Week between Christmas & New Year – 23rd thru January 2nd – unexpectedly (first time ever) workplace stayed closed, restarting production after the New Year. Count it: 10 days off (including weekends). FAAANNNNTASTIC!
GREAT to have extra time over the holidays. 10 days though, this body gets antsy. Too late to coordinate a family trip but ’nuff time to late-register for a holiday-week marathon 🙂 The Huff, a 50K trail run in rural Indiana…in winter. Hmmm.
Early Friday a.m. flight to Indianapolis, 2+ hour drive to Columbia City. 13 degrees & overcast. Breakfast/lunch/brunch – 5am day start, 2-hour (Eastern) clock jump, time for Indiana food. Snow & colder temps expected 2nd half of day.
Bib pick-up at the print shop which produced our swag shirts. LOVE the Midwest – friendliest folks in the U.S. ❤
Hotel check-in – one gal shop. Same friendly face answered the phone, mopped the front lobby (lotta traveller tracks) AND pushed snow outta handicap parking. Was there in the morning when I checked out too. Give that lady a raise! WOW!
Dinner-dined at Chapman’s, directly ‘cross from the County Courthouse. Standing-room only in this 6-table diner. THE place for eats in downtown Columbia City. Cajun shrimp bowl – tasty, filled the gut. Back on the road, mile-half hotel return, 3 inches of fresh powder. Parked the rental, cranked room heat to HIGH (ice had formed on window inside). COLD blustery nite.
Saturday race day. Woke early, scraped & warmed the car. 30-45 minute drive to Chain O’ Lakes Park in Albion. Winter wonderland.
Arrived 10 minutes til Race Start. 2 degrees above zero & SNOW. THIS is when runners wear spikes – which unfortunately, I failed to pack. Gonna be a Slip & Slide kinda day. 2-lap course, Drop Bag in the Main Tent, food & change of socks awaiting.
Chain O’Lakes State Park: Beautiful wooded trails, difficult weathered terrain. Fresh snow covered long up-n-down stretches of melted/refrozen ice. Tough slow-going trek & C-O-L-D ❄
iPod froze, no music. iPhone froze – one pic, one choppy video. C-O-L-D.
2nd water bottle on my hydration vest FROZE SOLID, only 8 miles in. 3 Aid Stations. Remember the third one best – HUGE bon fire. Camped there 15-20 minutes & drank slushy Coke (only liquid which didn’t freeze in the sub-zero wind). 5 miles more.
Back in the Main Tent, located my Drop Bag & worked off my shoes. Cheeks & beard coated in ice. Slurred speech. Tongue stopped working. This is CRAZY. What am I doing? 50 yards into the 2nd lap, I turned back. Told the race officials, no mas. Penciled my name on a handwritten list (yep, their pen had frozen – HA!). DNF. [More than 50% of today’s field did the same.]
McDonald’s splash bath & a large order of fries. Happy to be on my way HOME. Tough way to end the year.
Hey now – no tears here. Kickin’ off 2018 with FAMILY on the Big Island, Hawaii.
Sis’ birthday run (Hilo to Volcano 50K) just 7 days away. 4000ft climb (ocean-to-mountain). H-U-G-E !
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- last run of 2017
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- Noble County Courthouse
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- pre-race Jambalaya
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- 2 degrees & SNOW
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- beautiful wooded, weathered trails
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- C-O-L-D ❄️
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- one lap DNF, 15.8 miles
The Huff (short clip before iPhone froze)
The winter solstice, also known as midwinter, is an astronomical phenomenon marking the day with the shortest period of daylight and the longest night of the year.
Also called: Midwinter, Yule, the Longest Night, Jól
Solstice, beginning of my favourite season!
Week of Christmas movies, Dave’s Big Disney Reveal, then SNOW – wouldn’t be winter without the magic of snow ❄️
Last work week of 2017 (crazy busy time) so been fitting in my fave Christmas Classics whenever/wherever I can this year. Southwest flight from Phoenix, Netflix at dinner, in bed on my laptop, family nite at Ash’s – even once on the treadmill: literally watched “White Christmas” on my Thursday morning run. Work/life/Christmas Classics balance. LOL>
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- flapjack flippin’
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- ‘White Christmas’ treadmill run
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- ‘Elf’ family nite
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- ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’ w/ Ro
Wednesday Dec 20th – Celebrated Dave’s Birthday over FaceTime. BIGGER than cake, a card & birthday gifts? How ‘bout doubling-the-date as David’s Disney Reveal moment? Disney in 38 days! Coordinated the trip with Michaela over a month ago. Dave’s absolute/most favorite world, DisneyWorld. 38 days to anticipate & dream – enjoy little Man. Happy life moment ❤
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- FaceTime celebration
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- David’s Disney Reveal
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- lanyard & Disney trading pins
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- 38 days to Disney! Making a list, checking it twice. Thanks M for the calendar ❤️
Thursday Dec 21st – Christmas wreath from Sis. Perfect timing! Arrived hours before the onslaught of Colorado’s White Christmas. LOVE the gift, LOVE my Sis. Snow today/Friday then the DEEP FREEZE from Canada. Single digit highs, sub-zero lows next 10 days. Yikes! May/may not be snow-hiking high above Colorado Springs Christmas week. Details later 🙂
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- Colorado White Christmas
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- XMas wreath from Sis
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- single digit highs, sub-zero lows
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- our Flatirons in SNOW
White Christmas 2017
After a lackluster winter along the Front Range, found ourselves pummeled by wet heavy snow – late, on May 18th. Last 4 years [we’ve] been surprised with a few inches in May. In Colorado: winter ain’t over, ’til it’s over 🙂
Looking forward to mountain flowers & high-flow snow-melt streams this June – unofficial start to Colorado HIKE season. Cabin in Leadville booked June 23rd-24th, bringing the pup – first 14er climb of 2017, Mt. Elbert.
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- she’s 24 today
May SNOW 2017
Whole lotta snowfall at Ash’s Silverthorne wedding venue – only 10 days away. Yikes!
KUSA – A late spring snow storm that created headaches for travelers on Colorado highways and postponed graduation ceremonies while providing some much needed moisture is moving out of the state on Friday.
But how just how much snow has fallen so far in your area?
Breckenridge – 16.5 inches
Nederland – 28 inches
Silverthorne – 16 inches
Estes Park – 31 inches
Boulder – 3.8 inches
Louisville – 9.8 inches
Colorado towns hit with 3 feet of snow. Happy May.
Doyle Rice , USA TODAY Published 10:52 a.m. ET May 19, 2017 |
A May snowstorm continued to pound the central and northern Rockies on Friday, a day after burying portions of Colorado under three feet of snow.
The storm has created headaches for travelers on highways, caused thousands of power outages and forced schools and businesses to close.
The highest reported snow total so far was 42 inches near Allenspark, Colo., the National Weather Service said. Many other locations picked up between two and three feet.
More snow is forecast Friday before it tapering off Saturday.
Interstate 80 and U.S. Route 30 from Laramie to Cheyenne, Wyo., closed in both directions Thursday night due to the heavy snow. Both roads remained closed as of early Friday morning, AccuWeather said.
The last time Cheyenne experienced such a significant snow event this late in spring was about 67 years ago, when Harry Truman was president, the Weather Channel said. In Denver, the storm marked the city’s biggest mid-May snow in 42 years.
Several high school graduation ceremonies in the Denver area were postponed due to the storm, KUSA-TV said. Thousands of people were without power as the heavy snow weighed down power lines.
The late-season snow event is not unheard of. Both Cheyenne and Denver have experienced accumulating snowfall even into early June in the past, AccuWeather meteorologist Ryan Adamson said.
Temperatures will warm up and conditions will improve over the weekend.
