As I might have mentioned a time or two this week, we had a big snow storm last weekend. A blizzard of that proportion is unusual in the DC area, so I might have gotten a little excited and rattled on about it a little too much. 

As a result, I started my very active week with two hours of shoveling on Monday morning. With our street still covered with 34 inches of virgin snow, I couldn’t get out to see my clients, and they couldn’t get in to see me with the exception of two high school athletes who just happen to be my neighbors. They were able to trudge through the snow and make it to our Monday afternoon conditioning session. Believe me, they got bonus points!

DCIM100GOPROG0063283.
 

Tuesday afternoon a tractor with a front-end loader made it to our street and rather than making a circle near our driveways, he plowed a straight line down the middle of our cul-de-sac.

Blizzard2016SnowPlow
 

After the tractor left, we joined our neighbors for a group effort in shoveling and snow blowing all of our driveways free to the newly plowed lane. From above it looked like an ant farm of little paths.

Blizzard2016Freedom
 

With a little rain and temperatures staying above freezing overnight Tuesday, we woke to our little plowed one-way path through the neighborhood being almost completely clear. The circle I live on is exactly a half mile if I run to my garage door on each lap. As I completed 5.5 miles, I saw my next-door neighbor and her dog Stella out playing. I asked if Stella would like to join me for my final half mile. It was her first time running with me, and she did great! She stayed right to my left the entire time, keeping my pace perfectly.

GoProDebStellaRunningSelfie
 

I had hoped to take Stella out on Thursday for my final mile, but my neighbor was on a conference call when I ran and couldn’t bring her out. Twelve laps around my neighborhood with the same scenery got a little old, but I was thankful to be outside enjoying the sunshine. 

DebRunningLegsOnSlush
 

On Friday morning I finished lifting weights and decided to play around a little making exercises up – something my trainer friends and I used to do when I worked in a gym with lots of other trainers. I often put my Swiss ball on the bench to do hip extensions and sometimes I do a bird dog type movement while I’m on the ball holding on to one edge of the bench with the hand that’s not pointing forward. Just for fun, I decided to try the Superman pose on top of the ball and it worked. I felt rather badass and decided to set my GoPro up to capture the moment. 

DebSupermanOnBallOnBench
 

Friday evening brought a beautiful bluish/purple sunset with the promise of temps to drop into the teens overnight, and a very cold start to our Saturday morning group run. 

FridaySunsetOffDeck
 

After lots of back-and-forth on where we should meet for our Cruisers Saturday morning group run, we decided late on Friday to meet at our HOA and run along the nearby street. I sent the email out with our plans on Friday afternoon, and some of the Cruisers didn’t see it, so we have a very small turnout. 

CruisersShowPlowPreRunSelfie
 

After my friends Alan and Shawn finished their run, I continued on solo until I reached eight miles. I found this plowed path connecting the street to an elementary school so I detoured down it. Without my Yaktrax on I was extremely cautious, and after a little exploring I headed back to the clear street.

GoProDebPlowedPathRunning
 

Once home, I ventured into our side yard for the first time to see what kind of shape the trail was in, only to discover that no one has been on it. At places the snow was crusty enough that I could walk on top, but most places I sank down to my shins. I tried running, but spent more time trying to stay upright so I quickly gave up. 

DebRunningUnderSnowyTrellis
 

Yesterday was our youngest son Daniel’s birthday. We met him and his girlfriend for dinner at Legal Seafood, and had a wonderful time. Since I didn’t take any pictures, I’ll share one of my all-time favorites of him when he was about twenty months old.

ToddlerDanielSittingOnBucket
 

This afternoon I spent an hour at Starbucks with my friend and fellow MRTT Ragnar teammate, Laurie, teaching her a little bit about using her new GoPro. We had so much fun and enjoyed a hot chocolate in the process. I just remembered that I promised about a month ago to write a GoPro tips blog post. I’ll put it on my to do list…

DCIM100GOPROG0023769.
 

And just for fun, I’ll leave you with this evening’s sunset – another beautiful one…

SunsetFromDeck
 

Weekly Recap: 

  • Weights: Wednesday and Friday
  • Shoveling: Monday – 2 hours, Tuesday – 1.5 hours, Sunday – .5 hours (Total: 4 hours)
  • Runs: Wednesday – 6 miles, Thursday – 6 miles, Saturday – 8 miles (Total: 20 miles)
  • Walks: Monday – .5 mile in knee deep unplowed snow
  • Bike: Tuesday – 14 miles 
  • Stretching: Daily
  • Average Steps Per Day: 14,819
  • Average Hours Sleep Per Night: 7:17

 

*********************************************************

I’m linking up with Holly at HoHo Runs and Tricia from MissSippiPiddlin for their Weekly Wrap.  Be sure to check out not only the hosts, but the other great bloggers joining in on the fun!

WeeklyWrapButton
 

Have a great week!

 

  • Questions:
  • If you got snow from Winter Storm Jonas, are you dug out yet?
  • Have you ever run in Yaktrax?
  • Did you race this weekend?