Winter Storm Pictures

As promised....here are some pictures of the winter storm(s).

Picture of our bird house hanging from our covered back deck....I just like this picture.

Below is a picture taken around 5:00PM on Tuesday....the snow was coming down hard, but not as hard as it had been at 3:00PM. There is about 18" of snow on the ground at this point.

Close up of the picture above, you can see how heavy the snow is falling.

Our mailbox on Wednesday morning, the snow would have been higher on it had my neighbor not cleaned if off around noon the day before.

Looking down my street, the snow is piled about 4' high on each side and there is about two inches of hard pack on the road (it still looked the same this morning when I left the house at 5:15AM).

That's me pulling my girls back from lunch at out local pizza place....they are thoroughly enjoying the joy ride, in case you couldn't tell.

5:00AM....The Norm

I don't know whether or not I should be happy with the way my mornings have been going this week.  The past two days I have gotten out of bed no later than 5:03AM....this is a good thing, this is exactly what I need to be doing.  Now for the twist, I have woken up at 4:50AM each of the past two mornings wide awake and ready to go.  I look at my watch and then make the decision to cram in ten extra minutes of shut-eye instead of getting up.  Why is my body doing this to me?  I guess I should be thankful that my internal clock is making the change to the early wake up (thanks to a couple nights of getting be sleep before 10:00AM).  But still, I feel like those ten extra minutes are so utterly important. 


Anyhow, I was up and at 'em this morning, got in the water at 5:55AM and put in a very tough swim workout for me.  I did a 400M warm-up (200 Free, 200 Pull), then I did a pyramid work out (50, 100, 150, 200, 250, 200, 150, 100, 50) with 15 - 30 seconds rest.  I did a 100M cool down, although I would have preferred to have done 200 - 300M but time was getting short and I had to get showered and get to work.  The entire swim was 1,750M in 36:38, the longest I have swam since the summer.


A couple notes about my swim:

• I felt really good in the pool today, my stroke is getting smoother and I am lengthening my body more.
• My catch and pull is so much better than last week, I feel like I am gliding through the water now, more like a sailboat, less like a barge.
• My speed is improving as well; I am no means fast but I am faster than a week ago.
• I need to start learning bilateral breathing....I tried it a week ago but stopped after three laps.

Looking to run at lunch today, hopefully left leg starts to loosen up a bit more.  It feels better today, but still not great.  I am worried that the impending snow storm (expecting 12 - 18" of snow) and the inevitable shoveling is going to kill my lower back.  Hopefully it is nice light now.  I hope to post some pictures of last weekends storm and tomorrows as well.  Ciao!

Afternoon Update:  Ran a little over 4 miles at around 7:55/mile pace (156 BPM).  I was really tired and just couldn't find a good rhythm.  Still managed to get it done though.  Oh, there is a second scenario that is floating around about the snow storm are supposed to get tonight into tomorrow, possibly 18 - 24".  Dang, I am going to have to recruit my daughters to help me shovel......then again, how much snow can a four and a half year old and seven year old really move?  I'm thinking not much.

Where Did This Snow Come From?

I left my house at precisely 5:13AM to go to the gym, i.e. the pool.  It was cold out, but only the occasional flurry would pass in front of my headlights.  I thought absolutely nothing of it since the weather report for today stated a bit of a warming (up into the low-40s) and maybe some afternoon rain.  So I didn't think anything of it, and once I arrived at the gym it was all business, which I will get to in a minute.


You can only imagine the surprised look on my face when I emerged from the gym to find snowflake after snowflake plummeting to the ground, covering everything in sight and making for a very tricky walk to my car....I was wearing penny loafers, sans penny.  The 10 mile drive I have to my office usually take no more than 15 minutes; however, this morning it was in excess of 30 minutes.  The roads were a mess and I must have seen at least five or six cars stuck on the side of the road.  Crazy how no one talked about the snow.


As I look out the window not, it is still coming down at a very good pace and it doesn't appear to be stopping.  It should make my afternoon run pretty exciting.


Now, as for my swim this morning, not to bad.  I did 1,250M in about 26:14, which included a 400M warm-up and then 6 x 100s with 30 sec rest (probably too long of a rest but I was hurting) with a 250M cool down....I actually went pretty hard on the last 50M, hard being a relative term considering my lack of swimming endurance at this point in time.  All in all I was pretty happy with how it went and wanted to swim an additional 250M, but time was running short and I wanted to get in some abdominal work before getting in the shower.


Time to get to work.  I am looking forward to my afternoon run, I love running in crap weather.  Adios!

Added at 2:30PM:  What a great run at lunch!  The roads were clear of all snow, the temps were up to around 40F and the sun was out.  Just a beautiful day to be out running.  I did have one minor issue....I forgot my Garmin at home so I was running old school, sporting a Timex Ironman on my wrist.  I did five miles in 38:50 (7:46/mile), and felt pretty good the whole way.  Just a happy day outside minus technology (no GPS, no heartrate monitor, no iPod)....oh and a new visor!

The Tree, High School Musical and Snow

I have had quite the busy past few days. They were filled with beautiful views, nature, music and lights. Where to start? Well, I suppose at the beginning is as good a place.

First off, my standard lunch time running group has added a new running partner...oh my gosh....IT'S A GIRL! Yes, we are now coed. It really isn't as exciting as it might sound. She went out with Bill and I on Thursday for our 4.65 mile loop. It was all good, got a female perspective on a male using a poof when in the shower as well as if snot-rockets are an appropriate way to clear ones sinuses while running. We went at an easy pace, will be interesting to see how she does when we run with Chris and the pace quickens.

Saturday morning I decided that I was just going to head out for my run early rather than waiting to figure out what we were going to do as a family. So, I threw on my running gear and headed out of the house by 7:50AM. It was nice and cool out side (~40F) and very little wind. I decided to run my new favorite route and it didn't disappoint. The view of our little valley is awesome, the people I passed along the way were friendly, and my pace was spot on. It was a great way to start the day!

It was after my run that the weekend really began. My beautiful wife decided that Saturday was Christmas tree day, so around 10:30AM it was time to rally the troops and hit the trails to find the perfect tree. It didn't take too long to find one...it might not be the biggest, fattest tree, but it is the perfect tree for us. Once home, I got it into the stand and set it up in the family room. The ladies in the house were so excited and bursting at the seams to start decorating...which would have to wait.

Why? Because my wife and I were surprising our girls with tickets to see High School Musical, the play, at our local high school. So at 2PM it was off to see the show, this despite the protests from my oldest daughter who apparently doesn't like surprises and her demands to know where we were going. She stated that if we didn't tell her where we were going, well, then she wasn't going! After a bit of coaxing, she decided to go and was totally shocked when she saw the posters at the school advertising High School Musical. Needless to say, she was very excited once we were in our seats waiting for the show to start.

I will leave out the details of the show and simply say it was an above average high school production. The dancing was pretty good, the kids could sing pretty well and all in all we really enjoyed it. However, the best part of it for my wife and I was just watching our girls watch the show. They were both so enthralled with everything that was going on. They were just so happy to be there, watching these kids sing and dance to the songs that they both know word for word. One of the best parts was after the show when the cast signs autographs and my six year old was in awe of the performers. She was actually so nervous about getting "Troy's" autograph that she abandoned the task and made her way for the door. All in all it was a great way to spend the afternoon.

Upon exiting the high school, we were welcomed with about an inch of new snow on the ground. Yes, snow! it made for a bit of a slippery ride home, but more importantly it made for a beautiful night. It made decorating the Christmas tree that night all the more special.

As Saturday was a big day for the ladies of the house, Sunday was going to be my day. First I convinced the family that they should accompany me to the opening of my running clubs Winter Series so that I could pay my annual dues and series fees. It was odd being there and not running....I felt like a misfit. Anyhow, I will definitely be there next Sunday for the opening 5K. From there it was off to Best Buy to purchase our new 46" LCD TV for our family room, with a PlayStation 3. Best Buy was having a deal where if you bought a 46" LCD Sony HDTV and a PS3, they would knock a ton of money off the top, which meant we saved around $800 on the total cost. In essence this would be my wife and my gift(s) to one another this Christmas. Yes, I was extremely excited!!!

After that it was off to the food store with a couple of very unhappy little girls. It was a bit of a struggle to get through the store, there was whining, fighting, hitting, yelling and general displeasure on their part. We managed to get through it and couldn't wait to get home (for multiple reasons). The rest of the day was pretty much spent laying around the house doing nothing. Since I don't have the HDMI cables for the TV yet (yeah, I'm not paying $60 for the cables at Best Buy...try FireFold.com for good, inexpensive cables), I couldn't' hook it up.

The one thing that I did before going to bed was get on the bike trainer and did a 30 minute ride while my wife was on the treadmill. It is so nice to be down there spending that time together. I was definitely happy to have her down there with me will I was pedalling no where. It is nice to be able to look over to my left and she her working her tail off to get in shape and occasionally she her shoot a smile my way.

Past couple workouts:

Thursday: 4.7 mile run, 38:09 (8:07/mile), 151 BPM - Ran with Bill and Maureen, felt like we were going in slow motion, but that was a good thing. I did a nice easy run for a change.

Friday: Rest Day

Saturday: 8 mile run, 1:03:43 (7:58/mile), 162 BPM - Ran one of my new favorite routes and just had a good time. Everyone I ran past said good morning and had a smile on their face. I wish every run could be so nice.

Sunday: 8.8 mile ride, 30:00 (17.6 MPH), 125 BPM - Nice easy ride on the trainer in the basement. I got what I was looking for, a nice easy ride, kept the HR down and worked up a sweat.

Today: 4.53 mile run, 35:53 (7:56/mile), 158 BPM - I didn' run too hard, just nice and easy, definitely felt like I could have pushed it a bit.

That is it for now. Getting ready for Sunday's 5K at Tyler State Park and all of the other Winter Series Races.