The Blizzard of 2016 recap. Nope it isn’t a race.

Warning: a ton of pictures of snow and dogs. 🙂

I am doing my best to type this as the hours of shoveling on Sunday have rendered my body sore beyond belief.

Mother nature dumped over 2 feet of snow on us over the weekend. It was awesome! Well, except for the shoveling.

blizzard

I drove over to Mr. SOTSS’ house Friday night when there was only a few inches on the ground. I figured if I was going to be housebound for a bit it would be more fun spending the time with him and his girls. We completed a jigsaw puzzle…

we counted....1008 pieces....that's 8 more than the box said!

we counted….1008 pieces….that’s 8 more than the box said!

And made Shrinky Dinks…

I made the rainbow, pencil and shooting stars....The other beauties were done by Mr. SOTSS' 10 year old. She's quite the budding artist. Love her evenly spaced sprinkles and watermelon seeds

I made the rainbow, pencil and shooting stars….The other beauties were done by Mr. SOTSS’ 10 year old. She’s quite the budding artist. Love her evenly spaced sprinkles and watermelon seeds

And during the peak of the storm when they had a travel ban we just took the dogs and the sleds around the neighborhood streets. Chester actually pulls the sled. He’s pretty talented.

blizzard-neighborhoodBoth Mr. SOTSS and I tried out our snow shoes too.

G-snowshoe

Just snow shoeing around the hood in the middle of a blizzard

Just snow shoeing around the hood in the middle of a blizzard

my new snow shoes!

my new snow shoes!

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Hi there.

We finally got snow! It might be just an inch but enough to make things look pretty. Duncan couldn’t believe it….white flakes finally arrived.

Finally!

Finally!

Pretty soon he’ll be wearing his ridiculous snowsuit.

I came home from work on Friday and had some freelance work to do. Good thing my Girl Scout cookie order arrived. I paired it with a nice Cabernet and hit the ground running.

Time to start the weekend.....

Time to start the weekend…..

Saturday morning I ran a local 5k trail run literally 10 minutes from my house. It was held at Duncan’s and my favorite park.

trail-run

Pink ribbons marked the trail. Photo: King of the Mountain Events

resolution-run I really enjoyed it. I will be running these trails more for sure.

On Saturday evening, I packed up my nice little portable life (cookies, wine, my laptop and the doodle) and headed over to Mr. SOTSS’ house for the remainder of this nice long weekend.

Cookies, Wine, Duncan....ok let's go!

Cookies, wine, laptop and Duncan….ok let’s go!

We saw the movie Sisters. OMG so funny! Not PG, but SO FUNNY!

best theater ever...recliners

best theater ever…recliners

Yesterday we took the dogs on a really muddy 3 hour hike. Hiking is one of our favorite things to do. The dogs agree. =) I always laugh how the first 2 hours I’m fine and then my legs get tired and I start tripping over every single tree route and then I get cranky. Mr. SOTSS knows when the wheels start to fall off the bus but somehow he gets me to continue a little farther without me realizing it.

Chester!

Chester!

I have this strange obsession with moss. I'm fascinated by it.

I have this strange obsession with moss. I’m fascinated by it.

I'm coming ma!

I’m coming ma!

There were lots of mountain bikers in the park so they must use this ramp. Notice duncan's muddy dipped feet

There were lots of mountain bikers in the park so they must use this ramp. Notice duncan’s muddy dipped feet

My secret selfie. LOL!

My secret selfie. LOL!

The boys

The boys

After hiking we grabbed a bite to eat and then ran a few errands. Mr. SOTSS has been renovating his bathroom so we made a pit stop to The Home Depot for a few things. He’s up to the electrical….

I don't know why but I love the way Home Depot smells.

I don’t know why but I love the way Home Depot smells.

And then we picked up the ingredients to make toffee doodle cookies. I had one at Starbucks the other day and it was so good I decided I needed to find a similar recipe and bake them.

Toffee Doodles!

Toffee Doodles!

Fresh outta the oven

Fresh outta the oven

If you’re interested, here’s the recipe.

The dogs relaxed after their hike.

sleepy-pups

This morning started with coffee, freelance work and two dogs for company while Mr. SOTSS fixed his door lock and then went to work on his bathroom.

working

Working at my house and working at Mr. SOTSS' house are pretty much the same only I have two dogs cuddled on the couch next to me

Working at my house and working at Mr. SOTSS’ house are pretty much the same only I have two dogs cuddled on the couch next to me

door-fix

Mr. Fixit!

After a few hours of working I went for a short run. It was COLD and WINDY!

mlk-run

must have ears covered when it's windy and in the 20s

must have ears covered when it’s windy and in the 20s

The exposed skin was only an issue for the first 1/2 mile and then I warmed up enough that it didn't bother me

The exposed skin was only an issue for the first 1/2 mile and then I warmed up enough that it didn’t bother me

Now I’m back home and I realized that I forgot to take some of those toffee doodle cookies home with me! So Mr. SOTSS scored at least a dozen all for himself. Good thing I still have plenty of Girl Scout cookies to get me through the week 🙂

What is your favorite type of cookie? Do you like soft or crunchy cookies?

 

Hi-dee-ho there!

I came home from work last night to 2 packages.

First package was the replacement “enhancer” pieces for my Yurbuds Inspire earbuds that I bought a few months ago, and then lost one of the enhancers the day of the NYC Marathon.

for $10 they send you 2 sets of them so now I've got a backup pair =)

for $10 they send you 2 sets of them so now I’ve got a backup pair =)

I don’t think I’ve listened to music on a run since the marathon so today I went for a run and boy did I need my music. I struggled. This is how I felt the entire time…

Not feelin' it

Not feelin’ it

But it’s 3 miles of running that I would have regretted if I didn’t venture out for, so that’s that.

first run i opted for something warmer than a baseball cap on my head

first run i opted for something warmer than a baseball cap on my head

3 miles of heavy legs

3 miles of heavy legs

The second package was the snowshoes I bought for myself.

Someone wasn't happy the delivery wasn't Barkbox

Someone wasn’t happy the delivery wasn’t Barkbox

I bought Mr. SOTSS snowshoes for Christmas and decided I must buy myself a pair too! We’re heading up to Vermont at the end of the month and we’ll definitely be using them (so long as there is enough snow!)

So I’m finally getting a chance to share my thoughts about the Roosport pouch that Jane sent me as a holiday gift last month. I wore it a few times to get a good feel for it.

Roosport

Roosport

The Roosport pouch is a beltless option for toting small items while running (or walking). I’m really used to my Spibelt which I’ve been using since I started running marathons and while I don’t mind the belt part most of the time, there are those few occasions where it irritates me and I just want to toss it.

So here’s what I think about the Roosport:

It’s really cute! I love the blue accents. There are a bunch of colors to choose from so thanks Jane for picking this color for me. I like the idea of it. The magnet closure is really secure and the pockets fit my phone, money, ID, and keys. I don’t think it would fit all of my fuel for marathons but possibly for half-marathons. The biggest issue for me is that I can’t seem to get to the items in the pouch with ease while on the go. Aside from the small zippered pocket on the flap, everything else is in the pocket that is on the other side of your pants (capris, shorts, skirt etc.) And with my wide waist band capris and extra “middle” I can’t really get my hand in to find the zipper. Also, I wanted to secure the pouch in the small of my back but it bounced a lot there so the best place I found was on my hip bone. This also makes it hard for me to get to it. It looks funny because it protrudes out from under my shirt. (sorry for the terrible pics. My phone was in the pouch so i had to use the camera on my laptop).

If I keep the shirt tucked a bit It seems better

If I keep the shirt tucked a bit It seems better

I don't like to draw attention to my "thickest" part so the lumpy aspect isn't the best

I don’t like to draw attention to my “thickest” part so the lumpy aspect isn’t the best

The good news is that the pouch was secure, didn’t irritate me at all and didn’t bounce once I found my “sweet spot”. So I think for me, it’s best suited for things I won’t need to access while running. (I could keep something like a chapstick on the outer pocket for access while running). Maybe just cash if i needed to stop at the store to buy water on a long run, or just to carry my phone for safety reasons. I don’t think I’ll ever wear this for a marathon. I might keep trying to pull the pouch completely out while running so i can fiddle with it and then learn to get it back in the sweet spot of my waistband again. If I can master that, then it will open up a whole new ballgame for me.

Also, they sell clear waterproof bags that fit inside if you want to protect your phone from moisture. Trust me, you sweat a lot around the waistband. In 3 miles the pouch was damp. My phone was fine but 26 miles? Probably not so much.

BUT, I definitely will use this when I walk the dog at the park when I don’t have a jacket with pockets. And I’ll use it for my shorter runs when I’m working from home because I like the idea I can have my phone with me just in case a client needs to reach me.

It’s definitely going to be a personal choice for everyone and I don’t think I can tell you one way or the other if you should get it. I can say that if you’re used to tucking things in your waistband then this is definitely for you =).

Happy Humpday!

Do you tote stuff around when you run? Do you use a fuel belt or some other type of pouch? 

 

Hello.

How’s it going? I enjoyed a lazy, rainy Sunday morning with my favorites….coffee and Duncan.

rainy-lazy-coffeeThen, the sun came out and it was 61 degrees (in January!) so I figured that was a sign I needed to go for a run.

sweating way too much for a winter run.

sweating way too much for a winter run.

I almost had a dilemma with my Garmin Vivofit. The wristband broke. But then I remembered it came with 2 size bands. I went through my junk drawer and found the box and sure enough the smaller band was still in there (2 years later! pays to be a packrat sometimes). It just fits my wrist.

garmin-band

I worked from home on Thursday and Friday which was great because it meant spending extra time with the doodle and also getting in some running in the afternoon.

The face I wake up to every morning.

The face I wake up to every morning.

working from home looks like this

working from home looks like this

lunch break!

lunch break!

On Friday, I offered to take my dad to pick up his car at the mechanic which is over an hour away, so I let Duncan come for the ride for company.back-seat-doodle

Yesterday I finally attended another one of New York Road Runner’s “Open Run” events. open-runThey hold these every Saturday at 9am and it’s free. I’m hardly ever around on Saturday mornings but yesterday I had absolutely no plans so I figured what the heck. It’s a 3 mile course and they time you the old fashioned way…..with a stop watch. =) Best part was that they were hosting MulchFest at the park too…all the disposed Christmas trees being mulched left the most amazing aroma! tree-mulchPlus, it’s always nice to meet up with other runners who are local and the course is mostly trails—but just loose gravel trails—not “tree root and other obstacles to avoid” trails which is really nice because I’m just too accident prone for the latter. Later on in the day I took Duncan for a walk along another trail system at a different park which I always forget about.

the blue trail

the blue trail

New places to sniff

New places to sniff

greenbeltI’m going to try and do some more trail running this year and I’ll definitely be going back to both parks on a regular basis….especially on weekends when I have the luxury of time. I can’t believe how many miles of trails there are:

lots-of-trails

I came over to my brother and sister-in-law’s house to hang out and have dinner and now we’re watching House Hunters on HGTV. It’s one of my favorite shows.

wild and crazy night. 2 sleeping dogs, a sleeping brother. Oh and my SIL and I are playing Words With Friends while sitting right next to each other. =)

wild and crazy night. 2 sleeping dogs, a sleeping brother. Oh and my SIL and I are playing Words With Friends while sitting right next to each other. =)

Ugh, weekend is just about over. Hope you had a lovely weekend.

Anyone prefer trail running over road running or treadmill running?