Stupid Cold Germs

Last week was a bit of a bust with regard to running. I put in some time on the dreadmill - walk a half mile, slow run a half mile - and that seemed to be all right. I just want to keep this head cold crap from  moving into my lungs. I do not need to end up with bronchitis.

So... last Wednesday:  5 mi walk/run in 1:08:something.
Fast-forward to Saturday, when I did a VERY slow 10K in 1:27

At least it was something. Mileage so far for 2012: 75.65 mi

On the plus side, I did swap out the arms on the elliptical machine on Sunday.... something I've been meaning to do for... well, quite a while. Now I can try it out and see if the squeaking has gone away.

In other news... I'm working on a striped shawl in Malabrigo Arroyo. It's the Color Affection shawl.

Malabrigo Arroyo in Plomo and Borrajas

I also got a project off the loom - a scarf in The Sanguine Gryphon Bugga!, a merino/cashmere/nylon blend.

Bugga! in Prostetnic Vogon Jeltz (warp) and Black Witch Moth (weft)

And to round out the triad, I finished some spinning - this is Bugga! fiber in the Burrow Owl colorway. I ended up with 550 yds of 2-ply in 4oz.

Bugga! fiber in Burrow Owl

Mother Nature's Mood Swings Can Bite Me

Good grief. First, St. Louis made national news last week, when we couldn't handle a little ice and snow on Thursday. As pretty as it was, you didn't want to be out in it.

Back-yard flurries

Memories fade quickly, though, when the weather improves... all the way up to the mid-60s yesterday. And today? It's been a long downhill slide all day, which should bottom out tonight somewhere in the teens. Most of the city was awake during the night thanks to several bands of thunderstorms, which also prompted someone to kick off the tornado sirens a few times around 3am. Good times.

No wonder everyone I know is sick with something.

Anyway... last week's mostly-running recap:

Monday: rest day
Tuesday: 5 dreadmiles in 1:01:something
Wednesday: 5 dreadmiles in 1:03:somthing
Thursday: rest day
Friday: 5 dreadmiles in 1:01:something
Saturday: 5.25 dreadmiles in 1:04:something... sensing a trend yet?
Sunday: Garmin says 5.25 miles in 1:05:05... it was a tad icy out yet in spots, so I had to stop and tiptoe through some slick spots several times. At least it was "warm" enough to get outside at least once last week.

Total last week: 25.5 miles. And for 2012... we're up to 59.95 miles.

Too bad I had to work Monday, and it was also a scheduled rest day, as it was fabulous outside.

This morning: fighting off a cold, I did a dreadmill walk/run: 4.5 miles in 1:02: something.... and I'm betting Wednesday morning will be close to the same. I refuse to give in or give up, so I'm still sticking to The Schedule.

Mileage Year to Date - Jan. 8

This morning's mostly-run: 5.25mi in 1:01:09 (5mi = 58:18)

That makes 28.25 miles for last week, and 34.45 miles for 2012. I plan to keep a running total in the sidebar... hopefully to motivate me when it actually gets cold here. So far, we've had a very mild "winter". Not that I'm complaining... it can do this 40F-50F-60F thing all the way into March if it wants.

In Which I Learn Colorwork

Wednesday's run/walk:  4.5mi on the dreadmill in 57:03
Thursday: nope
Friday's run/walk: Garmin says 5.25mi in 1:01:44 (5mi = 58:43)
Saturday's run/walk: Garmin says 7.25mi at Queeny in 1:34.  (Mostly-ran a 6.25mi Shirley-Goofy in about 1:19, then walked the last mile to stretch and cool down.)

So, anyway - in addition to the first time I've been at Queeny in a very long time, I also finished up my first colorwork project last week: a Sheep Heid hat. I absolutely loved the design, and the fact it was done all in natural Shetland colors - mooskit, shaela, moorit, gaulmogot, sholmit, katmollet, and yuglet - in addition to white and black.

I also taught myself the 'Philosopher's Method' for two-handed fair isle knitting. It was a bit of a learning curve as I'm basically a 'thrower', but I worked on it slowly and finally got comfortable with it.

Knitting in progress

I absolutely love how it turned out. I'm sure I could have used 2.75 mm and 3.0 mm needles as called for in the pattern. I bumped it up to 3.0mm for the ribbing, and 3.25mm for the hat,  because I usually am a tight knitter and can't get gauge without going up a needle size. However - with this double-stranded stuff, there's no way I was knitting as tightly as with a single color.

I have sheeps on my heid

More rams' heads on the top

Detail of the stitches - taken while blocking

I can see clearly now

The running (with some walking) week in review...

Last Tuesday: Garmin says 6.5mi in 1:19 (5mi = 1 hr on the nose)
Wednesday: Garmin says 5.5mi in 1:05:17 (5mi = 59:13)
Thursday: nada - rest/dye day
Friday: Garmin says 6.0mi in 1:12:38 (5mi = 59:45)
Saturday: Garmin says 5.5mi in 1:04:51 (5mi = 58:26)
Sunday: Benchmark new year's day 10K run/walk in 1:13:38 (5mi = 58:04)

Last week's total: 29.7 miles. If I'd had half a brain and done the math before I went out Sunday, I would have fit that extra .3 in somewhere. I'm sure I did 3x that at the gardens Saturday, but.. I didn't think about it then, so I'm not counting it.

This morning: back to 5am dreadmill nonsense: 5mi in 1:02. Still working on getting the 'mill 5-mile time under an hour - I'll have to change the scheduled walk intervals. Right now it's at 1.25mi.

Anyway... on to the fun stuff. I now have this in my possession:

 

I had accumulated enough points through work to make it mine. Now I just have to figure out how to use it. Properly. On New Year's Eve day, Paul suggested - since it was nearly 60F in the Loo - that we head to the Missouri Botanical Gardens so I could play with the camera. It was mid-afternoon by the time we got there, which meant the sun was already on its way down, but I still had some fun.

Carp in the lake in Seiwa-en, the Japanese Gardens

Green Poison Dart Frog, in the Temperate House display area

Not your usual angle - stone tower in Seiwa-en

Icicle pansies blooming outside the Climatron