Friday, December 18, 2009

Snow Tires

Susan Ann, the Team in Training cycle coach, had me for moment when she called on us to put on our "snow tires" for tomorrow's scheduled ride. Obviously, with snow in the forecast, we'll move our training indoors.

Luckily, I have several training options. I could zip over to Burkwood in the morning for a spinning class. While spinning classes are a great workout, I prefer to sit on my own bike, if possible.

I could head over to Endorphin for their Saturday movie ride (just one of the perks of training with Endorphin). I took part in the movie ride two weeks ago and loved it. Time flies on the trainer when you watch a good movie with friends (followed by a yummy post-workout breakfast).

Or - I could sleep in a bit and hop on my own trainer at home. There is something so lovely about shuffling downstairs in my pajamas, brewing fresh coffee and whipping up scrambled eggs and a bagel prior to a ride. Hopefully, there will be some snow falling to make the effect even closer to perfection.

By the way, I'm wishing for lots of snow tomorrow! I LOVE snow.

Wednesday, December 9, 2009

A wee bit o' procrastinatin'

So...it's exam time at the wonderful University of Richmond. I have many, many papers to grade and another stack of portfolios coming in tomorrow.

Logically, I'm going to update my blog. I'm smart like that.

Let's see - what's new in my exercise life? I'm actually RUNNING these days. Yes - really running. I'm still sticking to 30 minute runs, but they feel oh-so-wonderful. I even ran hard enough up a hill to feel a little ill. I know it's warped, but I love that feeling. I did break my time limit rule on Thanksgiving when I ran some of the Turkey Trot with my buddies, SanDee, Deanna and Ashton. I was so excited to be running with my friends again that I talked NON-STOP. I might have been a little annoying.

I've been enjoying serving as a non-fundraising mentor for the cycling studs of Team in Training. Our team for the spring is small, but mighty. It seems the bulk of TNT folks opt for running events, followed by triathlons. I plan to return to the triathlon crew this summer. And, brace yourselves, I will be fund raising again to fight cancer. Unfortunately, we haven't kicked cancer to the curb yet so my fund raising continues. You'll learn more about that after the holidays.

Since it's the "off-season" (is there really such a thing?), Rick and I have had some time to decorate for the holidays. It's called "Ye olde Christmas Compromise".
From the outside, our neighbors see white candles in the windows and wreaths with pretty red bows on every window and door. We even have the classic spotlight on the front door. The neighbors were so thrilled by this decorating scheme that they asked one of us (that would be me) to serve on some kind of neighborhood committee. We are such suburbanites.
And then there is the tree. It's a beautiful Frasier Fir....with blinking chili pepper lights from top to bottom. And if that wasn't enough, we also have little lit-up Washington Redskin helmet lights, too. Yes, they really make those.
I must admit that I love our crazy tree.