Temperature update..

FYI-New record low last night in Chama, New Mexico..
-19 degrees lowest EVER in recorded history..

We RAN in single digits today..50 minutes..for real..on the snow/ice. Our faces were frozen, our toes numb but we ran our fastest of the month. Probably because we were trying to keep warm! Another swim in the local pool-I feel like we struck gold! The rest of the afternoon we spent trying to shovel this huge glacier we have on our deck. We are making a dent, at last..

Company tomorrow! Our friend Val is coming up to see the pioneers at work. We got a new HDTV at Walmart so things aren't so bad. Of course we can't get anyone who can competently hook up our DirecTV. The guy is always coming "tomorrow".

Oh and I am watching the most amazing PBS series called "The War" It is about 16 hours long but is the best information about WW2 I have ever seen..and interesting! I don't usually like those historical things. But this is reality TV at it's best..

Running in the Outback..

Well, we swam in the Joseph Montoya Pool today in Tierra Amarilla, New Mexico-population 3483. Three of them were in the pool. It was actually quite clean. I don't have my bathing suit up here so workout shorts and top were the attire for my first swim in 6 weeks. The Walmart goggles were the best of course. I did a quick "gym" workout when we got back. Our little weights and bench are enough really-oh and we have the ole' ball that we do sit-ups on, etc.

I looked on weather.com, which tends to be fairly accurate and the high for today was going to be 13 degrees at around 1-2:00. As I gazed out upon the Brazos, it was as clear as clear can be but weather.com said snow at 1:00. It was about 12:00. I told H I thought it was fine to go-what do the weather people know? We had a 45 min. run and it was, by far, the coldest I have ever run in-about 12 degrees. You know that kind of cold where your eyelashes freeze? My face was covered-all you could see were my eyes. It didn't feel that bad really-we were dressed for it. We took Mocha, who didn't seem to mind but basically passed out when we got back-not really- but she was tired. Well, of course around 12:30-here come the clouds. That is the way it is here in the Southwestern mountains. You can be standing in sunshine one minute, then snowed on the next. As I looked down at my GPS, I told H-"well it's a good thing we have a GPS in case of a white-out". But then I remembered something rather important. I really don't know how to use that feature-like to get us home or something. Note to self-learn how to use GPS in case of white-out. We trudged our 45 min in the snow and ice on our Yak Trax, our new best friends. We made it home just in time for me to try and make a dent in the 7 feet of snow on our deck with a snow shovel, only to be interrupted by the snow shower that really did start around 1:00. We seem to be getting the predicted 3-5 inches as I write this. So what do I know?

My computer is dying a slow death. The screen is getting dimmer and dimmer even with the extra large fonts, and light screen. After 5 good years, its time for a new computer. Any suggestions. I need a lap-top and am a Windows girl....

Ironman Training starting soon..

I officially signed up for Ironman training to start on February 4th with Mark Allen Online. It seems to be pretty straight forward with lots of Q&A support. I haven't decided if I will take the added on personal coaching with either Mark or his partner yet. I am glad to see the beginning of the program doesn't differ much than what we have been doing.

This is big news: we found a (drum roll) swimming pool less than 20 min. away in Tierrra Amarilla. Now it is only 20 yds but hey-we can't be picky in these parts. So H & I took a trip to Walmart today and bought us some goggles and we are officially checking out the pool this week. Should be interesting-costs a whopping $1.50..

We ran in our Yak Trax yesterday on pure snow for an hour. This is challenging. Then an hour on the trainer. Now an hour on the trainer is about as boring as anything I have ever done. It is torture! I can't imagine all you IMAZ people who rode 4 hours or something inside on the trainer at a time. What a punishing experience..I think I am officially getting cabin fever, for real. Actually H & I decided mountain living is not so bad. There is a different pace to life-very hard to describe. I feel zero pressure to do anything, that is until the Walmart experience (we went twice in 2 days-long story). I immediately felt anxiety to hurry and rush, even though there was no logical sense to it. A very drunk employee tried to help us with picking out a TV yesterday.. I felt bad for him-it was his day off and he was "hanging out there". OK so we got back to the cabin pretty quickly-did end up with a new TV here today-really roughing it now in high definition.. Yes the whole world can go to hell and we will be like those people hold up in our cabins waiting for the aliens or something...

Still no word on Michael and his friend..I keep his family in my thoughts and prayers everyday..