Once again, Cori over at Olive to Run has created another installment in her “Would You Rather” running style survey. We are up to number seven! I previously joined in on survey #3 and survey #4. I think these surveys are a lot of fun, so without further ado…

#1. Would you rather run in a thunderstorm or a snowstorm?

I’ll take a snowstorm over a thunderstorm, only because where there’s thunder there’s lightning and I don’t want to be outside running with lightning.

#2. Would you rather breathe through your nose or breathe through your mouth?

I usually prefer to breathe through my nose, but if my nose is stuffy then I am forced to breathe through my mouth. When I’m running hard during a race or a track workout I often breathe in through my nose and out through my mouth to try and get a deeper breath.

#3. Would you rather do 100 squats or 100 crunches? [Now take a break and go do them. ;)]

Definitely 100 crunches! My core can always use more work. Hello No More Trouble Zones!

#4. Would you rather have a baked good for dessert or an extra serving of your favorite entree?

I’d rather have an extra serving of my favorite entree. I do like sweets, but I’m not that big a fan of “baked goods.”

#5. Would you rather run on a treadmill for an hour or run around the same street block for an hour?

Before I got Sven (my treadmill) my answer would have been run around the same street block for an hour. I mean, I already did that last spring, only it was around the same campground for ten miles. But now that I have bonded with Sven, my answer is treadmill.

My first run with Sven

#6. Would you rather have a headache during a run or a side stitch?

I hate having a headache, and occasionally get migraines, but I’ll take a headache over a side stitch. With a headache all I have to do is tolerate the pounding, but a side stitch makes me feel like I can’t breathe.

#7. Would you rather have a rest day on a work day or a day off?

I like having a rest day on a work day, because sometimes it’s nice to come home from work and just have the whole evening free.

Work gets in the way of running, anyway

#8. Would you rather be a race director or a race volunteer?

I think I’d rather be a race volunteer, unless I could have a full time job as a race director. I know how much work goes into being in charge of a race, and I would much rather give back to the sport by volunteering my time.

#9. Would you rather spend your money on running gadgets [HRM, GPS watch, Headphones] or running shoes?

This is a tough one! I’m very torn, but I think I’ll go with…. running shoes. I feel content with the gadgets I have and hope that they have long, happy lives, but shoes wear out. Plus it’s more fun to get new shoes in new colors!

#10. Would you rather run in a relay or do the run portion of a distance triathlon?

Another tough one, because I want to do both. I’ve never done a triathlon or a relay. I’ve actually talked about doing a triathlon with my dad and Barry, with me swimming, Dad biking, and Barry running. But it hasn’t come to fruition, yet. Who’s up for a blogger relay??

Feel free to answer any or all of the questions!

Late Saturday afternoon, Barry and I headed up to Mountain Lake for some trail running. Mountain Lake has the highest lake elevation east of the Mississippi, at nearly 4,000 feet. The water level at the lake was bit low, due to less rainfall this season.

When we first arrived at Mountain Lake, we drove by the Mountain Lake Lodge, which was built in 1930 using stone quarried from the lake property.

The lodge and surrounding cabins may look familiar to you if you’ve ever seen Dirty Dancing. Mountain Lake happens to be where that movie was filmed.

Dancer’s cabins from the movie

When we first arrived, we tried to check in at the Mountain Lake Outfitters to obtain a pass. It was very odd. There were footprints going to and from the building in the snow and a few vehicles in the parking lot, the building was unlocked and the lights were on, and there were footprints in the dust on the floors inside the building. But there was no one to be found. I helped myself to a Mountain Lake brochure with a map and we headed to the trailhead parking area, since we only had about an hour until sunset. We set off down a snowy trail.

This was my first time running trails in the snow, and I quickly found how much of a challenge the snow can add. The trails we ran were pretty much either going up or going down the entire time, and I struggled on both due to slipping and sliding. Running uphill was especially challenging because my feet kept slipping out from under me.

The black speck towards the top of the hill is Barry

I thought Mountain Lake was a really pretty, albeit very challenging, place to run. Due to the elevation, the snow that’s on the ground now will stay there until the big thaw this spring. Most likely there will be more snow accumulation before then.

I managed to stay upright during the entire run, even with the added difficulty with the snow. I did slide several times and rolled my ankle pretty bad towards the end of our run. But it’s feeling fine now. I’m hoping trail running is going to strengthen the muscles and ligaments in my ankles and I’m hoping that happens before I break one of them.

Mountain Lake is definitely somewhere that I’d like to run again. They’re supposed to have around 22 miles of hiking trails on the property, so there’s plenty more to explore. Next time we will have to get there earlier in the day to allow more time for a run.

Although I’m not sure if that next time will be soon. I may wait until the spring. These trails were beautiful in the snow, and I have a feeling they’ll be even more breathtaking once the snow melts away and the green comes back.

Have you seen Dirty Dancing? Who wants to come to Mountain Lake with me to run trails and see the backdrop for the movie up close?

Trail runners: Do you prefer trail running in the snow or in the green? 

 Any tips for running trails in the snow?

Like a lot of people across the country, we are experiencing some crazy cold weather today. But lets back up to Sunday night when things got started. That’s when the wind started howling and the snow started blowing. Howling wind translates into me not being able to sleep all night. So I spent all day yesterday exhausted from that and took a complete rest day, which works since I hadn’t taken a rest day since last Tuesday anyway.

In case you didn’t see enough dashboard pictures on Instagram today…

It also worked because Barry and I had to spend a lot of time trying to get things situated for the chickens. Long story short: the heat tape we had on the old, plastic 5 gallon waterer got turned up too high and burned a hole through the plastic. We had to get a new waterer for the chickens and had to figure out someway to keep it from freezing in these cold temperatures. More to come on that, as well as a chicken update, in the not-too-distant future.

It was still really windy last night, but I was able to get a little bit more rest due in part to my being exhausted from lack of sleep and my illicit use of night time cold medicine. I still woke up a bunch of times from the wind, but in general it did the trick. Once I got home from work it was time for a run. There was no way that run was going to happen outside today. Here’s why:

“An Arctic airmass has invaded the region” !!!

Goodbye 2013 and hello 2014! This past week of workouts saw my final miles of 2013 and my first miles of 2014. It also saw me stretching and icing (my shins) not only after every run, but after every workout. Starting the year off right. Fingers crossed that I get to run all the miles with healthy shins this year!

Monday- Complete rest day. Today was supposed to be my final day of the 30 day plank challenge, with a 5 minute plank. But I was just so done with planks. They had really gone downhill, to the point where I wasn’t hitting the times I was aiming for, and I made the executive decision to nix the last day.

Tuesday- 2:40 plank (just because I quit on the last day of the 30 day plank challenge doesn’t mean I quit on planks).

4 mile run with Sven (the treadmill), while Barry biked on his road bike on the trainer I got him for Christmas. This run felt really good and it was nice to get one last run in before ringing in the New Year.

Wednesday- Cross training. I did a new Jillian Michaels workout that focuses on “trouble areas” which translates into working everything from your shoulders to your knees. It was set up as a 40 minute circuit workout, with seven 6 minute intervals. I enjoyed the new workout, found it challenging, and got a good sweat in. However, I did feel like quite the cliche trying a new workout on New Years day!

Thursday- I was sore from my shoulders to my knees from Wednesday’s workout! Those lunges and shoulder strength moves really got me. I decided an easy 3 mile run was a good way to go. I toyed with the idea of running up to 5 miles, but when I hit 3 I felt like that was enough. Then I spent a long time stretching. I also decided it was time to cut the jingle bells off of my shoes since the holidays are over.

Friday- 4 mile run on the treadmill. I took it easy during mile 1 to warm up and then continually bumped up the speed during miles 2-3.5, before slowly bumping it back down to cool down during the last half mile. I ended with an average pace of 9:47/mile which was nice to see.  I’m hoping to get back to where 9:45-9:50/mile is my comfortable short, easy run pace.

Saturday- 3 mile trail run at Mountain Lake with Barry. When we finally got parked, we only had about an hour until sunset, hence the shorter run. This was my first time running on trails in the snow and it certainly added an extra challenge. We were pretty much either going up or going down the whole time and the snow made both difficult.

That’s all the details on this run for now, because I’m planning to do a full recap later this week.

Sunday- Level 3 30 day shred workout. If you’ve ever done the 30 day shred you know that it’s short but intense. When I finished this workout, my hair looked the same way it does at the finish line of a 5K when it’s 75 degrees outside. And that’s why there’s no picture for this one.

Total Miles: 14 miles
Total Miles of 2013: 1,076 miles (the first time I’ve ever run more than 1,000 miles in a year)  

During the holidays Barry and I traveled to visit his family and mine. I love getting to see everyone and spending time with family is one of my favorite things about the holidays. I kind of went on blog hiatus, aside from a few planned posts, during our travels. We did a number of fun things during that time, so I thought I’d do a recap.

While visiting Barry’s family, we ventured down into Tennessee to eat dinner at The Farmer’s Daughter. Barry’s parents have raved about this restaurant, so I was really excited to go! The food was served family-style, meaning everything was placed on the tables on platters and in bowls, and it was delicious! We started out with warm, fresh bread and cornbread. Then the main course arrived: fried chicken, steak and gravy, and country ham along with at least ten sides. I tried a few new foods that I hadn’t had before, including carrot souffle and cornbread salad. I was stuffed when we were done! The Farmer’s Daughter is also where Larry the Quilt Lamb came from.

I failed to take my own picture,

While visiting my family we went to a couple of family get-togethers. This is the only time of year that I see most of my extended family, so it was great catching up and spending time together.

Me, with my cousin and little sister posing as Nana’s angels at my uncle’s house

One night we headed out to the movies to see American Hustle. I usually only end up going to the movie theaters twice a year, but in 2013 I went three times! I really enjoyed this movie. I thought it was funny, but at the same time it kept me guessing all the way up until the end. Jennifer Lawrence was wonderful and hilarious in her role, as were the other four main characters. It was definitely not a family friendly movie, though, so don’t take your kids to see it.

We watched a few other movies at home in the evenings, including Red I highly recommend this movie. Bruce Willis is great (as usual) and John Malkovich is hilarious. We liked it so much that we rented Red 2 the next day. It was alright, but not as good as the first one.

We were able to get out to the W&OD Trail for a run late one afternoon! I was surprised that I felt so good during this run. We had attended a brunch at my uncle’s house that morning and I was still full from biscuits and an egg/spinach breakfast casserole. I think a big part of feeling good was just being back on an old trail where I ran lots of miles and have lots of memories. This is a picture my dad took for Deb when her son Joseph ran the entire W&OD Trail (45 Miles!!) last July. It’s at the same spot where we started our run during the holidays, only it wasn’t this bright or green!

On the drive home from visiting my family, I finished reading Allegiant. I would have played “Ask Barry Insane Conversation Starter Questions” while he drove, but someone stole it from me…. not that I’m still bitter or anything. You’ve probably heard/read a lot of things about the third book of the Divergent Trilogy at this point. Don’t worry- no spoilers here. I did not enjoy the third book as much as I enjoyed the first two, but that seems to be the norm with trilogies. The same was true for me when I read The Hunger Games. Unfortunately, I wasn’t very happy with how Allegiant ended, but that’s just my personal opinion. It’s definitely a series I’ll read again. There’s just so much detail, and I bet I’ll pick up on a lot more reading the series through a second time.

So those are all of the exciting things I did over the holidays- I ate good food, spent time with loved ones, finished a book, and watched movies! I guess this post could have really been about three sentences long. But that wouldn’t be any fun, would it?

What movies have you watched recently? Seen anything good in the theaters?

What did you do over the holidays?