Since we were heading out of town for a hockey tournament this weekend, I decided to move my long run to Friday. Unfortunately, Mother Nature decided on 20 degrees with the wind chill of 9. Now I’ll do almost anything to avoid the ‘mill, but given the frigid temps I really felt like I had no choice. So this would be a first – long run on the mill!

I played every mind game I could think of, varied my pace and the elevation, alternated between music and ESPN, and people-watched the handful of people in the gym who came and went. It took everything trick I could come up with, but I got it done….10 miles….a new treadmill distance PR!

Next we were off to the hockey tournament. While the boys’ didn’t win, the games were hard fought. Truthfully I think the boys all enjoyed the time between the games more – the beauty of staying in a hotel with an indoor pool and arcade! We also got to catch up with family – J’s parents live about a half hour from the arena and my sister-in-law and nephew drove down from Upstate New York to meet us.

Unfortunately, we got home on Sunday to watch my beloved Patriots implode last night in the AFC Championship game  – so I will be running my #MilesofShame this week. (Pavement Runner and NYC Running Mama organized a little runners’ wager on this weekend’s games – if your team lost, you run the point differential. Luckily for me, you had the option to cap your miles, so I’ll only be running 10 instead of 15!)

The kids are off today for Martin L. King Day….and yes of course that means there’s another hockey game! Otherwise, we plan to spend the day hanging out and I’m hoping to get J to come with me to check out a new gym.