Happy Turkey Day!

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!  Today I'm thankful I was able to roll my ass out of bed, make some coffee and look at the snow falling outside.  It's a beautiful sight-enough to get me psyched for a run.

Luckily, I prepped for this run last night.  I left my running clothes in the dryer so I could warm them up while my coffee was brewing, and stuck my running shoes under the radiator in the kitchen.  By the time I was fully dressed for the run, I was already sweating and eager to get outside.

My little end of town was empty.  Hardly a car on the road. Between that and the extra silence that the snow seems to bring, I felt as though Lebowski and I had the world to ourselves.

At one point in our run, we crossed over the freeway.  Obviously, no salt truck have been out yet.  Traffic was already gridlocked with cars in ditches.  Seconds after taking a picture I watched another car go skating into the median!

Well, there's a way to start your holiday.  Hopefully, nobody was seriously injured and required nothing more than a quick tug back onto concrete!!!!

Well, after observing first hand how slippery the roads really were, I decidedly finished my run on sidewalks only and headed back in to start some holiday cooking and prep for our journey over the river and through the woods.

Be careful, everyone and have a safe and festive Thanksgiving!!

No Wheels-Just Rubber

Going on day 6 of my Jeep being in the garage and I miss the independence.  Sure, I'm free to take the truck once the hubby gets home from work in the evening-but by then it's too dark to get a good run in the park.  The past two days I've managed to run another 3 miles (minus the snot, even!) around the neighborhood, but I miss my trees and trails!  Luckily, the part we've been waiting on-which happens to be smaller than my pinkie nail-finally came via UPS and my awesome husband is in the works to repair it as we speak.  Hopefully, I'll be mobile and park-bound soon enough.

So, tomorrow is the big T day to kick off the holidays and kick everyones waistline all to Hell. I've been unofficially participating in an early start to my Holiday Running Streak for the past few weeks, but as of tomorrow IT'S ON!  Tomorrow morning, while everyone else is recovering from a ridiculous bar night or a night of dealing with unruly, excited kids, I will be up and out early to begin my 1 Measly Mile running streak that will last until January 1st.  No excuses.  I've already gotten my annual week of cold, flu and yuck out of the way.  I expect at least 1 Measly Mile ran outdoors or at the gym track (no "dreadmill" treadmill) every day.  I'm pretty excited.  It's a commitment to keep healthy, be mindful of what I do or do not choose to eat and get fresh air everyday.  It's also an excuse to be selfish and do what I love to do and side-step any holiday weight gain-and making New Years resolutions.

Anywho, I have to wrap this up.  Having gotten the hubby sick, I have a crock pot of chicken noodle soup to tend to and also a spinach and artichoke dip recipe to hunt down for tomorrows holiday pig out fest.  Hope everyone has a great day tomorrow with lots of good food and family!!!!

Happy Holidays!!!!!

YouTube vs. Old Man Winter

It's amazing how watching and/reading inspirational videos, articles, movies, etc. can get you up off your butt.  Today's 1 Measly Mile was originally bound for failure from the get-go.  It's another brisk and windy sort of day in south eastern Michigan, my jeep is "in the shop" for a few days and I'm stuck home with no way to get to the gym or my usual park for a run.  All in all,  I just wanted to head back to bed for some hibernation with a good book.

Then, I started tinkering around on the computer.  I looked up articles on running, browsed through Pinterest some and eventually popped over to see what was up on YouTube.  I decided to search "running motivation" and found plenty of videos to get me in the mood to stick my shoes under the radiator for a few hot seconds and go bundle up for a quick mile.  

It was cold, but Lebowski was super giddy, dancing around with his leash in his mouth and I couldn't help but catch his enthusiasm.  Warm shoes also make a WORLD of difference! Needless to say I got into the groove of it and accomplished 3 wonderful miles.  It was even worth the 20 minutes of hacking and sniffling when I got home!

Maybe one day I'll be a beast!

Running Jam of the Day: One Record-Factor

23 Degrees And I'm Done!

Well, I definitely managed my 1 Measly Mile today. HO-LY CRAP it's cold out there!!! I had at least figured that once my blood got flowing I might not notice the cold (a balmy 23 degrees) quite so much but it felt like I just got colder! By the time I got home I had absolutely no feeling in my feet! That was pretty rough. Looks lie it's time to use some thicker socks and bury myself under a pile of blankets on the couch for the rest of my Sunday! Hope everyone else is keeping warm today!

Running Jam Of The Day: Blood-In This Moment

5 Feet Back From Death's Door

About an entire week after getting sick, I can finally say I've taken at least 5 steps back from Death's door.  That's heading in the right direction, right?  I actually tried for my 1 Measly Mile on Thursday night at the track at the gym.  Five laps in and my body went on strike and I wheezed my butt back into bed.

Friday, I didn't manage running a mile.  However, the hubby came home with the great idea to go Downtown Detroit to see the Christmas tree lighting ceremony-never mind that I'm coughing and sniffling non-stop.  Of course I thought is sounded like a great idea!

In fact it was. We had a great time!  It was a little hard to finding parking so we ended up parking at the Renaissance Center parking garage and took the people mover.  The old thing is in desperate need of repair-or just retirement.  It squealed and moaned it's way around the city and there were moments I thought it might it might just fall off the rails and onto the street like a giant loaf of bread.  

The closest stop was two blocks away from where the ceremony was going on, so we got in a nice walk and managed to squeeze through the crowd just in time for the countdown for the tree lighting.  It was beautiful, with the giant tree, the ice skaters and the live music.  Totally worth the scary ride on Detroit's outdated transportation system.

Afterwards, we walked to The Urban Bean Company over on Grand River. 

It was a neat, retro bi-level coffee shop that BARELY took up much more room than a shoe box-but the space there was, was very smartly utilized.  A friend of ours happened to be spinning records that night so we hung around for a little while before walking back to the Renaissance Center.

The trip back was the REAL adventure!  After about a mile and a half of walking back through the city (and stopping for a cocktail or two along the way) we finally made it to the building.  One must go through the RenCen itself, take the escalator-or elevator-up to the 3rd floor to walk directly to the parking garage we were parked in. We entered the building from a different door, which off our sense of direction.  If you've ever been in the RenCen, you would know that there are multiple towers connected to each other in which all the walkways are circular.  If you don't very well know where you're at to begin with and the signage happens to be very vague, you can be stuck in there, walking circles for quite some time! Quite honestly, I'd swear we may have actually walked another entire mile in circles just trying to find the parking garage!

I may not have ran my 1 Measly Mile on Friday night, but I damn well walked a couple!

Today, though.....today was my victory! I ran 2 Measly Miles!  They may not have been all at once.  They may have been interrupted so I could blow my nose discreetly (I was at the gym). They may have felt like the most difficult two miles I've ever ran-but I ran them! Victory is mine! I am back from the dead!!!!

Sicky, sick, sick!!!

Well, I didn't run my 1 Measly Mile yesterday. Sick as a dog and I have no desire to see the outside world, so I'll also not be running today (Given the weather, I'd probably be blown away by all this insane wind, anyway!). Even if I took it to the gym, this congestion would suffocate me. Let's also recognize the fact that going and blowing my sick germs all over the place is not only obsessive, but rude as well. 

So, I may need a two day hiatus from my goal, but I guess I am only human after all. Hopefully, I can be back at it tomorrow. Hope everyone has a great day and don't forget the hand sanitizer!!!!!

"I Never Get Sick...."

"I never get sick..."   Famous last words, right! I knew it was coming on yesterday.  I ran a good three miles yesterday-even switched up my normal route!  Never mind that it felt like I may as well have been dragging a dead elephant behind me.  Then, later on, the infamous throat tickle that turns into a little cough.  Then it's "Aw, crap!" when I wake up this morning with a horribly sore throat!  

Well, I still got my 1 Measly mile in today, as well, on the track at the gym-but that was it.  That's all I've got.  Time to retreat back in to my warm house with some hot chicken broth to try to will this thing away.  SCREW WINTER!!!!!  That is all.