Stacy's Blog

On the treadmill @ 8:34 pace.

Biked 4 miles 

Wanted to run outside, but the temp was 0 and the windchill was -15 to -20. Didn't feel like dealing with the cold and the roads are still not cleared very well. Hopefully this weekend I can get Bayly out. She is a little unruly since she hasn't been out for a week. 

Ok, so I log on and here is Jillian looking all tan and buff while I feel all spindly and pale. Like that's fair. :)

4 miles @ 8:34 pace

3/4 mile @ 8:15 pace

1/4 mile @ 8:00 pace

 Hoping to get outside tomorrow and wear the dog out. She has gutted 2 stuffies this week and harassed the appliance delivery guys. 

Outside (yea!). Temp. 13 and no wind! It was awesome! Conditions were horrible. Everything is white. Everything. Makes it hard to see. The road has about 2 inches of powder on it. For every step forward I slipped 1/2 step back. Needless to say my pace was pathetic. Ave. 10 min. miles. But it was so good to get outside with Bayly I didn't care. She had a full set of whiskercicles. 

I am enjoying my Garmin, which I have affectionately named Petunia. Everyone has a Garmin, but how many can say they have a Petunia! :) Still figuring out all the bells and whistles. Quite a task for someone who is technology illiterate. 

Spent the day shoveling out; in the brilliant sunshine. The day was beautiful. I told Ron I would finish shoveling and he could put my new dishwasher and faucet in. :) I was out for a couple hours, got all the snow cleared off the driveway. Had to round up the dogs a few times, as they were off visiting the neighbors. Finally got down to the treadmill at 9pm.  Ran a 9:00 minute pace. Kicked it down to 8:34 for the last 2 miles.

Supposed to be negative highs all week. If the wind doesn't blow I still might be able to get outside. Hopefully  

Treadhills and biked 5 miles and lifted weights. It was warm enough to go outside, but it snowed all day, so by the time I could get out I couldn't see the road and didn't feel like fighting to keep myself upright.

Since I am confined to the treadmill for an extended period of time, I have decided to try some of the bells and whistles I usually don't use. We have a Precore so it has a lot of bells and whistles and I seem to get into a rut and don't take advantage of them like I should. So tomorrow night I am going to do an interval workout!

3 miles interval @ 3% incline

2 miles @ 8:13 pace

2 miles on the bike

My legs are tired, but otherwise it was a good workout. Now outside to shovel the snow we got yesterday and last night. The driveway should be clear for at least 24 hours before the next round of white stuff hits. Oh Joy!

4 miles @ 8:41

1 mile @ 8:34

1 mile @ 8:00

 Lifted weights. Yea, more snow tomorrow,  I can't wait! NOT

TM workout:

2 miles interval @ 3% incline

2 miles @ 8:34 pace

2 miles same as first 2.

So I signed up for the Golden Gate Dirty Thirty in Blackhawk Colorado. There is a 7 and 12 mile and a 50K. I went for the 7 mile. I have been a flatlander for far to long to attempt anything else right now. I am sooo excited. It is a trail run. That means rocks, streams, trees, altitude and elevation. I can't wait! I am going to be down there spending time with my folks and visiting family for a couple weeks and decided it was time to run a race in CO. 

Easy 4 @ 8:57 pace

Tried the 10K hill program tonight. I'm not sure what the incline is, because I was to busy concentrating on staying on the treadmill and breathing. It was ugly. I only did 4 miles of that program. Then ran 2.2 at 8:34 pace. I'm going to keep working at it. I'm such a flatlander. Temp -3. Windchill advisory. It's going to be a cold week.  

Tempo run on the TM:

Mile 1 @ 8:34

Mile 2 @ 8:13 

Mile 3&4 @ 8:00

Mile 5&6 @ 8:34

Trying to push beyond the 8:34 pace. It's getting comfortable so it's time to try and kick it up a notch. Of course that may all change if I ever get outside again. Tomorrow the high is supposed to be -10 with a windchill of -35. Ugh. Nobody is in a good mood right now. The flood forecast came out yesterday. 98% chance of major flooding again this spring. Third year in a row. Seventeenth year of this wet cycle. It is getting really old.

On the bright side: the days are getting longer, the anemic sun was out today and we might get into the teens next week! Woohoo! :) 

Interval workout on the TM. It was a killer today. My legs felt heavy and I felt sluggish. I had a migraine yesterday. Maybe that had something to do with it. Tara is home. Yea! Movie night!

I'm going to try and do 7 tomorrow without losing my mind, since it will be on the treadmill.

So the weather service has this new "warning". It is called an Extreme Cold Warning. Really? The way I see it: When you walk outside and your nostrils freeze shut, pretty sure you can figure out it is extremely cold, without the weather service issuing a "warning" about it. 

Temp. -14 and a windchill advisory. Could not bring myself to go down to the treadmill. The sun was out and I stayed in town so I was protected from the wind a little. The hardest part about running when it is this cold is just getting out the door. 

It really wasn't bad once I got going. The wind isn't bad, but when it is -14 it doesn't take much to drop the windchill way down. For January in ND it was a beautiful day. :)

10K hill workout on the TM. I did 5 miles tonight, then ran flat @8:34 for 2. The inclines range from 6%-9%. I think it was better when I didn't know what the inclines were. 

Temps are on the rise this week, so hopefully Bayly and I can get outside for the rest of the week. There is not a stuffie in the house that has any stuffing. She has gutted all of them. The weekend and beyond look brutally cold again.

Signed up for the Fargo 1/2 Marathon, May 21.  

Temp 24! Amazing sunset! It felt great to be outside! I tried to keep Mr. Garmin between 8-9 min pace. Not easy considering my route took me over snow drifts, ice and a really uneven gravel road. But I am not complaining cuz I was outside! Bayly was in dog heaven. 

The head honchos in Fargo want to have 3 million sandbags ready. They figure it will take that many to hold back the Red if things really get nasty. They have 300,000 on hand from last year.  

An easy 3 with Bayly. I decided to take Maggie too, since we were only going 3. Her little legs kept up, but she is such an annoyance to Bayly. She is like the little sister that is always following Bayly around: "Geeze Maggie, sniff on the other side of the road this is my side and find your own pizza box, this one is mine". 

LSD outside. It was great day for a run. Tomorrow winter comes back. This week has been like a vacation! The birds that hang around all winter were even happy. 

My legs felt tired today. Rest day tomorrow. Ron's employee appreciation party is tomorrow night. Woohoo! I don't have to cook. That is always a good day.  

Tempo run

1/2 mile @ 9:13

1 mile @ 8:34

2 1/2 miles @ 8:00

1 mile @ 8:20

Cool down

Need to focus on speed more. It was a killer today at 8:00. I would like to PR at the Fargo 1/2. Gotta have goals, even if they are lofty.

By by 30's, hello sub zero (again) (sigh). :( 

I feel like a hamster. 8:34 pace on the TM. The windchill is -25+. We got more snow today. Not sure how much since the drift in our driveway is about 3 ft. high. I had it all cleared off, and now... (sigh). Ron took the 4-wheel drive today. Good thing: he is going to need it to get into the garage. Thank goodness tomorrow is Feb. I hate January. Feb. is not much better, but at least I can start to see the light at the end of the tunnel. I need some color and heat right now. Ok, I'm done. Dark mood has passed for now. :)

I got my books today! Three mountain books. Two, about Everest and 1 about K2. The people that climb those mountains are amazing and since I will never have the strength or money to do it, I live vicariously through them.