untapped speed ...

On Sunday, I was supposed to run my last race of 2010 - a 5K. I was super excited for it. After a fantastic 8K PR in November and a strong base established, I was primed to run fast. Plus, the 5K is a distance that I LOVE, but never seem to build into my race schedule.

So, I was all set. Uber-cute outfit picked out. Mental game on point. And despite running 24 miles in the two days prior, I felt strong. I was going to crush my PR (24:09). But then, it snowed.

And for the first time in a VERY long time, I wasn't a "runner first, logical thinker second." J didn't want me to drive to the race (honestly, the roads were bad) and I actually listened to him - taking my first DNS EVER.

I was totally bummed. I wanted, no, NEEDED to know how fast I could run. So, I put on my uber-cute outfit and hit the treadmill for my own Christmas 5K.

I set the treadmill incline to 1%. I hit the button for the pace I was hoping to run (7:30) and I was off. The first mile was comfortable, so I pushed it a little. But still, mile two seemed to fly by, so I sped up again. And when I finished, the display looked like this ...

Yeah, that's right. 22:55 (7:23 pace). A 1:14 improvement over my 5K PR from May. And then I started thinking that maybe Mel's right. I might have some untapped speed in me after all ...

feeling festive ...

Yesterday morning, I woke up to this ...

So, I ran 9 miles wearing this ...
Then once I warmed up, we did a little bit of this ...

And this ...
And this ...
And, yes. I was there too ...
And then we ended up with this ...
Yup. Definitely feeling festive around here ...

January rewind ...

Holy Cow! Where did January go? It felt like I had waited FOREVER for it to get here (with booking the Bermuda trip last July and all) and now it's over.

We had a pretty relaxing weekend here, since we were trapped due to the foot of snow that fell on Saturday. J took the girls out to play and I spent a lot of time with my trusty old treadmill (which I didn't so much mind). I realized, after my 10 miler on Saturday, that I was only 3.83 miles short of 100 for the month. Sweet! I debated for all of 10 seconds, then decided to do one more run on Sunday to round out my mileage. (Initially, I thought this was a HUGE feat, probably close to my all-time monthly record. But, I was so wrong. Apparently, I logged 149 miles in October. Way more than I had realized.) Anyway, I ran a four miler on Sunday and finished January at 100.17 miles! Woo hoo!

And that was going to be the end of my recap, but then I saw Morgan's post this morning and was inspired to make a list of my own. So here it goes:

January 2010

Miles Planned/Ran: 97.3/100.17 (with an overall pace of 9:33)

Rest Days Planned/Taken: 14/12

Highest Mileage Week: 1/25-1/31: 27.07 miles

Long Runs Planned/Run: 5/5

Donuts Earned: 66.37 (this is perhaps my favorite part of DailyMile)

Current Book: Book? What is a book? I've read a magazine before, but these books you speak of ...

Current Shame-Inducing Guilty Pleasure: Handfuls of chocolate chips from the BJ's sized bag in our pantry.

Current Colors: PINK (obviously) and charcoal grey

Current Obsessions: This blog, my birthday (only six days away!!)

Current Drink: French Vanilla Coffee

Current Song: OneRepublic - All the Right Moves

Current Need: A new cheetah skirt - mine is hanging on by a thread. Hopefully, a certain little sister of mine will come through with one for my birthday.

Current Triumph: Hitting 100 miles in January, which puts me on track to easily hit 1000 this year!

Current Bane of My Existence: The snow. I hate it. I want Spring to arrive and to run outside again!

Current Goal: PR at the Disney Princess Half

Current Indulgence: Extra warm knee high socks ... I know it doesn't seem like much, but they make me smile.

Current Blessing: My kids, hubby and fact that I am injury-free!

Current Excitement: Did I mention that my birthday is only six days away?

snow again ...

I know I've mentioned it before, but I really do not like the snow or cold weather or wind. Personally, I would be up for 90 degree days all of the time. That was part of the appeal of Virginia. It was far milder than dreary Erie. But somehow, it has snowed for the third time in 10 months. Like huge snow. Close to a foot and it's still going.

And since I am such a wimp and didn't want to run in the snow alone, I completed my long run, inside, where it was a balmy 72 degrees. 10 miles of watching the snow fall while sporting a tank top. It was heaven.

Speaking of heaven, that's where I'll be for the Disney Princess Half (right? Isn't Disney like heaven on earth?). A bunch of bloggy friends have mentioned that they are going to be running as well (let me know if anyone wants to meet up). One of those friends, Katye is holding a Bondiband fundraiser for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. If you are interested in finding out more, click HERE.

holy snow ...

It doesn't snow in Richmond. But somehow, it has snowed twice this calendar year. And last night, it snowed huge (10"). And more is expected this afternoon. This is a good and a bad thing. The girls LOVE the snow. I generally like the snow for a day or two, but then I am over it. That's pretty much the end of the good.

Since it NEVER snows here, everyone is ill-equipped. The snow doesn't really get plowed. And if it does, it's poorly. No one has snow clothes. AND NO ONE CAN DRIVE IN IT. It's sad. I used to live where there was lake-effect snow 345 days a year. I can drive in snow. This fact was proven last night when I was driving home during the first two hours of the storm. I was going 45 on a major interstate. The speed limit was 65. I was passing EVERYONE. It only got worse on the local roads. 15 mph was pushing it. I really think the best part of the night was when I stopped for gas. I had about 60 miles to empty so I stopped to fill up. It was a madhouse. Everyone of Wawa's 24 pumps had lines three cars deep. People were filling up gas containers. You would have thought it was the end of the world. All I could do was laugh and think, "Seriously?"

All joking aside, I think my least favorite part of the snow is that it puts a damper on my running plans. I really wanted to get outside and run this weekend. I was even thinking of going on a short run last night while the snow was falling just so I could say I was that hardcore. I didn't. My brain (which was too afraid I might hurt the ankle) won out and I ended up on the treadmill. For eight miles. At an 8:45 average pace. With negative splits. A minute and fifteen seconds faster than I averaged during marathon training. Hmmm ...