Weekly Review April 24-30

Wow... busy week this past week! This current week will be no different. Let's take a quick look back and see how last week went down in Fitness, Farm, and Life!

Fitness
Lots of wrap up this past week, as April came to a close. I finished up with one ten-day yoga challenge, two month-long running challenges, and a three-month long fitness program. I'll break down each of those individually (I'll try to be brief) and also will fill in with the weekly stats and year-to-date info.

#RunnersLoveYogaITBand Yoga Challenge
This was a ten-day yoga challenge that I decided to squeeze in late in the month, even knowing how busy I would be. I wanted the time to myself to wind down and refocus, and typically ended up doing these stretches at the end of my day. This series was also specifically focused on ITBand, which for me is perpetually tight and is an issue. These stretches felt SOOOOO GOOD!!! I'm definitely going to keep an eye out for future RunnersLoveYoga challenges. You can check them out on Instagram (@runnersloveyoga) and on their website: http://www.runnersloveyoga.com/

Here's a few photo collages of some of my yoga poses:

#runnersloveyogaITband days 1-5

#runnersloveyogaITband days 6-10

#MillionMileMonth
I participated in this challenge as part of my involvement with Team Beef Montana. I pledged a goal of 50 miles of running, and I hit my goal on April 29th with a nice early morning run.

#OiselleFullHalf
This challenge was through the Oiselle blog/team that I'm on. The goal was to pick something relating to the number 13, and do that, because 13 is "half" of a full marathon. Some people chose to run a full  half-marathon, for example. Some people decided to do yoga thirteen times in the month of April. Those are just a few examples. I decided for my goal to do thirteen different running routes or workouts-and not repeating any- within the month of April.  I completed my last unique workout on the treadmill on April 27!

Here's how all my 13 different runs/workouts ended up looking on paper. :)

Shape Up Montana
I was again a Team Captain for our family Shape Up Montana participation and also coordinated three teams at school, while also participating on the family team myself. Shape Up Montana runs from February 1 through April 30. Individuals earn points for their teams based on their activity. This year, I set a goal of scoring 600 points. I hit 622 points on April 30 and was really happy overall with my fitness level and improvement over previous years. I was really proud of our family team and the teams from school for their hard work, too.

Here are the overall stats and activities from last week:
Sunday- Icebreaker 5-Mile race! <<Read Race Review HERE>>, 15 min yoga
Monday- rest, 15 min yoga
Tuesday- 30 min yoga, 30 min vigorous workout with track kids, and 3 mile easy run with distance runners
Wednesday- 3 mile easy treadmill run. #OiselleFullHalf challenge complete! 15 min yoga

Thursday- rest, 10 min yoga
Friday- 3.2 early morning run, #MillionMileMonth challenge complete!
Saturday- 15 min yoga

Here's how my April calendar filled out overall! Busy month, and not just with fitness. 

And here's Year to Date-
Year To Date, through April 23
Running: 184.7 miles
Walking/Hiking: 65.7 miles 
Yoga: 900 min <-- I gained 110 minutes of yoga last week! Wow!
CC-Ski: 500 min / 14.1 miles *Done for the season
Alpine Ski: 3 days *Done for the season
Mountain bike: 34 miles - Watch for this to pick up as Tri Training continues!

What's next in Fitness?
I have a 10K race penciled in for May 15, weather dependent. Jeff and I are also signed up for a color run on May 22. Has anyone ever done a color run? And, I also have my triathlon training. I've created a training plan and I am starting this week. I'll write about that on my Tri Tuesday post (which obviously isn't going to be published on Tuesday...), so stay tuned!

Farm
We had another rain event last Sunday/Monday and the ground stayed REALLY wet for most of the week. So, this meant that our seeding efforts were kabashed. Jeff and Tom branded our yearlings one day and also turned our cow/calf pairs out onto pasture.

The cows were really ready to move to bigger pasture. 

We are so, so thankful for the rain that has happened. Our crops that we have planted so far are already beginning to break the ground surface, and the grasses in the pastures are looking more lively already. We have had about three inches of rain in the month of April, which is unheard of in these parts. I think the El Nino weather pattern has officially come to a close for us, which is good. El Nino means drought in our geographical area. Transitioning to La Nina is a much better outlook for cropland in Montana--  bring it on!

Our peas are sprouting!

Life
Again, not much to report in the "Life" category. I am super busy with Track and Field, and I did get my typical springtime cold last week. Thankfully, it wasn't that bad and didn't really keep me down. I did get a Stitch Fix box this past week and am working on a review blog post for that, too. Keep on the lookout for that!

That's all for today! Thanks for reading, everyone, and have a great week!

Lots of sunrise runs lately! Love that it's starting to get light out at 5:30 for early runs!

Weekly Review April 10-16

Busy week of fitness, farm, and life! We had a major event that really changed our outlook on the farm this week. Read on!

Our apricot trees blossomed this week. It was pretty!

Fitness
I continue to make good progress in my April fitness challenges. At this point, I've done 7 out of 13 different running routes/workouts for #Oisellefullhalf, and I've put in 25 miles toward my 50 mile goal in Million Mile Month--half way! I'm also getting really close to my goal of scoring 600 points in Shape Up Montana this year. I'm not ready to coast toward any of these challenges yet, though. Gotta keep working so I can get them done.

Here's how the week shaped up:
Sunday- I had an awesome 6.4 mile run up to the Goldstone Road and back. I didn't push pace, just went for it. When I got back, Harvey gave me a ton of kisses. I'd like to think he was telling me "Thank you for taking me for the run!" He's not usually a big kisser.

Post-run vizsla kisses!

Monday- No running or dedicated physical activity but I ended the day with four miles of walking on my pedometer.
Tuesday- 3 miles on treadmill before school (running), 30 minutes of yoga, and 4 miles of walking.
Wednesday- 30 minutes of yoga
Thursday- 4 miles of walking
Friday- I was sick, so I did nothing.
Saturday- I felt slightly better, plus the weather was really lovely and it was too nice to stay inside, so I forced myself out for a 2.2. mile walk/jog. Felt good to move a bit, even if it was really a struggle just to do that.

Year To Date, through April 16
Running: 148.7 miles
Walking/Hiking: 53.7 miles <-- Really pumped up this one this week!
Yoga: 685 min 
CC-Ski: 500 min / 14.1 miles *Done for the season
Alpine Ski: 3 days *Done for the season
Mountain bike: 34 miles 

Also in Fitness news, I'm really excited about next Sunday-- it's the Icebreaker Road Race in Great Falls. Jeff and I are pretty firmly planning on going down to run it. I'm planning on doing the 5 mile. It would be my first official race of the season, and I'm pretty pumped. Hoping I can stay healthy to be able to run it.

Farm
We were really busy in the first part of the week with seeding.

Photo cred: Jeff
Jeff had checked in to see how the peas we seeded last week were doing, and happily, they are already sprouting!

Jeff and Tom got all our barley seeded, thankfully, just ahead of some much needed RAIN that fell on Thursday and Friday. Truly, this rain is the biggest news of the season, perhaps even of the entire year so far. We were DESPERATELY in need of some rain. Last year was pretty much drought conditions the entire year, and we really depleted our pasture, not to mention our crops taking a huge hit. Starting off this year with minimal optimism for both crops and pasture grass was not a great feeling. We had actually talked and planned for what we would do if it didn't rain this year again--how many cows would we sell? how could we cut input costs on farmland?

And then it rained over 2 inches. And it was glorious, and there was much rejoicing! It can be very hard to convey to people outside of agriculture just how dependent we are on rain. We can plan and plan and do everything within our own power to try to ensure a successful farm or ranch season, but if we don't get rain, we're in trouble. With this rain being over 2 inches, it was huge for us. We're feeling much, much better about our pasture grasses taking off, hay ground being productive, and our crop land getting the moisture it needs to germinate and sprout strong seedlings. This one weather system totally reversed our entire outlook on the year, and we are so, so grateful.

After the rain, there were huge puddles and lots of mud EVERYWHERE!
Photo credit: Jeff

Life
Jeff and I have been enjoying early season baseball games. I'm a Cubs fan and he likes the Braves. Otherwise, nothing earth-shattering in the Life department. I was not feeling well over the weekend, and still am not feeling 100%, but I know it will pass. I'm looking forward to the beautiful weather we're supposed to be having this upcoming week, and hoping to get some good runs in outside. This week, I'm grateful for the rain, my awesome husband who is a constant source of strength for me, and simply the ability to run and move, and that my body is capable. 

What are you grateful for this week?

Our rain translated in to snow on the Sweetgrass Hills. 

Winter Wheat Harvest 2015

What a crazy growing season it has been!

Harvest is really when we see what we have for a crop. It's a reflection of a year's worth of planning and work, mixed with some luck.

Grain cascades out the back of the truck in to the hopper of the auger, where it is carried up into the grain bin.

As you may have read in my harvest post from last week, we started cutting winter wheat last Monday and went pretty hard for seven days straight. The crop is mostly decent in some places for the weather conditions we had throughout the growing season this year. Our bushels per acre are definitely down from what they have been in recent years for winter wheat and in some fields, they're downright poor with barely enough yield to pay for running the combine. The crop is what it is and there's not as much of it, so it's just a matter of getting it cut and moving on.

Jeff walks between the tractor, which powers the auger, and the grain truck.

Montana is the third-highest wheat producing state in America, after Kansas and North Dakota. Hill County, where our farm is located, is right in the middle of what's called the "Golden Triangle,"--one of the best wheat-producing areas in Montana. Hill County had a doozie of a weather pattern this year-- drought conditions through the first six months of the year, then a horrendous 4th of July hail storm. So, what that means is farmers who may have had thinner-than-normal crops to begin with due to drought, then got hit with hail, which in some cases, knocked down what was left. According to this article from the Great Falls Tribune, Hill County experienced over seven million dollars in hail damages: Hill County Hail Damage Could Exceed $7.5 Million Farmers saw a significant portion of that damage. Our own farm was affected.

Winter wheat near Minneota Hall that was cut on Sunday. Sweetgrass Hills in the background.

This is the first year of implementation of the new protection programs for farmers from the most recent Farm Bill and we are learning all about how that works. Let it be known to my non-farming readers that no farmer wants to see their crop do poorly; everyone wants to cut a gangbuster crop every year. No one wants a "hand-out" from the government. But, if there weren't protection programs and Farm Bills in place, there wouldn't be farmers. Some years, the crop is not a bin-buster, but a complete bust. A successful Farm Bill keeps farmers farming and keeps food and land in production.

A wheat field, baled as hay to use for our animals, rather than being harvested for grain.

The above photo is of some land that a neighbor of ours farms. His crop was unfortunately so poor that it wouldn't have paid for him to harvest it. But, you still have to clear the field somehow so it can be ready for it's next crop. So, we used a swather to cut the wheat and make hay bales, which we'll feed to our cows this year. Sometimes you just have to be a bit creative and think of other ways to use what you have.

Grain bins between Minneota Hall and the Inverness Road.

After shutting the combine down for the evening on Sunday night, we haven't started it up again yet this week. It started raining on Sunday and has gone off and on until this morning. Hopefully tomorrow we can cut the last 100 acres or so of winter wheat. Then, it will be time for barley, then spring wheat.

Before the night was over on Sunday, however, we did take part in what is sometimes a harvest necessity, but definitely a tradition: meal in the field! Sometimes, the location where they're cutting wheat is far from the house or it is inconvenient for the harvest crew to come in to the house to eat dinner. So, whoever is in charge of cooking will take the meal out to them. Sunday night was one of these occasions. It just happened that we were cutting right by Minneota Hall, which is an old community call out in the country near our farm, so it worked perfectly to serve the meal right on the cement step in front of the hall!

Carol cooked. We had hamburgers, pasta salad, chips, and fruit, served out of the bed of the pickup.

Carol and Jeff eat while Tom (unpictured) makes another pass in the combine.
When we eat in the field, the guys typically take turns so that the combine can keep rolling.

It seems like it was the winter wheat that was hit the worst by the drought. We had pretty outstanding sub-moisture last fall for winter wheat seeding, and then a warm and mild spring. So, the winter wheat came up hard and fast early in the season, using up all the soil moisture that was available. Then, when the rain stopped, the winter wheat stopped. By the time the storm of the 4th of July hit, it was really too late to be helped by the rain that did come along with it. We've had the rain in July that our crops desperately needed in May and June. Our spring wheat and barley still had a chance to be influenced and helped by a little rain. So, we'll see how it looks when we start cutting those crops.

Harvey stalks a bunny.

Just for fun, here's a photo of Harvey stalking a rabbit. He stalks them and chases them, but almost never catches them. Stay tuned as harvest and farm proceedings continue!

Thankful Thursday ~ State of the Farm

Hey Everyone!

Happy Thursday ! 

Things have been busy around here lately. Jeff and I were on vacation visiting family in Iowa, which you can read a bit about in my previous Thankful Thursday post. Then, we were home for a few days before some great friends of mine came from Seattle for a visit of about four days. I'll write a bit more about that soon, so stay tuned!

In the meantime, for the most part it has continued to be dry, dry, dry with the weather. Jeff just showed me the drought report put out by our local tv news station...

We are located near Havre on that map, in the peachy-tan colored section. So, we're not as bad as some parts of the state, but we're still pretty bad. We have not had much rain at all this year, which makes it pretty difficult to grow crops.

Then, on July 4th we had some "fireworks," brought to us by Mother Nature by way of a severe thunderstorm with rain and the four-letter H word. Yep, you guessed it.. hail. There was actually a tornado warning issued for part of our county. 

To add insult to injury in a dry, dry growing season, we then were hit with sideways hail. On the land that Jeff and I farm, we received hail damage to some extent on 100% of our crops. Tom (Jeff's Dad) had hail damage on some of his land, too. Both farms were reeling from droughthy weather. Some of our neighbors literally have no crop left standing in the field. With harvest just around the corner, their crops are completely totaled out already. 

You can see how the wheat is literally laying down.
The power of strong wind and hail.

So why do I bring all of this up? There are a fair number of friends and family who read this blog because they like to know what is going on here on the farm. Now you know. I'm not writing about this to gain sympathy or to share a sob story. It's simply statement of fact as to how the year is going. I.e. not very well. 

But what we must do, despite everything, or rather, IN SPITE of it all, is try to remain positive and thankful for what we do have. In agriculture, we are completely at the mercy of the weather. We cannot control it. We can do everything we can to plan and prepare for how we expect weather conditions to unfold according to typical weather patterns for our area, but when we have an off-year, that's just how it is. Not every year is going to be tremendous. Most will be average. When bad years or bad things happen, we have to learn from it, if possible, and move on. 

And just to lighten the mood while emphasizing my point, please watch this video from The Lion King:

"It doesn't matter-- it's in the past!"

What happens, happens. And, it really DOESN'T matter, because it's in the past! We can't change the past. What we can control is our own behaviors and actions in the moment and going forward.

Is it easy to let go? Hell no! Does it still suck when bad things happen? Absolutely. But I believe that a person can recognize, acknowledge, and give some weight to the negative emotions we feel due to bad circumstances, learn from them, and then let go and move forward. Try to make the best of what's still here to work with.

Rather timely, I'd add, another blog that I follow posted this article this week: Things You Gain When You Let Go Of Control. It's all about letting go of what you can't control, giving space to those things, and relishing what you can control, which is really only yourself. When you do that, you find that you're more able to recognize the good and the peace in what is all around you, and in yourself. I think the best quote of the entire article is this: "If you want to control your cows, give them a bigger pasture." Ponder that one for a while. :)

And so, even as the summer drags on, with whatever mixed bag of tricks Mother Nature still has in store for us, I remind myself of some of the many reasons I still am glad to be here. What we do on our farm helps feed a hungry world. Today's modern agricultural practices feed more people than ever before, and we are part of that. Every bit of grain we will harvest in the coming weeks, even though it's less than we originally thought we would have, helps to serve others. That's something to be proud of and to be thankful for.

I'll leave you with this Wendell Berry excerpt. There's a lot in there that rings true.


Happy Thursday, everyone! 
What are you thankful for this week?

Family 5K!

For the third time this year, our family is participating in Shape Up Montana. Each week with SUM, there is a new Weekly Challenge that either focuses on improving your eating habits, mental calmness or fortitude, or physical fitness. This past week, the Weekly Challenge was to participate in the SUM Virtual 5K. We were to print off our race bibs from the SUM website, and just cover the distance at some point during the week by walking, jogging, or running. Since four of our family member teammates live close to one another, we decided to do it together as if we were actually holding a 5K. My friend Stephanie decided to join us, too, so that brought the participants of our 5K up to a total of five people- me, Jeff, Tom, Carol, and Stephanie! Yay!

Group photo before the run.
Not pictured: Stephanie and Harvey.

Even though it was a casual family event, I wanted to run it as if I were racing. It's really a challenge for me to participate in races this time of year, mostly due to being busy with track season. Many races are on Saturdays but so are track meets. I do have one race potentially on my docket for late in April in Kalispell, and another late in May near Ulm, MT, but I still wanted to get a benchmark time to see where I'm at. I've been sort of maintaining fitness over the winter months, and I really wanted to just see where I'm at, so I tried to run it hard.

Our route was an out-and-back from Tom and Carol's house. Around here, roads and fields are easy gauges of distance, so we knew exactly where a mile and a half from the house was for our turnaround spot, then we just added an extra 100 meters or so at the end to make it 3.1 miles. The route was pretty flat with kind of a low-grade gradual hump in the middle of the first mile and last mile.

Even though this was just for fun, I still wanted to run hard and this "race" did have some challenges.

It was difficult to try to race with only four other participants. Part of what keeps me motivated to challenge myself in a race is picking off people ahead of me one by one and "reeling them in." That was a challenge with so few people in this event.

Another challenge was the course itself. Yes, we knew the exact distances and where we were at all times, but the fact that it was out and back and really flat meant you could see every other point of the course from just about anywhere on the course. It felt like the turnaround was never getting any closer, even though I could see it from pretty much the start line. Same thing with the finish. I felt like I had to be really mentally tough.

Lastly, the weather was extremely windy and it was also the warmest day we had so far this spring. The wind was a headwind the whole first half of the race and really tough to buck. I just kept reminding myself that I'd be flying when I turned around! I was faster in the second half, but then I noticed the heat more, which was also unpleasant. Again, mentally challenging!

Despite all of the mental challenges of this race, I still ran a time of 27:01 over 3.1 miles. For me, this is about 30 seconds off of my "new" PR. I ran a 5K in about 24:30 in college but then got away from running for several years; my PR for more recent years is 26:32. I feel really good about my time. The conditions were not great and this was the first "race" of the season for me, so to be only about 30 seconds off my PR is pretty good to me. I'll take it!

Everyone seemed to enjoy getting outside and being active, even if it was windy. Tom and Carol both walked the course and Jeff and Stephanie ran it. This was actually Stephanie's first 5K in which she ran the majority of the race. I'm glad we could make it a positive experience for her! Oh, and Harvey and Abby (dogs) participated as well. Harvey was really confused when we all ended up going at different paces. He also waited by the turnaround to make sure everyone turned around and headed back toward home. He was NOT leaving anyone behind!

Not pictured: Stephanie, Harvey, Abby.

Most of all, I just loved that this was a little event we could do together as a family. I'd love it if we can make it bigger and have more people or more of our family members present at the very least. I do have a wild hair of an idea to host a bigger 5K event out here called 5k on the Farm and have been tossing the possibility around with Jeff and the fam around here. The concept in my mind is that people would come out to our farm and participate in the 5K (and we'd also likely have a one mile fun run for kids), then people can stick around for a grilled hamburger and tour the farm. I believe that fitness and farming can go together and this is an event that can solidify that idea.

Everyone is excited about the idea, so now I just need to put my organizational hat on and see about getting it done! One of the biggest obstacles I see is simply getting people to come out to our very remote farm. We live about 30 minute's drive from the nearest (teeny tiny) town. If you heard of an event like this in your area, would you be willing to drive out and participate? If you live near here, would you want to do it? What do you think about the 5k on the Farm concept?

Lastly, as a member of Team Beef Montana, I have to share this article from Runners World on the topic of Healthy Meets for Runners. That's right- BEEF is right on top of the list as a healthy, lean protein source to help fuel your race and recovery!

Image by Dick Patrick of www.runenrsworld.com.

From Track Meets to Food Tasting!

Yesterday was a jam-packed day for me. My day began with the track team at our first meet of the season, and ended with hundreds of Hi-Line friends and family at a local event called Men Who Cook for Women who "Wine." Long, busy day, but so fun! Read on!

Track Meet: Cut Bank Booster Club Invitational
Yesterday was our first track meet of the season. We woke up really early (for me, the alarm went off at 4:15 a.m.) and drove on the team bus to Cut Bank, MT for the meet. The North Star contingency included 16 student-athletes, three coaches, and one bus driver. Believe it or not, we are actually a large team for Class C in Montana. We were actually missing four athletes yesterday, too, including three seniors. We got to Cut Bank at about 7:30 a.m., got camp set up, and got the team warmed up, then pretty soon the meet was underway.

The wind was blowing when we got camp set up, but not nearly like it was blowing when we took it down later!

When we began competition, there was a steady wind but it wasn't too bad. By about noon, the wind had picked up considerably to about a constant 40 mph with gusts up to about 60 mph (I learned this from watching the news later. I don't just innately have a feel for wind speeds....)  We ended up leaving the meet early around 1:15, with several events still left. Our head coach decided it was just too windy and no one was likely to have a good performance in those conditions. We all agreed and packed up as quickly as we could.

Team warmup. :)

Even though the conditions were not ideal all day long, and we ended up leaving early, I think it was still definitely worth the trip. We had some really great performances, and even some All-Time-Bests for a few kids. I really have to commend our athletes for their positive attitudes all day long, too. I didn't hear much complaining at all. In fact, several people were so excited about some of their successes, they wanted to keep the success rolling and they were disappointed that they were not able to compete in some of their later-on events. It's a pretty good group of kids. One that I am inspired by every day. Next meet is in Cut Bank (again) on Thursday, if the weather is good.

Sweet swishy-sweats!! 

Men Who Cook for Women Who "Wine"
Typically referred to simply as Men Who Cook. This is a unique annual fundraiser wherein groups of men have booths of food they have cooked themselves, and wine and beer are also served. The cooks are all locals to the area and are competing against one another. Attendees sample food from each booth and can vote on their favorites. There are also games such as Bingo and Heads or Tails, door prizes, raffles, and live and silent auctions, with all the prizes and auction items donated by local people or businesses. The event is held in the Hingham Gym and typically draws a big crowd. I think last night there was probably at least 500 people, but that's just a guess. The money raised goes into a fund to help cover costs for families and individuals who have to travel for cancer treatments.

Jeff and I go to this nearly every year, as do Tom and Carol, and many, many, many of our Hi-Line friends. Stephanie joined us this year, too. It's a fun, social event that brings many people together each year for a good cause. And the food is really good, too! Even though I was pretty tired from getting up so early and being out in the wind a track meet all day, I was able to rally and put on my game face for Men Who Cook. There was some really great food this year and nice auction items. It was fun to see so many people! And this is an even that is so unique, I feel. We had a great time!

Photo by Stephanie. This plate is showing two different kids of mac and cheese, the cucumber and tomato items I described above, something that was sort of like a smokey jambalaya, a lemon souffle, and a coconut almond item...The Chinese takeout box had some fried rice and a sesame chicken wing.

 We had to get two plates FULL in order to try everything!!!

Featuring another type of chicken wing, stuffed chicken and pork roll-ups, a few types of bbq/smoked meat dishes, and a sausage and grapes soup-like dish, shrimp cocktail, stuffed mushroom caps... more items that weren't even in this picture! Sooo much food!!!

In my opinion, some of the best food items this year were the small bites that Justin Miller's group made, including a cucumber-smoked salmon bite, a tiny caprese salad tomato bite, and a Moose Drool (beer) chocolate truffle. I also really enjoyed the prosciutto wrapped pork tenderloin with apple chutney, and some of the many smoked and bbq meat options. 

Even though it was a long day, it was a good day. Also, on Friday, Jeff, Tom, Carol, Stephanie, and I ran in a little Family 5K. I'll do a separate post on that soon! Stay tuned!!! 

Running Gear Review: Brooks Utopia Tights and Hot Chillys Top

If I had an endless budget for buying clothes (I don't) my closet would be filled with a lot more running and workout clothing. So comfortable, but beyond that, on a deeper level, I am my most confident when I have running shoes on and the clothes that go along with them. In today's post, I am reviewing two new pieces of running clothing that I have acquired recently: Brooks Utopia Thermal Tight II and Hot Chillys Micro Elite Chamois Sublimated Print Crewneck.  I purchased both of these items on my own accord, I am not being reimbursed at all, all opinions are my own, all the normal stuff you read in a product review blog post disclaimer, yadda yadda, etc.

Brooks Women's Utopia Thermal Tight II
I bought these tights on the clearance rack at a local sporting goods store. I had never tried Brooks bottoms before, so I took Medium and Large to try on. The mediums were just really too tight on my rear and thighs, so I opted for the large. The large isn't perfect on me because, while they fit much better through the seat and thighs, they are pretty big through the waist, which is a common issue for me. Gotta love my curves! Thankfully, they have an inner drawstring in the waist, so when I cinch that up really tight, everything works pretty well.

Back and front views of Utopia Thermal Tights.

I have used these tights several times now in varying levels of cold and wind. According to the website, they are designed for temperatures under 40 degrees. That is no exaggeration! The warmest weather I have worn these in was temperatures right around freezing with wind at about 10-15mph and I felt right on the edge of being too warm. The coldest I have worn these was when I ran with Christy at Chico.  (BTW, that post is quickly climbing the charts to being one of the most popular posts I've ever written. Check it out!) When we left on our run it was 2 degrees outside, no wind. I stayed warm enough in these tights, even without another base layer underneath. I think if it had been much colder or windy, I would have wanted one more thin layer underneath or at the very least some tall socks to wear. Even though it was super cold that morning, I still sweated a lot and the tights felt wet when i took them off, but I never felt wet while I was wearing them, so this tells me that they wick like a motha-you-know-what! Technical fabric that keeps you warm and dry is hard to come by, folks. Lots of products say they will do it, but under perform in reality. Not the Utopias. Bottom line, though, these tights are made for cold weather!

These tights are definitely created with outdoor distance runners in mind. They have mucho pockets for anything you could want-- two large side pockets and three inner key pockets. They zip up from the ankle so you could pull them on and off easily. One of the best features is the strategically placed reflective tape. Not only are you seen easier by oncoming traffic, but the placement of the tape elongates and slims the look of your legs. Always a bonus when you have big, powerful, runner/skier-girl legs like me!

Seriously. Lots of pockets, folks. And oh yeah, drawstring!

I love the color and soft, technical fabric of these pants, I love the fit of these pants, and I love the performance of these pants. It's just too bad I can't wear them to track practice because they go against school dress code, but that's another topic for another day. I will wear the heck out of these pants for years to come when I'm running on my own time. I'll definitely keep Brooks in mind next time I'm looking for performance running tights and clothing, too!  I have a few other items from Brooks including a Run Happy tshirt and some running shorts, and I love both of those pieces, too. These people know what's up.

Run Happy! 

Hot Chillys Micro Elite Chamois Sublimated Print Crewneck
I found this top on my recent ski trip to Red Lodge in their on-mountain t-shirt and gear shop. The print on the front of the shirt was immediately eye-catching-- I knew I had to have this shirt! I justified the purchase by selling myself on its versatility. I told myself that I could dress the shirt up and wear it to school or other social functions, I could wear it skiing (duh!) and could probably wear it running. Endless possibilities! Hot Chillys is a company that specializes in cold-weather baselayers, specifically for skiing. They have a wide variety of weights and textures, and also offer socks. Ironically, the only use I haven't worn it for yet is skiing...

Pants and top in action, with dogs. :)

This shirt is designed to be a lightweight, soft, next-to-skin layer for active outdoor pursuits in cold weather. I have worn it next-to-skin on that same cold weather run I mentioned earlier with Christy. The top did what it was supposed to-- wicked my sweat away while keeping me warm and dry. I have also worn this shirt a few times for non-workout purposes and received bunches of compliments both times. The side panel seams are very slimming and flattering and the southwest-inspired design on the front panel is eye catching and super on-trend right now. I love the bright colors! So many running and skiing layering pieces are just the same old boring palette of blacks, grays, and whites. Great to have a pop of bold design!

I bought a medium in this shirt and it fits me perfect through the body. The only complaint I have about the fit is that the sleeves and body length are just a little too short. Not a huge problem because I like to wear a tank top under most of my shirts anyway, and I almost always roll my sleeves up. Anyone taller than me (I'm 5'5") might be bothered by the short torso length though.

All in all, this is a great, versatile top and I'm thinking pretty hard about purchasing the matching leggings to wear with it! I found them on Zappos... and they might have to become mine soon! Or, hey, if anyone's feeling generous and like they want to give me a gift... ;)

Me and Iggy!

So there you have it! Two new pieces of running and fitness clothing added to my fit-fashion stash! Both are from smaller specialty companies, which I am all about supporting, especially after reading this eye opening post on Lauren Fleshman's blog: http://asklaurenfleshman.com/2015/02/usatf-yourwelcome-commercial-the-problem/. Lauren's post talks about how Nike athletes are represented by USATF at a much higher rate and higher quality than non-Nike athletes. I agree with her that it's not fair and it's not right. There are many other specialty running and athletic companies that sponsor athletes besides Nike and it's time to give them a shot, too. That's why supporting companies like Brooks, or Saucony, Asics, or my favorite, Oiselle, and others, is important. So, for that reason, too, I'm going to be trying to stay away from Nike for a while.

For any of my other fitness enthusiasts out there reading this, do you have any favorite brands or favorite pieces?

Me and Harvey, and a smiley barn!

Skiing At Red Lodge

Today's post is all about the fun weekend we had skiing in Red Lodge, MT! We made plans a long time ago with friends of ours from North Dakota to meet up for a ski trip and Red Lodge was the perfect place because it was more or less meeting in the middle for both of us.

Jeff and I drove down on Thursday night last week, after I was done with school. We stayed at the Pollard Hotel, which is right on Broadway in the center of town. It was a neat, old historic hotel that had been restored, with an excellent bar and restaurant on site. We ate in the restaurant on Friday evening. I had a really good dish of clams in a chorizo broth and Jeff had a steak. Great food!

Saturday evening, Valentine's Day, we enjoyed drinks at a lovely wine bar called Bridge Creek Backcountry Kitchen and Wine Bar. We had actually stopped there for wine and appetizers before dinner the first night, too. We had the cheese plate, which was good, but the tuna steak tartare was outstanding! The wine we had each time was really great, too. Even though our dinner at the Pollard was really good, after discussing it later, Jeff and I both agree that we sort of wish we had made our full dinner reservation for this place instead. They had some really interesting looking dishes on the menu and again, the wine selection was great, too. Next time!

Our main dinner event on Saturday night for Valentine's Day was reservations at Carbon County Steakhouse.  I noticed on our way in to our table that this place was a Wine Spectator award winner. It definitely lived up to expectations! We enjoyed appetizers of cast iron seared mussels with drawn butter, which was perfectly cooked and so, so delicious. Then, we each chose a beef entree for our main course. Jeff had a steak with crab and hollandaise sauce, I had beef strogonoff, and our friends shared a Delmonico.  Everything was outstanding! I would highly recommend this restaurant to anyone visiting Red Lodge, and I can't wait to go back myself!

I didn't take any photos of the food and wine portion of our trip because I wanted to enjoy dinner and our company without pulling out my cell phone. You'll just have to click on the website links to get an idea of what they have and imagine it for yourself! 

I did get a few photos of our skiing adventures, though! 

Standing at the summit of the mountain!
The ever-flattering ski photo... 

The weather while we were in town was unbelievably warm-- in the 40s and 50s! And sunny! Definitely spring skiing conditions. I'll admit that I was really skeptical that the snow would be any good while we were there, but it far exceeded expectations. The snow was soft and fun, easy to ski! 

Jeff and I both worked on a lot of skills to continue getting better at skiing. He's now much more of a daredevil than I am, taking on black diamond mogul runs. I did get better at maneuvering around bumps this time, which I am proud of, but not as confident as he is. I still find that I love to fly fast down groomers more than anything else! I think over the course of the two days, I'm most happy with how I continued to regain confidence and skill on my skis. 

Clockwise from top left: Tyler and Shannon riding the chair ahead of us, Jeff after pounding out a black diamond mogul run, view over the side of the mountain, Valentine's day sign, and ski selfie!

The most unfortunate part of the skiing was that about half the mountain was closed due to lack of snowfall. We would have loved to have been over on those faces to check out that terrain, but the mountain was big enough to keep us entertained over the course of two days, especially as our skills and confidence continued to grow. They desperately needed snow at Red Lodge and we did have to be pretty cautious as we skied to be on the lookout for rocks, grass, dirt, and bushes poking out. All the same, as I mentioned, the snow conditions far exceeded my expectations and the overall lack of snow did not keep us from having a great time! 

Having a great time!

What really made the weekend great, more than the skiing and the excellent food and drink we enjoyed, was spending time with our friends Tyler and Shannon! We have been really lucky to meet them through our involvement with Farmers Union and this was the perfect way to get to know them even better. We had some great conversation and some really fun times, whether chillin' at the chalet on the mountain, at the hotel, or over a delicious dinner. It seems like we are all compatible travel companions. When you find people you travel well with, you should hold on to them! Just too bad we don't live closer together! Although, Red Lodge makes a pretty fantastic meeting place! 

Left: Jeff and Tyler skiing down a long run. Top right: Jeff starting his hockey stop. Bottom Right: Shannon cruising on her snowboard!

Our Red Lodge weekend was definitely a success and a lot of fun on many levels. Now, Jeff and I are not sure if we'll have another chance to go skiing this winter. Things get pretty busy for us as we are heading into calving season. There may be a chance to sneak down to Showdown one more time-- you never know. For now, we're not packing up the skis for the winter yet! 

How was your weekend? Any highlights?

Jeff had flowers and chocolate delivered to our room on Saturday afternoon.
Big surprise when I walked in and saw them!

Snow Fun (and a little work, too!)

What a great weekend it has been! Thanks to the snow day we had on Thursday, I enjoyed four days off of school! Pretty awesome. Even though the temperatures were pretty chilly most of the past four days, Jeff and I still managed to get outside and have some fun recreating in the snow. Today, the warmest day, has made it up to 16 degrees at my house with NO WIND and the first SUNSHINE we've had in a while! I tell you what, the flat light and cloudiness has been a downer. I would struggle to live west of the mountains where that's the norm this time of year. So nice to see the SUN today! :)

This weekend's adventures included snowshoeing the tree rows in my yard (Thursday), cross-country skiing the ditches with Jeff (Friday and Saturday), and a brisk jog on the snow-covered gravel road today. I took a few photos here and there.

Twice I also helped Jeff with cow-feeding chores over at Tom and Carol's place. So, there's just a few photos of that too.

 The first group of photos are from my snowshoeing adventure. The sun peeked out for just a bit that afternoon, so I did nab a silhouette photo:

Where we live, we don't get nearly as much snow as other parts of the state. When we do get snow, it typically blows sideways and doesn't make much ground cover. It's only thanks to our tree rows that I'm ever able to snowshoe at my house. The trees catch the snow and keep it from blowing away. When the wind is blowing, as it was on Thursday, this is the place to be anyway because you're more protected. 

Walking in my own snowshoe tracks among the carigana.

I basically just made laps up and down in the tree rows for about a half hour. It was pretty cold-- single digits-- and pretty windy. Half an hour was plenty, but still so great to get out and get the heart pumping! 

 One of my favorite things about fresh snow is that you can see all the animal tracks and signs. Grouse have been numerous in our yard since it got cold. Their tracks are everywhere! I also noticed what looks like markings made by their wings in the snow. From takeoff? or landing? Pretty cool!

 I love this old thresher! It sits protected from the wind behind some grain bins.

 Harvey had a great time tromping through the snow with me, too! He sniffed and tracked a whole bunch of grouse and really seemed to enjoy himself! Even with his short coat, he moves so much and runs and plays so he seems to stay warm enough.

Harvey, taking my path instead of creating his own. :)

I didn't take any photos of our skiing adventures in the ditch for several reasons. I'm not the world's greatest Nordic skier so I was concentrating mightily on simply staying upright. The snow surface of the ditch was pretty icy. There certainly wasn't a nice two-track or anything, and we couldn't cut one because it was crusted over. Again, it was pretty cold but we were bundled up and moving around so it didn't seem too bad. We did about two miles on Friday and probably 3.5 on Saturday. The light was so flat that it was really hard to see the surface of the snow we were skiing on to notice the dips and rolls of the crusted surface. Tough going, but still lots of fun!

 Finally this morning the sun came out! 

 When I helped Jeff with chores it was again in single digits but with the sunshine and no wind, it felt so much warmer!!! I never did get cold outside!

When I took this next photo, I was just focused on the pattern of the tractor tire track in the snow. It wasn't until now that I noticed the bunny track within the tire track! Happy accidents. :)  I like the juxtaposition of scale between the bunny tracks and the tire markings. Also interesting to note that one track was created by man and machine, while the other by an animal.

Harvey "helped" with chores!

 Jeff operated the tractor while I swung gates and cut twine outside. I like this picture because it shows how the snow drifts up and the tractor cuts tracks through the drifts. You can see how deep it was in places.

Cows munching on some fresh straw! Gotta love a red cow in the sunshine! :)

 Jeff unrolls the bales with the tractor and the cows fill in behind him and start eating. We fed two hay bales and also brought two straw bales into the pen; one was for bedding and the other we put in the feeder for them to munch on. Also, a "peak" (harhar!) of the Sweetgrass Hills in the background!

On to today's run! I actually haven't run in two weeks, which is the longest I've gone without running in quite some time. With travel to Glacier and my family's visit, followed by feeling pretty down and out with fever and a nasty cold, I just haven't been out to run. I decided to test the waters today with an easy two mile jog, accompanied by Harvey and Abby, of course! It would have been so easy to hop on the treadmill today, but with the sun shining and no wind, it was so much better to head outside!

 The run went well. I felt like could have done more.  I'm excited the days are getting longer again and looking forward to some evening jogs after work, hopefully soon!

Another shot of animal tracks! After my jog, I walked out to our grain bins to take a look at the traffic patterns. No person has been over here since it snowed, so what you're seeing is entirely created by animals! Mostly grouse and jackrabbits. They come into the yard because it's protected, and also because they can eat grain that spills ever so slightly out of the bins. Just look at all those tracks! Also, can you spot Harvey?

This week is supposed to be warmer and warmer every day. I'm looking forward to jogging outside at least once. And, even though it was nice to have extra time off of school and to ease back in last week with an abbreviated week, I'm also looking forward to getting back into routine and spending time with the kids I work with.

How was your weekend? Did you get outside?!?