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?

Car Pictures and a Weird Book

I finally took a couple of pictures of the Santa Fe - not until after it got covered in slush and dirt, but whatever.

I got a surprise in the mail on Tuesday - I won this headband from Betsy and Bonny Knits and have been so busy that I forgot about it until it came in the mail! It's super soft and cozy, plus it's cute!

I had a couple of easy 3 milers yesterday and today. I am getting back into the groove of waking up early and I have way more energy this week compared to last week. Good thing too, because the West Point Half is sneaking up awfully quickly.

I came upstairs from my run today to find Buddy in my spot on the couch. Usually he at least pretends like he wasn't on the couch. Today he went with the "if I don't move, you can't see me" maneuver.

It was actually in the 40s today - it feels like it's been forever since it was that warm!

I finished reading American Gods the other day. It was...weird. I'm still not sure how I feel about it. Has anyone else read it? Have you read any good books lately? I need recommendations!

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.

Weekend Happenings

I feel like I have barely been home this weekend, and I somehow have zero pictures to share with you.

Saturday morning I woke up early to meet up with my running group for 6 chilly miles. We were all really excited because the "feels like" temperature was the same as the actual temperature - 7 degrees - but without wind, it wasn't too bad once we got moving.

In the afternoon, Tom and I drove to a car dealership in Connecticut to check out an SUV I saw online. I need something bigger than my little blue car (a Ford Focus) and have been looking at/researching cars online for a while. We took a Hyundai Santa Fe for a strange test drive (strange because of the two trainees that rode in the back seat, not because of the car) and then went to grab lunch at a place called Widow Brown's (they have really good fries) and talk about the car.

I ended up trading my car in and going home with a new (used) car! Buying cars takes forever, even when everything goes smoothly, so we ended up leaving with just enough time for Tom to drop me off at a house I was babysitting at. I didn't get home until after midnight.

I failed to take any pictures of the car, and now it's snowing, so I'm not going to today.

This morning we had two showings of the townhouse, so we took Buddy over to hang out at Tom's parent's house for a while. We have had a decent number of people looking at the house, so hopefully something happens soon.

This afternoon we were out and about doing some shopping (Target, Gap, the grocery store), and now we're finally relaxing and watching tv. It's been a busy weekend!

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!