Long run: 13 miles

So today I ran just over 13 miles on the treadmill. It was below 20 degrees outside, with gusty winds and icy roads. I did put my gear on before saying, "um, hell no".   I just don't want to ever say no to a run, so I talked myself into the treadmill. I watched Blue Jasmine on the ipad, which although Cate Blanchett was great in it, I didn't really like. After the movie ended I still had three miles to go and those were probably the three hardest miles I've done in all of my training - a mental challenge like no other. But it's all done and over with, so life is good again. I want nothing more than to drink tea on the couch while the girls play but I have to get dinner made, the kids fed and then off to work in Portsmouth for a couple of hours. One bright spot is that Solveig and I made these over the weekend and they came out great, we made the granola bars, rather than the pumpkin bites. No more heavily processed protein bars for us. I used extra hemp seeds and skipped the protein powder. I also used almond butter rather than the peanut butter. It was nice to have all of these ingredients on hand. Anyway, is it bedtime yet?

Jeff and I took turns skiing this morning, as we have another snow day. Right behind the good school system came trails to run, ski and walk along in terms of priorities when we decided to move to Exeter a couple of years ago. Walking down your street and being able to ski a fun 5 mile loop just may be worth the price of property taxes. I elongated my ski a bit, as I needed to get my 6 miles in somehow today. To the right is the river, now frozen and covered with ski and snow shoe tracks (no snow mobiling here, thank God); in the warmer months I've ran passed many a canoe. Today it was just me and a few confused birds wondering if spring was ever going to come.

No preschool for Lila today, so no outdoor run for me. I managed 4 miles on the treadmill, which was beyond mentally numbing. I no longer think that watching something on the ipad helps -the only way I will be able to continue to run on the treadmill is via hypnotism -  hopefully my insurance covers that:)
Here's a shot from Monday's long run, and from running errands with Lila this morning. Another storm is coming our way tomorrow but I  have to run 6 somehow, somewhere.....

Not a bad road to visit for a couple of hours

Still costs a quarter, still the ultimate thrill for a 3 year old

The sun was out today, but I felt too tired still from yesterday's run to get out there while Lila was at school this morning. Instead, I did some laundry and house stuff, responded to some work emails and hit the gym for a little bit to lift weights. I have students tonight, but I may squeeze in a treadmill run before bed. I'm a big fan of Sera Pelle, after perusing many of her recipes from an old copy of Food and Wine. I had some potatoes that needed to be used up, and I picked up a half pound of wild salmon at the market next door to my gym. Threw these together while Lila ate her lunch, and they're sitting in the fridge to cook up before I head to work later today. These would be great with the cauliflower recipe in the same spread, but my kids aren't big on cauliflower yet - I'm thinking I'll see if Solveig wants to help me throw this together after school instead, http://virtuallyveganmama.com/2011/09/summer-fest-vegan-broccoli-salad.html . I plan on Sera's lemon/dill spread for the fishcakes and maybe some rice. This is a good easy family dinner in the summertime.  I'll take all the summer I can get today, with a snow/sleet storm heading our way in a couple days. In her Food and Wine layout she makes frost your own vegan chocolate cupcakes which I've made and which are insane....even Jeff was a fan:) Here's a link to the full article and more of her recipes http://www.foodandwine.com/articles/natural-curiosities-at-home

Long run: 12 miles
Location: Exeter/Kensington/ Hampton Falls
Weather: 28 degrees


This was me before my run...

 and this was me after my run...

It snowed a couple/few inches last night, so there were spots along my run earlier today where my legs felt like they were running on sand. Made me think about Helga, who is training for a trail marathon out in California.  But most of my run was on dry pavement, with just a few courteous drivers in cars and plow trucks. I added to my distance today by taking a right where I normally take a left. I'm always so la-dee-da when I run that  I never really looked right, until today. And what did I see? You guessed it, a seemingly never ending hill. The good news is that the Sugarloaf Marathon has 2 miles of hills that come after mile 6, so I guess I can call this a happy accident. This was my 6th long run. My first long run was 6 miles, and I wondered if I could do it again when I was done. Could I run 12 miles? Definitely not, was what I thought. Today, on the last mile as I literally propelled my legs forward with my arms, I wondered, could I do this 12 mile run again right now? Hell the f*ck no! But who knows how I'll feel next time; next time isn't as important as the accomplishment of today, the gorgeous landscape along Nason Road that I newly discovered (and that kicked my ass) and the gratitude I feel toward my father in-law, who picked Lila up from school today for me so I could run with a little more freedom.

This is Cleo, just before 7am today. She may appear innocent and unassuming, but what you can not see is the heating vent behind her butt. When the first thing you come down to in the morning is your dog warming her butt, you can bet your arss it will be a cold start to the day. All I needed to do today was run three miles on the treadmill and maybe lift some weights. Easy stuff, with Lila at school for a couple of hours and Solveig there all day.  But last night Tina texted me about cross country skiing. I did some figuring while the kids ate breakfast, which went something like this, " Lila, please finish your breakfast." " UM, no thanks mom, I just want a lollipop." Coming back from a frigid school drop off I said to myself, I should run three miles right now,  but I ought to ski with Tina. There's a fine line but a meaningful difference between the things you should do for yourself  and the things you ought to do. In the present, measure your choices by doing what you ought to do so that when you look back years from now the words "should have" never cross your mind. You know what you should do; it takes a little more intuition and energy to figure out what you ought to do. Which reminds me, if you ever need motivation to get your butt beyond the heating vent, try these seven little words: "When I look back at my life." When I look back at my life, I'll be glad that I skied with my beautiful friend along the ocean on a morning that quickly became more glorious with each passing minute. That treadmill run? Already forgotten.

Fifth Long Run: 10.3 Miles
Location: Exeter, Kensington, Hampton Falls
Weather: 30 degrees, party cloudy
Today I realized that I forgot to write about Monday's long run. That run was pretty uneventful. I simply added another street to my usual route to lengthen the loop. My body felt good most of the run, but my back did begin to hurt around mile 8. I've had a weak lower back ever since I belayed a rock climber out in Southern Utah many moons ago. She weighed about 5o pounds more than I did, and she froze mid way up a hundred foot black rock in St. George. I had to just hold her weight for about 40 minutes until she felt brave enough to keep climbing. My back was toast for about 2 weeks straight after that event, and it has never fully recovered.  I do remember having such a great time that day. Back then, my daily runs were on redsand trails, and I got my strength training from bouldering daily. Yesterday, I got that similar reservation-free physical rush to just grab your gear and go. We were all home due to a snow day, and the snow was fast and fierce. By 3:30pm, we were about a foot in when Jeff decided to make some coffee and quickly realized he was using the last of the coffee grounds.  What? Out of coffee, honey? I'm on it! What else do we need? Oh, you want a snack? Ok, I'll pick you up something, no problem!  When one is trapped indoors ALL DAY with her kids and husband on a Wednesday, one just goes with it, and by goes with it I mean GO GO GO! So in about 3 minutes I took out the xcountry skis, boots and back pack, and skied into town to the market. Fresh, fluffy powder made it so exhilarating and fun that I didn't mind the frozen snow kingdom that quickly developed in my nostrils. Here are some pics and btw, today I ran 4 fast miles on the treadmill.