Happy Dance

I just ran OUTSIDE for the first time in weeks!! It was very liberating. The roads are still something of a mess in sections, but for the most part I was able to run on the pavement. It was awesome.

I skipped out of work today to play and to pick up my kids early from daycare. I made my hours for the month and hey, today is a "freebie" anyway. No one had to work on February 29 last year right? :)

Tomorrow my baby turns 5. We are going to the Wisconsin Dells to celebrate waterpark style!

TGIF

Hooray! It is Friday! It has been something of a crazy week for me. I have been very busy at work and the kids have both been sick. The cold and snow continue and I am stuck on the treadmill. Supposedly it is going to be 31 tomorrow and 34 Sunday. I hope it is so some of the snow and ice melts. All of the streets (exception highways) and side walks are covered in a couple of inches of snow and ice. It is annoying to say the least. But I am adapting. My running is very light, but I have been trying to add intervals and pickups on the treadmill. Yesterday I ended up striding out at a 6:00 pace, but it felt oh so much harder. It wil be interesting to see what happens when I actually get outside again.

Happy Friday.

Life is too short

Notwithstanding my selfish weather woes, I ask you all to thank your lucky stars. This week, one of my best friends lost her baby. She was due in 2 weeks. Due to an inexplicable "cord accident," her precious baby girl passed 2 weeks early. My friend had a c-section and delivered a stillborn baby.

Need I say more? No parent should ever have to bury their child. It is one of the worst tragedies imaginable. So if you are able, kiss your babies and rejoice in every breath they have taken, and every breath they will take.

On Friday, friends from all over the world lit a candle for this precious baby. It was amazingly sad and eye-opening at the same time. We have so much to be thankful for everyday. Sometimes it takes great loss to even begin to see it. But we all should be thankful for all that is amazing every day in our lives. Really. Please take a moment to reflect on that.

Sorry for being overly "heavy" but this has consumed me lately. I am so amazingly sad for my friend's loss. It is inexplicable and unimaginable. If I could take away one second of their pain, I would in a heartbeat. Unfortunately it does not work that way.

God Bless Baby Cambria and her amazing parents.

Still here . . .

So you may be wondering why I haven't been around much. Well, I really have had nothing new to say. The weather still REALLY sucks. I have not run outside in weeks. Literally, weeks. We have so much snow it is crazy. More to come tomorrow. We literally have a foot and a half of snow on our deck and temps haven't been even close to 30 in a LONG time. :( THe roads are covered with snow, so trying to run outside would = injury.

SO, so I am plugging out very low mileage on the treadmill. Yeah, I have made friends with the treadmill, but you, well at least I, cannot "train" solely on the treadmill. So I am in a bad state with my running. I admit it. And I don't want to blog every day about how much it sucks. But I wanted ya'll to know that I am here, just nothing positive to report Winter can't last forever can it?

Fortunately Northwoods Bryan challenged me on mileage, so that should keep me on my treadmill at least (thanks again for that BYW).

See . . .

/O.CON.KMKX.WS.W.0004.080217T0600Z- 080218T0600Z/ IOWA-DANE-LAFAYETTE- GREEN- INCLUDING THE CITIES OF... DODGEVILLE...MADISON...DARLINGTON... MONROE 558 PM CST SAT FEB 16 2008

...WINTER STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM MIDNIGHT TONIGHT TO MIDNIGHT CST SUNDAY NIGHT...

A WINTER STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM MIDNIGHT TONIGHT TO MIDNIGHT CST SUNDAY NIGHT.

A MIXTURE OF SLEET...SNOW...AND FREEZING RAIN WILL DEVELOP AFTER MIDNIGHT WITH LIGHT ICE ACCUMULATION EXPECTED. THE MIXED PRECIPITATION WILL CHANGE TO PERIODS OF HEAVY SNOW DURING SUNDAY MORNING AND LAST INTO SUNDAY EVENING. SNOW AMOUNTS WILL RANGE FROM 6 TO 12 INCHES...WITH THE HIGHEST SNOW AMOUNTS WEST OF MADISON AND MONROE.

A WINTER STORM WARNING IS ISSUED WHEN HEAVY SNOW...AND/OR SLEET... AND/OR FREEZING RAIN IS EXPECTED TO COMBINE WITH STRONG WINDS OF 25 MPH OR MORE TO CAUSE MAJOR IMPACTS TO COMMERCE AND SOCIETY. TRAVEL WILL BE DANGEROUS AND IS STRONGLY DISCOURAGED. IF YOU MUST TRAVEL...KEEP A WINTER WEATHER SUPPLY KIT IN YOUR VEHICLE IN CASE OF AN EMERGENCY.

Relentless

It is snowing again. Schools are cancelled, my office is closed. We are supposed to get 8-20 inches (yes, that is how accurate the forecasts are being). Crazy. For all of you in the south, be careful of those crazy tornadoes!!

Running? I ran 7 on the treadmill this morning. All went well. I wore my HRM for the first time in forever. My poor garmin is very lonely and sad these days. But the good news was that my HR was slightly better. I started out at an easy 9:13 pace, then after 4 miles started picking it up. I was doing an 8:00 pace at marathon effort (or at least what my HR should be - I've never worn my HRM in a race). And I added some tempo effort (7:20s) and finished at a 6:30 pace for the last .5. It was actually pretty fun! Unfortunately I still have something of a head cold. There is just nastiness going around as we are all trapped indoors. That is the worst thing about running on the treadmill. When I have a head cold I spit a lot when running. Gross, I know, but it helps. Well my husband wouldn't really appreciate it if I started spitting all over the basement while on the TM. LOL. I don't know what the heck he would say to me. Funny visual (for me) anyway.

Yesterday I did my legs/glutes/hammies pilates for the first time in weeks. Boy were my hammies tight and my range of motion was limited. I really need to keep up with that in all of my spare time.

My littlest boy is doing MUCH better in school this week. He has been all smiles saying he had a GREAT day both days this week. Thank goodness. I laughed because Tuscaloosa just divulged his new nickname for his daughter, "Prairie Dog." I love it! Probably because I am the queen of nicknames for my kids. They each have several, but I regularly call my children "Doobie Dog" (6 year old: yes, I really call him that) and "Diggity Dog" (4 year old). It is cute because my littest boy calls his big brother "Doovie." Don't ask me why I call them those names, but they fit. :)

So I was finally reading through some blogs and saw that Salty is still battling the stitch. If anyone has solutions to this problem, please speak up. It is one of those running mysteries that no one has a decent explanation for or solution to.

OK, I have been a slacker this morning. Off to get cleaned up and head to work. Hopefully the roads will be a little better in an hour. Happy trails.

Super Bowl

Go Giants! Admittedly I was cheering for the Pats. I have no loyalty for them, I just thought it would be cool to see them have a perfect seaon. But then I watched the game. Admittedly I am a Manning fan, so it was fun.

So I was in a FOUL mood yesterday. Seriously. I was as unpleasant to be around as when I was 15 years old. I had, of course, a million things (errands) to do yesterday. I set out and it started pouring snow again. I finally get to my first destination (20 minutes later) and realize I forgot my purse! Thank goodness my husband was home to give me a credit card number over the phone (I had a return that required $2.00 for the exchange and I had nothing).

I had 15 other things to do. BUT I don't think Target or the grocery store would have taken my cc over the phone. So I was cranky. AND I have so looked forward to the weekends to running outside. But we have run out of salt in our town and the roads are at least an inch thick of pure snow. OK for one or two runs. More than that spells injury. So, yeah, this year has been relentless. I am sick of it. And quite frankly, yesterday I was pissed off. BUT I logged 7 miles yesterday, 5 today on the treadmill. Nothing to write home about, but moving forward. I realize I MUST run every day if I am going to log decent mileage.

I received my first paycheck on Friday. It flippin' rocked. They actually pay me for this. And they pay me well! I am thinking of using my check to off Punxsutawney Phil. Bad form?

Not only am I running slacker

but also a blogging slacker. Oh well. The knee is much better. Greg, I have chondromalacia, which is a serious knee condition. I have had it since a freak water park accident when I was 14. Well, I actually make it sound much more exciting and litigious than it was. I was "riding" in the waves in a wave pool and a tremendously obsese dude jumped right on me. My knee hit the concrete floor - it has never been the same since. I've had surgery, but the cartilage is shot and I already have some arthritis. If my legs are not strong (and balanced muscle proportion) I have tracking issues. It also consistently cracks and makes funky noises. Fun, huh? That is one of the many *exciting* facts about me. :) Usually I am fine, but bitter cold and crappy conditions causing me to lose balance will cause it to scream.

Ok, now that I have bored you all to tears, I will move on......This week was insanely cold here. Schools were closed on Wednesday b/c it ws -35 degrees with the wind chill. Now I know you southern folks cannot fathom it, but it is insanely, insanely, indescribably cold. Needless to say, all of the illness and school closings have been tough for me and my hubby to work around, but we are getting there.

My littlest boy's ear is better. Unfortunately, I am now riddled with "Mommy Guilt" though as he cries every day at day care (and he is NOT a crier and very self-conscious so he gets upset he is so sad too :). He says he just misses me and that we used to spend so much time together. Ouch. That is the upside to putting kids in daycare before they can fully express these feelings. We will get there, but it has been a painful week.

Work is great. I'm loving it.

Running is still pretty pathetic, but I did manage a fun fartlek on the treadmill this morning. First treadmill speed work for me ever. It was fun! I didn't push too hard, but it was fun to get moving some and to feel like I was doing a "workout" rather than going through the motions.

I am inspired by Salty and am going to set up a plan this weekend. I am ready for some structure and to get out of this funk I'm in with running.

Sorry I have been gone all week. I'll catch up on blogs this weekend. Have a good one and enjoy the SuperBowl (and commercials).