Enough with Winter already!

At the moment is is 35 deg. Much warmer than a few days ago, but the wind is howling at 25mph with gusts up to 40mph. Kids are on a 2 hr delay due to icy roads. It is supposed to show/rain/sleet later this afternoon. Bleck!

I stayed inside this morning (no way I'm going out running in that mess) and repeated W4D1 pushups. I just didn't think I could move to D2 quite yet. 63 push-ups later, I'm sure that was a wise decision. I'll try D2 on Thursday...

They are making progress on the backyard, but yesterday they attempted to cover some of the aresa they worked on with tarps. Ha! Their efforts were no match for the gusty wind. The tarps are now in a heap over by the fenceline. They are going to have to try harder if they really want that stuff to stay covered.

I'm not a winter person. I'm ready for it to be over. And the sad part is...it hasn't even officially started yet. Sigh...

Jingle Bell Run for Arthritis

It has been freaking cold here in the high desert of New Mexico. This morning was no exception. It had only warmed up to 24 degrees at the start of the Jingle Bell Run. Brrrrrrr. Freezin' our assets, we were...

I decided to run in a hat, gloves, tights, short sleeves, long sleeves, and a fleece. This turned out to be just right. I was chilly at the start line, but comfy after we got moving. Of course, I was freezing again at the end when we stopped running.

The course consisted of two unequal "loops"; the first loop was long and the second loop was short. They started the runners ahead of the walkers, but I encountered quite a bit of walker traffic on the second loop. I will never understand why walkers always seem to feel the need to walk 6 abreast, leaving little room for the runners on the trail. *shakes head*

Husband told me he was going to run his own pace, so I was on my own this time. No worries, that's what I expected. But WOW, he really kicked some ice out there. His finish time was ~25:30 which was good enough to earn him a 3rd place AG award. Yay!!

I was quite pleased with my finish time of ~29:10 until I realized that the course was short; it measured 3 miles instead of 3.1. Still not a bad time for me, just not as good as I thought, and right on my typical 5K pace.

This was my 4th year running in this event, and it's one I hope to be able to do again next year!

Friday Fodder

While doing my pushups, I spotted my missing exercise log book. Under the speaker! YAY!!!!!!! Clearly this is a sign of good things to come. :-)

Speaking of push ups, not sure how "good" my good form push ups are, but I'm still doing them straight legged. This morning I completed W4 D1 column one. 12+14+11+10+16 = 63 push ups! It was tough, but I did it. Yay me!!

I'm all dressed up with nowhere to go. Running clothes are on, but I'm not heading out until it is above freezing. It was 13 deg when I woke up, with a high expected at 34 deg. Brrrrrr.

I canceled my appt with the trainer for two weeks. Today because of laziness, and next week because of business travel. And guess what? I found out that she's leaving at the end of the month anyway.

I'm *thinking* of putting up the Christmas tree today. Not decorating it quite yet, just putting it up. Guess I should start by taking down the autumn stuff, ya think?

[edited to add: tree is up! and I ran 2.1 miles once it warmed up to 22 deg. brrrrr]

Fail

Today I evaluated my options for running.

Option A - Early Morning.

I got up, got dressed assuming the early run was a GO, checked out the weather forcast, and stepped outside. Wow. Colder than I imagined. And what is that noise? Like something is hitting the ground. And that feeling on my cheeks. Why...it's snow! Dunno if it's safe to run in that. After all, I am a weather wimp. Back in the house for more coffee instead.

Option B - Lunch Time.

Nice break in my calendar. Surely enough time for a run. But man. Still cloudy and cold out there. Still see occasionaly flakes falling. I decide to go to the post office instead.

Non-Option - Early Afternoon

Wouldn't you know it. The clouds have given way to sunshine. It's warmed up. Quite nice out there at the moment actually. Of course this would happen. Because I have a work meeting and can't go running now. Grrrrrr.

Running today - FAIL!

Guess I'll try again tomorrow...

checking in again

Life is still going at me in all directions, but I have hope that things will settle down in a few weeks. Really. Until then, commenting and blogging will be spotty.

* Completed w3 d3 pushups - 10+13+9+9+13=54. Bring on week 4!! Note - I only seem to be able to do them 2x per week, so this is going to take a loooonog time to complete, but I figure forward progress is forward progress.
* Wanted to run this morning, but it's not happening. Booooo.
* Reviewed my splits from Sunday run. 12min miles up a hill, 10 min mile down the hill, 10:30 on the flats. Not bad.
* Jingle Bell 5K on Saturday. I really need to run tomorrow.
* Dogs are at day care while work is going on in the back yard. Took them to a new one yesterday which worked out great. And they gave me the first day free. Woot! Dogs are heading back today.
* I lost/misplaced my exercise tracker notebook, so no totals for November. :-(

Disconnected

I still have a lot going on and not much time for blogging. I hope things settle down in a few weeks. In short, here's what's up -

* Ran on Thanksgiving and again today. Yay for running!
* Went to the gym a few times. Owie.
* Finished W3 D2 pushups. Should have finished D3, but got behind with the holiday.
* Work is crazy busy. Have to travel next week. Bleh!
* Some of you have Christmas decorations up. I still have autumn decorations up.
* Inlaws have been here since Wed. Stayed longer than expected trying to dodge a storm.
* Backyard demolition in progress as phase 1 of renovation project. What a mess.
* S-T-R-E-S-S-E-D out.

Catching Up

Wow. Suddenly life got really...busy. It seems to be coming at me from all directions. Worked kicked up a notch, we're starting the backyard renovations, the holidays are coming, Son is rushing to meet college application deadlines, things are changing in other aspects of my personal life, in laws are coming for Thanksgiving, etc. All I have time for is a quick update...

Push ups: I had to repeat the exhaustion test three times because each time the dogs started rough housing and pushed me over. They can be laying there all still, and as soon as they see me on the floor it becomes PLAYTIME!! Anyway, don't know how many I can do, but I got to 16 on my third attempt and that is good enough to move on to week three in column 1. So Week 3, here I come!

New Trainer: She asked me what I had been doing all week. I told her about the push up challenge. I assumed she would work my lower body and give the upper body a rest. But NOOOOO. She thought upper body was a good idea. And she likes to do things in reps of 15. And increase the weights along the way. Holy moly! I dunno if this is going to work out or not, but I'll stick with her until end of the year at least.

Running: Haven't done much of that. Ran two miles last Sunday. Nothing during the week. Then some of my running buddies decided on Friday that a trail run would be fun on Saturday. Sounded good to me. I dragged my lazy self out the door on a chilly morning and 'ran' 5 miles. It was tough. I had to stop three times; fitness loss happens so quickly! But it was also amazing; I realized that I have missed being out there soooooo much. I hope we can do it again this coming Saturday. :-)