Virtual Running Buddies - 2/5

[SusanMac]

I'll kick off a new week, since we apparently had a spammer on last week's thread (Les - you always seem to see them first. I haven't seen them yet)

I'm also starting off the week....b/c I feel better! Woo hoo! Still not 100%, but I woke up today feeling much more like myself.

Last night I did 40 min on the bike trainer. Very light & steady, no intervals or anything. But, instead of wiping me out (like on Wed) it felt good. I'll probably spin again today to be safe. Also b/c the roads are icy.

Anyone have fun plans for the weekend? Our last pre-race long run is on Sun. Woo hoo! We plan to do 10 miles. The last 2 weeks have dropped my confidence in my running base. But, this will be my 4th run of 10 miles or more, so that's a good thing.

And hopefully I'll be well enough to have a beer during the Super Bowl (which we don't really care about at all, but always watch)

[TKay]

Susan - Thanks for kicking us off. Glad you're on the mend. I think laying low has paid off for you. I know what you mean about the Super Bowl. I don't really follow football much, but always attend a friend's Super Bowl party. Good luck with the long run.

To answer your question, this (http://allrecipes.com/recipe/kitty-litter-cake/Detail.aspx) is the kitty litter cake. Hey, ds is 10 and thinks gross is funny.

Les - Thanks for clearing out the spam for us. I missed it too.

I've done nothing all week. Every time I gear up to workout, my body declines the offer. Once again, I'm heading upstairs to get on that TM. I hope my body doesn't mind, because my brain really needs a workout.

Weekend plans: A possible trip to Ventura to visit a mission dh is doing a report on. Super Bowl party. Day hike with the whole family (weather permitting). We have another big (rain) storm on the calendar.

[SusanMac]

Tkay - that cake is so fantastic!! Just trying to picture the first person to think this up & try it. Was is Sandra Lee? ;-) It actually sounds super fun & silly to try some time, although I can't think of an excuse to do it. It also doesn't sound like this comes out in nice square cake pieces, right? You end up with piles of glop on each plate (which probably makes it all the more fun)

DH's birthday is only 2 days after we return from vacation. So, I'm having to do a bit of planning ahead, so I'm not scrambling too much when we return!

[TKay]

Susan - You don't think dh would appreciate a kitty litter cake? :D

Popping back in to report a short, but good workout. I just did light weights while walking on the TM. Then I did a few abs and some lunges. It felt good to move, but I was careful to take it easy.

Happy weekend, all!

[Leslie Ferguson]

Thanks for starting Susan - no time to make long winded comments, it's snowing like the dickens and the lights just flickered. I think there's been ~10 inches so far with 20-30 predicted. I got an hour in in the snow and had a blast.

Battening down the hatches for a wild ride.

Happy trails,
Les

[VictoriaL]

Susan, isn't it great on that day after you've been feeling sick to wake up and actually feel good?! Good luck with the long run today.

Did Tkay get out for that hike?

Les, hope you're doing well and weathering the storm. It has been a wild winter for us, hasn't it?

Well I have used Mom's TM several times and found a few things that I need to remember next time:

#1- Do not look at the clock behind you while on the treadmill
#2- Do not fiddle with the mp3 player or the heart rate monitor wrist-thingy while on the treadmill
#3- Do not talk to anyone while on the treadmill unless he/she is directly in front of me.
#4- Do not get too "into" the music while on the treadmill.

Let's say that those little emergency turn off switch (which you clip to your clothes) was very much needed until I learned these little lessons (*woosh!*)
:)

But I have to say that using the TM was not quite as boring as using the EB. I may consider getting one, but I really do miss being outside! We got about 6" of snow here, and the roads were not safe enough to run on, even though I really do enjoy running the roads around here when we visit.

Jack's mom came thru the repair to her aorta just fine, and was sent back to his sister's house within 24 hours! They had no snow at their place.

We will return to the farm on Tuesday with about 24" of snow on the ground. :( The 4th biggest snowfall in history for that area. And the power had been out since yesterday morning, with a low last night of 8, so I'm very worried about burst pipes and other damage. My Dad offered to drive me down today, but the county is under an emergency and only official vehicles are to be on the roads (they closed our local hospital because of the power outages, and even the malls!).

Well, the family will be arriving in an hour so I should go and get my shower. My Mom's birthday is next Sunday, but since I am here we are celebrating today. Two different kinds of cake... I wonder if I have time for a quick "run to nowhere"!

Take care, everyone, and hope that your weekends are going well (especially for those in that "storm belt"!).

[Leslie Ferguson]

Vicci - Yep, it's been quite the winter. It reminds me of 1979 when we had a ton of snow in February. We ended up with nearly 24" here and Dulles Airport had 32"+. Good news about your MIL, it's been a tough season for her and I bet it feels nice to have her back from the hospital for a while. Prayers for her continued recovery. I also hope that your house is without serious problems. I'd imagine that your house stayed reasonably warm (at least above freezing) even if the power was out. Still, not a great thing to have hanging over your head.

Not much running over the past couple days and no spins but definitely got a workout. I've shoveled snow from around my car and cleared a big portion of the sidewalk in front of our building. Now just waiting for our complex to get someone to plow the streets. Interestingly, the main roads are clear-ish, just can't get there. May walk over to the grocery this afternoon - not for anything in particular just for the exercise.

Hope all are staying warm and dry.

Happy trails,
Les

[Leslie Ferguson]

Hey gang, a long walk in the snow and taking pictures. I'm pretty beat and off school tomorrow.

Here's a link to my pictures on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=147594&id=654239289&l=4646fe1356). Pretty cool isn't it?

Happy trails all,
Les

[SusanMac]

Checking in to report a great long run yesterday! DH & I did 10.5 miles. I felt sluggish at the start, but really got in a groove & felt steady. It felt sooo good to finally move & have a real, healthy workout. The last 2 weeks have been really bad in terms of consistency, but I'm confident I can get through my half this weekend. Definitely not a PR race, but both DH & I are doing it for fun, and are OK with that.

Les - very cool photos! I just love the clear, blue gorgeous day after a big snowfall! Good luck with roads, power outages, etc, that is all over your region

Vicci - fantastic news about your MIL! And I love your TM lessons :-) Maybe you could make your mother a kitty litter cake??

I also have to report that we made Bycling Magazine's butternut squash enchiladas last night for our Super Bowl dinner. Nat reviewed these a few weeks ago. They rocked!! So easy & yummy. And just about the rice level of spices (for DH anyway....I have to tone spices down for him. Don't get me started). Looking forward to some leftovers for lunch today. We also felt pretty virtuous. That's about the healthiest meal I've ever served on Super Bowl Sunday :-)

We leave tomorrow for Texas. Yee haw! We'll have a few days in Houston with my dad & sis. Then Austin for the weekend. Our race is on Sun. Really looking forward to it! I won't be online too much, but will definitely post a race report when we return.

[Kathy B]

Great pictures, Les! I especially liked the Holmes Run Greenway (I think that's right?). Beautiful! You looked a little too cheerful when you were shoveling, though! :p

Have a great race, Susan! I hope the weather is great, too. Do you know the forecast in Austin these days? Good job on your 10.5 miler!! If you had to get sick, at least it was well before your half, right? :)

Vicci, I have to say that I never use the little emergency thing anymore. I always seemed to knock it out accidentally, and the sudden stop would almost turn IN to an emergency. :eek: Hope you didn't sustain any injuries as you were learning your lessons! I would add, #5) Do not drink from your water bottle while on the TM. I HAVE to pause for drinks, or at the very least, everything gets wet!

Tkay, We did a similar cake for DS when he was 6.....dirt and worms on top. (Crushed oreos and gummmy worms). Boys and gross stuff...:D Hope you are pretty much recovered by now. Way to hang in there with the light workouts!

Yesterday DD prodded me over to the CC (thank you DD!), and I did a nice 60 min workout. Half on the Treadclimber and half on the TM. This morning I was back over there for weights.

Saturday one of my brothers and I spent most of the day trying to finish packing up all the excess stuff from my mom's house and getting it over to the storage unit. There is definitely a lot more open space in the house now, and a lot less clutter. I forgot Sunday was the Superbowl, because DS wasn't here to plan a party! :p I always knew it was Superbowl Sunday in the past, because I suddenly had a lot of snack items on my grocery list and a request for pizza for dinner!

Working tomorrow. Hope your weeks are all starting off well! :)

[VictoriaL]

Les, nice photos. :) I especially like the "cool dude", but I'm with Kathy-- you looked entirely too cheerful to be shoveling snow!

Susan, I must get those enchiladas into the menu soon. Have a great time in Austin, and good luck with the race.

Kathy, I have actually managed to drink while "treadmilling" and not shoot myself out of the back of the unit... I use a cup with a lid. :) What a job it must be to clean out your Mom's house. Did you find any treasures???

I did 45 minutes on the TM this morning, and that will be it for exercise for a while because DH arrives here later today and we will head back (to the great unknown) tomorrow. So far, power has yet to be restored, and when I finally got the chance to talk to a customer rep at the electric company, she told me that the power has been out since Friday (not Saturday, which I had thought). So why did I buy all of those bags of chicken breasts and whole roasters last week????? Grrrr! (answer- "because they were on sale and the power hasn't gone off for four days since a summer storm in '01")

Wish me luck, all. A good thing is that MIL's apartment (15 minutes from our house) has not been affected by outages, so we'll be able to stay there while we wait for our power to go back on.

Have a nice start to your week all! And, Les, good luck with that next storm which should be arriving tomorrow (we're hearing an additional 8-10" here).

[Leslie Ferguson]

Oh, I wasn't shoveling when that picture was taken of me. I was just out playing and measuring the snow. I agree, the Greenway was beautiful the other day. I bet it will be tomorrow too.

Safe travels to you Susan and have fun with your family.

Kathy - Glad you got stuff out of your mother's house and into storage. Good job at the CC too, especially with your TM workout.
Vicci - I can't imagine not having electricity for 4 days in the winter. At least you could put the frozen stuff outside and it would stay frozen considering the weather these days. ;) It is good that your MIL's place has power even though she's not there right now. (right?)

I had today off school. They are still digging out around here (the bobcat is digging out the access road as I write). We're supposed to have school tomorrow but... I did a bunch of upper body work shoveling snow for over an hour and pushing a car out of the access road when he got stuck. Then I walked up the hill and hit the grocery and hair cuttery before the next round of snow. I think I'm ready.

Speaking of snow, the next storm keeps growing in intensity and they are predicting another 10-20" Tuesday into Wednesday. Oy vey! The biggest issue is I'm supposed to go to our Diocese's (the group of 119 Episcopal Churches in our region) annual convention on Friday and preach on Saturday. Hopefully the snow goes away a little before then.

Happy trails all,
Les

[TKay]

Les - Loved the photos. It's nice to live through a snow storm vicariously. Good luck with the next round on its way.

Vicci - I would add, "Don't watch a TV show that makes you laugh uproariously while running on the TM." I know from experience that that can be a hazard too. Glad to hear about MIL, but not so happy about the power outage. Yikes.

Susan - Have a great trip and good luck with your race. Looking forward to your race report. Enjoy it.

Kathy - Good of dd to motivate you. Happy work day. Funny about forgetting it was Super Bowl Sunday.

I had yet another weekend of taking it easy on the workout front. Mostly walking but I did get in a good solid run. Slow and steady, but long. We also did get out for a family hike yesterday. The weather was perfect. It was clear and crisp. I swear, I had to drag the family out and then they were all glad we went. Even the pooch joined us for her first wilderness outing. She is such a good dog. It was fun watching her run and explore. The boys both woke up complaining of sore throats. Oy!

Here's to a great week, everyone. Take your C, echinacea, zinc, whatever, and stay healthy.

[Leslie Ferguson]

Hey Gang - it's another wild day. Snow was a little delayed coming in but it started gently falling at 4pm. Here comes the fun.

TKay - Glad to let you live through the storm vicariously - my pleasure to bring you a little piece of my winter fun. I hope your boys aren't coming down with something but imagine their sore throat comes from being outside more than being sick.

Finished doing some snow shoveling today. LW's car is now completely extricated from the snow. I know, that sounds funny considering it's snowing again but the reality is another 1-2' of snow would have been nearly untenable. As it was it took me most of 2 hours to uncover her car and the area around it so if she needed to move she could. So I'm counting the shoveling as my workout today. Classes canceled again tomorrow - guess I have to stay home again. ;)

Happy trails and here comes the snow.
Les

[VictoriaL]

A quick post from the MIL's apartment, where it is warm and we apparently have abundant electricity. Yay!

I cannot begin to describe this day, just suffice to say that we were able to get about 2/3 of the way up the driveway once we arrived home. Poor DH, the snowplows piled about 5' of snow at the end of the driveway which he had to deal with before anything else. Fortunately, I had borrowed an old shovel from Dad before leaving, because with over 2' of snow on the ground it would have been hard to walk up the hill to the shed to get one of our shovels.

We are on day #5 of no electricity, and the upstairs at the farm was a nice chilly 38 degrees (downstairs a balmy 45). Miraculously, no pipes have burst (the water is still running), but there may be problems with the water pump when the power does comeback on (I'm not thinking about it). Tossed a bunch of stuff from the smaller refrigerator/ freezers, but the big ol' freezer will have to be dealt with tomorrow as I was running out of daylight. I brought a bunch of stuff to the apartment for the refrigerator and freezer, but it wasn't cold enough to use the porch as a freezer. Hopefully tomorrow.

I want my nice (semi-warm) life back. I want to be in Austin with Susan, or in southern CA with Tkay!!! :)

No exercise today, and probably none tomorrow (perhaps some yoga, and a nice long stretch). We are hoping to spend several hours at the farm, where I can turn on the electric fireplaces in the two downstairs rooms for a while.

I can't imagine when my trails will be "runnable" again!

Take care with this next winter onslaught, Les. We've already had 3" of new stuff, and some ice to boot. Did I ASK to live in North Dakota? Hmmmmm?

Can someone take a nice, long run for me, please???

[Leslie Ferguson]

Sorry to hear that Vicci. It's never fun to be without electricity and even moreso when you lose food. I'm glad that you have your MIL's house to stay at. I just checked here and we're at 4" (at least) since it started snowing at 4 - easing up a little but I wouldn't count on it.

Stay safe and warm,
Les

[TKay]

I shall never complain about being cold again. Yikes! You guys have it bad right now.

Les - I think you're smart to count the shoveling as a workout. That upper body must be coming along nicely. Hope you're not buried today.

Vicci - Oh, my. If you can shovel your way through, you just climb aboard a toasty airplane and fly on out. I'm sure our rain will feel like summer weather to you. Sorry about the food. Oy. Hope the pipes keep flowing.

I got on the TM for a run yesterday and was interrupted by a phone call from the school. Ds #1 (our 10-year-old) was sick and needed to be picked up. I threw a coat over my sweaty body and headed out. The school secretary proceeded to chat me up and all I could think was, is she noticing that my hair is stuck to me around my face and neck? Oh, the vanity. Both boys made it in to school today--whew! Planning some weights, lunges, and abs today (after some cardio on my beloved TM). If I can get it together, we'll have homemade chicken noodle soup for dinner. We could all use it.

Happy Wednesday. Hope the weather is kind to you all today.

[Kathy B]

Long busy day at work yesterday, and then the dogs were kind enough to get me up at 4:30 AM today! :eek: Needless to say, the workout had to wait until this afternoon, but then I got in a nice 60 min on the TM while watching the recording of AI from last night. Time went by quickly.

Vicci, so sorry you have such a mess with the power outage and food spoiling. Good planning to take a shovel home with you! You and your DH have had a lot to deal with lately. Yoga and the nice warm farm sound like just what the doctor ordered. (Does your DH do yoga?) Hope you are able to get out there.

Les, I think two hours of snow removal definitely count! You sound just like my kids when they get a snow day...."guess I have to stay home again." :D

Tkay, hope your family is all recovered. You guys have sure had more than your share of illnesses! :( Good for you for dragging everyone out for a hike. Mom really does know best on occasion! ;)

Hope you are all staying warm. Temps mostly in the 20s here this week with more snow heading our way over the weekend. We had potato soup for supper...just the thing to warm everybody up!

Take care, everyone! :)

[VictoriaL]

Les, continued good (warm) thoughts heading your way. So how much has there been so far?

Tkay, hope that you had a nice run on your beloved... ;) Not having kids, I'm not certain what I would do if interrupted in the middle of exercise to come and get him/her at school. Probably tell them to let the kid hang out in the nurse's office for a bit, then finish my exercising and shower before leaving! Yep, I would've been Mom of the Year over and over...

Kathy thank you so much for the potato soup idea! My Mom gave me a lot when I left (she bought them at a local farm-- $6 for 60 pounds!) and soup sounds perfect. Maybe I'll make it while we're over at the farm tomorrow to add some heat...

Another day of no exercise, unless you count the energy expended while making my way up the driveway since the additional snowfall last night/ this morning made it impossible even to drive up what we had shoveled yesterday.

Still no electricity at the farm, and I finally gave in and layered all of the stuff from the big freezer in a clean trash can with snow, then buried the can in a snowdrift. My Eskimo freezer! :D

The scenery is a combination of horrible/ beautiful. Every single twig is coated with snow, and the hills are gorgeous, but so many trees are snapped. Gorgeous (huge) hemlocks in a neighbors yard are on the ground, and a beautiful weeping cherry I've noticed several times on the way to my MIL's was split into 5 pieces. I've never seen so many snow-coated trees lying on power lines, they're everywhere. We had to take a detour, returning from the farm this afternoon, that had my stomach in knots because the road was so steep and mostly unplowed and slippery.

Summer, anyone???? ;)

[Leslie Ferguson]

Kathy - It's not quite like that. There's still plenty of stuff to do around the house - not the least of which is a sermon I'm delivering on Saturday morning to my peers and hopefully someone who wants to hire me when I graduate. Supposedly there could be close to 500 but I'd bet there will be something to the tune of 200. I think that's another reason I don't mind not having pets - no one else to wake me in the morning. Good getting your TM workout in too.

Vicci - Oy! I like you Eskimo cooler idea. Wonderful and probably will save some of your food (as long as the critters don't find it). Your days sound exciting yet lovely. I think all the stressful things you're doing can count to a workout. Hope your "relaxation" has served you well (not working out that is).

We ended up with ~1' last night. The blizzard conditions were something else. Definitely less than 1/4 mile visibility. Luckily the winds have died down but there were some terrible wind chills this afternoon (got cold through lined GoreTex). The snow was weird, some was really powdery and some was rimey. I braved the end of the storm and cleared off my sidewalk, the sidewalk next to my car and all the snow on top of and around my car. My legs, lats, and shoulders are definitely talking to me. Interestingly, we've had the most snow ever this winter. So far (and there's more on the way on Monday) we've had 55.6" officially (at Reagan Airport) but I know there's been more than that considering there was over 35" at Dulles in the last storm.

Here's a fresh link (http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=147594&id=654239289&l=4646fe1356) to my pictures. Today's theme was the fighting birds, the really cold squirrel, and the roof to ground icicles and icescapes.

Another day off classes so, practicing my sermon, walking to get more squirrel food, and packing for Friday's departure.

Happy trails all,
Les

[TKay]

Les - Your car looks so aerodynamic! Those poor little creatures out in that weather. Brr. Hope the sermon prep goes well. Hang in there with the blizzard conditions.

Vicci - I've said it before and I'll say it again. (This is really to all of you dealing with real weather) I cannot imagine. Love the Eskimo freezer. Way to turn (frozen) lemons into (frozen) lemonade. I'm not sure I'd get mom-of-year either. Sometimes I think not catering is better. You have to model how to take care of yourself, right?

Kathy - The TM and AI? Oh, you're a girl after my own heart. :p Great job getting in an hour despite your early morning. We had soup last night as well. Sometimes it's just the thing.

I hate to sound like a broken record, but I had yet another sick-day interruption yesterday. This time it was my own issue. I got a migraine and had to hole up all afternoon. I am much better today and intend to work out shortly.

The good news? The kids have Monday off again and dh is not booked solid at work. We may be able to get in another family hike. Whee!

Happy almost-Friday, all!

[Leslie Ferguson]

TKay - Those little creatures love me - I've been keeping the feeder filled twice a day and keeping the bigger birds away. I'm also keeping the squirrels entertained with nuts of their own so they don't eat the food. I'm glad you finally get some family time together and I hope you all are well too. I doubt the nurse paid much attention to your hair - but then that's a guy thing.

I'm done playing with the snow for a couple days (we're due to get more on Monday though). I've shoveled many hundreds of pounds of snow so far and my arms, lats, and legs definitely know it. Probably about 1.5-2 hours of shoveling today followed with a 3.5 mile walk in the packed-ish snow for aerobics. I'm done fiddling with my sermon - due to be preached on Saturday. Printing copies of my resume (for the first time in my life) and business cards just in case I get an interview or someone wants to know a little more about me.

Tomorrow is the start of the fun for a while - probably won't get much of a workout in but that's okay - time with my buds over the weekend will be just fine. Monday's a holiday from school (just another day off) so I'll have time to recoup.

Happy trails all,
Les

[Kathy B]

Yoga for me early this AM, then weights and 25 min on the Treadclimber at the CC. Ran into some friends as I was leaving, so I exercised my jaws quite a bit, too! :p

Les, how exactly do you get a church? In the Methodist church, pastors belong to a "conference", and they are assigned a church (or churches) by the district superintendent. With your resume and business cards it sounds like you have a different system. I am not surprised that you have a few muscles that are complaining after all the snow shoveling. If it were me, I'd be looking for a couple of HS kids after the next round hits!

Vicci, what a creative idea to pack the freezer contents in the snow. Now just be sure you remember where you buried it! I would have been stressed on a steep slippery road, too. Glad you made it home safely. I am definitely ready for summer, but unfortunately, the groundhogs around here saw there shadow on 2/2. What on earth will you do with 60 pounds of potatoes? I mean, you can only make so much soup!

Tkay, you are just having a rough couple of weeks, aren't you? :( Hope the headache is gone and you finish the week healthy and feeling great!

Well, I printed out a training schedule for a half today. There is one in April that is supposed to be fairly flat. I think I could do the training, although I don't know how soon I'll be able to get outside for longer runs. I haven't committed yet (I have until 3/10 before the fee goes up), but I did ask DH if he would come cheer for me if I do it. :D I'll keep you posted...

[Leslie Ferguson]

Kathy - Of course, now that you've put it in print you're in. ;) DH would definitely have to go and cheer you on for your first half. Yoga and TM - good for you. Keeping up with friends, good for you too. In the Episcopal Church each church calls their own principal pastor (called a Rector or Priest in Charge). The Diocesan (region) Bishop has oversight but no vote in the selection (but they can "suggest" if need be). If there are multiple priests in a parish the Rector is responsible for hiring/calling their assistants. Kind of like a Chief Executive Officer working for a Board of Directors. I wish there were High Schoolers around here that would shovel - as it is, it's mostly us 30s and 40s doing the shoveling (most of the kids are younger anyway).

Off to see the inside of my eyelids.

Happy trails,
Les