Holy Hills + February Recap

For the last 11 days, my legs have been trying to adapt to these:







I think it’s safe to say that I don’t need to do any dedicated hill training now that this is my terrain for long runs, speed work, and tempo runs.

February Recap
In two words: Kinda lame.

Feb 1-5: 75 minutes of yoga, 6.22 miles of running

Feb 6-12: 9.06 miles of running, approximately 29 hours of sitting in a car.

Feb 13-19: 5.13 miles of running, approximately 22 hours of sitting in a car.

Feb 20-26:  24.51 miles of running + 6 hrs of skiing 

Feb 27-28: 3.8 miles of running (+ a longer run today)

February Totals: 1 yoga class, 48.72 miles of running, 6 hours of downhill skiing.

I did some a couple sets of pushups throughout the month, probably 1x/week, on average.  I hope packing and unpacking counts for something; there was some heavy lifting involved.  I did an occasional plank here and there but no specific core work.

I am aware that going from three weeks of <10 miles of running to a week with 24 miles of running might be stupid, but I needed to move!  I felt fine throughout my running and in fact, the one day of skiing impacted my calves more than the hill running did (Seriously, I took 2 days off from running: I only wore compression socks or calf sleeves, foam roller-ed them, and walked a lot).

I’m saying it now so I will stick to it: My goal for March is to run 25 miles a week, with a day of arm stuff/pushups, and a day of core stuff (crunches/planks).  This weekend I've decided I will join a local running group so I can meet some people in the area and learn some new running routes!

2800 miles later…

So, it probably wasn't made clear to all yet, but after 5 days of this:

Ohio:

Iowa:

Side note: If  you’ve ever questioned the phrase “killing frost,” try forgetting to bring your healthy houseplants into the hotel room from your car when it’s –5 degrees Fahrenheit overnight.

Nebraska:

Colorado:

Utah:

California:

[Yeah, I know I skipped some states along the way, like Pennsylvania, Indiana, Illinois,  Arizona, and Nevada but I was driving for most of those and didn’t take pictures.]

We arrived here:

Soon after arriving, I got to watch the moving truck give birth to my car.

Here’s sunrise from our back yard:

View from the same spot 11 hours later:

Molly has been finding all the comfy places to lay down OTHER than on the grass:

Hopefully our neighbors aren’t creeped out by me trying to take pictures of the sun set across their backyard.

I found some sidewalks to run on:

Slightly different scenery than NJ:

Ok, there were still horses in New Jersey.

And a running/bike path:

Time to figure out how to navigate the California DMV so I can transfer my license and registration…

Have you met my pet kangaroo?

Kari pointed out in my last post that Molly Waffles the greyhound sits like a kangaroo:

Apparently it is more difficult to train greyhounds to sit than other dog breeds (Google greyhound + sitting and you'll see plenty of results).  Something about their body structure, it's not natural, blah blah blah.  When we got Molly at nearly-4 years old and were told greyhounds could be trained to sit but that it was difficult, I think my husband took that as a challenge. 

With some physical assistance at first and plenty of treats, she was sitting in no time.  And ever since she learned to sit, she sits all the time. It just looks a little goofy because her butt hovers an inch off the floor.

Anyway, I have not heard of this comparison before, but after looking up kangaroo pictures, I can see the resemblance.  You decide:

source

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Peace Out, New Jersey

Well, it's official: we moved out of our apartment in New Jersey.

98% of our stuff was picked up by the movers and we brought the rest in our car on our cross-country drive:

Aside from friends and coworkers, here are some things I will miss about NJ:

Wegmans.

Wegmans and I go way back.  We were born in the same city.  I grew up with Wegmans.  And when I moved to New Jersey almost 7 years ago, there was a Wegmans waiting for me and my grocery needs.  Unfortunately, they have not expanded west of Erie, PA, so I will need to adapt.

Halo Farm ice cream.

The park I have loved running in and around for the past 2 years and 9 months.

The canal towpath I have biked and run on for the past 6.5 years.

Our favorite brunch, lunch, and dessert spot.

Peanut butter stuffed pretzel, covered in chocolate.

Sugar + Sunshine Mocha Cupcakes.

(The one on the right. But the one on the left was good too).

Small World Coffee.

Hello, California.