How Many Snow Days Can a Mom Take?

It's already February--2008 seems to be whizzing by so far. The first race of our season (at least for part of the team) will be coming up here in a little over a month--seems hard to believe with all this snow! Yesterday I cross-trained by shoveling 8" of snow out of my driveway. It's funny how small the driveway can seem when kids are trying to rollerblade or bicycle around in circles in it, but how massive it seems when shoveling out 8" of wet, heavy snow.

Yesterday also marked the 4th "snow day" the kids had off of school in the past three weeks. This is by far the most days off for weather that I've seen since my kids started going to school--and my oldest is a 4th grader. I realized around 1pm yesterday that my limit sanity-wise is 3 snow days. ;) I love the kiddos, but hokey pete, these homebound days are driving me nuts!

Thankfully I have a treadmill so I can keep up on my training inside while the kids look for something to do. I can't imagine trying to drag all three of 'em out there with me. I love the snow--and I even consider running outside in 20 degree weather to be "perfect" running weather. Over the past few years I've learned a few tricks about how to dress bulk-free but to stay warm, and I can even say that I've run in sub-zero weather with only a chill on my cheekbones. So I admit this year I get a bit jealous of my friends w/ no treadmills at home but who have the ability to carve out some alone time outside. I've been making sure to get the outdoor runs in on the weekend--hopefully that will help shave a little time off of my annual March 5K time.

How is training going for the rest of you? Do you run to run, or run to train? We'd love feedback on these blogs to hear how it's going with other moms. I've been trying to keep up with the other Race Team Blogs--it's nice to read that other moms go through some of the same challenges that I do. Not that I wish "challenges" upon anyone else, but I think you all know what I mean.

Now hit the road, ladies!