The Worst Time to Run is Now

I feel like this time of year we are in that in between stage. It doesn't always feel like winter, but it's not quite Spring.  However, this is when the training for Spring races needs to happen.  A lot of us are just not motivated right now and running seems hard.

I am not lacking total motivation at this point but I do feel like running is harder for me this time of year and I'll tell you why.

I haven't done a whole lot of running during the winter months. It's not that I don't like running in the winter, but with the holidays and all I just feel like it's a good time to take a break.  Well, after taking a break and getting a little too comfortable being cozy at home, when I started easing back into running, it felt hard.

 Not only does it feel hard because I'm just getting back into a routine, the weather is very temperamental this time of year. One day it may be 60 degrees (or 70), another day it's very windy, one day it's raining, and one day it may snow. This makes it hard to want to get outside.  And although I don't mind the treadmill, I can't commit to longer runs on it.

Another reason I think running this time of year feels hard is because of the expectations we often bestow upon ourselves.  I usually have a Spring race planned and Spring races bring all sorts of expectations with them. For some of us it is the first race of the year and a chance to show how refreshed we are and that we are ready to run.  My first race of the year is coming up next month and at this point I certainly don't feel refreshed and I worry that even though it is only a 10K, the race will feel hard because I am expecting more of myself.

Even with the heat and humidity, summer running will always be my favorite, followed by fall running.  Eventually I'm sure I will enjoy spring running but the journey to get there (which is Now), is not my favorite!  -M

We will be linking up with the gals from TOTR.

Weekly Wrap.... February 18

Welcome to another edition of the Weekly Wrap! 

Of course the biggest highlight of the week was Valentine's Day. Although I do feel like Valentine's day is a made up holiday just to boost the sale of frivolous items, I do think it's a fun day.  Of course I like that the candy is flowing on this day and you can't really feel guilty for having some!  I love making cards and putting little gifts together for friends and family.  Baylee and I usually make our Valentines but this year we didn't. Maybe next year.

At work on Wednesday we had a catered lunch and it was fabulous! This table is just a sampling of some of the desserts we had.  See those cupcakes in the corner? They were AMAZING! 

When I got home, we had plans to meet friends for a Valentine's dinner. We were suppose to meet this same group of friends on New Year's Eve for a dinner party, but so many of us were sick we decided to re-schedule till Valentine's day.  We had such a good time and didn't end up leaving the place till  10 pm, that's late for me on a school night! Heck, who am I kidding, that's late for me any night...lol.

One of my holiday headbands from Race Day Headbands.

Even though there were a lot of treats consumed this week, I am really proud of the workouts I did.

I did Treadmill runs on Monday and Tuesday and an outdoor run on Thursday because it was so warm and then another treadmill run on Saturday.

I say this was a good week for me because I not only got in an extra run this week, but my legs were SO sore!  They weren't sore from pain or anything, but from stretching and strength training. I've really been doing more leg exercises and weight lifting lately. I'm not over doing it, but doing enough just to feel the burn!   -M

Do you acknowledge Valentine's day?  Did you add anything to your workout routine this week?

We are linking up with Holly and Wendy for their Weekly Wrap.

Spring Fitness

Wow, I can't believe we are talking about Spring Fitness goals already!  Don't get me wrong, I am certainly looking forward to Spring, and we actually got a preview of Spring weather this week!

However, I've been concentrating on some other things so I haven't given a lot of thought to what I want to do this Spring as far as fitness and running.

Here are just a few things that we have scheduled and some things that we are considering.

1. I have a St. Patrick's day race in March. This will be a "new to me race".

2. Lacey has a Marathon coming up in March.  This will be a "new to her marathon". I think she may talk about this soon.

3. I'm headed back to the April Fools race in April. Last year I missed it in order to do the Hershey race. I'm looking forward to going back to AC. This is always a fun race! I think this will be my 5th year doing this race.

4. I am considering a half marathon in May. Right now I'm not in half marathon shape but I feel like once I know if I am running it or not, that might make me more motivated to run longer.

5. Regardless of which races we run or don't run, I'm looking forward to getting back out to running at my favorite park and trails.

I'm not really crazy about spring running because it just seems like a busy time of year and it's hard to really concentrate on running. I do look forward to summer running though. I know it's hot and humid, but I have more time in the summer to spend on the trails and by then I 'm pretty motivated.  I guess we will see what this year brings!

What races do you have planned for Spring?

An InLinkz Link-up

Weekly Wrap....Feb 11

Wow, what a week it has been!

Since it was the first week in February, I got out my Valentines decor.  I have a Labrador flag for every season but could not find one I liked for Valentines day, so I ordered this  (I Love My Dog) flag, and I think it matches. Plus I can keep it out longer that February if I want to!

I was excited that we got some snow here on Sunday afternoon, but by the time the Super bowl had started, the snow had stopped and the plow had come through.  I had no reason to believe that we would have a two hour delay on Monday Morning, but we did. Imagine my disappointed when I pulled into the parking lot and no other cars were there! I was literally bummed and to be honest a little angry. I hate that I not only missed an opportunity to sleep in, but also spend the extra time with my girl Baylee.  I thought for sure I had missed my last opportunity to sleep in on a school day.  I had all my work completed on Friday, so what did I do for two hours?

                                                                   I started a new book!
(Rushing Waters is a fictional story about Hurricane Ophelia that destroys lower Manhatten.)

Luckily, the weather Gods gave me another opportunity to sleep in on Tuesday with another 2 hour delay. I did not see this coming, but I got the memo this time!  Wednesday, work was cancelled altogether, and Thursday was another two hour delay!  Friday was the only day this week we had a full day of work. Not a bad start to the first full week in February!

I only got two runs in this week opposed to the three I had been shooting for. On Sunday I did a very substantial treadmill run before before the Super bowl festivities started.

 On Tuesday, I had a really great outdoor run through town. We heard there was going to be some snow coming on Wednesday, so running on Tuesday afternoon/evening felt like it was the calm before the storm. When I got home from my run on Tuesday, I had got the text that school would be cancelled the next day!

  Our snow day fun on Wednesday. Doesn't everyone build a snow dog?

The rest of the week I had wanted to run outside because even though there was snow on the ground, it was actually warm outside.  I was just worried because I could not find a safe enough route that was completely free of snow and pieces of ice. You know I'm a path and sidewalk runner and don't like running on the roads and dealing with cars.

Finally by Saturday, I decided I was just going to stay indoors ( call it laziness) and run on the treadmill. I had received my new  iFit module on Thursday and tried hooking it up then but got frustrated so figured I would try again on Saturday with Scott's help.  We literally spent all of Saturday afternoon AND evening trying to connect the iFit to the treadmill and the bike. It's not working. This process has been so frustrating and made me feel like I wasted an entire day. Yes, I know that I can run on the TM with out the iFit but I was so determined to get it working that I just became frustrated and threw in the towel. We will be calling customer service on Monday after work.

(The Apartment is about four gals who share a loft in NYC and the different paths their lives take them)

With all the time off this week, I did finish the Rushing Waters book, and even started a new one and finished that too. At least I feel like I've accomplished something this weekend!  So far this year, I've completed 5 books!


I do feel bad though because 3 out of the 5 books have been e-books that I've down loaded from my library. I know the difficulties Libraries have these days with getting enough funding to stay open and for buying books. Even our school library is losing books and becoming more of a technology center. I hate that libraries are losing books but now I feel like I am part of the problem!  I have always been a "real" book person but downloading e-books on the iPad is SO convenient!

Because I read a lot of books by the same author, I've put them on a Pinterest board so I can keep track of them, If you like to read too, feel free to check out my board called "Books Worth Reading".   Let me know if you have a book board too.  Do you prefer e-books or real books? -M


We will be linking up with Holly and Wendy for their Weekly Wrap!

New Runner Stuff

I previously shared with you that I received a variety box of Clif bars over the holidays.  I thought I would share a few more runner gifts that I received (but haven't yet had an opportunity to use).

I love my Flip Belt, so I was so excited when I received these Flip Belt Capris from my sister. They are basically a pair of running capris with a Flip belt attached to the waist band.

My lovely friend gifted me with this awesome light weight running hat.  I have a Nike cap I use to borrow from Scott and I liked it because it was good to wear in the rain. This one is made out of the same material!

My mom gifted me with a pair of PR soles (and a matching headband). I haven't used them for recovery yet, but I have been wearing them around the house when my feet feel tired from being on them all day and they feel great!

I also got this therma fleece lined Reebok half zip with the thumb holes.  I got a therma fit shirt from RBX last year and absolutely loved it! I looked all year long for another one and could not find one. The one I got last year kept me warm in temps less than 32 degrees and that was the only layer I had on. I haven't gone on a cold run yet this year but I bet this one would keep me toasty too since it is made the same way.

These next products were not a gift, I bought them for myself. I was in need of some new non slip headbands for running ( a lot of mine had stretched out over the years) so I searched on Etsy.

Not only did I buy 5 new headbands, but also got this shirt. I got such a good deal on it, I couldn't pass it up.  You know how I love running Disney races!

I got the sparkly headband to match this shirt but I also got a few holiday themed ones that I can't wait to wear (Valentine's day, St Patty's day, Easter, etc)

What new running things have you got lately? -M

An InLinkz Link-up

Fun Fuel

My husband loves to shop on Amazon Prime, so guess where most of my gifts come from?
Last year for Christmas one of my gifts was an entire box of GU's of various flavors.  This year I was the lucky recipient of an entire box of Clif bars.   One year he bought me a box of the Holiday flavored Clif bars (pumpkin spice, gingerbread, and pecan pie).  This year he bought me just a variety pack of flavors that I didn't even realized existed.

The variety box consist of the following flavors:

Peanut Toffee Buzz
Chocolate Crunch Peanut Crunch
Coconut Chocolate Chip
Apricot
Blueberry Crisp
Oatmeal Raisin Walnut
Chocolate Brownie
Chocolate Almond Fudge
Chocolate Chip
White Chocolate Macadamia Nut
Crunchy Peanut Butter
Nuts and Seeds

Some of these flavors I have had before, but I did not know you could buy a variety box of all of these.

I really do like Clif bars, but they are very filling and if I eat them after a run I rarely eat the entire bar.

Another running favorite are Honey Stinger Waffles. I never had a Honey Stinger flavor that I did not like.

Okay, now for an unhealthy treat. I've been eyeing up this cookie dough from the cookie dough cafe at my local grocery store. It's not cookie dough to be baked as cookies, it's to eat right out of the jar as it is. I'm assuming its safer to eat than regular raw cookie dough because it doesn't have eggs in it. I've been putting off buying because I know it's not healthy, but this week my appetite got the better of me and I had to try it. It is A-okay!   -M

We will be linking up with the gals from TOTR.

Weekly Wrap....Chocolate Tour

This weekend was our community's Ice festival.  The Ice Festival consisted of the Frosty 5K, games in the park, ice sculptures, the Polar Plunge, the Chocolate Tours, and the Chocolate Banquet.  I heard later that the Polar Plunge was cancelled (Rightfully so, even though it is for charity, I find it ridiculous that an organization would put volunteers at risk for this in freezing water in February. I definitely think they made a good call. Polar Plunges should be banned!).

I was debating on running the Frosty 5K. I was bummed that I missed the price increase deadline (because I could not find the updated web page to register), so I decided if the organization could not produce clear communication for the race that I was not going to pay extra to run it.  I realized that I did want to run and that I was just being stubborn, so I thought about it some more and did some weather stalking for that date. Turns out, we were suppose to get freezing rain the morning of the race. That solidified my decision to not run.  However, I knew that I wanted to participate in the Chocolate Tour and the other festivities later in the day. We never got any freezing rain although I'm sure the morning was colder than what I would have liked but the sun was out in the afternoon and it was a perfect day for walking in town.

My sister and I, and our friends K,  all met on the third floor of the Barnes and Nobel book store to purchase our tickets for the Chocolate Tour. We got a lanyard with a punch card on it, a bottle of water, and a small goodie bag. We asked what the bag was for and we were told that it was to put some treats in along the way. We assumed that we would just be eating the treats at each stop and would not need the bag. Turns out, we had so many treats that we could have used a larger bag!

There were 15 or so stops along the tour that had some sort of chocolate concoction.  There were chocolate truffles, chocolate bagels, lots of chocolate bark, and other various chocolate treats. There was even chocolate wine at one of the stops.

                               Here are some of the many ice sculptures along the route.

Of course we couldn't go to an ice festival and not stop and visit Olaf.

We had ate quite a bit of chocolate already while on the tour, but we all had twice as much that we did not eat and got to bring home with us. This was my stash.  After the tour we all went back to our friend K's house and had coffee, shared our treats, and played games.


You would think that after eating all the chocolate (and I didn't eat all my stash yet), that I would have had some great workouts this weekend, but I didn't.  I did my two treadmill runs earlier this week and planned to do an outside run on Saturday since it was nice but I did not plan very well.

  I was planning on getting up this morning and running at the park but when I woke up, there was already snow on the ground (I didn't think it was coming till this evening).  I can not get into the habit of skipping runs so I'll call it another treadmill day. I'm getting pretty use to this (not usually because of the weather, but by choice). I'm finding TM runs to be pretty darn convenient although not as satisfying!

                                After the run it will be time to put on the Chili for the big game!

 So glad to be cheering on a local East Coast team!  Fly Eagles Fly!  At the grocery store last night they had really cute Eagles cupcakes that I wanted to get for the game but after having all the chocolate the day before I thought better of the decision to buy them!


Any cool festivals near you?  Will you be watching the game? -M

                       We will be linking up with Holly and Wendy for their weekly wrap.