A Festive Week of Pi, Color, and Running

Another week, another wrap.

This week had a very festive theme, complete with lots of color, yummy treats, festive fun and several miles in the Iowa weather.

My Pi run...I kinda hit the wrong button on the watch and accidentally "ran over" my Pi distance

As most people know, Monday was my birthday.  I had 127 greetings on Facebook alone, as well as numerous texts and other messages throughout the day. It was a great day! In recent years, there has been a lot of focus on March 14th being Pi Day. I was (actually, still kinda am) a math dork in my younger years, so this would have been such a neat thing back in the day.

The past few years, I have made it my own personal tradition to run 3.14 miles on my birthday. This year was no exception. I also may have indulged in a few sweets (hello, heavily-frosted cupcakes).

These little beauties were almost too pretty to eat (almost)

Tuesday was kind of a chilly day, so it was the perfect excuse to stay indoors....so I headed to the office building and did some stair work. It's becoming more of a challenge to capture this weekly endeavor in pictures because one can only get so creative in a boring stairway. All went well, and I conquered 17 sets of the five story-building, for 85 total flights of stairs. It's no longer a challenge climbing the stairs, but I am trying to increase my speed.

Another session on the steps (in some of my birthday-gifted gear)

Wednesday was somewhat of a rest day (some strength work, and some speedwalking on the 'mill). The weather was chilly and the wind most fierce. The husband and I had a Chamber reception/awards presentation to go to after work. I had considered going for a short run afterwards, but decided to catch up on some blogging and reading instead.

Thursday was another busy day at work, but I was able to get everything done and was home by 4:30. It also was St. Patrick's Day, so I suited up in green and knocked out five miles in the windy sunshine. I'm not kidding about the wind, either. Once I hit the turn-around, and made it to the corner, I was hit (smack dab between the eyes) with 30mph-wind gusts for several blocks until I changed direction and had some trees for shelter.

Go green or stay home...running a few miles on St. Patrick's Day

Friday arrived, and I finally was able to leave work earlier than I had in the past couple weeks. Eager to start upping my mileage (slowly), I was planning to run long on Saturday (and spend Friday afternoon watching basketball). The weatherman told us we'd have rain, snow and cold temps on Saturday, though.....so I elected to head out and do another (somewhat) long run in the Iowa wind. I'm not an advocate for consecutive long-runs, but I know it's harmless once in awhile. Surprisingly, my legs felt great (even after the previous day's battle in the wind), and the six miles left me feeling invigorated.

More miles in the Iowa wind

 Saturday arrives, and the weather was like a sudden flashback to winter....temps in the upper 30's, some wind, and white stuff falling from the sky. Say WHAT???? I didn't plan to run in it, but decided to layer up and head out for a brisk power walk. A friend met me, and we knocked out four miles at a very fast pace. Although there were intermittent showers of snow and sleet, nothing really stuck to the ground.

Yep...back in the puffer vest and fuzzy headband & gloves

However, Sunday morning brought with it a dusting of snow to greet the first day of Spring. Either a cruel twist of fate, or a nasty joke on behalf of Momma N and Old Man Winter, this was uncalled for. So, what to do? I laced up and slid on my shorts and headed out anyways (#springbedamned).Take that, Momma N!

You're only cold if you're standing still (or taking a selfie)

Other happenings? Well, it is March, after all, and that means March Madness. I love basketball (watching, NOT playing), and this year Iowa has three teams repping the state....the Iowa Hawkeyes (my Alma Mater), the Iowa State Cyclones (our big inner-state rival, also where our daughter is enrolled #badparenting), and the University of Northern Iowa Panthers (usually a Cinderella team, but they played a tough first-round game against Texas). We lived in the East Lansing area for seven years, and underwent a green and white blood transfusion while there...so the MSU Spartans are always a NCAA tournament favorite (but they royally destroyed my bracket this year).



So, there you have it. I've added a couple of half marathons to my "paid-for" roster, am ready to ease back into a training schedule. Stay tuned, there's more races to come!

How's your racing calendar looking? Did you get any unexpected snow this weekend?

I'm linking up with the fab gals, Holly at  HoHo Runs  and Tricia at  MissSippiPiddlin , for their Weekly Wrap. This weekly "accountability check" has been so much fun the past few months that I've been participating. Lots of great blogs written by some great peeps! Head over and check them out!!