Training through Snow

Philadelphia offers the best and worst of all the seasons- hot and sunny summers; colorful and cool autumns; blossoming and rainy springs; and snowy and cold winters. Changing seasons allows us to embrace the appreciation of all aspects of life- we see the budding of new flowers; the hot sand on beaches; the changing palet of autumn leaves; and fresh blankets of new snow.  It also forces athletes to accept the weather and persevere outside in the freezing cold or hibernate inside to a warm, but perhaps unexciting gym. Either way, a well-kept plan will strengthen anyone who rises to the challenge and completes their workout.

Each season, this plant takes a different shape

The term "unexciting" is not meant to stigmatize a gym in a negative way. Gyms are fantastic places and there is a purpose for belonging to a gym. However, when you can’t do a nine mile run outside due to the snow and poor conditions (we do have to be realistic about safety sometimes!), doing the run on the treadmill is not the ideal run. This was the case this Tuesday. Jenn was able to conquer her run by listening to some jams, taking a break, and fixating on conquering her goal. Sean did not finish as he wore some old shoes and started to blister around 5 miles. He made up some of the mileage later on that week.

We also both did our 800s on Friday night at the gym. Our plan states for us to run 6 800s as fast as possible with a quarter mile break in between. This was kind of nice to do on the treadmill because you can control the tempo. Tempo and pace runs can be great to do on a treadmill because you can push yourself and your pace to your liking. This weekend we will try to get an 8-miler and 14-miler done in the bitter cold! Wish us good luck!

Fall squash soups fuel us and are delicious. As Jenn mentioned earlier, butternut squash soup is part of her lucky pre-race meal. However, finding a recipe that makes the consistency nice and thick, but still healthy has been a feat! This soup (easy recipe under “Pantry” section), has shattered all doubts about being able to find the ideal pumpkin soup this winter. It will keep you warm through the winter months.

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Another winter nesting tool we completed was getting stains out of our white living room carpet. See “Around our Home for some great, cheap, and easy tricks! One thing we are struggling with is since we were with our pup, Jackpot from December 24th- January 4th, he has now taken to chewing on things he never used to bother with….ex. TV remotes, a reusable bag on the counter...Does anyone have any suggestions on how to get him un-mad at us?