Monthly Archives: January 2012

Winter Layers

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It was another wintry run this morning.

But warmer (kind of). . . .we were above zero this morning: 5 degrees! We’re making progress. The rest of the week looks promising as well—no negative numbers. (Oh dear, I’ve gone insane.)

I ended up running a total of 6 miles this morning in 56 minutes. Definitely nothing stellar, but I’ve quickly learned I have to lower my standards during the winter.

I tried out my new shoes for the first 4 miles. I’m really liking them. They are very cushioned—I was nearly starting to feel rocks in my other shoes, and they fit like a glove.

Brooks Glycerin 8

I finished the last 2 miles in my old shoes: Saucony Ride 4. I really enjoyed these shoes as well. They fit me very well, but I’ve had them since this summer, so it is time to retire them. I know they definitely have more than 500 miles on them. I’m thinking more like 700!

(This picture was when I first got my shoes. Oh how this makes me miss summer so desperately.)

I rarely purchase the same make/model of shoes time after time. I’m not really sure why; I guess I like to change things up.

As far as clothes these days, I usually wear 3 layers on top (base layer + fleece pull-over + thicker jacket), 2 layers on bottom (tights + regular running pants), a neck warmer, hat, and mittens. And I still get cold.

My go-to jacket during the brutally cold winter has been this Asics Storm Shelter Jacket.

It is thicker than a lot of other jackets and does a really good job of protecting me from the wind and snow.

I would like to find another winter running jacket to rotate in since I’ve been wearing this on nearly every run since Christmas. (It has been in the single digits or below zero since Christmas. I know because I’ve been keeping track.)

Any suggestions?

I also painted my nails this weekend, and I tried out the new fad with my ring finger being a different color. Craig said I look like a 14 year old girl. Ha! I think it is fun, but it is a little strange as well.

Yes, my hands are extremely dry and wrinkly from the weather and dry air up here.

Simple Sunday

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I am pretty sure I have the most sensitive body to caffeine.

I could not sleep last night; I think I maybe slept a couple of hours. I had what was supposed to be a decaf iced Americano around 3 p.m. yesterday, but that cup o’ joe must have been fully caffinated. Finally about twelve hours later, think I dozed off. I am going to be dragging today, but hopefully that means I sleep like a rock tonight.

Despite the lack of sleep I got last night, it was quite the nice little Sunday.

I got up around 6:30 a.m., worked on the computer, had breakfast, and then got ready for church.

When I came back home for lunch, I made a very flavorful salad for lunch.

I will be the first to admit I am not very good at making salads at home. I usually try to combine really bland items resulting in a very lackluster salad, but this one turned out much better.

Taco Salad

spinach, romaine lettuce, diced tomatoes, shredded cheese, roasted chickpeas, salsa, and tortilla chips

These are the tortilla chips I used. They are local and very authentic-tasting. I highly recommend them. We have been buying these Taco Loco chips for years.

After lunch, Craig and I went to Kaladi Brothers Coffee Shop to “hang out” while we each worked on our computers.

I am still trying to trouble-shoot my Ecto problems.

While at the coffee shop, we both had iced coffees. Mine was supposed to be decaf, but it most certainly was not.

I got a nice compliment on my shoes though.

Craig deep in thought while writing cheesy puns to post on Facebook and make his friends laugh. . . . .he’s so punny.

Me all bundled up because it is still below zero these days.

It was nice to get out of the house for a while and do something different. Otherwise it is very easy to get cabin fever. . . . .oh wait, I think I had that back in November.

When Craig and I came home, made dinner, and got ready for the work-week. And so it begins.

Running & Rambling

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This morning at 9 a.m., I met up with the Skinny Raven Running Group at the downtown Skinny Raven store.

There were only 3 of us who showed up. . . .I think the cold temps scared people away. (It was even a few degrees colder at 9 a.m. when we met up.)

I, along with two other hard-core Alaskan men twice my age, made up the group of three. I was definitely the odd ball.

I ended up running with one of the guys for 6 miles. I thought it might be kind of awkward since he was twice my age, but the conversation was easy and the time went by quickly.

Despite the age and gender difference, I think the conversation was easy because we are both runners. We talked about races we have/are going to run, our jobs, Alaska, families, and all that good stuff. It was fun!

I wanted to do a total of 10 miles for the day, so I drove to the gym and ran 4 more miles on the treadmill.


Then it was a quick stop at the grocery store for next week’s food plus a little treat for myself: a scone. It tasted so good after my long run.

I also made a quick stop at Skinny Mini—Skinny Raven’s mini-me before heading home.

I was in search of a new pair of running shoes. (I ended up returning these because they kept slipping off my heels.) I picked out the Brooks Glycerin 8.

These were on sale since the Glycerin 9s are out.

I’ve never run in Brooks before, but they fit really well. I have a hard time finding shoes that fit my feet: my heel either slips out or my forefoot doesn’t have enough room in the toe box, but these were perfect!

Not the most stylish pair of shoes, but I’ll get over it.

Then it was time to refuel the glycogen stores with a vanilla banana protein smoothie and bagel.

The rest of my day included:

- laundry

- planning our trip to Maui! (We leave in 40 days!)

- folding laundry

- washing dishes

- and other random things that somehow eat up a lot of time.

I still haven’t resolved my Ecto problems. I’ve e-mailed customer service twice now, so I hope they contact me soon! This post took twice as long as it normally would so now it is time to be done!