My favorite things...Winter 2015 Edition

My plan is to profile a few of my favorite items each season, and here is the first edition!

This winter has been a challenging one here in Rochester.  It got off to a mild start, but has progressed to be one of the most bitterly cold seasons in a quite a while...

There have been many days where miles run exceeded the average temperature at which I ran them.  

While the weather has made some folks retreat indoors, you CAN negotiate winter with a few key pieces.  Here are 3 of my top picks for this season...there's still time to find them at your local store to get the best out of the next month or two and be ready for the next winter, too.  

1)  My Buff!!

If you don't know what a Buff is, you need to.  A very simple concept...a seamless tube of material...that can be turned in a bazillion different things.  Most of the time, I use this as a face mask, but I have also turned it into a beanie cap, a head band, and a balaclava.  

A few of the suggested ways to wear a Buff

I have three different Buffs...the Classic, the Reversible Polar, and one from the National Geographic series.  Here I am with my tie dyed Classic, and my black reversible Buff.  Both have been invaluable this winter.  They keep my face protected from the wind, and warm my breath on the coldest days to make my lungs happier.  The Reversible is so warm, I have only worn it running on the coldest of days, and use it quite happily during downhill skiing.  

20 degrees and off for a run

10 degrees and happy on XC skis

2) My Kathoola MICROSpikes!!

The Kathoolas helping me negotiate some snowy steeps.  

Last year, I bought these beauties...

Look at that GRIPTION!  (yes, it's a real word.  ask my son)

They are not cheap, but worth the dollars.
My MICROSpikes have accompanied me on nearly every trail run this winter.  I've climbed snowy rollers, icy steeps, and traversed packed flats.  The spikes have helped me keep my footing on some pretty gnarly.  I love them!!  This past weekend 6 out of 8 people who ran 18 miles with me had them on.  They are more aggressive than my YaxTrax Run traction, and perfect for winter trail or packed snowy sidewalks and roads.  NOTE:  You don't want to wear these on dry pavement for very long, but they are easy to slip on and off if needed.

3)  My SmartWool Phd Run Wind Tights

HOLY MOLY.  These things are good.

I attended a Winter Workshop at Medved Running and Walking Outfitters (my local run shop in Pittsford, NY) last month.  The regional tech rep for SmartWool, Brandon Lee, was one of the speakers.  He extolled the virtues of the super smart sheep...

Brandon talking wool

Metta LOVES when I do this.

Did you know ONE Merino sheep can make 42 SmartWool socks??  Or 14 shirts?

The wool used by SmartWool is Merino wool.  For 20 years, the company has some beautiful ways to use the best of what nature has to keep me dry, comfortable, and warm.

So, I decided I needed to expand my horizons beyond the SmartWool sock.  I DO rock their socks, btw.  So does my dog.

I got myself some essential pieces.  I have happy things to say about all of them.  But I HAVE to tell people about the SmartWool PhD Wind Tight.  I have worn the tights for almost every run I've done over the past three weeks.  They have been downhill and cross country skiing with me, hiking, and biking.  I think I tallied a full days worth of hours in them so far. The best things about these tights:

• The extra wind panel in the front has kept me warm on runs down to 0 degrees F.  Previously, I've had to wear two pairs of tights.  No joke.  You know when you put these on there is something different.  They block the wind from your quads and knees.  Two places where I've come back from a run pink and cold.  
• I wore the tights for a collective 10 hours (or so) before I washed them.  They didn't smell.  Nope.  They were just dirty...salty...and needed a bath.  Then I wore them for another 10 hours and washed them.  They kept their shape and elasticity perfect during those hours and after washing.  Did I say they didn't stink?  My lycra tights would have by then.  
• The waist panel is nice and wide, with a drawstring.  Incredibly comfortable, with no hitching up needed.  They don't roll when you sit down.  They are cut really well. 

YOU NEED THESE TIGHTS.  I promise.  They won't help you out of bed on a cold morning, but you'll feel much better when you're out in the cold dark windy mornings.  You'll stay happy longer with that cute little man on your legs.   

Night climbing at my local ski hill.

It's cold? You don't say... (week in pictures)

This week in Rochester, Winter (with a capital W) kicked in.  Snow, bitter cold temperatures, wind chills below zero.  You know what?  Bring it!!  A lot of the people in my circles don't hibernate.  They put a bunch of clothes on and go outside.  This is what this week looked like for my friends...

Bob sports his ice beard...

#TrailsROC on the canal training for Beast of Burden

Medved Hot Chocolate Runners

Winter Warriors braving the cold (and then dark) half marathon conditions

My own winter adventures started Saturday, Jan 3rd, with a trip to Harriet Hollister Spencer Park for Frozen Assets 'snowshoe' race.  While there wasn't enough snow for the snowshoes, we all strapped on our spikes and ran in the woods.  It's a great course, winding through a gem of a state park.  Great views of Honeoye Lake partway through, too.  

Then, my family suited up for some runs at Bristol Mountain.  Jackson and Emmett have been skiing for the past two seasons, and we'll head to Vail later this year.  Need our ski legs!!

Bristol Mountain

Sunday dawned (well, it was before dawn), and I had somehow convinced a handful of people to explore the Crescent Trail.  Ostensibly, it was to celebrate a moment of weightlessness and sunrise starting one minute earlier...The trail wasn't sporting much snow, but it still felt like winter out there.  Here is the crew, enjoying 'zero gravity' on the top of Chair Hill on the trail.  

floating!

I took a few days to recover, and do some indoor swimming and biking.  Because gravity was still in effect.

No track work for my Wednesday #runninginovals crew, which is the normal routine.  So I took to the trails of Ellison and enjoyed the fresh snow and moonlight.  I didn't even need my head lamp. Which is good.  Because the batteries died.  The girls and I (Nellie and Metta) even got to bump into two friends out there, as well.  

frosty paws

Next up was Wednesday's Hot Chocolate run at Medved.  There were some warriors that came out to brave the snow.  Good stuff. Snot icicles and all.  

Ninja Bank Robber Runners

everything is frozen!

Friday was a trail run with my friend Athena at Tryon in the morning.  So cold, though, that Athena's phone couldn't even take pictures.  But the conditions were great!  Downhill skiing in the evening, which is where the photo of snow-beard-Bob comes from.

 

Saturday brought a run with the Medved winter training group on the canal (with a great sunrise) and a trip to Harriet Hollister Spencer park to enjoy some XC skiing, running, and sunset watching...

sunrise on the canal

The sunrise was astounding...as you likely know, I am in love with sunrise.  The world gets a 'redo' every.single.day.





I'm really not so good at XC skiing, but it's fun, and such hard work.

*must* selfie

first time on these in a year

ten feet tall

And it's time to 'chill' now

So.  The thing is.  You just have to get out there.  And I'm glad that some of my friends and my family are just as happy to have winter here with us again.   My tribe doesn't hibernate.  And neither do I.  

What are you waiting for?

Last year, I 'promised' myself that I was going to start sharing my adventures with friends on my blog.   Hmmph.  I didn't do a thing.  Why not?!

1. I was busy enjoying those adventures.  After my first post in July, we headed to the Adirondacks ( my favorite place in the world) several times, I traveled for work, cheered and raced and ran, the boys football season started, spent time with friends and family and just generally were busy.

   

   Life is definitely not boring

   

   Emmett and Jackson kept us busy

   
   

   

   We spent a lot of time here

   
   

   

   mud and coffee...good stuff

Where did this all begin?

July 5th, 2014
When did this journey begin?  Two weeks ago, I started a fantastic journey of a lifetime to compete in my second Ironman triathlon in Idaho.  I set off from Penfield, New York to travel more than 5,000 miles in 14 days.  My goal was to experience this country as I never had before!

Wait.  Scratch that.  Three years ago, my Idaho journey actually started in 2011 while training for my first Ironman in Lake Placid, New York.  I trained for nine months, but couldn't run for the last two of them due to injury.  While I finished the race, I was somewhat disappointed in my results and set a goal to do that again, differently. 

Hmm.  Wait.  When did my triathlon 'career' actually start?  Six years ago, while getting ready for the Rochester Marathon, I sustained an injury I suspected was a stress fracture in my hip, and bought a used road bike for recovery.  I thought, this isn't so bad.  It's fun to cover 16 miles in an hour instead of 7 or 8.  I can actually GO places on a bike.  And I got the idea that it was time to try something new...a triathlon.  So that following spring I did my first triathlon.  Swimming in a pool, riding a steel frame bike that was too small for me, and struggling for the first time on a run because my legs were tired from riding the hills of Pittsford. 

But really, it started before that.  When did I start running?  When it was apparent that I was no good at anything else.  As an accident prone, awkward teenager-in-waiting, I failed to make the volleyball team in junior high.  Good thing, too.  Running was perfect for me.  The only thing I needed to keep track of was my feet.  No balls, no bats, just my feet.  And that was enough.  Enough to free me from feeling gangly and out of sorts.  I was taller than most of the boys in my grade.  I was definitely a dork.  I probably still am, technically.  But I started running track and found that I was good enough at something.  And it didn't matter that I was goofy looking.  I just needed to run around in circles. 

One more time.  I didn't wait until junior high to start. I ran playing tag with my friends.  I ran after my dog.  Ran to catch a snake or a mouse in the fields behind my house.  I was born to run. 

We were all born to run.  That's what the book says, right?  To catch our food, to run from predators...  In our modern times, we run to work off our food, we run from our internal demons.  It's the simplest of sports.  You can put a pair of shoes on and step our your front door and run ten steps, ten miles, or ten hours.  If you run, you are a runner.  You don't have to run fast to feel the effort and release of a good run. 

So, it began a long time ago, this journey to Idaho.  It's all part of the story.  And if anyone is still reading, you're probably part of the story, too.   I thought it was time to start sharing the stories from this point forward and backward.  I'll start with the recap of my journey as soon as I'm done with it.  Tomorrow I head home (today I'm in Indiana) with a new dog (for two years), without my children (for two weeks), and with a new sense of adventure (hopefully for the rest of my life!).