped when I lost the natural daylight.

And yes, sometimes I paint with my fingers.

I was excited to spend my evening watching tv, since I spent most of the afternoon reading, napping, and painting. I caught the beginning of American Idol and then lost cable and internet. I thought I was going to lose it. Fortunately it returned about an hour later. I caught the end of AI, as well as a basketball game. Turns out, NDSU (my college's rival) made it into the NCAA tournment tonight. It's kind of exciting to have a ND team in the tournament, but I still hate the Bison.

I have been locked in my house since 4pm Monday afternoon. I have not been able to get to the gym, leaving me with only a few sessions of Jillian's 30-day Shred. School starts 2 hours late today. They say most side roads will probably not be cleaned and I worry that I won't be able to get out of my neighborhood.

Here are a couple pics I took around 530 yesterday evening....

Drifts higher than fences?

That's not right.

You can see a tiny bit of daylight...
peeking through the top of that window...

That's not right.
Good thing that's not my ONLY entrance to my house.

Even if the roads get plowed, I am going to have snow drifts to remove in my driveway as well as the crap they leave behind at the end of my driveway.

Update: We have switched from a LATE START today, to school being CANCELLED... again. I have heard snow plows since 11pm last night, and woke up to the sound of snow blowers at 4am.

I am getting out of my house. I have a gym date with a friend at 11ish, and then lunch with some others to follow....

Warning Warning Warning....UPDATED

... a dangerous storm is heading our way.

What the?

Yesterday a Blizzard Watch was put into affect.
This morning it was raining.
Then the rain turned to snow.
The first of TWO storms made it's appearance today.
It has snowed all day.
The temperatures have been dropping.
The wind picked up this afternoon.
I had to take a longer route home,
to avoid large snow piles at the corners of side streets.
I had to gun-it into my driveway.
I have 4-6 foot drifts on the south side of my house.
I currently hear snow plows,
which means I will have a good pile at the end of my driveway.
Now, we are under a Blizzard warning.


And tomorrow?

That's when the real storm is supposed to hit us.
Not until noon, though.
7-14 inches of snow expected.
Winds will be picking up,
gusts up to 40mph.
Windchills are expected to drop temperatures to 30-40 below zero.

I am thinking we will be staying home from school tomorrow,
making it up on Friday, and
making up Tuesday's conferences a week from tomorrow.
We should know by later this evening.

UPDATE: Interstate-94 closed at 7pm from Jamestown to Fargo,
about 120 miles west of here,
and school was cancelled at 9pm,
This never happens the night before.

What will I do with myself tomorrow?
No work... probably not able to get to a gym...
I guess I will do some reading and try to do some painting on a canvas...



The flip side?

My neighbors are currently blowing the snow
from my sidewalk and driveway.
Time to bake more cookies for them.

And...temps should get to above freezing this weekend...
...so this chica will be running outdoors Saturday or Sunday!

Ugly White Shtuff

I am in my third day of the PT exercises. When I woke yesterday, I was a little sore in my upper quads. This was a sure sign of where I am weak. I struggled to do anything that required lifting my legs, ie. dressing. In addition, I am can't believe how tight my right calf is in comparison to my left (same leg as knee issues... I sense a connection). Even after stretching both 3-4 times per day for the past few days, it is still extremely tight whenever I got to stretch it. As I look back prior to my appointment, I realize that I never really stretched my calves as well as I thought. Not as the doctor prescribes.

Yesterday I did a very short run and had no pain what-so-ever. I didn't want to go too far with my quads being a bit sore. So I biked a little afterwards. My PT said to try to stay away from running for a while, and if I need to do some cardio, try and get into the pool. Furthermore, he reminded me that I know the difference between good and bad pain, and to listen to my body. My number one priority right now is the strengthening exercises and everything else has been put to the side, especially for the first week or so. I want to be ready for more challenging exercises when I meet with my PT next week.

This afternoon I did my second round of strengthening exercises for the day, as well as my Yoga for Strong Knees video. I noticed that a lot of the exercises on the video were either the same or similar to the exercises my PT gave me. So, I didn't double up. I still don't know how impressed I am with the video because it doesn't consist of too many "moves/exercises". However, it really does a great job explaining the importance of strengthening the quadriceps, hamstrings, glutes, hip flexors, and calves.

The weather here has gone ugly again. Blizzard-like conditions. Don't ask me how much snow we've gotten, but it's enough to pile up on the roads and driveways. Enough to help you get stuck when turning onto a side street or into a driveway. With the wind, there are huge piles in some areas and none in others. I had to gun it to get into my driveway and garage. I am not going to attempt any snow removal until the wind dies down. I am sure my neighbor will beat me to the punch and blow my driveway for me anyways. Lucky me.

Sounds like a good night to stay in a watch a movie?!

Yesterday's Workout:
Run - 0.75 miles, 8:44, 11:38/mi. avg.
Bike - 7.22 miles, 20:00, 21.66mph

Today's workout:
Just my daily strengthening routine and Yoga for Strong Knees

Weekend Recap & Wild Hair Up the Butt

I am my own worst enemy. If I don't make myself do anything, I won't. This weekend was a prime example, but I had the weather to blame, right? We were warned of the snow storm coming our way friday, and sure enough... it showed up saturday morning! This is what I woke up to......The snow was coming down steady and despite how chilly it was, it was beautiful. I went to the gym before the weather got worse, you would be suprised how many idiots don't know how to drive in this crap. Well, a mile and a half into the run I stopped to walk and felt nauseous. So nauseous that I thought I was going to puke right then and there. Very weird. but I pushed through it and did 3 miles. I had to call it quits. I just didn't have 7 miles in me. I was hoping to be ready fro the 8 miles on the 8th, but I think that went down the crapper. Instead, my favorite spin instructor is subbing saturday, and a friend of mine suggested doing a mini-tri. So, I think we will attempt that. I will swim for 30 minutes in prior to spin, spin for 45 minutes, and then hit the treadmill for 30 minutes. I will see how that goes and determine whether or not I have it in me for the Tri-U-Mah in February.

After my run I headed to Target to get my christmas tree and some decorations. I spent the rest of the day watching movies that were on tv, my Tarheels beat Kentucky, and then I joined some people for dinner at the Olive Garden. And, ooh, it was so good!

This morning the snow had been cleared of the parking lots and pushed to the sides of the streets. It snowed ALL day long yesterday into the late evening. The weatherman estimated around 7-9 inches, as it was still snowing at 1opm last night and they were unsure. After the Vikings game, I got a wild hair up my butt. Shocking, I know. I put on the layers, and lots of them, and headed out to venture through the neighborhood. The temperature was a balming 6 degrees but I guess it felt like -7, according to weather.com. Thankfully, there was really no wind or breeze. Here's what ND and 7+ inches of snow looks like the day after....

kids playing on a fresh snow pile in the park


christmas trees for sale

This evening, I finally finished putting away all of my fall decorations, and pulled out most of my christmas decorations and candles (remember I used to work at Bath and Body Works). I will enjoy the rest of the evening watching the movie Elf, reading my new Runners World magazine, and enjoying the smell of frosted cranberry.

'Tis the season!