I dropped the ball...picking it back up!

Hi folks! So, I've come to realize that it's been 1 year since I started the Sweats & Sparkles blog...Yay! Happy Blogger Birrrfday!! But then, I also realized that it's been 8 months since my last post...Booo, bad, blogger, bad! No excuses, other than life got in the way over the summer...in the very best way possible! And unfortunately, the bummer side of so much good stuff going on is that there's less time to look back and blog about it in a 24 hour period :-( But, here I am again and it's 2015...almost 3 months into it, no less! And not that the good stuff isn't rolling in anymore, but one of my resolutions for this year was to keep up with my blogging. It does bring me joy and relaxation to put words to paper...eh, I mean keyboard, about what makes me happy and what's going on daily/weekly. Which is obviously my family and running. Hopefully, I wont bore you too much with it all! My life is still a messy balance of Sweaty & Sparkly, but trying to focus more on the Sweaty as this year is looking to be a very sweaty one. So let's see where this journey takes us...once again! And before i embark on this new phase with a more "go blog 'em" attitude, here's just a quick recap of how 2015 has been in my Sweats & Sparkles life!...

I've never been a fan of winter running. Never. I get sick easily. I'm a total clutz and will slip on dry land let alone icy patches. Frozen snot is not a good look for me. However, I wanted to change all that up this year and put my big girl panties on and take on winter running like a champ! I bought some nice cold weather gear (still want to be cute and sparkly, of course!), laced up my kicks and things were going pretty well!

Rang in the New Year with a bang at the NYRR NYE 4 Mile Run, which I've been wanting to do for a couple of years now. I was able to do so this year with my good friend, Angie, and we had a BLAST!! It was about 30 degrees, not TOO bad for NYE at midnight in the middle of Central Park. There were so many people and music and laughter and fireworks! It definitely inspired us to get our sporty spice back on and tackle our running goals for 2015! Things were looking up.

There was even ice cold sparkling cider...basically, cider slushees. So good! 

Happy 2015!!

And then...BAM! COLD! COLD! COLD! Like, REALLY cold! Like, it hasn't been this cold in about 80 years type of cold! The Hubs and I went for a run after one of thee snowstorms we've had...key word being 'one' of them. As in, we've had multiples. And decided to run thereafter on the treadmill. Why? Because I got sick. I slipped and fell on snow (no injuries though, so still winning!). And frozen snot is still not a good look on me. But it did make for some pretty backdrops for pics! ;-)

We did come out of hibernation yesterday as we had a heat wave of about 36 degrees and with the NYC Half in just 2 weeks away, it was kind of necessary to bring the running back outside to remember what outdoor running feels like before the big day! This time, however, even with the extra ice skating lanes along the West Side Highway, there were no Clutzy Cari moments, YAY!! Maybe this is a sign that Spring is on it's way. Frozen fingers and toes crossed!

Yea, the Hudson is frozen over.