Tag Archives: snow

Another Snowy Day

Daily Life!, Running, ,

Hey there! How’s your Tuesday going? Mine has been pretty good since we had about 4 more inches of snow overnight! It was that really good kind of snow too: nice and fluffy. The little snowstorm made for a peaceful evening that is perfect for sitting by the fireplace. Which is exactly what I did last night with Nick and Mac. 🙂

Morning Run

Since we only had the snow and no more ice yesterday, I decided that I would wake up early and attempt another snowy run. My running shoes have great traction on the snow, but the ice….not so much. I woke up bright and early to an additional 4 inches of the fluffy stuff. It was so pretty! It was also my coldest morning run yet.

photo(6)Yikes! The wind was calm though, making this temperature at least tolerable. And, thankfully, most of the roads around my house had been plowed at some point during the night. So I headed off down the road at a much slower pace than normal.

My first mile was a 10:15 pace. I finished my 3.6 miles with an overall pace of 9:53. For a girl that has a normal pace of 8:30 or faster, this is a little hard to stomach. But the snow covered roads are a good excuse for slowing down a bit. Better to be safe than sorry!

I also freaked out some of the MoDot crews this morning. They were out in full force at 5 a.m. with the plows before the morning commute happened. And I don’t think they were anticipating seeing many runners this morning! Several slowed wayyyyy down for me even though I moved out of the way. I just smiled and waved them on. I kept thinking…”Keep on driving. I’m okay, just a little crazy.”  🙂

I headed back home by 6 a.m. to get ready and out the door early to beat some morning traffic. Driving in the snow doesn’t freak me out – it’s the other drivers that freak me out. And it was a slow and slick commute mostly.

image(12)But I made it to work safely and even early! I had trouble focusing though for the first half of the day. It was too pretty outside my window.

image(11)The day has passed pretty quickly since lunch though, and I’m excited to head out to Jazzercise shortly. My classes have been cancelled here and there since last Thursday when the snowpocalypse first hit. So I am ready to sweat with my ladies tonight! I’m teaching my regular back-to-back classes tonight, so I’m hoping a few students brave the weather with me.

I’ve felt kinda ‘off’ all day, and I’ve decided it’s because my workout regimen has been on a hiatus for almost a week now! I’ve gotten in a couple short runs, but I’m definitely needing my Jazzercise fix. Two classes tonight will do my body good and set me back on track.

Have a great evening!!

Snowed In with Chex Mix

Daily Life!, , , , ,

I’m backkkkkkk! I know, I’ve been failing at checking in everyday. I just can’t seem to stay healthy lately! Plus the foot of snow that got dumped on Springfield on Thursday and Friday kinda preoccupied me too. 🙂

IMG_2776 IMG_2779This was my cul de sac on Thursday night after I got home from work. Jazzercise was completely cancelled for the evening once the 4:30 pm teacher got stuck on the road while driving to the center! It took me a little over an hour to drive home….it usually takes 10 minutes. Needless to say, I was a stressed mess by the time I pulled into my garage. So I took Mac for a walk in the snow to calm down a bit.

IMG_2781 IMG_2777Bundled up pictures in the dark are always the best. But seriously, the beautiful stillness that comes with a snow storm put me back into a good mood fast.  I can’ t even explain the sense of calm that was around the city on Thursday night. There wasn’t a single car on the road, and it felt like we were in a winter wonderland all by ourselves. I love it!

I was wanting to make some hot dinner for Nick and I, and this is all we had in the fridge….

IMG_2767We were kinda in desperate need of groceries when the storm hit. Not good! But we made it by for the night at least.

I was so excited when I realized I had all the ingredients to make some Classic Chex mix!

IMG_2789YUM!! This classic recipe was always a Christmas staple around my parent’s house, and the smell of it always takes me back! I make the classic recipe where you bake the mix for an hour and stir it every 15 minutes. I’ve seen microwave recipes on Pinterest, but I don’t want to mess up the classic. It’s SO good!

IMG_2771I started by melting a stick of margarine in this large baking sheet in the oven.

IMG_2770 IMG_2772Then I mixed in the typical ingredients: Worchestshire sauce, garlic powder, onion powder, and seasoned salt. And next comes all the yummy stuff!

IMG_2769 IMG_2773I stirred this up well, spread it out evenly, and set it to bake for an hour. The house smelled heavenly!

IMG_2783 IMG_2784The recipe I followed made a ton! And we are still eating on it. Not that it’s a bad thing.

IMG_2786After a night of eating and hibernating, I woke up to a wintery wonderland, and the snow was still coming down.

IMG_2795 IMG_2794This picture has a road in it….one that I would’ve had to travel on to work that day. I decided to just stay home with Mac. 🙂

IMG_2800I was lazy for a big chunk of the morning and had lots of coffee and cereal in front of the tv.

IMG_2792 IMG_2791And around noon, I started feeling pretty sick. I felt feverish and achy. Ugh. But I started on some antibiotics right away and ibuprofen, and have been feeling mostly okay since the meds kicked in. Why can’t I just stay healthy?! So I really lucked out that I stayed home from work due to the snow.

IMG_2801Mac was happy to stay in bed with me for the rest of the day. I snuggled with this little guy as much as he would tolerate!

IMG_2804Sleepy boy!!

Luckily, the Diva Dash 5K that was scheduled for Saturday morning was postponed, so we didn’t have to go run in the deep snow. By Saturday morning, the roads were still completely covered in ice and snow!

But we’ll recap the rest of my snowy weekend later. Nick and I are watching A Christmas Story tonight. I’m trying to get myself into the festive mood a little more! Have a great night!

Anticipating Snow

Daily Life!, Food for Thought, , ,

Happy Monday to ya! How are we all doing today? It’s been a pretty typical day around here.

I kicked off my morning by teaching a Jazzercise class at 5:40 am. Usually I’m lucky to have two students during my Monday AM class time, but today I had FOUR students! I know it seems silly, but this is the biggest class I’ve had during this time slot! I was shocked and pleasantly surprised! The class definitely pumped me up for the morning.  I love the feeling of getting in a good workout before my work day begins. Some people think I’m crazy for waking up before the sun to run or do Jazzercise, but I love it!

Breakfast

Breakfast was quick and easy today: grab-n-go on my way out the door!

photo(29)After my class this morning, I was starving! I had lots of coffee along with the yogurt, cheese stick, and Clif bar for lots of protein and staying power. I had the banana as a mid-morning snack to tide me over until lunch. The tiny tupperware is full of my vitamins. I’m trying to make it a goal to take all my vitamins every morning this week! I’m a little lazy when it comes to taking all my vitamins, but I know I feel better when I have them with my breakfast. Fingers crossed that this week will help me start a good routine.

As for the rest of day, I’m subbing a Jazzercise class right after work at 5:40 pm. Then I’ll be home by 7 to finish up some things around the house I was too lazy to do last night.

But – most importantly – our first forecasted snow of the season is tonight!

photo(30)It’s supposed to get rainy here with dropping temps overnight, so we may wake up to a dusting of the white stuff.  It’s not a huge chance, but hey, a girl can dream. 🙂 I love snow so much! I’m planning on going for a short run in the morning to catch a glimpse of the snow even though it’s not on my normal training schedule. If I’m really lucky, it’ll still be snowing when I take off around 5:15 am.

Well I hope you enjoy your Monday. Hopefully I’ll be able to report at least a little snow in the morning!