Monday, Snowy Monday

A quick post since I got in a run today. Barb and I went out this morning. We did a leisure 3 miles and it was nice. It was a bit chilly and sort of dreary out, but not bad. Then, later on it started to snow–madness–and get windy and colder. I’m so glad we went out in the morning. I was busy talking with Barb so I totally forgot to take a picture–I can’t believe it. That’s cool though. Not sure if I’ll get in another run before heading to Chicago Wednesday morning. The train leaves at 7 a.m., so I’m not sure I’ll get up before them. I am excited since Barb and I are planning on running in Chicago. Not sure if I’ll post again before then, so I wanted to get this short one down.

Running Outside Again

Yesterday (Thursday) I did an indoor run again at the Rec Center. I ran with Erin and Shazia. We did a nice, leisurely 4 mile run (34 laps) around the track. I really enjoy the track. It’s a nice run and it was good conversation, but I was ready to get outside.

Today I got to run outside. I finally got to run with my normal running partner, Barb. We haven’t run together since before the first of the year. We didn’t have much time to run together, we only had a half an hour, but it was nice to run with her. We ran around Compton Park, so no railroad tracks, but it was so nice to be outside and running with Barb.

Barb hasn’t been running lately, so we took it easy and did a nice, slow run and got in a little over 2 miles.

We’re supposed to get some snow tonight into tomorrow, but then on Sunday and the rest of the week it’s supposed to be really nice outside, so I’m hoping to spend my Spring Break getting in a little bit of running each day.

Made it Outside!

Hooray. Today the temperature went up, up, up and snow started to melt. When I walked to work I needed a hat and gloves, but I could tell I’d have no use for them by the time I headed home. I watched the snow melt out my office window and I watched it fall off the roof of Simpkins. I walked home through puddles and slush and sun and beauty. So I headed to the grocery store and then knew I needed to get outside for a run.

Today marks 3 days in a row, so I just did two miles.

I just ran down Carroll and back. Since I waited until almost 6 p.m. to get out there and run, there were a few icy patches so I had to slow down a bit. There were also some slushiness that I had to slog through, but it was totally worth it.

All in all it was wonderfully fabulous to be outside. I really wanted to do more than 2 miles, but I didn’t want to overdue it and I wasn’t really sure where else I could run to without ending up in a pile of slush. I’m not sure if I’ll make it outside tomorrow morning, since my slush and water piles might turn to ice, so I’m glad I got out there tonight.

I also got to keep listening to Fangirl and still love it. Cath is a great protagonist and he makes me laugh. I really like the narrator as well, so it makes me happy. We’re getting to a bit more complexity and Cath is starting to find herself, decide about friendship and family and fandom. Great fun.

Oh, and I snagged an evening picture at the railroad tracks.

I did an evening shot.

Crazy Weather February

I can’t believe this crazy February. I’m hoping to finally get outside for a run this week, but who knows. I had a nice birthday dinner with friends on Saturday, and then had to treadmill run on Sunday because it was a bit too snowy outside. I did 4 on Sunday.

It was a nice run. I’m feeling good at 4 on the treadmill. I could possibly do more, but I’d rather do anything longer outside. It also helps when you have a nice book to listen to. I started “Fangirl” by Rainbow Rowell Sunday and I just love it.

 

It’s about Cath, who writes fanfic about Simon Snow (basically the Harry Potter of the book). She has a twin sister Wren who is moving away from their love for fandom, but Cath can’t stop her love for the fan world. She and Wren have started their first year of college and the book focuses on Cath’s adjustments to her new world, needing to find a separate identity from her sister (something Cath doesn’t really want to do) and navigate herself in the world. It’s smart and sassy and totally my kind of text. Listening to it is helping me continue my long runs.

I also ran this morning. Today I only did 3 miles since I’d run the day before.

The weather was again a mess outside. There was crazy sleety, icy, snow. Jack had school off today, but I had to work, so I ran in the morning and then went in to do some conferences with students and teach an evening class. We always seem to have bad weather on Mondays, so it’s been a bit of a mess for my class.

I am excited about the extended forecast. It looks like the snow will be melting. The temperature was pleasant today, but the snow and freezing, not so much. I haven’t been outside the whole month. I’m missing my train tracks.

 

Birthday Run

Today I was hoping to get outside for a run, but when I woke up it was snowing so I decided to hit the treadmill instead.  Since it’s birthday 42 for me, I did 4.2 miles today.

 

4.2 miles also got me to the end of “Claire DeWitt and the City of the Dead.” I really liked the end more than the beginning. I also realized that listening to it was nice because there was a great deal of interior dialogue with Claire thinking about her past and having dreams and listening to it helped to meld the dream and reality together in ways that I don’t think reading it myself would have. I like Claire more now than I did at the beginning.

Since it’s Valentine’s Day today I also went to Jack’s school and helped out with his party. He made this fabulous cookie

and really wanted me to “post it on Facebook.” It was fun to be at the party, but they got way too much candy. Crazy sugar rush. After the party I sent to a movie (since I’ve become a bit obsessed with movies at the theatre lately). I saw The Monuments Men. It wasn’t bad, but I felt like it wanted to be plot-driven but the plot wasn’t strong enough and then it wanted to tell you an important historical story, but that wasn’t strong enough either so in the end it really lacked focus and both got lost. I do think the real story is quite interesting and you can learn about it on the Monuments Men Foundation site (which is totally different than the movie site). You should check it out and love art.

We also went to the shooting range on campus and shot some round in the Valentine’s Day pistol shoot. It was fun and they actually let Jack shoot. I didn’t think they would, but they said it was fine. He did really well.

One of his targets is on the left. He shot at 25 feet. He went three rounds. I was really proud of him. One of mine is on the right. I shot at 30 feet. We had a good time and he was really excited he did so well. We both outshot Chris, so that made him even happier.

We also went out for dinner tonight. I had a Dogfish Head 90 minute Imperial IPA. It was pretty good, but I wished it was a bit more hoppy.

 

Now were hanging out, watching a movie, and we’re gonna have some ice cream soon. Good times. Next week it should be 50, so then I can really run outside.

Lincoln’s Birthday

It looks like I may soon be able to head outside! I had to run inside today, since the streets were still pretty full of snow and it wouldn’t be safe, but I’m hoping by Friday I can totally do an outdoor run again and feel safe.

I had a really nice treadmill run. The final chapters of “Claire DeWitt and the City of the Dead” are really drawing me in. I was only going to do 3, but I ended up doing 4 so I could listen the the end of a chapter.

Since I live in Illinois and it’s Lincoln’s Birthday, I had the day off. All state workers get Lincoln’s Birthday off. I did a little work this morning and got in my run, then we went to Jack’s school to watch his music class, which was fun. Lucy even sat there and behaved, probably because of Lorelei being there.

I live in a tiny little town with one movie theatre. It’s pretty nice, but since it’s a college town, there’s not a lot of more Independent films. This week they decided to do “Oscar Week” where they ran a number of Oscar films, but they only ran the movies once a day. So, I went to an early afternoon showing of Nebraska with Bruce Dern. It was pretty fabulous. It was haunting and painful in wonderful ways. I really think that June Squibb really stole the show. I loved the black and white and I loved the small, midwestern town feel. It reminded me of traveling across Nebraska this summer.

After a fabulous dinner of pancakes and turkey bacon, I decided that I had to head back to the theatre to see Dallas Buyers Club. Matthew McConaughey sort of drives me crazy, but I really wanted to see it. I had to take a nap, since 9:55 is usually around my weekday bedtime, but it was worth it. I thought I was going to be the only one in the theatre, but another couple came in and ruined my solo show. I thought that the film was well-done, but that Jerad Leto (or as I like to refer to him, Jordan Catalano) really stole the show. He was wonderful. And, his character, Rayon, was totally into Marc Bolan which also made me extremely happy. T-Rex is one of my favorite bands. I love the songs they chose to play, especially ending with “Life is Strange.”

Enjoy.

Still Cold

I’m now home. I took a nice picture from my little plane so my kiddos could see what it looks like out the window.

Now I’m home and it’s just cold outside. I wanted to get in a nice run, but I can’t run outside with a -30 windchill and roads that haven’t been cleared. So, I hit the treadmill again today. I got in a 4 miler, and it was a really nice treadmill run.

I’ve been listening to  Sara Gran‘s “Claire DeWitt and the City of the Dead.” Claire DeWitt is an interesting private detective. I’m really torn because I’m drawn to her as a detective and I like the inner dialogue throughout the novel, but there’s a bit too much smoking and snorting of various substances.

In this book, Claire is investigating a disappearance in post-Katrina New Orleans, but she also has connections to San Francisco and Brooklyn. The intertwining of the past and the present and the narratives Gran weaves that shed light on the backstory and motives in DeWitt’s life are fabulously haunting. I’m not sure if this is always a book for listening to. I am almost done and the chapters I was listening to this morning kept me going on the run, but I will probably read the next book in the series in “hard copy” so I can return to chapters and sections more easily to help me really remember what is happening throughout the text.

I’m dreaming of the days I can run outside for a least a week straight:) Hopefully that’ll happen next week when the highs are supposed to get into the 40s (above).

Traveling and Running

This week I was traveling, so I got in running when I could. I didn’t travel anywhere warm, but it was still an adventure. Here’s my recap.

I was home on Monday, where I got in 3 miles on the treadmill before I needed to head into work.

 

 

The good news is I actually got to teach my class on Monday night. First time in 3 weeks WIU was open on a Monday.

Tuesday there was a snowstorm headed our way. I had to fly out of the Quad Cities on Wednesday at 7:00 a.m., so I decided to go up Tuesday after I finished teaching in hopes that I wouldn’t have to drive through the snow. The snow was supposed to start on Tuesday morning, but it didn’t start until around 2 p.m. I taught until 3:15, ran home and got everything together and got on the road a bit before 4 p.m. The driving wasn’t bad. It was actually quite beautiful at times with no one on the road, and whiteness everywhere. By the time I made it to Monmouth the snow had stopped so I made it to my hotel in Moline around 6 p.m. I had a nice night’s sleep and we got at least 1-2 inches of snow during the evening.

My plan was set to leave at 7:05 a.m. We loaded on time, but left a little late due to deicing. The flight was only 45 minutes though, so it made me happy. When I got to the hotel I had a chance to get on the treadmill for a quick run. I made it 2.5 miles.

The view from the workout room was great. It’s on the 14th floor, so I was able to look out over the city.

Since I was in a real city I was able to go out and get some good food and drinks. Thursday I tried a number of local brews. My favorite was my first, the Steel Toe Size 7 IPA. Nice and smooth and hoppy. The Steel Toe Brewery is out of St. Louis Park, MN. I’m looking forward to trying more of their beers.

I also ran this morning (Friday), after sleeping in a bit. I was able to get in 3 miles before my Mom came to pick me up.

It worked for me. I had dinner with my mom and sisters ate Salut Bar Americain in St. Paul. I got to draw on the table, which was fun.

And my food looked good

but the French onion soup, which I was so excited about, needed a bit more seasoning. The fries were pretty good and the glorified macaroni and cheese was a bit too salty. I tried a Lift Bridge Farm Girl Saison, which was a pretty nice beer. Still, I’m going to stick to my IPAs.

All in all it was a good trip. I’m going to head to bed now, watch some of The Doctor (or as Lucy likes to call him, the new Doctor) and fall asleep. I’m traveling home tomorrow, so I’m hoping I get everywhere on time. I’m hoping that next week there will at least be a day or two where I can run OUTSIDE.

Finishing out January

Well this week I’ve been totally unmotivated. I think a lot of it has to do with the weather craziness. I got to run outside on Sunday, but then it was so cold on Monday that they cancelled classes and school for the kids, so I didn’t get a chance to run. I did get in 4 treadmill miles on Wednesday,

but then the running I wanted to do this morning before going into Jack’s school didn’t happen ’cause Lucy got up early and I had to do some cuddling. I don’t mind, but I didn’t get anything in later in the day. It was too cold outside and then it started to snow and didn’t talk.

I did go to book club tonight and that was fun. We didn’t have a book to talk about, we just talked about what books we’re going to possibly read the next couple of months. I tried the new Redd’s Strawberry Ale. I like strawberries so I wanted to see what’s up. It was okay. It was sort of like drinking wine cooler, but that’s okay. All in all it was a nice time. Ann has a great house and there was a fire going. We haven’t met in awhile, so it was nice to see everyone.

All in all my total for January wasn’t bad, especially considering I had to deal with crazy cold and snow and people not shoveling their sidewalks. If I want to hit 600 miles this year I need 50 miles a month. This month I did 41, but during the summer and training for a half marathon in June I’ll get over 50 the next few months, so I should be good to go.

Still Running

I’ve been running, but I have to catch up on my blogging. The weather here has been a bit nutso, as usual. It’ll be nice one day and then freezing the next. So, Wednesday and Friday I had to treadmill it. I did three miles both mornings.

On Wednesday I had the librarian from Hill Correctional Center coming out to pick up books for The 3Rs Project. It was super exciting and she took all the books we’d collected. Now we’re in search of more books. Plus, you can like our chapter on Facebook. Please do. And, if you’re in or around Macomb we will come and pick up books from you.

Friday I did another 3 miler.

This time I had to run and then get to Jack’s school to help with math. It was fun. And, I had a nice run. Jack and I also saw The Nut Job after school. It was okay. He liked it a lot, but I thought it dragged a bit. Hopefully The Lego Movie will be a bit better.

I was so excited today since I got to run outside. It was a beautiful day. There was lots of wind, but I didn’t care since the temperature was 40.

The most frustrating part of the run was finding places without snow on the sidewalks, since no one shovels. I did a bunch of weaving back and forth and doing small out and backs.

But that’s okay, since I got a cool picture of tracks and  sleeping crops.

I also thought I’d only do 3 miles but ended up rocking 4.5 since I was loving being outside and I knew that I wouldn’t get to run outside in the next couple days. The weather is pretty horrid. As I type this the wind is whipping around outside and Jack keeps waking up thinking there’s a tornado coming.

I kept a pretty good pace (except apparently in Mile 2).

All in all it was a really nice run.