Weekend Update: The Horribly Hilly Half Hundred

Friday morning, Alison and I did a 25ish mile bike ride. I always enjoy having someone to hang with on the bike so I was glad she called and the rain held off while we were out there. Here are the details.
Later Friday, Mike and I rode the school bus to Middleton to chaperone the Parker linemen to All Pro Lineman camp. The boys were good and we were able to get in a run on the track at Bishop O'Connor Center. The track there is not great -dirt and gravel- and not maintained well so there was a lot of ruts and plant life on the track making for a challenge. I was doing my own bastardized version of the Galloway method (running 3/4 of each lap and then walking the last 1/4), stopping a few times to watch the BeefCake in action on the field when I could find him. I got in just short of 6 miles (my goal was 8) before I felt a little tweak in the left knee and decided to stop and stretch, calling it day. They ate their half of a Rocky Rococo pizza to celebrate the end of camp (Thanks Coach Dye!) and we were on the way home.
Saturday, we took a rest day and got ready for the SWAT party that we hosted at our house. It was a lot of fun to get together with everyone and Mike makes a killer beer brat. Pictures can be seen here.
Today we took a long bike with Alison. We wanted to do 50ish miles of something different, so we looked up a route on MapMyRide.com that went through Cooksville, Evansville, and Magnolia Bluff. Holy Moly - it was about the hilliest ride I have ever done. I rarely get off my bike with jelly legs and I was feeling the hills for a couple hours afterwards. Not only was it suck-the-life-out-of-you hilly, it was also pretty windy and thought for a while a rain cloud was going to pour on us but it held off for an hour or so after we got back. And as usual, now that we are done, I can say it was a good ride and I'm glad I did it.
Went to Madison in the afternoon (since the rain ruled out a good OWS) and picked up some replacement pads for my tri-bars, an aerobottle for my beloved Hubba Bubba (that's the Diva, not my hubby), and a couple other miscellaneous things - Suit Juice, etc.
Thought we were going to Rockport for some evening laps but when we got there it was closed, I'm sure because it was coolish today and sprinkly/cloudy. It's funny to see Mike all jazzed up to swim and then pout because he couldn't......... who'd have thought THAT would ever happen?

Laissez les Bons Temps Rouler!

Been a few days - sorry about that.

The 100K Rotary Pie Ride:

Click the title link to view the route & stats.

This was an awesome ride as usual, made even more fun by doing it as a group with SWAT. The Rotarians do an awesome job with this both times I have done it and the weather was BEAUTIFUL, sandwiched between days and days and days of thunderstorms and gloominess. I was a little worried that we may run in to trouble with flooded or impassible roads (as much of Southern Wisconsin these days needs scuba gear to pass through) but the roads were fine. we started early, so we missed much of the heat of the day but we hit most of the aid stations for cookies, pretzels, and fruit!The route is challenging with plenty of hill work, and the last 20 miles of hills was also into a stiff headwind (blech). It was my longest ride of the year and it went rather well, with only one minor windy patch about mile 50 where the wind and the hills sucked the life out of me and I got a little whiny and tearful. Once I figured out my slowness at that point was due to gearing and made some adjustments all was well with the world again and we were rolling.

Tuesday Tri-Outs:
Our summer group workouts with the SWAT Team have started again. There have been 2 of these so far, glad to be rolling again! This is just such a great group to be a part of, they are so much fun! We also got to finally meet Mike and Sherry in real life after doing like tons of the same events and never crossing paths. It is always nice to meet new folks with like interests! This week was a small group of riders, so Darin tricked us into adding an extra 5 miles or so onto our bike, which by the way was 5 miles of life-sucking hills. Once back at the park, we took a short transition run to Pizza Hut, sniffed the air around the building and headed back. Our usual run route through the bike path is underwater so this has been our alternate route, which works for me because it bypasses the biggest hills of the route.

Whitewater Well Bike (A/K/A the Mutual of Omaha bike route) :
last weekend, Mike and I rode this 50 mile route with Alison. Honestly, I thought I had taken this route before last year with Janet. I kept waiting for something familiar and it just never came, but what did come was the realization that what I was really thinking of was the Whitewater LAKE route. No matter - both routes are pretty and fun so we enjoyed the scenery. We saw turkeys, pheasants, foxes, herons, woodchucks, chipmunks, red tailed hawks, a couple of dogs that didn't chase us, and a lot of dead stinky stuff on our ride. it was very rural and deserted for much of the route, which made for good wildlife watching and very little traffic so we could ride a s a small pack and chat a bit. We didn't set the world of fire speedwise, but that wasn't really the point either.

Nick's graduation party:
Last weekend, we hosted Nick's grad party and had a perfect day for it. Sunny, breezy, and dry after a brief AM shower, couldn't have asked for better weather for an outside party. We got to spend time with family and friends we haven't seen much lately and get caught up. Even our friends from Iowa showed up near the end and we had a nice long visit with them.
It was kind of funny watching Nick talk to the folks that came to his party. Socializing isn't really his thing, so he made an attempt to talk to everyone but it was obviously not particularly comfortable for him. It is a good life skill to learn so glad he had the opportunity.

Swim Bricks:
The weather here has been a little soggy lately, so we have used the opportunity to get some serious swimming time in, and Mike has actually been itching to get in the pool every day if he can. Most of our days have been at Rockport pool (a 50M Olympic size outdoor pool) with some other days at Edison Middle School pool (25 yd) if it's rainy. One of the nights we showed up at Rockport as they were closing because someone puked in the pool. Uh, yeah.....gross.
We are following almost all of our swims with a 2-4 mile run afterwards. That whole brick thing kind of bums me out, I do a lot of run/walking as my legs cramp up more than a normal run but it is getting better. And my IT band has not bothered me much at all since my 2 week hiatus from running after the marathon fiasco, which is awesome. I have been reading up a little on the Galloway method and trying to work that into what I am doing to see if that makes any difference in what I am doing. So far I am liking it, although I think I have probably bastardized the method enough that it might not make a huge a difference in my speed. Time will tell I guess.

This week:

The end of this week we are chaperoning the bus for Beefcake and his teammates at All Pro Lineman camp. We did this last year too and it is in a good area for exercising. It's at Bishop O'Connor Pastoral center in Middleton area and they are not far off the IMWI bike course and they have a nice dirt track where we can get in a nice long run.

I think it's kinda funny that they want me to chaperone the bus.....for the O line and D Line. These are pretty big boys, like all 250-300+ pounds of muscly testosterony man-size boys. What exactly would I do if one of them got unruly?? girly slap them?? Yeah right.

Saturday night we are hosting the SWAT Team for a cookout. It really is just a ploy to maintain the current level of cleanliness for my house and to get rid of some of the lifetime supply of potato salad and pulled BBQ pork I have left from the grad party. Anyone hungry? Stop by, we've got food!

Back on the Road Again

Lately I will admit I have felt a little like a slacker. I look at my activity calendar for FitDay and see that there are several weeks where I only did 3 or 4 days of activity, far less than the 5-6 days/week I strive for. I still am striving for 1600-1800 calories a day, but finding the "extra treat" days are coming more frequently. My Google-15 weight average is creeping up a couple pounds too.
So, I made sure to get in a 6 day week for the second week in a row.
Today, I made up for yesterdays off day by hitting it hard. After work I did:
- 35 minutes of power yoga
-45 minutes on the spinner (alternating sprints, stand drills, SLPs)
-30 minutes of strength training at the Y using the Cybex machines
- 1+ hours of SWAT swim practice drill work

I need a focus for the upcoming months, especially the rest of November through Christmas/New Years since it is easy to get off track then with everything that goes on.
I ordered some more yoga and pilates videos from Amazon as well as a couple training books. Lucas is going to teach me some Ab work drills from football.
I will stay on the good eating wagon and get through the season. I will break through my plateau and lose that last 20 pounds. When I get there, I will reward myself with a Plastics consult to talk about trimming of all the hangy skin. (Someday I'll post a pic - it's gross...)

Football Abs reminded me: One day when I was feeling sore last week, Lucas was going to teach me some of the "stretches" they do for football. The first was "inchworm", which really was Cobra Pose. Then he showed me a relaxation stretch- I know it as Childs Pose. He showed me a stretch they call the teepee or something.......... also know in yoga circles as Downward Dog. Funny how they manned up those yoga poses with manly-man names and called them stretches. Struck me funny. It's still YOGA!

Weekend Update

After a big swim night Thursday, I took a well needed night off Friday to rest my sore wings. Saturday Mike had to work in the morning, so I got up relatively early, read the paper, ate a good breakfast and waited for the frost on the grass to clear so I could take off on a nice long run before Mike got home. We had made plans to swim a few laps at the Y when he was done working. i took off from the house a little before 11, thinking I would get 6 or so miles in before going swimming. I headed out towards the country club and shortly after passing it I heard a clown car honking at me about 20 minutes into my run. Mike and Lucas pulled up in Black Lavender (Yarus), so I cut the run short and hopped in the back seat. He did a quick spin around towards home and we changed and went right to the Y pool. Got in 1040 yards and the shoulders were still sore, so Mikey wanted to call it a day. I am feeling pretty good about it. They were slower easy laps but I have taken to doing all my laps freestyle and no longer have to break the crawl up with breaststroke laps to be able to keep swimming, so that is forward progress.
Today, I went out an a nice long run by myself. It was pretty crisp out yet. The high for the day was 55, but this was long before we got the high for the day. I had some Sugoi running mittens I tried out today and they worked pretty well to keep the paws warm. Up until this point, my favorite long route (about 10 miles) stops in 2 city parks with drinking fountains, so I have had great places to stop and refill my water bottle. Today I discovered that this was the week they winterised the parks, which meant that among other things all the water fountains were shut down. Sooo......... I nursed my first bottle and for some reason (telepathy??) I had tucked a $5 bill in my waist pack, so I made a quick stop at a quickie mart for some Propel.
It wasn't a fast run today but I did get some miles in. Again, my right hip, knee, and first tarsal head were hurting me so I had to do a little walking or slower running when those twinges got too bad to run full speed. That's getting a little frustrating - not sure why it's happening, but seems like there is always something with me so I'll just ride it out and see.
Oh yeah - my microwave has been not working right the past few days. It has been causing a major crimp in our style as that appliance gets more play than any other in our house. Today Mike did some monkeying around with it (his electronics degree at work here) and rigged up a bypass within the panel so that it runs when you turn it on, but the plate spins when the door opens. It's kind of weird to grab your food off a spinning glass plate. We are probably irradiating our brains too somehow with this setup - I am convinced of it. I am the first person I know who has a hot-wired microwave....... too funny.
Went to the football awards program tonight for Lucas. He got an attendance medal and a certificate. He also got some good motivation or next year seeing the older boys who got all-conference honors and other recognitions. If he can keep that fire going, he has a lot of potential. It's nice to see the boys wind things up like that, but I sure do miss watching the games! Seems like they prepare forever and the season just flies by like nothing! I say we petition for year round football, anyone with me?

Speedwork, Pancakes, and Football - related? you decide

Tuesday was our last official SWAT practice. How sad to see the season come to an end. we sure had a good time with this group this summer and though I'm sure we will continue to do things through the year, the last practice just signals to me that the summer is ending sooner than I would like to see. Bummer.

Thursday we headed to Edgerton to do our first speedwork workout at the HS track with a subgroup of SWAT. I dreaded it all day. Don't get me wrong, I have no qualms with doing some work to up my speed. What I was dreading was knowing how much faster everyone int he group is than me. We pulled up to Martin and Tawnya's house and there was a group of us ready to go soon. Allison and Dave, Tawnya, Brian, Mike and I, and we met someone new - Anne, who is training to qualify for the Boston Marathon. So yeah I was pretty much dead in the water. We took off as a group on a 1.5 mile warmup run to the track where the real work would begin. They were all way ahead of me on there warmup, laughing and joking around. Meanwhile I am running as fast as I could without my heart exploding and the best I could do was to keep them within earshot because they were out of sight a couple times. It's a good thing they are a really loud rowdy bunch. We soon reached the track and decided on doing 400m sprints taking off at 5 minute increments. we did I think 6 sets, I was doing splits of 2:10-2:17 per 400, not a rocket but not terrible, especially for me. Oh yeah, and at that speed I was getting smoked like a cheap cigar...... When the sets were done, we jogged back. Well they called it lollygagging, but I was actually at a pretty comfortable speed and was actually able to stay involved in conversation, so you KNOW they were going slow. It was fun, as it usually is but it is also a reminder of just how far I need to come yet before I feel ready for an IM distance.

Today, for a nice change of pace we had a nice little bit of rain. Since it was so nice out, we thought we would go stand in the rain and watch a football game. my son had his first official sophomore game. It was a good game and Lucas did awesome, playing O-line and D-line, and getting pulled out once in a while to catch his breath. Some nice hits from my boy. I wish it were easier for me to follow the game. I have a really hard time keeping track of him and processing what is going on at the same time - he gets lost in a sea of green and gold. Tonight they played at the middle school instead of the stadium since the fields are soaked so I am hoping next week's game will be easier to watch since we hope to be in the stands and elevated a little bit.

After the game, we waited at school for Lucas and gave him a ride home since it was raining. Holy Crap does wet football clothing STINK when it's wet, especially when it is crammed inside my SUV. I don't know what was worse - the cleats or the gloves. Good thing home just a few houses away from the school or I may have gotten sick- EWW EWWW EWWWWWW! Wet jerseys, gloves, under armour, uniform, pads, etc went immediately into the washer before the stench infected my house. I think they may need a second wash to get the stank out. Yuck.
Tomorrow is another opportunity to get smoked on the run - the group is doing their weekly Pancake Run - an hour of running followed by pancakes at the Riverside. Mike is working in the morning so I guess that's out.

Sunday we head to Chi Town for the day to watch the Bigun kick ass and ring the cowbells. Should be fun.

Good luck to all those at IMKY. We will be thinking about you all!

Row Row Row your Boat, Gently Down the Stream....

Friday I took the day off so I could go to Lucas's first scrimmage of the season. I just love to watch my boy play football and I had a great time. Mike uploaded some video to youtube with some footage of my baby kicking ass. Awesome. (He is #55 in green and white).

That afternoon we ran some errands, then Mike and I went to Madison with my sister Michele to pick up her new pink bike, a Specialized Dolce - Sweet bike. I wonder if I could switch it with mine and maybe she wouldn't notice?? I will have to think on that.

Saturday morning I got up early to get Lucas off to football practice, then took off and ran a 6.5 mile route on my own and let Mike sleep in. He went out with his buddy and got in late. The route was different than normal and I looked for some hills which wasn't a problem since our neighborhood has plenty of them. When we got back to the house, we went to pick up a leopard gecko and some crickets to feed it. We had a tank set up ready and it was my nephew Jake's 8th birthday. He has admired our lizards (We have 4 currently) for so long I am glad I was able to get him his own. I think he liked it. His party was nice and Michele made great ice cream cake - yummy. (The lizard was a hit)

After the party we took a road trip to Endurance House in Madison. We were needing some new running shoes and we decided it was time to do their video evaluation of our stride and get recommendations for shoes based on our stride. It was pretty cool. They put you on the treadmill in flats and had you run. Then they slow the film down to watch the foot strike and load transfers, etc. I wish we would get a copy of the video, but I didn't even think to ask until we were gone. After watching my video, the guy said the mechanics of my stride were great, no pronation or other issues. He told me basically I could wear just about any shoe, but he brought out his top 4 recommendations - a Mizuno shoe, the Brooks Adrenaline, the Asics Nimbus, and the Asics Kayano 13. The arch it funny in the mizuno. The Brooks was OK, but felt like there was a lump under the ball of my foot. The 2 Asics both felt good, neither one really felt better than the other. I am just coming out of the Nimbus 7 and I have liked it, but I decided to give the Kayanos a try. One thing I found interesting was that he put me in a B width shoe and they felt fine. I have been buying D's because of my gargantuan Flintstone feet, but he said I didn't need them, they were supposed to fit snug for running. Go figure. He also said my occasional issues with forefoot numbness were possibly because I lace my shoes too loose down low and too tight up top. (I tried lacing them the way he said for today's run - no problems whatsoever....)

Today was another rainy day. it broke briefly about noon and Mike and I drove to the top of the hill and parked in the school parking lot (so we wouldn't have to get our new shoes muddy walking through the dirt road or soaking wet tromping though the grass). We ran a 4 mile loop to test out the new kicks and they felt so good we did another 2 mile loop back to Crosby and around. The shoes rock. And the run was fun. I have 26 miles in for the week - a marathon. I have been trying to follow my Runner World half marathon plan. I seem to run the tempos too slow and the long runs too fast. I guess it gives me something to work on.

Tomorrow is a much needed day off (from training anyhow). After work, I am headed to Studio 107 to wash that gray right outta my hair and get a fresh cut. I decided not to go to Stripper Girl at Salon Gianna this time and go see Jenny from the Tri Club. I like her and I bet she does an awesome job.

It has rained and rained and rained this week and no end in sight in the near future. It rained all day yesterday and all day today. We are supposed to get another ton overnight tonight. The Madison area is flooding like crazy, we just saw a house that is under a ton of water on the news. If this keeps up I am going to need a boat to paddle to work. I know my plants were thirsty but JEESH - Enough is Enough!!!

Weekend Update

Friday Night after work, I took a big bike in the country all by myself since Mike wanted to run. It was good to get out there and hammer the pedals. I took a long route and tried to detour a busy road, which is where I got a little lost and also found the biggest hill ever. Couple hundred feet of climbing in a pretty short distance - not fun, but I did it.

Saturday, we had thought about doing a race - we had 2 to choose from, one in Beloit and the other in Broadhead. Apparently they were both super secret races since we could not really get any details on them. Mike even emailed and asked specifically when, where, and how much for the race, and they emailed back without really answering his questions. So, since Mike was on call for work anyhow, we decided to scrap those plans. My thought was if it was that hard to get details or find really any basic info at all, that the field of runners for these 10K's would be very very small and consist of hardcore folks..... translation: I would get totally smoked. I was OK with not doing any race. Instead I watched my niece Isabel for a couple hours while Michele got a haircut and all gussied up for the Lone Star concert at GOEX where here hubby works. We had a blast. She loved watching the dogs run around and act stupid (it really isn't an act, it just comes natural to them...), except when Maddy would lick the bottoms of her feet.

In the afternoon, we went to the Parker Football Team Picnic. It was hot and was inside the school which was quite hot and humid. I might also mention that it took place directly after Saturday practice, so the room was packed with sweaty teenage boys and was smelling quite rank, Eau de Sweatsock I believe it was called. After 3 hours we arrived home with Lucas the proud owner of a new t-shirt, this one for qualifying for the 1000 Yard Club which recognizes performance and community service throughout the year. Pretty cool, although I could think of a couple other ways to spend my Saturday off......

We watched a couple movies and headed to bed with the intention of getting up early and driving to Madison to ride a loop of the IMWI course. We slept in a little and had to scrap that plan as the heat predicted for the day was not conducive to a late start. Instead we took the Velo Club route to Beckman Mill, a restored mill that is also a county park. It was a nice 40+ mile ride and I hadn't ever taken that way before although a lot of it was actually roads I ride all the time. Bonus - I got to climb the same big monster hill I had hated to ride AGAIN!

The first picture is a lovely shot of my behind (thanks, Mike....) showcasing what see on nearly every coutry road ride, miles and miles, and miles of corn with a smattering of farmhouses.

The second picture is Mike after using the incredibly clean facilities at Beckman Mill County Park. This last picture is a shot of the pond the buildings overlook. Thought I would get an artsy shot in there for Di.

Now, in other news, Mike and I were one of the front page stories of the Janesville Gazette today. That was kind of cool. I am having a bit of difficulty getting over the fact that she included our starting weights, something I have been pretty protective of by telling people what I have lost in pounds rather that where I started. I have always figured anyone that really wanted to know could do the math themselves..... Anyhow, there it was paragraph one, every fat girl's nightmare - your weight printed for all the world to see on the front page of the paper. A little mortifying, but I think I am getting over it. The rest of the article was pretty nice, so I should really just shut up and enjoy it. Besides, it was my own fault for telling her, I just thought it went without saying that any girl would not be happy with that.

Crazylegs Classic

Yesterday, Mike and I and 15,000 of our closest friends ran the Crazylegs Classic 8K in Madison. This was an exciting milestone for me - it was the race that piqued my interest in running and the race I have looked forward to all the past year. I saw coverage on the news last year that was when I decided that running was for me and I wanted to race.
We picked up our race packet at the Kohl center on Friday afternoon so we wouldn't have to battle a race day crowd. Nothing was real special about the packet, just a tshirt and a bunch of flyers in a bag - no good swag.
Saturday, we were up bright and early and on our way to Madison. I had printed out the race info and maps, so we knew we had to get there early in order to get parking and get a ride to the square on the shuttle, so we left the house at about 7am. We arrived in plenty of time and had a couple hours to walk around the square where the Farmers market was going on too. There were lots of yummy treats and gorgeous plants. We ate a gimongous homemade cookie and strawberry rhubarb turnover from one of the Amish bakery stands (can you say heavenly???? YUM!) as we ll as sampling some cheese and cheese curds and beef sticks. Not my usual fare, but on race days, I let myself have a little treat. Someone on the square had brought a tiny monkey that we watched for a while. At one point the monkey climbed off his shoulder and started drinking from a lady's straw in her smoothie - it was funny - what are you going to do when a monkey grabs your drink but let him drink it?
The race was a wave start, beginning at 10am. We were in Wave Z (last in the alphabet, first in your hearts :-) ) There were waves through HH I think, but they were probably walk ons........ Anyhow, there were people everywhere in the streets around the square, and we were finally able to start moving our wave forward about 10:30. It was very well organized and there were lots of Badger athletes and coaches in street high fiving everyone that went by and wishing them luck. We saw Brent Bielema, Barry Alvarez, and lots of other big names. I am sure we saw athletes I should be naming but unfortunately I am not sharp enough to recognize them to report, sorry.
Mile 1 was a breeze, and as we turned the corner to start mile 2, we saw that it was the stretch of road on Observatory Drive. That meant that most of the was up, up, uphill along the same route we ran for the Homecoming Run that nearly killed us! Truly it was not that bad since we had been discussing the probability that there we were going to encounter the hill from hell again and we were ready for it. Once we reached the University Observatory at the top, we knew it was downhill after that for a while.
We hit mile marker three as we started along a road alongside Lake Mendota that went out and back and around a parking lot. We were surprised to run past a man getting CPR on the side of the road (then later getting shocked by paramedics on our way back past) that had obviously been a racer not long beforehand. I don't know why that was so shocking to me. As a nurse, I have been a part of and witnessed too many codes to count and I know they are never pretty to watch. They are always very rough looking and brutal - there is nothing quite as icky as feeling and hearing a rib cage crush under your compressions. It was just so unexpected I guess to see it on the roadside and keep going (by the way, I would have offered my help, but there was more than enough there with the cops, paramedics, and other bystanders). I spent the next mile thinking about how important it is to wear ID on a run so that someone can reach family quickly. I think EVERY ONE needs to find a way to identify themselves for an unexpected emergency - pleas, please, please get yourself a RoadID or some other product to wear and USE IT! I wear one every time and I always will after seeing this roadside rescue.
We felt great the last 2 miles and I really tried to pour on the gas where I could. We high fived a guy on stilts dressed as Uncle Sam and gave the Rocky gesture to some frat guys as they blasted the Rocky theme at the crowd from their lawn.
We turned the corner and saw the stadium and I knew I had a lot left to give. We took off up the hill as fast as I could, which was about 9:30 pace up the hill towards Camp Randall stadium. We turned into the stadium and ran out onto the field to the stands filled with people and lots of music and activity. We watched ourselves cross the finish on the scoreboards big screen. It was awesome. I finished with an official time of 54.32 and my Garmin gives me a total distance of 5.19. We were 7677/9033 (Mike was 7671 but would hav finished faster if he had run his own race instead fo mine).
We saw a lot of cool stuff on the run. There was a guy who ran it backwards. There was also a group of guys who ran it in full 3 piece suits and ties and tennies. There are lots of folks on front lawns shotgunning beer in our honor. As one of the later waves taking off, it was really cool to look ahead, especially from the top of Observatory Drive onto the runners ahead who were wall to wall up the street as far as we could see. I will definitely make this an annual event.
The weather was gorgeous, sunny and warm. We said we wished we had thought about buying a couple throwaway sweatshirts from Goodwill to wear in the morning. Mike just braved the cold until we got going and warmed up and I wore a Nike zippered sweatshirt that I ran with around my waist. Next time we are going to follow Pat's advice and bring a throwaway instead, that would have been easier.
See Mike's blog for pictures of the TShirt. He also took a picture of his autograph from Elroy "Crazylegs" Hirsch from his childhood, which is kind of cool.

Southern Wisconsin, the Frozen Tundra

It is officially freezing. As I sit watching the Bears get spanked (**sniffling** ) in the Superbowl, I am also watching a running banner of school closings for tomorrow and there are already lots of them, all because of the wind chill advisory. Without the wind chill factor the current temp is a balmy -2 degrees. BRRRR!
I spent the first half of the game in the trainer tonight, then another 30 on the elliptical, so igot a lot of cardio time in tonight, hopefully enough to counteract the "Schlop" Mike made for the football game. Schlop officially is a warm gooey mixture Velveeta, chili, and ground beef eaten with tortilla chips. Yummy, fatty, sloppy good football food.
The most exciting part of my weekend was ordering my new hardtail mountain bike. It's not pink, but it sure is pretty. I can't wait to get off road this spring! I also bought myself a new gel seat for the road bike, which is awesome - I almost don't need the padded shorts......almost. Thank you Uncle Sam for sending my taxes back to me to spend on something fun!