Cold Weather Running

 As long as the roads aren’t slick and icy, I’ll run outside throughout the winter. 

Connecticut temperatures haven’t been horrendous so far this winter, but they HAVE dipped below freezing on quite a few of my running mornings. Over the years I’ve figured out how to layer up for different temperatures and have collected enough of the right layers to get through the winter.

The general wisdom of dressing for 20 degrees warmer than actual temperatures has worked pretty well for me. Anything below 60 degrees has me wearing an earband (I have wimpy ears). When temps get down to freezing and just below, I’m running in 3 layers on top and a warm pair of running pants or leggings. At 5 degrees below freezing I add a 4th layer on top and pull out my heavy duty running tights (made out of heavyweight polartec power stretch fleece). At 20 degrees I add bike shorts under those leggings (butt cheeks get really cold!) and substitute a much heavier layer for my usual fleece jacket. A run in the single digits calls for 2 pairs of socks (wool of course) and 2 pairs of gloves.

Tech fabrics that wick the sweat away from the skin are a life saver in cold weather. Much as I love cotton in my street clothing, I do not recommend it as a layer anywhere close to the skin when running. Cotton will produce chafing. Ouch! I have one wool-blend running shirt that works really well, and I swear by wool socks year round. Everything else I run in is a man-made technical fabric.

There’s more than just the running clothes. My old running partner, Susan (who moved away years ago and I miss her terribly!) always recommended tucking in the first layer. That helps to create an enclosed pocket of air close to the body that will more easily stay warm. Quarter zip tops give me the option to open up at the neck if I start to overheat, and I can cool off without having to take a whole layer off and carry it. In the picture above, my first layer is a quarter-zip, long-sleeved wicking top, second layer is a wool-blend short-sleeved tshirt, and the heavier fleece jacket can also be partially or fully unzipped if necessary. I discovered just this year, when trying to replace my old running gloves that are full of holes, that even gloves need that little pocket of air between the glove and the skin. I tried a new pair that had a much tighter fit around the fingers and found that they didn’t keep my hands warm at all. I’ve gone back to the old gloves, holes and all, because they’ve got just the right fit and keep my hands much warmer.

Sunday’s run: 3 layers on top, approx. 28 deg. F at start of run

Through all the stress this year from the coronavirus pandemic, the presidential election and my fear that the Biden-Harris team might not win, running has been my go-to for working through the stress. It has also been my connection to seeing real people in person (safely outdoors) who are not in my household of 2 people. And we all need to take our safe stress relief wherever we can get it.

Occasionally, on a particularly stressful week, I’ll look at my watch at the end of the run and discover that my pace was a good 20-30 seconds per mile faster than usual. Not planned or pushed for, just a result of my need to run through the stress. The Sunday after the riot/attempted coup at the Capitol, all 3 of us on the Sunday run ran noticeably faster than usual. Feels better to know that it’s not just me.

With any luck though, stress levels will go down once we have a working White House with a competent administration and get the country vaccinated. I am hopeful.

Shelley in CT

Ragnar

So a few months ago, my son sent me a message, asking how "not interested" would I be in running on a relay team in the Ragnar New England Trail Relays? Well, I've run on relay teams before, and had a good time, though that was mostly in my youth. I followed the link he sent to see what it was all about. https://www.runragnar.com/event-detail/trail/new_england_ma

For those of you not familiar with the Ragnar "brand," they are best known for road relays. The one I had heard about was from Yale (New Haven, CT) to Harvard (Cambridge, MA). They've organized these races all over the country. The road relays consist of of 12-person teams, require 2 vans for transport, and are run overnight and into the next day. The New England Trail relay is 116 miles with an 8-person team, and is run over 3 different trails, all very hilly, and is also run through the night into the next day. The runners camp out at the site, and each runner runs all 3 trails. Now I have run an overnight relay before. It was the Oahu Perimeter Relay, about 140 miles total, on a 7-person team. Back in 1981; I was in high school. So it's been a while. I would need to up my training, fit in some trails and hills, bump up the mileage, but I thought I could probably do it. And what a challenge! And, of course, a weekend with my son Jeff, whom I don't see very often because he lives in Boulder, CO.

Yes, of course I said I'd do it. Ragnar is a tough one, so I'd also get bragging rights. Luckily, the other team members weren't too worried about speed. I figured I could tough out the hills, but couldn't guarantee pace.

I trained. We planned. I pulled out headlamps and sleeping bags, borrowed some camping mattresses. Found a hotel for the night before the race. I was so ridiculously nervous. Jeff flew into Boston the night before the race started, I picked him up, we battled Boston area traffic, and drove up to the hotel. Neither of us slept well. Then we killed some time the next morning driving around the area before driving up to the camp site.

view from Shelburne Falls hiking trail

obligatory selfie

As we were setting up camp (our illustrious captain, Randy, had brought tents and more camping gear for the group) I got ready to lead off with the first leg that afternoon. That first leg was a bit of a shock for me, even though I knew, theoretically, what I'd be up against. I knew there would be a lot of elevation gain, but the actual running of it, whoo boy, took my breath away. I hung in there, it was the shortest leg, through the mud and the rain, and finished up. At least then I knew, more or less, what I was in for on the rest of the course. I passed off to Jeff. The rest of the team trickled in throughout the rest of the day (only 7, so the 3 hot-shot runners each took an extra leg). It was a bizarre kind of race, with the camping (I didn't sleep much between my legs, though I tried!) and the nighttime running. My second leg was the longest and highest elevation, and at night. I wore a headlamp and carried a second light, which was very helpful. I could focus the second light right down at my feet so I could see the roots and rocks. Running trails in the dark reminded me of the old Mario Kart game called Rainbow Road (I think). All I could see was the small portion of the trail that was lit up right in front of me. It was unlike any race I had run before. I have to admit that I walked a lot of those steep (and not-so-steep) uphill sections. There were even a few downhill sections where the trail was narrow and full of roots and rocks when I had to slow to a walk so I didn't turn an ankle.

My last leg was at dawn; not quite full light at the beginning, but much easier to run in than total darkness. By the end of it all I was feeling every muscle and then some. I had strained my left ankle during my second leg, from all the slippery roots, but not a sprain. I just had to be very careful on the downhill portions of my last leg, to make sure I didn't land badly and cause some damage. My ankle was definitely feeling the strain after the race, but no worse. I iced it for a while after that last leg. We finished the race in under 24 hours, thanks to all our fast runners like Jeff.

Jeff finishing up his last (4th!) leg

Here's the team just after the finish.

The Mountain Goats

Took a few days and a good massage to stop hobbling up and down the stairs, but I survived! I can't help but think that Dad would have been so proud of us, and he'd have wanted to hear all about the race, and he'd have been especially proud of Jeff's speed and the way he tackled those hills.

Can't finish up without a little knitting content. I've been working on an exciting new project that involves some designing, or more specifically, reworking an existing pattern to keep the general shaping but change the gauge and lace pattern.

When Jeff and Julie announced their engagement, I decided I would really like to knit Julie a shawl for the wedding. I had no idea if it was something she would like or not, so I asked her, making sure she knew that my feelings would not be hurt if she just wasn't a shawl kind of person, or it didn't appeal to her. And I think that Julie is an up-front, tell-it-like-it-is kind of person, and would give me her real feelings on the issue. Happily, she liked the idea. We spent a little time when she was visiting in January looking at different shawl styles to figure out what she liked and didn't like. The end result was a Faroese shaped shawl (with shoulder shaping), a bit of lace down the middle back, a little horizontal lace band near the bottom, but not a lot of lace and no big holes. But the very most important part for Julie is the feel of the yarn. That girl has expensive tastes. Cashmere is definitely a favorite, alpaca, silk, anything soft and luxurious.

Finding the right yarn took longer than I expected, but I "forced" myself to persevere, petting lots of different yarns to find just the right one. I finally ended up with a luscious sportweight teal yarn, Shibui Dune, at a new-to-me local yarn store in Old Saybrook called The Knit.

I'm basing the pattern on a free shawlette pattern from Interweave Knits that I had knitted years ago in a heftier worsted weight yarn. http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/summer-shawlette-2. I reworked the numbers for the sportweight gauge. After a few false starts and tweaking of the pattern as I went along, I have a beginning, and have charted the lace and written out at least the first half of the pattern. I'm not too far into it, but now that I've worked out the numbers, I think the knitting will go fairly quickly. My goal is to have it finished by the end of July. That gives me a buffer in case something isn't right and I have to reknit part or all of it.

Julie's Wedding Shawl; starting at the back neck and knitting down

I'm really quite happy with it so far, and this yarn is just heaven to knit with. The light green markers are for the shoulder shaping, and the lace is a leafy pattern that continues all down the back of the shawl.

There's one more event I'd like to mention. Jessica graduated from Wellesley in May, on a chilly, rainy day. My Mom, Dan's Aunt Karen, and Jeff flew in for the occasion. We were only missing Jason, who was in the first week of a summer internship and felt it wouldn't be appropriate to ask for time off so early. Jess worked so hard to graduate in 4 years, despite that fact that Wellesley only accepted a percentage of the credits she earned at UMass before she transferred, and she still managed to fit in a semester abroad. I have to admist that Jessica and I set up an Excel spreadsheet in order to figure out how many credits from which source fulfilled different graduation, major, and minor requirements. She is now the proud owner of a Wellesley College Bachelor of Arts!

Happy Graduate

the Graduate, with assorted family members

Jess, my Mom, and me at Wellesley greenhouse: can you tell we're related?

Shelley in CT

Marathon!

Well, I ran a marathon. Just like that. Well, OK, not "just" like that.

My son Jeff and I had been talking about running a marathon together for a few years now. He ran his first marathon in 2014 in Houston, TX, while in his senior year of college. I ran my first marathon in 1979 on Maui, while in my freshman year of high school. Jeff has since run a couple more marathons. I've run a few half-marathons in the past 10 years, but not another marathon. I had talked about running another one while I still can, but had been plagued by minor injuries in the last few years. And honestly, I was really scared to attempt that kind of distance. Well, I finally got past the injuries, and Jeff put me on the spot. He said, how about Portland (OR) in 2016? Then he registered. And sent me the confirmation email. It was my turn.

I was afraid to commit to a marathon, afraid I'd find out that I couldn't do it. But I was past 50 yrs old and figured I'd better give it a shot now because I'm not getting any younger. I registered, then started hunting for training plans. I looked at Runner's World magazine plans as well as Women's Running magazine plans, then ended up cobbling together my own mash-up plan, incorporating pieces of different plans (novice vs. experienced runner) from both magazine offerings and adjusting the long run distances. Dad has assured me that if I could complete a long run of 18 miles, I could finish a marathon (and he should know, he's run more marathons than I can count!) So I set up my plan with a longest run of 20 miles, thinking that those extra 2 miles would give me a little extra certainty.

I didn't always complete every workout, but I managed enough of it to feel prepared.

The reason we chose the Portland Marathon is because my parents live out near Portland, and Dad has run the Portland Marathon many times (I think 5 times). Since Jeff and I would have to meet up somewhere anyway, going to Portland gave us a nice visit with Mom and Dad/Grandma and Grandpa, more people to come cheer us while we ran, and I knew my Dad would get a real kick out of watching two more generations of Axmakers running the same race that he has run.

While we were training for the race, it occurred to me that we could use it as a vehicle to raise funds for cancer research. A friend of mine had done that when he ran the Chicago Marathon, raising funds for lung cancer research, as his wife had lung cancer. Dad has prostate cancer, and he is part of the reason we chose Portland, so it made sense to raise money for prostate cancer research. I looked for a way to do that through the Portland Marathon website but there wasn't anything appropriate that was available to use through their website. Dad goes to OHSU for his treatment, so I contacted them and set up a team fundraising page to benefit prostate cancer research at the Knight Cancer Center at OHSU (Oregon Health and Science University). Jeff and I sent the link to our fundraising page to friends and family, and we have raised over $1600! Here's the link:  http://www.firstgiving.com/fundraiser/shelley-arenson/team-shelley-and-jeff

I trained hard all summer, through the heat and humidity (I still have scars on my back from the chafing!) and while I completed the distance, I was slow. I really had no idea how fast I could run the race. I knew the temperature in October would be easier to run in than the heat and humidity of the Connecticut summer, but I didn't know what that would translate to as far as overall pace and endurance. I packed several different sets of running clothes so I would be prepared for whatever weather we got on race day. As I watched the weather forecast, things were looking good: clear and sunny, around 70 degrees. Not bad at all. Then as the week progressed, the forecast started looking cloudier and cooler, and then it started looking wetter. Phooey!

Yes, it rained for the entire race! That said, the race went better than I expected. I was hoping to finish under 5 hours, without injury, and without completely dying at the end. Well, I managed all 3.

about an hour into the race

I finished in 4 hours 44 minutes, with an adjusted time of 4 hours 38 minutes for the 26.2 miles. (I ended up running about 6/10 mile extra, along with hundreds of other runners in my starting corral, due to a problem with race route directions. Dad says that makes me an Ultra-Marathoner. Ha! I'll take that.) I maintained a pretty even pace throughout the race, taking care to not start out too fast, and was even able to pick up my pace for the last couple of miles. And I felt pretty good!

Jeff finished in 3:03, qualifying for Boston by less than 2 minutes. He was able to dry off, get changed, and warm up a bit before cheering me on near the finish line. Here is Jeff, jogging with me for a hundred yards or so, right around mile 26.

Jeff with me, around mile 26

Dan (my husband), Julie (Jeff's girlfriend), Mom, and Dad spent the day running around to cheer both Jeff and me (in the rain) and take pictures. I think it was probably a lot harder to put up with the rain and the cold for the supporters, who weren't running to keep themselves warm. We had left the house at 5 am in order to be in Portland for the start of the race, and I didn't finish until around noon. That's a long time to stand out in the rain.

the family: me, Dan, and Jeff

Marathoners old and new: me, Dad, and Jeff

As you can see, we had sunnier days after the race. Jeff and I both appreciated Mom and Dad's hot tub after the race on Sunday afternoon. We were both pretty creaky and stiff, but Jeff had pushed a lot harder and was suffering a little more from his exertions.

As my Dad so succinctly put it, No Good Deed... http://axman-axman.blogspot.com/  After the long day out in the rain, Dad was not feeling well, and ended up with a fever and a trip in to the hospital with an infection. Luckily, with fluids, rest, and antibiotics, his infection was cleared up, but it delayed his next chemotherapy treatment. Our intent had really been to help, not hinder, and thankfully Dad recovered, and in the big picture, we did help the cause of cancer research when we surpassed our fundraising goal.

When all is said and done, I'd call the whole endeavor a success. It was a good visit with everybody, and Jeff and I both achieved our marathon goals as well as our fundraising goals. And who knows, as good as I felt during and after the race, I may even run another marathon.....

Shelley in CT

The Heat of the Summer

I'm slowly working up to longer runs. My during-the-week runs are 5 and 6 miles and they feel pretty good. Last weekend I finally managed 7 miles again. I hadn't run that distance since before the trip to Colorado (I think the travel and altitude there set me back a bit.) My speed has been really up and down, mostly depending on just how humid it is outside on a given day. As long as I'm still getting in the mileage and not suffering any major injuries, I can't really complain.

On the injury front, I'm still having trouble with the tennis elbow. I had an MRI done early this month, and my ortho said that it didn't show any tears or ragged edges. That's good, but he didn't really have any other good suggestions. His suggested therapy is to take an anti-inflammatory medication constantly for a week and see if it has any effect. I'm taking meloxicam, and so far, several days in, I'm still having some pain in my arms. I'm so frustrated with this injury. It would have been much easier to break a bone. That heals faster and more completely. This tennis elbow has been an issue for me now for over a year!

Through it all, I'm still knitting. Slowly. And not much. As long as I don't knit for too long at a time I'm not having too much trouble. I haven't been able to bring myself to restart my daughter's second sock. It seems as if I've been knitting those socks forever. At least I only have to reknit the easy part. Grafting the reknit leg to the already-knit foot will be the big challenge.

cute but not quite matched in size

see how the top sock is shorter than the bottom sock?

Of course, despite the little knitting I've been doing, I couldn't resist starting a new project. My best  friend from high school, Miriam, is going through a rough time with her health. She lives halfway across the country and other than call her every once in a while, there's not a lot I can do from here that is helpful to her. So I decided she needed a nice warm cowl for the winter. I'm calling it a "Yarn Hug for Miriam" and bought a pattern that looked like it fit really nicely around the neck. Of course, I've spent more time tweaking the pattern than I have knitting so far. When I downloaded and read through the pattern I realized there was some odd shaping up at the neck that I didn't like. So I'm rewriting the neck portion to make it more cowl-like at the top. I'm also reworking the stitch pattern so that I can knit it in the round without changing directions, as the pattern directs. It took a lot more time up front but I think the knitting is coming out much simpler and more straightforward, and I'm getting the same stitch pattern as written in the pattern. Hopefully my changes will continue to work the way I intend them to.

the top of the cowl

We just had our last week with Jason home, before he headed back to school for his sophomore year. He was the only kid home and working this summer, poor kid, but he managed to escape his boring parents, getting out to see friends once in a while, and also found ways to socialize with faraway friends via Skype. Life is certainly easier when the kids can drive themselves. In addition to working and catching up with a few friends, Jason has had some cooking lessons. He is living off campus this coming year and none of his prospective roommates are all that interested in cooking. As he'd like to save some money by not eating out all the time, he is working on becoming Chef Jason. This has been a good thing for me. On cooking lesson days, I pull out a recipe, help him find ingredients and cooking implements, pour myself a glass of wine and sit at the kitchen island to "direct." Life is good!

Jessica was home briefly between the end of her sophomore year and the beginning of her internship in Japan. We scrambled to help her do laundry, shop for the items she'd need over the summer, clean up all the things she brought home from school and pack for Japan. She has just now finished up her summer internship and is "hanging out" in Tokyo until her junior year abroad in Tokyo starts up at the end of August. She has been able to visit with her host-sister Aya, who lives fairly close to the University. That gives me a little bit more peace of mind, knowing that Aya and her family are close by in case Jessica needs somebody. She probably won't; she has managed to get where she needed to go and take care of getting her student visa while in Japan, all on her own. My little girl is growing up. <sniff!>

The last of the news is that I turned 51 this past week. It was great to see all the happy birthday messages on facebook, I got flowers from my wonderful husband, and my son made me dinner. Yum! And I really don't feel 51, so I'm just going to enjoy the other parts of the birthday and not think about the number.

Well, I'd better finish this up so I can post it before all the news is old again. Enjoy the rest of the summer!

Shelley in CT

Couch to 5K (in one day)!

Ok, I'm not really a candidate for the 'couch to 5K' programs. While I haven't been running regularly for a long time, at least 9 months, I'm not a rank beginner, and I've been dancing, walking, doing Pilates, and getting in an occasional run just so I don't feel like a complete slug. I hadn't been running because of a strained hamstring. It seemed every time I was starting to feel a little better, I'd push too hard in exercise class, or take a long drive and it would start bothering me again. HOWEVER, I think I've finally moved past it. The pivotal event was a long day of much driving. 8 hours in the car, all told, and not a twinge! Huzzah! So it was time to get back into shape. Of course, every morning that I had time to fit in a run, it rained or snowed. Last week though I finally got out. Twice! Roads are clear, nights are mostly above freezing, and there are only little bits of snow left in shady corners. Did I start out short and easy? Define short. Define easy. I started at 3 miles. I figure I have enough muscle memory to keep me going for 3 miles. I hadn't run since early February, and I hadn't been running regularly then either. I didn't have to stop and walk, and I even felt OK. I was REALLY SLOW! But I can live with that. So 2 runs last week. Four miles this morning. No snow or ice to worry about (I would hope not, after all, it's April). Maybe I'll find my stride again soon and move up to a sub-10-minute mile.

socks for dear daughter

On the knitting front, very little has been happening. I know I've written about my tennis elbow. I was in physical therapy in the fall and it was really a lot better. Then I volunteered to work backstage at my dance studio's production of the Nutcracker. Have you ever heard the phrase, "No good deed goes unpunished?" Seems the backstage work was a little harder on the arms than anticipated. That moved straight into having kids home for the holidays and all the cleaning and cooking that entailed. Don't get me wrong, I was thrilled to have them all home, and it's much more satisfying to cook for a crowd than just for one or two or us, and I even got company and sometimes help in the kitchen. But it all took its toll, along with shoveling snow and clearing ice dams on the roof this winter. The pain has waxed and waned, and I've done little bits of knitting when I was feeling OK. The most progress I've made in knitting has been socks for my daughter.  I knitted on our vacation to New Orleans in March. Airplanes are great for knitting, and there was no stress on the unhappy arms while we were on vacation. Love those vacations---no cooking or cleaning!  Lately, though, both my arms have been a lot worse, so my knitting is currently not happening. I still go to knitting group, and chat and eat, and knit a little bit, and chat some more. Really, we mostly go to knitting group to chat. I'm going back to physical therapy next week and am hoping to finally get back to normal. Seems everything on my list of things I want to do involves heavy arm use.

  With all the knitting projects on the back burner, I needed a creative outlet. One was painting the kids bathroom. I find painting a room to be very satisfying because the change can be so drastic and the end result always looks clean and new and fresh. I've never been fond of the prep work involved, but it was all worth it. Our hall bathroom now looks like a lovely spa bathroom. Yay! It also helped that all the kids were out of the house and I could leave the mess when I was done painting for the day. The only thing I had to worry about was the cat peeing on my dropcloths. I was working with a deadline: I wanted to finish up before the kids got home for spring break. There are really only a few little touch-ups left, along with sanding and finishing the doors. I'll try not to let another 2 years go by before I manage to finish that up.

I've been doing more sewing lately too, also, I think, to satisfy the need to create. I made another version of"the perfect t-shirt" that I wrote about in the last post. I'm getting much closer to a really great t-shirt, and will talk more about that progress in my next post. Time to wrap up.

Shelley in CT

So tired...

It's spring, the flowers are blooming and the weather is lovely (when it's not raining) so why am I so tired? Well, Jessica and Aya have AP tests that they have been studying for during the past couple weeks (with the obligatory teenage angst), Jason has track practices and meets and a part-time job that he needs to be driven to and picked up from on a regular basis, we've had another AFS (Aya's exchange program) mandatory event that took place way over on the other side of Connecticut, that took 2 hours to drive to and 2 hours to drive home from (yes, I did carpool to make it easier), and proms for all three are coming up and we've had to help rent the tux and are still hunting for gowns to buy or borrow, not to mention shoes, wraps, flowers, etc. Work has been busy too, especially since our biller quit with no notice and I ended up helping fill in (learning on the job!) and am pitching in again to help the office staff get our books up to date before statements go out this month. Jessica is volunteering for AFS (as an experienced exchange student), and is needed at an orientation this weekend on Mother's Day, to which I will end up helping her drive because it's too far away and in a big city and she's just not ready for that kind of solo driving yet. Did I mention that that one is scheduled for Mother's Day?? Aya has dance rehearsals for a big spring performance this month, also, I might add, with a rehearsal on Mother's Day. Did I forget anything? In order to stay sane and attempt to ease the stress of all that we have going on, I have given myself a break and wisely ignored the housework (if I ignored the cooking of dinners the children and husband would rise up in revolt). Okay, enough kvetching, just had to get that off my chest.

Soon the AP tests will be over, we'll have everything ready for the proms, which will be enjoyed by all, and the kids will finish school and we just may be able sit back and maybe relax for a day or two before something new pops up on the schedule.

I have gotten virtually no knitting done, and haven't progressed at all on the baby quilt since the last post. Maybe on the prom nights I'll be able to get back to the sewing machine. Once again, this will require excavation of the office/craft/sewing room in order to physically reach the sewing machine. The socks I have been knitting have a big mistake in the decrease section above the heels. I've been knitting them toe-up, two-at-a-time on one long circular needle, so taking them off the needle and ripping back will involve keeping careful track of both socks so I can put them back on the needle at the same section of both socks. That's going to take more energy and thinking than I've been willing to give to my knitting lately. My cardigan sweater just needs a good try-on so I can decide where the buttons and buttonholes should go, and then I can finish it up. That's hung me up as well. Guess it's the brain work that I'm avoiding.


In other parts of my life, I seem to be taking after both of my parents these days. I've been working as a bookkeeper for the past year, and my mother did bookkeeping for many years; and recently I was asked to lead some runs for the spring/summer outdoor activities program run by the gym I used to belong to. My dad has always been leading and organizing races and running groups for almost as long as I can remember, so now I can take after him too. I was very flattered to be considered an experienced and serious enough runner to lead a group. And I get free gym access out of it. My first run is on May 19, and I've already tried out my route to check my mileage and my turnaround points. I'm starting easy with a flat 5-mile route that runs along the ocean and through part of a state park. Hopefully a few people will show up so I'll have some folks to lead. Wish me luck.


Send some positive mojo my way and hopefully I can get back on track. I'm hoping to finish up the knitting projects that are close to completion. I should probably write it into my schedule, a dedicated knitting-at-home day.

This Saturday is shopping with the girls. Send me some good thoughts for that as well, I'm going to need it.

Shelley in CT

Progress!

The quilt top is finally all put together! Well, mostly put together. I still have to put on the borders. I haven't decided yet how to quilt it, but I'm leaning toward stippling. Or maybe just outlining the stars and stippling the checkerboard sections. Hmmmm.

Today I also finally got myself out to do a track workout - interval training. (Yuck!) It's so much easier with a partner to suffer alongside me help me get through it. I have to say, though, that my daughter helped me out with motivation. She forgot her chemistry notebook, and I had to take it down to the school for her. And the track is right next to the school. So I got dressed to run and dropped her book at the school on my way to the track. I tried a different formula for my intervals this time: timing instead of just sprinting the straightaways and walking/jogging the curves. I had found a workout online that suggested 30 seconds hard and 90 seconds recovery, so I set my watch timer for 30 seconds. It's a little fiddly, using the watch timer, but it was a good workout. I think in the future I can blend the 30/90 with the straightaway/curve and come up with a middle ground that's easier to keep track of. I do like the longer recovery, and the 30 second sprint is longer than just the 100 meter straightaway so it makes me work a little harder. I'm going to feel this tomorrow.

Well, that all feels like a fair amount of accomplishment this week. Perhaps I can get the quilt bordered and basted this weekend, and get it finished and sent off to my nephew before he graduates from high school! (I started it before he was born and he's already 2 years old. I've really got to explore simpler quilt patterns...)

Hope you're getting some lovely spring sunshine wherever you are!

Shelley in CT

Looking Good

...if I do say so myself. Take a look:

Zany Stars Quilt in Progress

I've decided on placements for all the different star blocks, and I still need to sew up some more of the checkerboard filler, but I really like the way it's coming together. My sister-in-law tells me that my nephew is really into stars these days, so I have incentive to finish it quickly before he moves out of that phase!

I've got my sewing table all set up with the ironing board right next to it, so I can sit down and sew some pieces together whenever I have a spare 5 minutes or so. That has really helped my productivity. Of course, I would much rather spend larger blocks of time and see more progress, but I'll take what I can get.

On the home front, kids have recovered from the school musical and the SATs, and mandatory state standardized testing is finally over. We may actually have a calmer week ahead of us.

I am still running, and trying to bump my running schedule up to 3 runs per week. I was doing pretty well with that, 2 weeks in a row with 3 runs, and then this past week I hosted knitting group on my running day, so the run went out the window. Oh well, I'll try to pick it back up this week.

My local dance studio expanded their classes recently and are now offering an adult tap class. I had taken tap for a number of years, but had to stop about 5 or 6 years ago when the class was cancelled due to scheduling issues. I had been dancing with the high-schoolers, which was often a stretch for me, but it was a lot of fun and a really good workout. This new class is all adults, most of whom tapped as kids and are trying to pick it back up. I find myself the most experienced tapper in the class (besides the teacher), which is a first for me. We are starting slowly, but I do love tapping, so I am going to use this opportunity to work on my technique, which could certainly use some work, and hope that the others will be able to move forward quickly so we can get to the fun stuff.

The sun's been out lately and spring flowers are popping up. Everyone's healthy. Life is good.

Shelley in CT