After a semi-relaxing Thanksgiving break, it's good to be back in Central Illinois. I guess. It's very cold, and it's snowing "a lot" (by Virginia standards) And, of course, today was back to the scholastic grind, complete with a girl in my French linguistics class enlightening all of us about her "nic[otine] fix." Related to questions of indirect requests and linguistic politeness? Perhaps.
Anyway, I apologize in advance for freaking out about the end of semester. My current to-do list on my desk looks like this:
- ARAB405 paper (DONE)
- ARAB405 presentation (DONE)
- ARAB405 Final (12/18)
- FR416 paper (due during Finals period)
- FR416 presentation (12/8 or so)
- FR416 Final (12/17)
- FR531 paper (due 12/8) <--YIKES
- FR531 Final (12/12) <--YIKES
- LING400 take-home Final (due 12/19)
Hopefully, running will keep me sane, and heart-burn-/shingles-free for the next two weeks. I really hate walking around in the winter, but I enjoy winter running. Today, it was pretty blowy and snowy in the morning (winds gusting to 28mph), so I got to wear all the essentials: long tights, thermal shirt, jacket, new hat, snot-wiping gloves. The snow made for really pretty running, but the wind made for snowflakes-in-my-eyes. I also realized that for the first time in my life, I'm going to have to actually run through periods of snow and ice, which may or may not involve treacherous sidewalks and roads. This morning's five-miler was a little rough. The sidewalks weren't too icey, but I could feel myself compensating for the snow on the ground. Also, I don't think that two days of sitting on a train did anything good for my legs, so I finished a bit slower than normal today.
Has anyone heard of/used YakTrax? I saw them on someone's blog, and I'm intrigued by the idea of snow-chains for your feet. I'm also wary of weird, rip-off products, so I'd like to get some opinions before I give them a try.
To compensate for my lack of interesting things tonight, I will end with a Facebook wall post from James about my new profile picture (my glamorous Turkey Trot picture):
Mica!!!Aww, that warms my frozen heart. (P.S. If you're on Facebook, friend me! All the cool kids are doing it!)
This is James.
How have u been???? How was ur thanksgiving break? I miss u!!!kkk
First of all, I should say your profile picture is awesome! Is that you r doing marathon?Hey can we meet tomorrow?
Let's go Korean lunch together and starts tutoirng at 2:30 as always.
Have good night!
Finally, I'm curious as to how so many bloggers get to test or review running products from companies. Is there a list I should get myself on? Should I be shamelessly promoting myself as a semi-media-literate consumer and fairly avid runner/eater? Do I just need to spread the word about this stunningly witty and visually interesting blog? What is the secret to this magic?
7 comments:
I don't envy you and all of your finals stuff. Though there are some cool things about still being in school (take it from me, I did an 8 year post-high school education stint), I have to say working is SO much better. At least after a long day of work you come home and the nights are yours (at least in my line of work... Admittedly some jobs are not like that).
I spent a winter of running up in Syracuse, NY one year. So I have some experience with snow running. I also ran through winters in NYC but since they plow the roadway in Central Park ASAP there is little experience there.
I bought a pair of yak trax. I used them once and never used them again. You aren't running on a flat surface with yak trax (they are coils, after all) and my ankles were thrown all out of whack and very sore the next day. If you're running on a lot of snow it would probably be okay. But I was running on snow, icy snow, and plowed sidewalks and it didn't work for all three surfaces.
What I did, was this: http://www.skyrunner.com/screwshoe.htm
It worked GREAT. I only had one pair of shoes at the time and I ran in them with the screws for almost 3 months. This meant that even when there was NO snow I still ran in them. They made a great squinchy sound that I miss.
Hi!
What a list of final projects- yuck! I work for Yaktrax and saw that you were intersted in more information about them. We just released a new and improved version this season, so if you are interested in trying out a pair, simply email me (yaktrax.experience@gmail.com) your shoe size and mailing address. Our new Yaktrax feature the same safe, spikeless traction but have a thicker rubberized band and tab across the top of the shoe for added security.
Happy trails,
Carolyn
snow is so pretty I couldn't handle it...lol...I love California sun!!! I admire you for taking on the SNOW! Glad your doing th bootie challenge!
your list of classes and assignments made me shudder...ok, done shuddering. it probably only snows for about a week here, so i am not familiar with all of the accoutrement (sp?) of winter running. i do remember that during an ice storm, some guy tied can openers to the bottoms of his shoes for traction, but i don't think they would be nice to run on.
i'll look you up on facebook!
The snow is so pretty but this California-native doesn't like anything below 60!
I will say that the snow is so quiet and so peaceful. Great to visit but for me not fun to live in.
Great job getting all those finals and papers out of the way. I remember those days!
It's $250 for two peeps for the month. When I shop I shop at the cheap grocery store...my husband likes Whole Foods =).
eek. running in the snow! i am impressed... also, it looks like you might get a free pair! good luck with your school to-do list!
Post a Comment