{52 Snapshots of Life} Week 9: Purple

There are some upsides to snow. I will list some here, in no particular order:

1. It makes the cold worthwhile. Cold is pointless without snow. I know that I have become quite the advocate for melting snow, what with it covering the sidewalks we need to run, but I still stand by the fact that if it's going to be cold, especially bitterly cold, it should snow. It can melt the next day. I don't care.

2. It reflects the sun so it usually feels warmer than it actually is. Another reason for it to snow when it's cold. It doesn't feel as cold anymore!

3. Snow is pretty. It's beautiful. I know it gets dirty and gross, but what doesn't? Do we not like our four legged friends when they are dirty? We usually take pictures of them because they are so cute when they are completely filthy!

4. It is quite enjoyable to see our furry ones enjoying a good snow. From the frenzies they get from just going outside and coming back in, to the actual playtime in the snow. Watching them play in the snow should melt your heart and cause it to grow three times it's Grinch-y size.

5. The crazy snow weather does something magical to the sky. Sunrises and sunsets are worth seeing, despite the cold, cold weather. 

Henri and I got a chance to enjoy one of these sunset while we were out for a run this week. I think it has just enough purple to make it fit this weeks photo theme, "Purple". Purple is a hard one, especially without Spring-like weather to bring in the purple flowers. I might have an aversion to purple as it's so close to blue, I'd rather just have blue. Henri doesn't have anything purple, aside from a purple platypus, which was going to be what I went with before we were able to get outside and I noticed the sunsets.

Oh Deer

As predicted the weather has been cold and snowy. We've been able to go to the dog park, but every time the snow begins to dry off the sidewalks, another wave comes. There is still at least one more wave coming through over the weekend so I decided that we should try to go out today. My phone said it was 14 degrees, but it was really sunny. I hadn't been able to cool down since my workout in the morning, so the cool air felt great! It didn't feel like 14 degrees. Don't worry about Henri, either! He was diving down to scoop up snow as we ran by. He loves these temperatures!

I did struggle at the beginning. I'm sure my workout had worn me down, but I wanted to run. I didn't care if we only ran one lap. I was okay with that. Mind over body! It worked! We got to a point that I was feeling pretty good. Then this happened.

I stopped in my tracks. My heart skipped a beat and I lost my breathe. I watched as, one by one, more deer stepped out and crossed the path.

I couldn't believe it! I guess it was so cold that the park had probably been mostly empty all day. I'm not one hundred percent where they live, but they must have thought it was safe enough to venture out. They weren't done though. While several had already crossed the path, there were several that had seen and heard us coming and were waiting.

There were at least eight of them all together. The ones that crossed were lost in the glare of the sun, but I knew they hadn't gone far. We were actually surrounded by deer. 

Henri saw them, but he was more concerned with finishing the run. He took in the scenery and was done. So focused! We decided to let the rest of the deer catch up with the others and continued on our way. I am so glad I decided to go on a run today and that I opted for running somewhere other than the neighborhood!

{52 Snapshots of Life} Week 8: Mirror

So, it sounds like there might be a bunch of snow on the way. Of course, we have heard this before. We will see what this weekend brings, but it's suffice to say we may not be running for a little bit. Good thing I have others workouts to do.

This week's photo challenge theme is "Mirror". For the past few weeks, Henri has been joining me on my Insanity Max workouts. He seems to especially enjoy the ab workouts, probably because I'm on the floor and he can lick the sweat off me if he can get close enough without getting punched or kicked by flailing limbs. There he is though, laying down beside me, rolling on his back, attempting to play. So, this week, here he is, mirroring me, mirroring the TV screen.

Good job, Henri! Way to keep up on your health while we wait till we can run again!

I Am A Slug

That was a difficult run.

We might have to put our runs on hold until I finish Insanity Max 30. Month one was fine. I could handle both a run and a workout in one day, but month two has proved to be a bit harder. That's not a bad thing, by any means, but I don't know that I can do both.

The first week of month two there was snow and ice, so we didn't really have a chance to run. I don't particularly remember being too sore, but I was also just getting used to the different moves. Last week, week two, I had reserved Tuesday for a run. I did Insanity in the morning and made sure a good amount of time passed before we went out on a run. I thought that my speed could be chalked up to the Wienerschnitzel in my belly. My legs were sore the rest of the week, but I thought that was due to Insanity, period.

Today, I wanted to go for a run with Henri. I thought that today would be the best day because, while still an Insanity workout, it was just cardio. It's probably the easiest workout of the week, comparatively speaking. It's still a bear of a workout. I wanted to be sure I was not so tired that I couldn't do the moves to the best of my ability so I did Insanity first, quickly followed by the ten minute Ab Attack. Then it was running time. 

I knew I wasn't going to be able to just run. I was going to feel it out. I thought I'd be able to start strong, being warmed up. Maybe we'd only run half of it or maybe I could handle just slowing down towards the end. Yeah, I felt like a snail. I couldn't get my pace up. I was trying. I kept laughing every time Henri looked back at me and saying, 'I'm coming'. I did finally hit a pace. It wasn't much, but it was something I thought I could stay at for awhile. 

I had Henri. This is one of those times we had to work as a team. My motivation was to keep moving fast enough that he would at least be above a trot. Sometimes, he had to literally pull me. He would give me my breaks, but he wasn't going to take it easy on me. He knew when he could push me to move. He was having a good time, aside from his obvious concern for my lack of speed and that was what mattered to me.

We'll see how I feel tomorrow. I might be paying for my actions. Maybe I'll be fine. Maybe I just have to push myself. 

In other news, I am now pretty sure that the guy that comes out of his house to smoke when we go by is, in fact, waiting for us. We were later today than usual, what with two workouts and a slower pace, but he came out right before we were about to pass by. I didn't mind the extra motivation to keep up my pace, but I'm pretty convinced he can see us coming. I mean, he could just be a heavy smoker...

{52 Snapshots of Life} Week 7: Love

Is it weird that I have looked forward to this run for days? That I planned my workout schedule around being able to run today? That the only thing I want to do on my birthday is go for a run with my Henri? I'm okay with that.

It was probably a good thing that we had snow and ice last week and we were not able to run as I started month two of Insanity Max. I think Shaun T. likes to call it, 'Bananas'. Now that a week of it is under my belt, I think my legs can handle adding a run or two in there. We've had some warmer days and all the snow and ice melted. Turned everything into a swamp, but melted. I took a few days off since I never take vacation and this year I just didn't feel like being at work on my birthday. While I wish we could have been running every day, I took the recovery days seriously this weekend and I saved my run for today, because I'm still not sure that I should run consecutive days on my ankle, especially since I've got daily Insanity workouts, too. I wanted to make sure I got the most of the Insanity workout, so I did that in the morning, giving my legs some time to rest before we went for a run in the afternoon.

I've been trying to think of some new places for us to run. I tried one of the parks in the fall, but never really found a real trail to run on. I saw some pictures from one of my friends on Facebook and asked her where she ran. She gave me a few ideas so I decided that we would try one of them for my birthday.

It was a beautiful, sunny day. I usually ask for snow for my birthday, so the fact that I was happy about the weather says a lot. The paved trails are wide, which makes it nice when you start passing people and other dogs. Online it said three miles of trails, which is perfect for us, but we did one loop around and that was only 1.8 or something, so we did another loop. Henri did really well with the new environment. It was a slow run for both of us. I don't know if he was just reading my pace, but he didn't really seem to care if we ran or walked. My birthday chili cheese fries slowed me down. (Oops.) It was still nice to be somewhere new and to be out in the sun.

I got my new ProCompression socks just in time for this run and for this weeks photo challenge theme, "Love". I love that Henri and I can share something, like a run, especially on a special day. I love that he enjoys it as much as I do. I love him.

I like having one photo that I feel really expresses the theme of the week, but I couldn't help making a photo collage with this run. I mean, it's my birthday. I can do whatever I want.

{52 Snapshots of Life} Week 6: Create

I don't know if you've seen this, but PetSmart has Pound Puppies! I think this is pretty perfect. What better way to promote pet adoption and giving back to shelters and rescues that Pound Puppies!

So, I got all nostalgic and was inspired to draw my little pound puppy as a Pound Puppy! Not like the stuffed animals, but the cartoon, from the 80's, not the new one. How convenient that it was "Create" week and we have too much snow on the sidewalks to run anyway!

I not only had to think about what Henri would look like as a Pound Puppy, but what he would wear, because the coolest of The Pound Puppies wore clothes. I don't think Henri would like to wear a whole lot of clothes, especially since he likes when it's cooler outside, but he is pretty athletic and, of course, he runs with me. So, I gave him some sweatbands ;)

I think he's pretty cute! I would adopt him! I would have drawn me, but I was having trouble matching the 80's style for the humans, especially an adult, that's not a villian, because that's mostly what I found picture of when I was taking my little trip down memory lane.

I also bought Henri a Pound Puppy from PetSmart. I know it's going to be torn up very quickly, but if I didn't buy it just for that reason, I was missing the point of buying them. I was going to take a picture of the both of us with our Pound Puppies, but I can't find mine. I don't want to think about it too much because I fear they may be lost to me forever and that just makes me really sad.

He's pretty confident he can tear the squeaker out, followed by the stuffing, if I would just let him play with it a little longer than I do before putting it up. Look at him! He's even imitating The Pound Puppy! That's my Pound Puppy!

{52 Snapshots of Life} Week 5: Winter

The first thing that tends to come to mind when you think of "Winter" is snow, or at least it is when you live in the Central Illinois. The problem is that we have not had a lot of snow this winter. Our winter, as you can tell from my blog posts, has been mostly cold and ice. In my opinion, it is pointless to have cold without snow. The snow that we have had has been disappointing and I can't wait for it to be gone so that Henri and I can go on runs again. 

Of course, the week that the photo theme is "Winter", we don't have much to show in the way of pictures. It did ice horribly Monday night, but there was nothing to take a picture of as it seemed cruel to take Henri out to force him to reenact the scene when Bambi first stepped onto the ice and Thumper laughed at him. I suppose I could have played the part of Bambi as I would certainly have been on my butt and almost was multiple times as I just scraped my windows. It quickly thawed on Tuesday while I was at work, leaving not even icicles for Henri to lick.

Have no fear, a snow storm was a coming! The forecast called for four to six inches on Saturday! Perfect for any pictures of Henri playing in the snow! Except that the weather report is never accurate or even close and it quickly became clear it was going to be a lot of rain and eventually some snow. 

I waited, hoping that Sunday morning we would wake to tons of snow. There is snow, about two inches of slushy, snow. This doesn't seem like an accurate representation of our winter. The worst part about winter is when we are stuck inside. Whether it's because it's too cold to be outside or because it's too dangerous to attempt a run, there are just days that we can not go on a run or go to the park. When these days come, this is where you find Henri.

Don't feel bad for him! You know he gets plenty of exercise! He just likes to stare out into the backyard. Not much is going on out there, but I guess it's the only access to looking outside he has, it just looks he's moping. Until he hears you move, then you get this:

Since this weeks (last weeks) them is "Winter" and we did happen to get some snow, even though it barely happened in the correct week, here is a picture of Henri enjoying the snow.

He jumps pretty acrobatically (Is that really a word, because spell check didn't say it wasn't), but I think the snow was too slickery (Of course that's not a word, but it kinda is). It was probably safer not to be jumping in the air and trying to land in that stuff. I kept slipping around while we were playing. He's pretty smart...and tall :)