I LOVE winter!  I love bundling up and seeing my breath as I run in the crisp air.  I guess this would beg the question, Why then Colleen, do you live in St. George.  I don’t know…….talk to my husband about that one 😉  St. George got its first taste of winter this week and it was beautiful.  With a blizzard warning in place for the majority of the state, I knew that I would not get a long-ish run in this weekend in Cedar City during our Thanksgiving travels if I didn’t do it on Tuesday at home.

In our family we dedicated Tuesday to our “stay-cation”.  Not a vacation, which would require us to travel and stay in hotels.  But time off from the norm while enjoying the comforts of home.  It’s truly the only way to “travel” considering our two little ones.  Plus, we just don’t ever seem to get enough down time at home.  So I slept in until a late 7:00 and hit the road for my run about 7:30.  It was pretty cold by St. George standards……29 degrees.  There were actually patches of ice!  Everyone from more Northern territory, you can wipe the smirk off your face.

I loved EVERY minute of this run.  I was never hot and never very cold.  I stuck to my normal route that took me to the heart of St. George where I could occupy myself with passer-bys and poor drivers attempting to kill me.  I watched my breath swirl around my head, dodged puddles of ice and could have run forever (it was one of those days!).  I wasn’t HOT!  It was great.  I paid for this day all summer when the low at 4:30a was 80+ degrees.  Did I mention how much I hate the heat?!?  12 miles and about a hour and forty minutes later I was back home ready for more stay-cation.

Of course, winter does come with it’s vices.  Jack Frost truly dislikes cyclists and reminds you of this fact each and every time you clip into the pedals December through February.  My Wednesday plan was to head North toward Cedar City on my bike.  Adam would leave an hour or two behind me and we’d meet up somewhere in between and I’d hitch a ride for the rest of the trip.  It was truly the perfect plan until Mother Nature figured it out.  The blizzard warning was issued and I was on the indoor trainer getting in a workout. Mother Nature called in Jack Front and he giggled as he reared his ugly head for the first time this season.  I was prepared with an amazing high intensity indoor cycling program that should take care of me for the rest of the cold days ahead.  Let’s just not talk about any more biking plans……When the sun comes out, I’ll just sneak out the door.  Please don’t tell on me.  Mother Nature and I don’t get along real well sometimes 😉

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!  Eat well!  Enjoy friends and family!  Try a little stay-cation, get in a winter run and mums the word on any cycling you choose to do.