February 8, 2010

At least the plow came

The federal government was officially closed today, meaning that my office was officially closed too. But unfortunately I have too many deadlines looming to really take the day off. I got to sleep in a little later, though, because I knew I'd be working from home at least in the morning. Based on emails, it seemed like most of my team (we're all busy) would be working from home at least in the morning.

I saw that our street still wasn't plowed when I came downstairs and headed for the bike yet again. I was looking forward to watching "Brothers & Sisters" from last night but I think it wasn't on because of the Super Bowl. But I had plenty of other shows to keep me occupied. Several people have suggested "Lost" as a good bike show so I'll have to look into that once I'm done with "The O.C." (which to be honest is a little slow/predictable). As for the workout part of the workout, I felt strong today with just a couple of niggles.

After a couple of hours of working from home, these two plows (really huge dirt-scooper things--is that a bulldozer?) finally made their way to our street. (Matt took the Metro to work this morning.) These plow guys were awesome. They helped me back my car down the street and around the corner so that they could really get the whole street.

When I saw how clear our street was, I was motivated to get in the car and drive to the office. Even the main roads are hit or miss, and often extremely slushy and/or icy. It wouldn't be so bad if the SUV drivers didn't assume they owned the road. In any case, it wasn't too terrible but I was glad I wore my boots for the half-mile walk to my office from the parking lot. Some of the sidewalks are in horrible shape, which is why I continue to shy away from running outside.

Though there were only three of us actually in the office, there was a lot of work going on. I intended to leave around 5 but didn't get out the door until 6. When I got to the gym, I found out the the women's locker room had no working toilets or showers--and it's going to be that way for a week. Lovely. Just another thing to slow me down this week. (And there are rumors of more snow coming our way.)

But in good news, I ran on the treadmill to warm up before lifting instead of biking. I was happy to see that I didn't need to set it to 12-minute pace. I only had time to run 2 miles, but I felt good. I might hit up the treadmill tomorrow morning if I can convince myself to run up to the gym in the morning rather than heading downstairs to the bike. We'll see.

We are low on groceries so are treating ourselves to takeout tonight. I don't know how it got to be almost 10pm but I suppose I better start planning for tomorrow's slushy commute...

Posted by becky at 8:51 PM | Comments (0)

February 7, 2010

On the bike again

My monitoring of the local running blogs proves that there were definitely people out there getting their long runs in today, but clearly those people have better joints than I do and less fear of skidding cars. I knew I was headed for the bike again this morning, but I was glad to see that the sun was out for the first time in a couple of days.

While scanning through the On Demand movie titles last night, I saw that "Sunshine Cleaning" was available. We ended up watching something really silly--"Paul Blart, Mall Cop" (not my choice!) but I remembered to watch "Sunshine Cleaning" this morning. I had heard good things about it and it lived up to my expectations--good story and good acting. It was a little short, though, so I filled the rest of the time with some reality TV that's been building up on my DVR.

I got in a little more biking time in the late afternoon following my hip exercise routine. I realized that the Boston Indoor Games had been on (my DVR records all track) and watched most of that during my hip routine and then my time on the bike. There were some good races, although the announcers always seem shocked when the "heavy favorites" don't win. That's what the race is for!

I also spent a couple of hours today walking to one grocery store (closed) and then another, which had no fresh food. I picked up a few things but a during-the-week trip to the store will definitely be warranted. The federal government is closed tomorrow (most of the private sector follows their lead) but we are too busy to really have the day off. I'm also not sure how exactly we will be getting to work (Metro, maybe) or whether I am going to attempt a run tomorrow (on the roads or on the treadmill)...still up in the air. Will postpone those decisions until after the Super Bowl!

Posted by becky at 7:34 PM | Comments (0)

February 6, 2010

This snow is no joke

I just checked a local racing team's blog and read that several guys managed to get 12 miles in this morning. I'm not exactly sure how, or whether it could even be called running. The snow is definitely past my knees where other people haven't packed it down. But we are very lucky: we have power (and heat). Many of my friends do not, including people with babies younger than 4 months old. Scary stuff.

And I am lucky too to have been able to work out in my basement this morning. I noticed it was still snowing when I woke up, but didn't even harbor a thought of trying to go outside. I got in a couple of hours on the bike and watched a medley of shows, from "The O.C." to "Taking the Stage." My knee was a little sore at first but ended up fine.

Matt took a walk to get the newspaper while I was finishing up on the bike and it took him almost an hour (usually takes him 15 minutes or so). We waited until the snow finally tapered off to go out again. He got our walk shoveled and I attempted to clear off the car but gave up because half of our street is going to get plowed in anyway. We did go sledding at the elementary school again--it was pretty awesome. Even I took a few runs and managed not to get injured.

We actually had a few things planned for tonight but obviously we'll be here. Hope we can find some good movies--wish the Boston Indoor Games were on TV!

Posted by becky at 6:37 PM | Comments (0)

February 5, 2010

SnOMG

SnowMyGod is just one of the names I've heard to describe the storm that just started here a few hours ago. Who knows how much we'll end up with, but I'm fairly certain that this will be a biking weekend, or treadmill if I feel like going to the gym. I did get out this morning for a short run while the weather was still good--I saw lots of my compatriots doing the same--but it could be a while.

I wasn't sure how I'd feel this morning because yesterday wasn't a great knee day. Today was better, but I just generally felt sluggish and tired. It's not too mysterious; I think I'm just tired. Since I didn't run for very long, I thought I might bike afterwards, but we decided to walk into work and not worry about getting the car back from Bethesda, so I had to get a move on. It was nice that both of us walked together, but we took the Capital Crescent and forgot that it would still be icy from Wednesday's snow. It was slow goings but not too many people were at the office anyway.

My office officially shut down at 1, but I stayed put. Sadly, I had to cancel my physical therapy appointment because of a last-minute meeting (everything got moved up for people trying to get home). My therapist doesn't have any openings for a couple of weeks but I'll keep using the foam roller and doing my exercises and hope for the best. I was pretty bummed about it.

I was literally the last one in the office because I knew I didn't have to worry about getting home. Matt and I met up and took the Metro back. We are hoping to watch some DVRd shows tonight but the lights keep flickering and this neighborhood is notorious for power outages. We'll see what happens.

Happy weekend to all!

Posted by becky at 8:10 PM | Comments (0)

February 4, 2010

Down day

I woke up tired today and it never really improved all that much. Hopefully I can get some sleep this weekend and get back on track. In any case, although it was a struggle, I did eventually get out of bed and out the door for a run this morning. I was a little worried that it would be icy, but it really wasn't except for a few spots since most of yesterday's snow is already gone. I have no idea why, especially since I was on the bike for the past two days, but today wasn't a great knee day for me. Both of their usual issues came up in the beginning of the run, then seemed to go away and then left me aching afterwards. Perhaps I was subconsciously trying to avoid icy patches and altering my gait? I really don't know, but I've been kind of down about it since the past couple of runs have been better. Hopefully it's just a blip on the screen.

Despite dragging all day, I actually got a lot done at work. But I had trouble motivating at the gym and felt like everything was taking twice as long. Just one of those days.

I have a physical therapy appointment but we are supposed to get a lot of snow and things are being canceled right and left. I am skeptical that we'll get hit quite as hard as forecast, but whatever happens I hope I can get to PT.

Not sure how it got to be almost 10 but I think it had something to do with the time I just spent waiting in line in an almost-empty grocery store. We may get snow, but I have bagels, coffee and lots of other comfort food. 'Night!

Posted by becky at 9:42 PM | Comments (0)

February 3, 2010

Some more snow

The snow that started last evening continued longer than predicted, well into the night. I know that it was still snowing at 2:15 am because that's when our burglar alarm went off and scared us. (Something is wrong with it, but it was still disconcerting!) Then my real alarm went off around 5:20 so that I could clean off the car and take Matt to the Metro so he could make his train. I figured I would see how the roads were and make a game-time decision about running vs. biking.

The snow was actually very wet and the roads didn't seem too slick, but the plows hadn't come through on the side roads yet, it was still dark and I didn't want to worry about non-existent shoulders. I knew it was supposed to be in the 40s and sunny today so tried my best to be flexible in the hopes that I can get a run in tomorrow. So back to the bike it was, but my time passed quickly because I was watching the second half of "Gran Torino." Matt and I watched it on Sunday but I fell asleep halfway though. I thought it was really good--not quite right for the bike (Clint Eastwood is kind of hard to understand without fully concentrating), but glad I finished it nonetheless.

It was another whirlwind day of meetings, calls, work, ets. at the office. By the time I left the office tonight (and even at lunchtime) most of the new snow was gone. I was a little tired at the gym from my early morning, but perked up while I was on the bike. Most of the regulars were again missing...what's going on this week that I don't know about?

Matt stayed in NY tonight and has meetings again tomorrow, so I am going to do a tiny bit of email catchup (work-related, unfortunately) and then try to turn in "early."

Posted by becky at 9:23 PM | Comments (0)

February 2, 2010

Quiet morning on the bike

Just as the roads were getting better, it's snowing again. Not a lot, but enough so that forecasters are calling for a "messy commute" in the morning. This also means that I'm not sure whether it will be safe/smart to run outside tomorrow morning. Good thing I have a back-up plan.

Biking was in the plans this morning and that is what I did. I've still got a bit of a cold and was feeling a little stuffed up/runny nose-ish but was still able to work pretty hard. I watched some Sunday night shows--"Brothers & Sisters" and "Big Love." No complaints in terms of knee pain although my right knee did take a little while to warm up.

As crowded as the gym was yesterday, it was a ghost town today. Maybe it was the snow since it started this evening. Whatever the reason, I enjoyed the quiet but also missed the banter with the other "regulars."

Sounds like I might need to get up super early to drive Matt to the Metro in the morning so that he has a chance to make a train to New York, so I am going to finish up a couple of things and head to bed.

Posted by becky at 9:48 PM | Comments (0)