Can I handle the seasons of my life?

oops, I said I was going to post pictures on my bike and didn't. So if you clicky here you can see my beautiful new Calfee. Unfortunately for me, NYC is under almost a foot of snow, so it'll be a wall hanger for now. I'll have more pics when it's totally built up.
So yes, snow. The East coast got hit really hard over the weekend but it completely missed NYC. I mean, totally. I know my pals in Philly and DC/B'more got hammered. And then got hammered again yesterday. We got snow yesterday but it wasn't the oh my god locusts are falling from the sky variety some people thought it would be. It was actually rather nice.
As you can see, Bea has been enjoying it.


In running news, I had a wee bit of a chest cold. Just a hint of one. I know a lot of people think you shouldn't run which such things, but I disagree when it's mild. For me, it really helps to get things moving and I think helps getting it going on it's way. And who wants such an uninvited guest anyway?
Last Sat. I had my longest run post injury, 15 miles. And it was COLD. About 24 and felt like it was in the teens. And windy too. Lucky for me, Loren ran most of it with me.
Sunday, I did an easy recovery 4.
Tues, out with Ishii for 8
Today, I started with RayK then met Hilary. I did 11.
Generally, I have no pain in my foot. I'll feel a little ache from time to time, esp. after longer things, but the major pain isn't there. Also, I've been taping it for longer runs.
I must say as well, here in NYC, we're very lucky that Central Park is really on top of clearling the road in the park. It's awesome. The park is really beautiful in the snow and it's a hoot to watch all these older Upper West Side ladies break out their cross country skis and ski around the park. See kids slide down every little hill on everything you can imagine. Hawks flying beautifully over head. I've lived in NYC for so long, my I <3 NY moments dont come that often, but scenes like this are certainly one of them.

Marching forward with no doubt in his head

Wow.
Such a busy day! So much going on!
First, I volunteered this morning for the Empire State Building Run Up which is a truly insane (bordering on stupid!) race up 86 flights of steps to the observation deck. I volunteered last year as well. Loren was pretty sure I'd want to do it after working it.
Nope.
No desire. Pretty cool to watch, but just not my thing.
So after 4 hours of standing around watching people exit the stair case and try to resume some sort of natural running gait (not possible), I set out on a run of my own.

For a few reasons, one being familiarity, I am sorta following Pfitz's 12/55 training plan for Boston. I'm not quite running all the miles and not sure I will get up to 55, but I'm using it as a guide. Still being cautious about building my milage. Better safe than injured.
So today, was 8 miles with 4 at 15k/half pace. Well...I went a bit faster than that. More like a tempo cause my last half I intentionally ran as a long run and I'm not really sure where I am speed/fitnesswise. I was aiming for 8-8:15 pace in Central Park, which we all know: has hills! So my pals Ishii and Hilary joined me for the fun. I did 2 to warm up and then:
8:07, 7:55, 8:02 (with cat hill) 7:50
So a bit under 8. I am very happy about this. And I dont feel totally fried.
I am going to be in SF at the end of the month and am running the Chinese New Year 10k I'd like to go under 50 minutes and dont think that will be a problem.

And lastly, because Loren is awesome, she got me a new bike for my birthday. I've been riding for a really long time and have never had a road bike that actually fits. Mostly because I'm a short women. Anyway, that's another story for another time. So back in Oct. I went to get a soup to nuts fitting and sent off all the info to Calfee to see what they could do for me. Calfee has been building carbon bikes since 1987. That's a long time in the world of carbon bikes. You can read the history of geekiness if you're interested here. I've always been a steal girl myself, but I made the jump.
And today, well, today, my new carbon baby was delivered to me. And man oh man is it beautiful. I'll post pictures later this week.
I am so excited about this. It makes me look forward to spring and my post Boston life of being on my bike more.
Almost nothing beats NEW BIKE DAY!