A close up of the "dip pool' A chain saw was used to take out chunks of ice...
Since my last post, life had been differently organized…Snow
and ice keep us from being in school 4 days in a row (again!) and weather
conditions have kept me on more treadmill than not…
Sooo when weather gave the NC High Country a break this
weekend-we had school on Saturday! Fortunately, after work, I hurried over to
the Ashe County Polar Plunge and relieved life’s stresses by jumping in the
pond! This was a fundraiser for the Ashe/Alleghany Special Olympics. Though I
have participated in Polar Plunges before, never have I jumped in water where a
chain saw was used to cut an opening!
17 folks jumped in the 36 degree water-though I am not sure
how much $$$ was raised. It was great fun-Next year I hope to be more involved
with organizing and recruiting and hope to see a huge representation from the
students and staff where I work! (That was the plan this year-but missing more
school days than in attendance, doing anything other than surviving at work has
been the reality!) I know there are some great photos out there and I will add some to this post during the next couple
days..
The photo to the left is George and few minutes before "the jump"..and to the right is me the night before sorting out an outfit...George and I ran down the "gangplank together, hand-in-hand...yet because only 1 person was allowed in the water at a time, I got to jump first, screaming and hands waving all the way in and out! George had way more style!
Also, since last post:
- George and I are tearing up the final icky carpeting in our house and putting in laminate floor
- I have been snowshoeing…purchased a pair of Atlas Run on silly sale and have used then 2x. Fun so far, yet I am pathetically awful-yet hope to get to practice more as the winter continues to unfold...
I am religiously following Howard Nippert’s training plans (running way less miles and doing more speed/interval stuff) I am working with him to prepare for Mad City 100k on 4/10. Since I have never run or trained for a road event I sought help and from what I am told Howard is the best! I know he is an accomplished athlete and coach and he is helping me stretch my comfort zone for sure…and I am for the first time ever learning about what “strides” are (among other traditional running lingo)…it’s fun!
I will leave Thursday after work to drive to Mt Cheaha 50k
in /around Oxford, AL. Though I could do the drive just on Friday, I hope to
get to the state park early enough on Friday to at least scout out parts of the
trail…
The real hard-core folks will remain in, or travel to NC for
the Mt Mitchell Challenge next weekend. Tons of snow and ice! Hard core. I am
both disappointed and relieved not to be participating! I wish you all very well
lots of tenacity, patience, safety and above all, an unrelenting sense of joy
and adventure!
6 comments:
I have previously read about your involvement in this polar plunge before. I am glad to see that George was involved and I hate you two could not take the plunge together. That would certainly be called bonding. Tammy and I were up on the Toll Road Saturday and saw Dwight Shuler out there running in his snow shoes. I will have to give them a try sometime. I can't believe how thick the ice was and the fact they had to cut it with a chainsaw. I wish you luck this weekend in AL. Us Mount Mitchell runners will have some conversations this weekend concerning you running down there in more flat country. Be safe and have fun!
I will be only doing the mt mitchell marathon on Saturday... It will be a crazy amount of snow!!! The weather is supposed to be lovely though. AL will be nice - lots of GUTS folks there.
Yeah keep posting on Howard's training plans.. I am thinking about doing something similar - there is a guy here who maybe would help me... But, I need to find a race, etc.
Rock it this weekend! Can't wait for the post!!
Hey those are some good pixs if you have any of the Best Buy Guy jumpn in please post them. Thanks i had a great time and will come back next time. Thanks the best buy guy. Ross Davis
Sara, "Only" the marathon-bah! I assure you WILL have your own special and cool challenges too!
Enjoy!
I might get to sort out some Best Buy photos...and will get in touch!
Live real happily!...I know you all are!
Annette,
The one thing you can be assured with working with Howard is that he KNOWS what he's talking about and his results speak for themselves! I think it's a great investment for you and I'll be rooting for you on April 10th! Have fun this weekend, too!
I just started with Howard as well, and was struck with low miles too! Well, at least I got more free time to browse blogs now:) And speed is something that would be good to find. All the best! Funny about plunge - coming from Russia, that's a national "sport", but I am petrified of cold water. The most I ever did was to jump in a snow after a sauna (another national treasure).
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