Winter

I have never been a fan of winter...probably because I hate being cold and it has been tough to stay warm this year! We reached -6 degrees this week and it was "nice" but I guess after nearly 10 days of bitter-34 degrees anything will seem nice. I have gone soft living here...I used to love running outside in the winter and could manage the temps as long as I was bundled, but I have learned the hard way that running up here is a lot different then running in S.Western Ontario...the amount of snow and the lack of road cleaning (melting and refreezing) makes the roads pretty uneven and dangerous. I strained my ankle while out for a run with SV and MD, had to take a week off and let it heal... I decided to make SV happy and I gave up running outside until the roads are cleared and have been hitting the treadmill a few times a week with him...the bad part though is that I am finding myself doing hard runs in the middle of January, a time when slow and steady has always been all that I could do...so I guess either way I am in for challenging runs, at least on the treadmill the worst that can happen is that I fly off the back...lol, I'm just klutzy enough:)

Even though I have gone soft and taken my running indoors, I have expanded my winter activities, up here that is easy to do, so much snow so many things to try...we have been downhill skiing a few time with the kidlets. After my first attempt last year I wasn't sure that this sport was for me, but I am happy to report that I have improved a great deal (not hard to do eh Kim!) and the kids really enjoy it. We are having fun and I am even considering buying myself some skis...can you imagine me owning something not tri related, lol...but living up here it just makes sense...although you won't see me on a snowmobile anytime soon (they make me nervous when I see them out on the lake...notice all the tracks in the pics below!)

Between the skiing and taking my running inside, I have to admit I am enjoying winter more this year than I ever have...it is almost bearable...and it really is beautiful from inside the condo looking out...but I would still rather be back here...