Funny how your views on what is acceptable weather for going out and exercising is. Three weeks ago I was wincing at the thought of going out when it was not quite 30 degrees - seemed too cold (but did it anyway). Today, the roads and sidewalks are snow and ice covered and slippery. It was -2 degrees and -16 wind chill this morning.
Right now I would KILL for 30 degrees and clear roads/walks!
Congrats, mnk!
Here was an interesting experiment: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2546975/One-twin-gave-sugar-gave-fat-Their-experiment-change-YOUR-life.html
Twins decided to do their own experiment – for one month, one eliminated sugar from his diet and the other eliminated fat. They both lost weight (the no-sugar one lost more), and they both hated their diets.
My problem with the no-sugar diet was that he eliminated foods with natural sugars, like fruits and vegetables.
The conclusion: “What we discovered is that the real reason we’re all getting fatter isn’t fat or sugar.
Furthermore, sugar alone isn’t very addictive - only horses snack on sugar cubes and very few people gorge on boiled sweets or dry toast.
And fat isn’t really addictive either: when did you last sneak a spoonful of butter from the fridge late at night?
The modern processed food industry knows this and that’s why you’re rarely sold the two separately - what is addictive is the combination.”
Congrats mnk!
Did 1.5 hours of XC skiing. Every muscle in my body hurts.
Thank you Pizzagirl and Deb922. Deb922, I really envy you about the XC skiing. I love XC skiing and last winter, towards the end, I took advantage of end of the season sales to get new back country skis, boots and bindings to replace my 30 year old set that were designed for groomed tracks. Of course, it never snowed again for the rest of the winter and we still haven’t gotten any snow this winter! 
“being physically active makes your body function on the inside more like a young person’s.”
http://mobile.nytimes.com/blogs/well/2015/01/07/how-exercise-keeps-us-young/
Way to go, deb! We need to dust off our XC skis, too.
Not much to report here. A good chunk of our day was wasted on travel.
Interesting articles, thanks guys!
Welcome home BB! Hope you are ready to reenter real life!!!
Heading to the gym the minute it opens at 1pm for a 30 minute run on the track or treadmill - then buzzing back home to watch the Packers! Gym is only open 1-4pm today (weird, I know) so can’t take care of it after the win…I mean game! 
abasket- I hope you are right on that Packers win! Despite 28 years in Dallas, I remained an Eagles fan and once the Staubach/Landry years ended, never did embrace the Cowboys.
Goal for today was at least 8 miles. I managed 9.2 in 36 degree gloom with some sprinkles. It started to really rain right after I finished. Running does not feel easy to me these days, and I tried to really slow it down, but it was still hard. Done! My longest run since the Toronto Half on October 19.
No rain, I’m going to have to make it out there today. It will not be 9.2. 
Beautiful day here today - sunny and no wind. Finally got outside and did 7.26. Tried out some of my new running clothes - I have an Athleta vest, which I love, but layered it over a Lulu long-sleeved in Rulu fabric - ended up being too warm. Trial and error.
Sad to see the Ravens go out yesterday - hoping for a Denver win today. Peyton Mannng just seems like a really nice guy.
I need some tech help here. H and I both got Vivofits for Christmas. He is registered with our family email account. I am just making the switch and it won’t let me set up my account with the same email address. Is there a way around this? Surely there must be a way for family members to use the same email address!
Got my new Hokas yesterday Stinson ATR purple 2014 color (2015 color I will call easter egg blue ) and wore them on a 3 mile walk (cross training) in beautiful 45 degree weather and they were great. I used the extra insert to lift my foot so that my ankle did not have any rubbing. so far so good. so today is my 5 mile run day and I was all hyped up for it. I woke up to 25 degrees and 2 inches of snow brrr. I think a netflix movie with a treadmill will be the 5 miles today.
Thanks, abasket. The real life is not too bad… 45 degrees, fog, and rain. Feels like home! The cats have not destroyed the house (or should I say the sitter took very good care of them).
I have not gained any weight during my vacation! Yay me. It really helps to live in a place with a kitchen and make our own meals. I mostly shopped for local produce and fish and only had one small cup of ice cream - at the airport before the flight.
NMinn- I’m afraid there may not be a way around the email address problem. Do you not have a gmail address or other address you can use for your Vivofit (Garmin) account?
Rockymtn- Let me know what you think of the Hokas when you run in them.
Something I thought about on my run this morning that I’ve been meaning to pass along here- PIZZAGIRL, this would work really well for you. A sneaky way to get in some speedwork without feeling like you are doing it that I used to do a lot “back in the day” and still do now, occasionally. Pick up the pace for 10 steps (10 of the left or right foot, so really 20 steps), then back off for 10, then do it for 20, then 30 etc. You can quit whenever you want. It feels kind of good and is short enough to not feel tedious. I used to work up to 50/50 and come back down. Beginners can start with just 10/20/10/20 or so.
That’s a good tip, MOWC.
Yesterday I was stuck on the treadmill and did a little over 6 miles. Every half mile I bumped the speed by .1, Definitely made the run more interesting. This afternoon I am headed to a Bodypump class. We’ll see how that goes.
Ugh… Thanks MOWC. H used my junk email address because he can’t use his work one and I really didn’t want to use our “real” family address. I really don’t want a third email account that I have to monitor. Guess I will be forced to start a third one.
^^ I’ve done that a little. It is good for me mentally - if i know I have a long stretch ahead to accelerate, it seems too daunting. The short spurts work for me.
Went to the gym and got my 30 mins in. I was too anxious for the football game to run anymore!
MomofWC -did 5 miles on the treadmill at 4 mi/hr- obviously not fast - but I feel great. surprised how good it felt. the movie helped with the time. felt better than my Asics - the foot sits in the shoe in the middle and does not slide. so far so good. we wanted to go out today on a trail but the weather was too challenging. when I tried on the shoes each style felt very different. apparently the stinson is the most popular for all round shoe with a lot of padding and use for road or trail running.