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yaktrax

{recipe alert} Chocolate Chip Cookies and other snow day musings

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by Jamie on February 10, 2010

Saturday, 2/6: We are in the midst of an old time, batten down the hatches, Mid-Atlantic blizzard. And a luxury it is; Rosa, our 13 year old, is held hostage (by the blizzard) at home all day and night. We bake Jacques Torres’ sublime chocolate chip cookies, the secret being a small smattering of sea salt placed on the top of each cookie before baking. We watch 3 episodes of the new “it” television series, Life Unexpected (not quite reaching the heights of The Gilmore Girls-but what show does?)  We read:  I finish up the luminous Let the Great World Spin (a must read!), while Rosa peruses 17 Magazine and Teen Vogue. For dinner, Mark Bittman’s macaroni and cheese.  The day, in a word, fabulous.

Sunday, 2/7: Life begins to return to the humdrum. Swim practice at 4. Tax return documents are gathered. After all those carbs yesterday—-a short run in my new Yaktrax.

I don’t think the orthopedist envisioned this day, when he declared that I could run once I gained elbow mobility. But, we runners are curious people. The Yaktrax Pro’s, steel-coil traction gear, were a cinch to place over my running shoes. And…. they worked!  My footing was secure on the snow, slush and ice.  I felt confident and balanced. They didn’t slip off my shoes. The quiet solitude of the bright and pearly run was interrupted only when I run over patches of bare road, where the Yaks made a distinctive crunching sound. Snow shovelers gave me “are you crazy?” smiles. I wanted to lift up my shoes to display the Yaks, but that would be tempting the gods, wouldn’t it?

Some scattered winter running observations:  Clothingwise, I’ve been wearing one thin and one thick(er) technical shirt, and a windbreaker, as opposed to a running coat. I’ve felt notably warmer and drier. LDF maven, Kerry, purchased a gorgeous runner’s windbreaker (with a LED light on the sleeve) weeks before a NY Times article touted the very jacket!

Locking in and paying for a half (or full) marathon seems to be the only way for me to get out there and put in the long miles.

I marvel at my LDF’s , who instinctively recognize when the winter elements are just too daunting and declare it time to call it a (running) day and when to encourage us that today is the day to push on. Understanding how serene, and yet energized, we will feel when it’s all over.

Recipe: Chocolate Chip Cookies
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{product review} YakTrax: running after “snowmageddon”

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by Monica on February 7, 2010

LDF Helene and I decided testing out our new YakTrax this morning was the perfect medicine for cabin fever after a day inside (“snowmageddon”!).  I even gave her the courtesy text in the evening offering up an excused absence, but she wouldn’t have it.   Helene is the mother of three small (beautiful!) children under four–enough said.  After figuring out where to put the car when there is only a few feet of street, we got her set in her YakTrax and off we went.  We started cautiously over the icy-cold road, but became confident after the first few miles that we were not going to slip.  We discussed the possibility of over estimating the effectiveness of YakTrax (Helene also happened to mentioned that I looked like a socialite in my parisian scarf…OK, I grabbed whatever looked warm in the dark!), but we had no problem increasing our speed.  Although the ice on the road was chunky in some places and slick in others, we felt no sense of slipping.  Not worrying about the road gave us a chance to take in the glorious quiet and picturesque scenes we passed.  If you live anywhere where the snow blasted these past few days, these are worth the investment ($21.95 on Amazon for SZ sm).  They make a snow, even one like the recent “snowpocalypse”,  no excuse for not getting your run in…we are giving them the big thumbs up!

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