Bought a neoprene swim suit for my indoor triathlon next Sunday. Tested it out last night. Huge difference. I’m getting 3 extra laps in a 10 minute time span. Swimming will be my worst event. I should finish near the top for the bike and run based on last year’s times. Should have no problem winning 40 and over. Might have an outside chance to win the whole thing if my swim is decent, number one from last year doesn’t show up and my mind is ready!
Is that suit legal for the indoor tri? Sounds great! Good luck.
I am so over running on the dreadmill. I haven’t run outside since last Saturday’s race! That’s a record. I’m grateful to have the treadmill, and I’m making the most of it by doing some speedwork, but I want to be outside! NO chance of that. More ice is supposedly on the way followed by cold rain. Neighborhood roads are still a block of ice.
We had about 20 huge sheet cakes at work today to celebrate our bonuses. I wasn’t very tempted since they were grocery store cakes, but I took pictures of them! The year we had gourmet cupcakes was a different story…
Thank goodness for grocery store cakes! They keep our temptations in check. 
I had an encounter with said kind of cake today, too. Did not want to eat it. The Euro bakery cakes that popped up in the break room… glad that streak ended!
My knee looks ugly, but I will be able to run this weekend! Yay me.
C3Baker, this is what I do. I have running gloves and then I put these big ugly knitted mittens on top. If it’s really cold I can put hand warmers between the gloves and the mittens. Then as I warm up I can take layers off. That way I end up with just the gloves on and everything is not a big sweaty mess.
XC skiing with my SIL. Lots of fun to ski with her. 12 was the high, we started at 3 degrees. Told her we were bada**es. Went on trails I was too afraid to do, she was a great influence.
My cold passed the hump on the way to getting a bit better today - got my buns to the gym and did a slower, but good 30 minute run in - was SO glad to get to move!
I miss being outside too. Makes me wonder why our gym doesn’t run cooler than it is. Isn’t everyone working hard and getting sweaty!? Wish they’d turn down the heat!!
For what it is worth- my stinson hokas are true to size 8, and H’s stinson hokas are true to size 9.
Ran 22 minutes today and did some strength training too.
Today’s exercise has been, once again, shoveling snow. DH and I cleared the driveway of a ton of wet stuff–much heavier than last week’s fluffy snow. I worry that he’ll get a heart attack as he sits on the sofa for 5 days and then shovels industriously for an hour. Seriously, there were two separate incidents in our area of guys keeling over from shoveling.
And in my next life, I’ll either situate the garage MUCH closer to the street, or live in Florida!
It was way below 0 last night. Now, it’s snowing again. Screw it. I’m not shovelling… 
Another little 5 mile ride on the dreaded Airdyne. Good little workout. 89% of my max heart rate.
I’m sorry for all the weather issues many of us are having. We got icy rain on top of all our ice, and it caused something called ice dams on many of our roofs- including ours. We have water coming in my home office from the ceiling. The ceiling will need to be replaced and also the wood floors. My neighbor’s house is much worse. It’s all over Twitter and the news- ice dam. Who knew? It’s caused by the ice of the roof blocking the flow of the rain so it doesn’t run off. The driveway and all outside surfaces are a sheet of ice. H and I had to slide the 125 pound dog across the driveway on a towel to get him to the grass so he could pee. We could barely stand up ourselves. The main roads are almost clear, but now they are flooding from all the rain.
Needless to say, we are SO glad we didn’t even think of going to that half marathon. As my daughter said, “I would gladly pay $75 to NOT run that race today.” I have seen a few pictures from the race but no reports yet. It sounds horrible, though, and there were numerous wrecks on Hwy 40 in the direction to go to the race.
That said, I planned to run 6 on the dreadmill this am. I changed that plan before I even started- just wasn’t feeling it. Managed to do 3.1 this morning and it was a struggle. I just didn’t feel OK and my HR was higher than I wanted it to be. Some days are like that. Did a couple more miles tonight and did better. Trying for over 30 mile week, which would be OK for doing it entirely on the treadmill and being sick.
OMG, MOfWC! That sounds TERRIBLE. Keep warm, everyone!
“Trying for over 30 mile week, which would be OK for doing it entirely on the treadmill and being sick.”
No, it is not “OK”! It is amazing, unbelievable, and super fantastic!
…
The bad news is that our furnace went out, and the blower seems to be kaput. The good thing is that with 2 fireplaces going, we still have 68 degrees in the house. The bad thing is that I have to deal with the *&^%$ issue and clean out the space in the garage by moving junk around. The good thing is that I can get some upper body exercise this way…
Oh my goodness everyone - group cyberhug for all the hassles today!
iDad, it gets to that point each year - the moment when you look at the snow and the shovel and say “screw it- it will melt eventually”.
MOWC, so awful about your office and the general mess in your town and neighborhood - I mean,really, what a expensive, awful hassle. While I’m sure this was NOT the feeling while you were doing it, it was a bit of a chuckle trying to picture you and H push your large dog on a towel across the drive- omg, that is getting down to the basics so the poor dog could pee!!! Give yourself a break both mentally and physically for the week from hell you have had.
And BB, hearing furnaces going out is very scary this week as we have been dealing with so may below zero temps. I know you don’t have that, but no one wants to be without a working furnace - thank goodness for your dual fireplaces - keeping the place warm and cozy - no stove, no furnace - will you be roasting hotdogs and marshmellows over the fire for dinner tonight!!!
My exercise for the day included snow shoveling the deck twice and then rinse and repeat the shoveling process on my mom’s driveway and sidewalks.
Oh Bunsen- so sorry about the furnace. That’s such a hassle- and expensive. Glad you have the fireplaces.
It was funny with the dog. The good thing is he’s a real came, and only needs to go twice a day.
MOWC:
That sounds like an ice dam mess. These days, in New England, they put extra heavy duty waterproof membranes under the roofing for the first two to four feet to prevent ice dams. But, that’s only on the new roofs. My condo development is having major ice dam problems, exactly as you describe. They came and busted off some ice last week, but everyone has leaks. Mine is minor so far – just some spots on the ceiling. Both neighbors have serious issues, Rain/Snow mix in the morning could be a real mess.
It’s caused by ice building up at the edge of the roof, forming a pool of water behind it. That water can’r run off the roof and backs up under the shingles.
Sometimes, I feel like living in Seattle is a blessing. Furnace is out? BFD! It is not that cold… Called the repair place, and the lady wanted to sent a tech right away. I said that it could wait until tomorrow. Do not want to pay extra.
So funny about your dog, MOfWC! Our dog was a big baby, too! 110 lb, and hated ice and snow!
Good morning. Back from sailing the good ship “Decadence” of the Seas
MomWC, so sorry about your ice damming…we had that last year and its a PITA to deal with. I’m sure in your neck of the woods its a freak occurrence so I won’t share all the boring details I’d researched about prevention, but for any of our colder-weather friends, I will say that a good blower-door thermal test on a house with a low-pitched roof and resulting blocking of any thermal escapes is worthwhile to reduce damming, though that’s long term stuff and useless info when its happening – and useless in extreme weather evens if you don’t rake the stupid roof
We had a guy out five times last year to work on the roof after trying everything under the sun ourselves. This year the weather has been kinder and we now rake early and often so can’t say for sure how our other rehab is working…but we have more to do still.
Bunsen, also sending you good furnace mojo. Sounds like you have forced air gas furnace. If you decide to replace it, you might lie to take a look at the mini-split heat pumps on the market now…much better than early models and well-suited to homes with supplementary sources like your fireplaces. We installed a new Fujitsu halcyon inverter for the studio (1300 SF) last year and it rocks…uses very little energy and works down to -15 degrees.
Clearly, I’d rather talk about home improvement today than face the scale or the hill, but somebody sorely needs to claw back onto the wagon
Cheers!
Shovelling workout before coffee again this morning. Getting pretty old setting the alarm every Sunday morning to bundle up and shovel. At this point, it’s like shooting someone who is already dead. Six inches of wet, heavy snow. Actually the toughest snow of the year for shovelling. Supposed to get up above freezing for the first time in month this afternoon. A little melting could make for a very nasty ice dam leak day. We’ll see.
Sorry about the ice dams, MOWC. It’s a pain to deal with them. They’re pretty common here in MA. H and I did some roof cleaning ourselves but decided after the second (or maybe the third) storm that it was dumb for two 60-somethings to get up on the roof. We hired the folks from the roofing company that installed our roof to come out and clean it.
Hope the furnace gets back up, BB.
Did hot yoga on Friday and was exhausted–maybe all the heat and then the cold outside did it? I ended up not doing a thing on Saturday. I’ll walk outside today.
Your trip to a warm place sounds wonderful, KMC. My H has meetings in Miami and I’m thinking I’ll go with him just to get away from the cold.
Only good thing about the cold weather was that my H got into a cooking mode and stayed home to make stock for soups. Great minestrone:http://www.tastebook.com/recipes/3586596-Harry-s-Bar-Minestrone
We’ve got 4 quarts of it in the freezer.
It’s a good thing we’re all in such great shape to deal with these weather calamities. 40 degrees and sunny today but will refreeze tonight. We shoveled three times yesterday - while my mother has a snowblower, we seem to be last on the neighborhood list to use it. So we just shoveled.
Sabadog and Sabapup love the snow. We’ve had some pretty active play sessions.
KMC, welcome back! I hope you enjoyed your trip. I am off to the gym today. Mileage is terrible this week but not much I can do about it.
MOWC–at least we got some amusement out of the image of you hauling your 125 lb. dog across the ice on a towel so he could pee!
Sorry about the weather, folks. Send the bill for furnaces & ice dams to Elsa.