Another week closer to Antarctica!
To be fair, this week was pretty boring, as ALL my miles were on the treadmill.
Here’s how training went:
Monday: 6 treadmill miles in the morning, 9:10 min/mile pace. Discover Strength 45 minute strength training class after work
Tuesday: 6 miles on the treadmill before work with 30 second pickups mixed in.
Wednesday: 7 miles on the treadmill before work, 9:15 min/mile
Thursday: 5 miles on the treadmill before work, Discover Strength 45 minute strength training class after work.
Friday: 4 miles on the treadmill before work. My cousin Eric, who lives in Virginia, was in town for work. He’s a salvage scuba diver in the Navy! We don’t see him often, so my sister Cresta and her whole family came over for dinner as well to catch up.
After dinner, we made cards for Eric to take to my grandpa, who turned 99 this weekend.
This one was made by my niece Maggie. Quite good, isn’t it?
Saturday: 13.1 miles on the treadmill, or 2 hours of running.
Sunday: 9 miles on the treadmill. I thought about running outside today and got dressed and ready to go, but the sidewalk to get from my house to the lake path was pretty slippery, so I turned right around and came back to the treadmill. Better safe than sorry this winter!
I pulled up this old message from Slack that I sent to my work team the day I broke my leg. So dramatic!
Summary: 50 miles of running- ALL on the treadmill. 2 strength classes.
Today (February 17th) was officially the one-year anniversary of breaking my leg. To commemorate the occasion, my sister Cresta and her daughter Clara met me at the spot where I slipped to perform a little ‘ceremony.’
Cresta ‘smudged’ the location with sage:
Then I scooted over the spot on the ol’ scooter. Honor the scooter!
And then I ran over the spot safely. Victory!
All in good fun 🙂
I’ve started to allow myself to get excited for the trip again and start thinking about the gear I’ll bring along. We were basically ready to go last year, so there isn’t too much new gear to buy, though I did purchase a new pair of waterproof trail shoes, the Salomon Sense Ride:
I also picked up a new pair of waterproof gloves as well, the Seirus Xtreme Hyperlite Gloves.
Dustin has a similar pair and highly recommended them, as they are “the lightest breathable/waterproof gloves, delivering unmatched warmth and dexterity so your cold-weather fun doesn’t have to end early.”
Perhaps closer to the race, I’ll share a post documenting other gear that I’ll be bringing along, though I did talk a lot about it last year in THIS POST if you’re curious.
That’s it from me this week! Thanks for reading, and be sure to check out all the other great weekly recaps that are a part of HoHo Runs and Taking the Long Way Home ‘s weekly recap link-up!
Oh, boy! It’s getting so close! After what happened “this week” last year, a quiet week sounds perfect. Plus how great to see your brother. I am desperate for running gloves that keep my hands warm. I have so many pairs of gloves I had great hope for, but they just don’t cut it when I’m out for more than 1/2 hour.
I generally have had good luck with Craft brand running gloves/mittens. Very warm! But I needed something waterproof for Antarctica.
It was my cousin who was visiting. No brothers for me, all sisters 🙂
A 50 mile week on the treadmill is impressive! Glad you chose to commemorate the leg day in a positive fun way. You’ve come quite a long way!
Leg day 🙂
Thanks Becca!
I’m glad you had the little ceremony over “the spot.” Did it give you a little bit of closure? Or will that come at the finish line in Antarctica? What a journey!!!! Your grandpa is 99? That’s amazing! Three of my grandparents lived to be in the 90-year range (89, 91 and 92). I currently have an aunt who just turned 96 a week ago…she’s still in excellent health. Hoping those good genes continue!
I think closure will definitely be at the finish line in Antarctica! This was just a fun little ceremony.
You do have healthy genes for a long life!
Great update and a nice way to commemorate the moment.
Are you still liking your Landice treadmill? I fried my treadmill motor this morning – nothing like taking out the 20 amp breaker at 7 mph for an unexpected hard stop. Fortunately the lights are on a different circuit so it didn’t go dark at the same time. So I have to Rule 5 it outside for a while until I figure out what to replace it with. The Landice looks awesome, but is probably overkill for me.
Yes! Still very happy with our Landice. I don’t think it’s overkill for you- it seems like you get a lot of miles in on yours! Maybe a Woodway would be overkill…or a Peloton, though I’ve heard mostly negative reviews about the Peloton treadmill, though I haven’t tried it myself.
Good luck on the replacement hunt!
I love the funny reenactment photos from the place of the fall. I’m glad that your in a position now to laugh about it and look forward to your next adventure in Antartica!
And happy belated birthday to your grandpa!!
Thank you Kim!
I love that you went back to the dreaded spot where you fell just to show that sidewalk who the boss is!
Haha, you bet!
I thought of you this morning when I slipped on some ice while out on my run. I purposely avoided the sidewalks because they were a mess. And then I crossed over a small section and promptly wiped out. Thankfully it was a graceful fall and I am not hurt. All I could think of was – don’t break your leg!!!!
So glad you’re not hurt Angela!
Can’t wait for a gear post for Antarctica! And I really can’t wait for all the posts leading up to and recapping the race!!!! I love the ceremony you had on the one-year anniversary. Especially the sage rub. that’s a nice touch! hahaha
I really hope I get to share it all this time around 🙂
I love that photo of you running outside.
I applaud you for getting your runs done on the treadmill. I just cannot.
I thought I was the only one but I have visited the spot where I broke my ankle!! It’s creepy.
Just read some of your blog. We could be broken leg twins. I broke my tibia and fibula during a run when I slipped on the ice. 7 years ago but it seems like just yesterday. The worst 5 mos of my life. I have 6 screws & plate on one side and 2 long screws on the other.
Anyway I returned to running and am stronger and faster than before. I cringe every time I pass that spot when I run.
Darlene, that’s so crazy! We are broken leg twins, your story sounds so similar to mine! I have all the hardware in my leg too!
Yes- a very tough time of my life. Happy to have found someone who knows exactly what I went through. And I love that you also visited the spot where it happened!
Those are a lot of treadmill miles – good for you for getting them done! Four weeks will fly by! I can’t wait to read all about it!
Thanks Debbie!
Oh wow it’s getting so close! I’ll bet that’s an anniversary you’d prefer to have well behind you. You’ve made an amazing comeback though and I’m so excited for your trip and your race!
Thanks Marcia!
My sympathies on all the treadmill runs, but good job getting it done!
99. Wow. I hope that he’s in good health. My Dad is in his early 90s and not doing that great.
You exorcised that spot, alright! I know I don’t get excited until I’m on the plane. There’s always too much to do beforehand!
Thanks Judy! He’s doing okay health-wise; 99 is amazing!
Yes, I won’t let myself totally get excited until I’m on my way! Only 17 days!
Is that treadmill in your house or at your workplace? Wherever it is, I LOVE the wall mural by it! The ‘mill can be boring but I do appreciate even nice indoor scenery – that helps a little! Love the gear you have picked out for your big race coming up. Finding a pair of gloves that is warm enough yet breathable enough for Minnesota running (let alone, Antarctica running) is tough!
hi Amy! The treadmill is at my house in the basement! My friend Angela is an artist and she painted the mural, it’s the lakes and trails we run all the time 🙂
Ooh thanks for linking back to your older post on preparing as that was exactly my question — how do you even think about how to prep for a race like that
Awesome ceremony to mark the spot/moment and solid week
I think I have a different sense of dramatic from colleagues — yours just seemed so normal to me
Thanks for reading and commenting Cari!
What do you mean about your colleagues? Are they quite dramatic?
Over Slack etc. it/humor tends to increase. It’s never “I don’t want to go out to get lunch, it’s raining” it’s “Who can survive in this weather? I’ll drown!” so I was expecting something along those lines when you said you saw your message as dramatic
Oooh, those gloves though. I’m definitely interested in those! I struggle to find gloves that are both waterproof and actually keep my hands and fingers warm and dry! I can’t wait to hear how you like them! I love that you did a fun little ceremony to commemorate the anniversary of your leg. I think things like that are necessary to really see how far we’ve come from something that wasn’t fun to experience. This may be a silly question but, what’s the anticipated temp for the marathon? I know little about Antarctica beyond the basics – where it is… Read more »
Thanks Jennifer!
So, when I look at the forecast where we run the marathon, it’s in the 20’s. It really could be anything though- it’s been close to 40 on race day and it’s been sideways blizzarding! So need to be prepared for anything!
I love that you went back to the spot. I did a similiar thing to the tree root that took me out and caused me to sprain a ligament in my knee right before NY. I joked about going back and kicking the tree out of spite when I could run again. And I did! (lightly tap it with my toe- everyone relax) it was weirdly therapeutic. I finally felt like I was back to my pre-injury running self. Although to this day I still wont run over that cluster of roots. Like you say, better safe then sorry!
Haha, nice Sarah! Glad to hear you did something similar and found it therapeutic 🙂
Love the mural on your wall by your treadmill!! Did you or a family member paint that? Those are fun pictures of “the spot” 🙂
My friend Angela is an artist and she painted the mural! It’s the best- it means a lot to me!
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