I can’t remember another year that my treadmill has gotten this much love. I got my beloved Sole F80 in 2018 when I was pregnant with my daughter, and yes, I ran a lot more inside that year because I was being cautious with the pregnancy (didn’t want to slip in the winter if it was even close to being slippery). But this year? This year takes the cake. We had yet ANOTHER bout of wintry weather this past weekend – Sunday started with rain, then ice, then 8 inches of snow. And this week it pretty much snowed on and off all week! So yes, I’m thankful for my treadmill and that it continues to serve me well and helps me get in some endorphins when I get bummed about our winter.
Well, that’s unfortunate … as you can see from the title, I had some technical difficulties getting in my runs this week. The difficulty? A not-working treadmill! B moved the treadmill to the basement this Sunday and the next morning, it wasn’t working — the belt kept sliding to the side over the edge! I am not handy at all and of course could not figure out how to fix it even after numerous YouTube videos showed me how (let’s just say I couldn’t even use the allen wrench the right way to do the first step, ugh!). And with the snow and ice still coming down, it was hard to get outside and safely run – everything was a sheet of ice or patches of ice! The good news is — I fixed it! I did it myself. I was SO PROUD of myself for not just figuring out how to use the wrench, but figuring out how to loosen the belt, center it again, and tighten it! The next day, though, I noticed that my hip was off after running. It felt like I was uneven – and sure enough, the treadmill wasn’t level! So yet again, more technical difficulties. Luckily B was able to fix that when I was at work and I was able to get back on the treadmill and run.
Well, that was a wacky weather week. We had highs in the 50s on Monday (Yay!), lows in the teens (Tuesday), snow, rain, ice and more this week. So, I had a combination of outdoor runs (few), treadmill runs (more) and some outdoor walks (yay again!).
The week ALSO included the CLEVELAND MARATHON KICKOFF RUN! It was so great to run IN PERSON with people to celebrate the kickoff of marathon training season! I’m only running the half, but it was great to get in a few miles with other local runners outside on a weekend. Did that mean I missed basketball, soccer and ice skating for my kids on Saturday morning? I did, but I’m so lucky to have B and other parents who were able to step in and help out so I could make the event.
We made it through the first month of 2025!! Hooray!! That means we’re one month closer to spring, warmer days, lighter mornings, and hopefully sunnier days!
January turned out to be an okay month, all things considered. Despite the sub-zero temps, constant snow and ice, a few days of travel, and crazy weekends full of kid activities and more, I got in some great activity and stayed injury free! Hooray!
My monthly mileage included:
151.81 miles running, mostly indoor miles. I barely made it outside at all in January because our winter has been so unbearable! But this did include 2 runs in Florida that were really nice 🙂
2 days off. One earlier in the month when I felt like my hip was starting to get cranky (thankfully, after babying it for a few days I feel better), and one this week when I was sick.
But I’m getting ahead of myself about this week. Here’s how it looked:
In case the title didn’t give it away, this week was my birthday! I celebrated my birthday Thursday with a quick trip away with just B! It was the first time we had gone away since the 3 kids were born, and our first actual trip away on a plane (not just a short drive away/staycation), just the 2 of us, since FW was born. Our last trip like that was in May 2016 when I was pregnant with FW.
Anyway, I’m getting ahead of myself as usual. But that trip, combined with the long weekend plus schools being closed Tuesday and Wednesday due to frigid temps made it a very out-of-routine, but a wonderful, week.
What are your thoughts about January? Our January so far has been cold, snowy, icy, and not my favorite. In fact, it’s supposed to be in the negatives next week, which is also not my favorite:
Now, don’t get me wrong – there are some good things about January. And one of them is that it’s my birthday month! But I admittedly don’t love a January birthday. In my experience, nobody wants to celebrate it. It’s too cold, they’re on a diet (food diet, spending money diet, drinking diet, etc.) for the new year, etc. In fact, I saw 2 funny Instagram reels the other day that summed up how I feel about having a January birthday …
These made me laugh – at least I’m not the only one who is feeling this way! So here we are, on January 43rd (doesn’t it feel like that?!) … but with that, here’s how the week went:
And just like that, we are back to our routine! School started up again part of the way through this week, and I was back at early meetings (an 8 a.m. on Monday even before school started), so I started getting back to my normal morning workouts. While I do like my routine, I LOVE and miss the slow mornings and days of our break. There’s something so wonderful about not having to wake up the kids, pack their lunch bags, help with homework, etc.
This week I got in several days of running, but all indoors. We had cold, snowy, icy weather, and I decided to play it safe. It may sound boring but it wasn’t bad.
It’s that time of year that I love. Spending time with my family. Sleeping in (well, until 7 or when my kids get up). Baking and eating all the cookies. Seeing my parents. And of course, not quite knowing what day it is.
Despite not knowing what day it is, not being home for half the week and not being with my treadmill, weights, etc., oh – and there being snow and ice where I was in NY, I was still able to get in some workouts this week. Here’s how the week looked:
We just got back from our summer family vacation! We spent a few days in Upstate NY and a few days in Philly and it was great to have time off from work and time for us to spend as a family.
In NY, we had tons of fun spending time with my family and friends. Here are some of the highlights:
Spending time with my parents. We stayed with them and it was nice to join them for meals, on walks with Sweetie, reading with the kiddos and just doing normal everyday activities.
Going to Huck Finns playland – formerly Hoffman’s playland, a kiddo amusement park I used to go to growing up. The kids LOVED it!
Getting ice cream with my parents. There’s a local ice cream shop we used to go to, and it’s always fun taking the kids there.
Enjoying pedis with my momma. I don’t spend nearly enough time with her – and it’s mostly when the kids are around, so it’s such a treat to get alone time with her.
Seeing my friends from high school. We went to a local science museum and met up with one of my friends, Lauren, and her family one day. I hadn’t seen Lauren in many years (they live in Vermont) and it was great to see her and her girls!
We also met at a playground with my best friends Jane and Melissa for a picnic and playdate. I’ve never met her kids, which was unbelievable – I started crying when I saw them I was so emotional about the experience! It was so much fun to watch the kids hang out while we got to catch up.
I got in a girls night with my friends- we met up at a taco bar, did a mezcal tasting, and then went to a bar in Troy. We used to do girls weekends every year after college, but then with COVID and then kids, they stopped. We hadn’t all been together since 2019, and I missed them so much!
We also took a side day trip to Connecticut to spend a day at a local lake with my good family friends. The kids had so much fun swimming in the lake, playing tennis and running around the area. And I loved seeing family I hadn’t seen in many years.
It was a great trip, but of course felt too short. We left Monday afternoon to get on the road to the rest of our trip … Philly!
After a year of pretty much staying put in our house in Cleveland, we FINALLY made it back to New York to see my parents. My brother had flown in from Germany, so we braved the 8+ hour car ride with the two kids to see him and my parents for a quick weekend. We hadn’t been back to New York since December 2019 – it was crazy to think how much has changed since then. Not just with the pandemic, but even with our kids— LM was still nursing, in a crib, in diapers, and not talking; FW could barely remember what my parents’ house looked like, and was hardly independent, etc. Oh yeah, and I was not 6+ months pregnant. It really seems like another lifetime.
It was a quick trip– way too quick – but so great nonetheless. I got to enjoy home cooked meals and baked goods, quality time with my whole family, and even some runs with my brother. Here’s a little of what the weekend entailed:
I Crashed The Web 