Clashing and Running

Some randomness from my day:

My car has a little spot that is just right for a container of Nuun. 

I'm not sure I could clash any more if I tried. In my defense, I don't go out looking like this.

You can't tell, but it was snowing really hard when I took this picture.

So I quite naturally changed really quickly to go for a run in the snow. It was snowing harder than I thought it was and I had snow flying in my eyes for the first half mile. It was fun though!

I can't believe that Yoga Camp is almost over! There are only two days left, and I'm very seriously considering signing up for Adriene's streaming subscription. She has tons of videos on YouTube, but there are a lot more (and longer ones) on her member site.

I haven't done any headstands in a while. I got a little in my own head after I fell out of one last year and tweaked my neck. I decided it was time to start working on them again, because I really do like doing them. After yoga camp today I managed to kick up (near a wall, but without using the wall) into a headstand. Hopefully soon I'll get back to doing them in the middle of the room.

Buddy's ready for the weekend. He's been running with Tom a lot lately, so he's even sleepier than usual. I'm sleepier than usual too, but that's mostly my own fault since I can't seem to get to bed at a reasonable hour lately.

More Snow

We ended up getting around 8 inches of snow yesterday, which is much nicer than the 18 inches they thought we were going to get. 

I threw on some trail running shoes (for added traction) and hit the road for four miles this morning.

The roads were clear for the most part. There were just a few areas of slush and snow. The real danger was the people driving like maniacs through the neighborhood. One car flew by way too fast and way too close and ended up kicking a (small) rock up into my face.

Thanks.

On the bright side, it didn't leave a mark, but it definitely stung.

It was really pretty out though!

I took Buddy out to run around the yard when I got home. It doesn't take much to wipe him out for the rest of the day.

I can't believe how fast this month has gone. There is only a week left, which means only a week of yoga camp left! I'm already trying to decide what I'm going to do when yoga camp is over. I want to keep doing yoga, and it's been proven that I'm more likely to stick to something if I have a plan.

Snow Day

My training plan called for 5k at race pace today. That didn't end up happening. Barely anything ended up happening. 

The snow started at 8am and pretty much hasn't stopped. If it were just snow, I probably would have gone out for a run, but the wind made that a little lot less appealing. 

Buddy and I ran around the yard this afternoon - we've gotten a lot more snow since I took these pictures. 

It seemed like a good day to try out one of the hot chocolates that Tom's parents gave us for Christmas.

We only had jumbo marshmallows from making s'mores this summer, so I tore one up to add to my mug.

I did today's yoga camp video and 3 minutes of planks (not all at once), but otherwise spent a lot of time playing on my computer and watching Harry Potter.

There are worse ways to spend a day.

More Snow and a Candy Jar

I had an easy 3 miles yesterday after my speedwork on Thursday. It wasn't terribly exciting, so I won't bore you with the details. What I will do is tell you about this:

That's right, an online candy store that delivers a candy jar to your front door! You get to pick the size of your candy jar and then pick what will be inside. My mom gave me a gift certificate so I could try it out - thanks Mom! :)

This is what I picked for my jar:

The candy is good too, not that cheap chocolate that tastes kind of waxy. Pretty fun!

We got several inches of snow yesterday, and it's already melting off. I didn't even bother to shovel the driveway because I knew it was going to warm up today (and because I'm lazy and I didn't want to shovel any more snow).

This was Friday afternoon, there's more out there now.

The Sleepy Hollow Half was this morning. I know the roads are pretty clear (and they changed the course so there weren't any trail portions this year), but I have to say, I'm glad I wasn't running this morning. It was cold when I ran it last year (you can read my recap HERE), but there wasn't any snow on the ground.

There wasn't a group run this morning because most of the group was at the race. I slept in instead. I have one last long run tomorrow and then next weekend is the West Point Half - I'm starting to get nervous/excited!

Apparently Consistent Training Helps

Think winter is over? The weather has other plans.

We're supposed to get another 3-5 inches of snow tomorrow. And it was almost all melted off too! On the bright side, it's not supposed to stick around. 

Today's run was a tempo. I started off watching netflix and ended up playing angry music (think Linkin Park) instead. I needed loud music to keep me going. This is how it played out: 1 mile warm up, 4 miles @ 7:54, 1 mile cool down. I was definitely ready to stop when I hit my miles, but I was still feeling strong

I spent some time looking at my training plans from my races last year, and I can't get over how much faster my average pace is! My tempos were 9:30-10:00 miles - it's amazing what consistent training can do!

Something about this week is making me constantly hungry. It's not like I suddenly increased my mileage or anything, but I'm just hungry ALL. THE. TIME.

Since my mom complained about the lack of Buddy pictures yesterday, here's a picture of him surveying the yard in the sunshine.

And then he got tangled in his leash.

10 days until the West Point Half Marathon! 

Muddy Buddy

Buddy and I had to be out of the house for 2 hours today for more house selling shenanigans. Lucky for us, the weather has gotten better, and it was in the upper 40s this afternoon.

This is the look I got when I made him sit in the snow.

We headed to Rockefeller for a while. The paths were either still snow-covered and slushy, or really muddy. We walked the slushy parts and ran the muddy parts. Buddy was having a blast!

Sometimes we run home from the mailbox or the dumpster and when I tell Buddy to "go, go, go!" he spins around and grabs the leash to drag me back to the house. I told him to "go, go, go!" during a particularly muddy part of the path today so he would go faster.

Instead I ended up standing in the mud cracking up at my crazy dog.

We were a little muddy by the time we got back to the car.

 And Buddy was a little tired.

We had a couple of bananas just begging to be turned into banana bread, and some mini chocolate chips may have made their way into the batter.

Don't mind if I do!

Snow, Peanut Butter and a Tempo Run

Our "heat wave" was short lived - it snowed again today. The snow was wet and the roads were a mess. I spent a lot of time yelling about drivers who had no business on the road. Please take your convertible that you didn't bother to clear the snow off of back home if you're not comfortable going any faster than 5mph. Thankyouverymuch.

I had a much more successful tempo run today. There were still a couple of breaks, but that was because I can't drink water on the treadmill without spilling half of it. I ran 6 miles with 4 @ 8:00 pace. I'm pretty happy with that.

Buddy is perfecting his invisibility game. I came upstairs from my run to find him impersonating a pillow.

Nothing to see here, move along.

There was a ton of old ice building up in the freezer, so I decided to put it to good use by taking an ice bath. And then I had to add hot water because it was so cold that it instantly caused physical pain and there was no way I was sitting down with it that cold. It was still plenty unpleasant, so I feel like it did its job.

I think my fitbit is confused. I'm not sure how I ran 6 miles and only have 9 active minutes.

And let's not talk about how many of these I ate today:

Now that I think about it, I've had a lot of peanut butter today. I had some at breakfast on toast, some with an apple for a snack and an unknown number of peanut butter m&m's. I'm a peanut butter lover, I haven't joined the masses of almond butter lovers yet. I've tried it, it just isn't my favorite.

Are you on the almond butter bandwagon?

Impressing the Neighbors

I have gotten really bad about taking pictures lately. I still don't have a picture of my car. It's white - you can use your imagination ;)

We got a few more inches of snow yesterday/last night. I don't know how much we actually got because most of it melted off today. Yes, that's right, it was above freezing! Everyone was terribly excited.

I didn't do my long run over the weekend because I just didn't have time, so I did it today instead. my training plan called for 13 miles, but there's something ingrained in me that prevents me from stopping at 13 miles when 13.1 is so close. I ended up at 13.1 miles in 2:04:41, not bad for a training run.

I put off shoveling the driveway (mostly just a walkway because my car takes up most of the driveway) until after my run, so I'm sure the neighbors were impressed with my outfit of running shoes, running skirt, and down jacket.

Buddy and I drove around while people looked at the house. It was too dark and cold for use to do anything else. They stayed a decent amount of time so we ended up parking in the visitor parking at the townhouse waiting for them to leave. Buddy was pretty confused, but ended up deciding to sleep rather than continuing to pace the backseat.

And now I'm off to fold laundry, because I have been avoiding it all afternoon.

Buddy the Nap Coach

Yesterday was supposed to be an easy two miler, but I was tiiiiiired, so I decided to skip it. What's two miles anyway?

Today I was so tired that I actually tried to nap. Unless I'm sick, I pretty much can't nap. I just lay there and think about how nice it would be to be asleep.

Buddy is a professional napper, and tried to coach me, but it didn't work.

Check out these cute bird prints in the snow.

I was NOT feeling my run today. Not at all.

It was supposed to be a tempo run, but it ended up being more of an interval run because I took so many breaks. Also, I almost died because I wore capris instead of shorts to the basement - it was way too hot.

6 miles total, with 4 @ 8:34. I got it done, but it was not awesome.

I always try to remember that not every run can be amazing, and that toughing it out makes me stronger - both physically and mentally - but it still wasn't fun.

Mostly Pictures of Buddy

Happy Tuesday! Sorry I've been MIA the last few days. I've actually had things to do lately, so I'm getting back in the swing of properly managing my time.

The less exciting side of things is that I've been setting an alarm this week, which I have to get used to again. It's been a while. That's not to say that I've been sleeping until noon every day, I'm usually up by 8, but 6 and 8 are quite different.

Some highlights from the last few days:

We got a few inches of snow Saturday night into Sunday, and then Sunday we were treated to some above freezing temperatures. It's so wrong when temperatures in the upper 30s feel sort of warm.

I did some shopping and managed to only buy the pants that I set out to buy. I was pretty proud of myself.

Buddy tried to stop me from running, but I managed to make it down to the treadmill for the last 4 miler of my cutback week. I was not feeling it at all, but I trudged my way through it.

I took no pictures on Monday. And I didn't run. I did, however do a TON of dishes that we were avoiding all weekend.

Today's run was a good one. My training plan called for 3 easy miles, but I was in the groove, so I ended up at 4.32 miles in 40 minutes.

I sat down on the treadmill to stretch and was promptly joined by Buddy.

He's kind of ridiculous.

Feels Like: I Don't Want to go Outside

Friday was super cold.

Buddy and I layered up to go outside in the morning. He wore his vest:

And his coat. He hates the paparazzi.

And I wore ALL the layers.

I got in 4 miles on the treadmill with my tried and true Gilmore Girls, and otherwise did very little. In my defense, they played an old season finale of Bones on tv and I had to watch the next episode on Netflix - I can't end on a season finale, even if I do know what happens next.

Fast forward to today -

I didn't make it on my group run this morning, we had some work stuff to take care of, so today ended up being a rest day for me. My legs have been feeling tired this week for some reason, so it's probably a good idea in the long run (um, 5 weeks until the West Point half - I'm not ready!).

Tom and I went to brunch at Birdsall House this afternoon. We have been there for dinner a couple of times, and it's always really good! I got the french toast, it came with bacon and apple butter. Now I want to make apple butter - it was amazing.

And Tom got corned beef hash. Everything was delicious!

 
I am on the lookout for this ice cream. Has anyone tried it yet?

It's snowing again. We're supposed to get a few inches of snow before it switches to freezing rain. Awesome.

I hope your weekend is going well so far!