I know some of you fancy yourselves to be amateur cooks, so you should know what blanching is. For those who don’t – for example, it’s when you’re boiling asparagus until it gets nice and bright green, then you immediately remove it and put in a bath of ice water to stop the cooking. Well that’s what happened to us here in Dallas. It was 80 degrees (American) one day….the very next day we were covered in ice. Yup.
The little monsters exploring the ice-snow.
So yeah, we’ve been blanched pretty good. I guess we were done cooking.
Anyway, pretty much the whole city shuts down whenever we get any bit of snow or ice. They even cancelled the Dallas Marathon. Bummer for everyone who spent the past few months training. And bummer for me because I was going to use part of the race course for my 19 mile Dopey Challenge training run on Sunday. Not sure what I’m going to do now.
Today called for 4 miles which I begrudgingly did on the dreadmill at the gym. I much prefer the outdoors, but I don’t want to step on an icy patch and take a nasty spill.
I’m supposed to do 9 miles on Saturday before the 19 on Sunday. Here’s hoping I can do it outdoors!!! Come on sidewalks and streets, de-ice yo-selves!
Also, I found an old pic from a newspaper in my hometown in Ohio. It shows some of us high school track and field kids winter-training down the coldy snowy streetys. I’m the one on the right with the bandana on my face – I can’t remember if it was to fight the cold air, or if I was going to rob a stage-coach afterwards.
Hardcore, baby!
Those were the days before all the fancy tech-thermal-moisture-wicking-temperature-regulating gear that folks wear now-a-days. Back then it was cotton and wool. You probably like my sweats and wool cap! The cool http://raceitliveitloveit.com/ blogger recently talked about those days on one of her posts. It wasn’t that long ago!
What about you? Did you get blanched? Do you run in ice or snow or stick to treadmills? Ever run in sweat pants and shirts?
Piratebobcat 
At this time of year, @TheWelshWookie calls me Bambi, due to my ability to slip and slide in even the smallest patch of ice and snow: so much as I love running outdoors, it’s not a great option for me! Hope you’re returned to the boiling pan soon!
HAHAHA, I can totally see the Bambi! Thank you, I don’t mind running in the cold as long as it’s not slip and slidey!
I knew what blanching was but I had no idea that was the word in English, so thanks for that! It’s crazy how weather can change so drastically in Texas, sorry about the marathon. I’m sure your kids appreciate some snowball fights with daddy and maybe miss a few days of school. Enjoy! 🙂
Thank you! Glad I could teach you something – BTW, I was a Spanish minor in college, but I don’t know the Spanish word for blanch. Hopefully the roads will be safe here!
You know my story — I am a treadmill girl when the weather gets too nasty. Not a fan of freezing cold or hard rain, nope.
Yeah, I don’t know how you do it. I only did 4 miles and was going insane!
That is an awesome picture! Hey I might try that bandana trick next time. Seriously haha. That is too bad about the marathon being cancelled. When it’s icy, it’s never a good idea to run outside. Even I agree with that!
I used to wear it because breathing in the super super cold air would hurt my throat and lungs. If you try it, lemme know!
I feel bad for everyone who trained all those months and also for those who booked travel to do the race. I know I would be pretty bummed if they canceled my Disney races in Jan at the last moment!
Hahaha my guess is you were going to rob someplace. Such a bummer for the marathon 😦 And yeah, treadmills are boring but you just started to get back to normal with the knee issues so you don’t want to go 2 steps back by slipping on something silly like the icicle shank you were going to use to rob the bank.
Bwahaha! I was actually looking at all the icicles on the gutter this morning and kept thinking about how they could really hurt someone!
I agree with you, I don’t want to re-injure myself. I heard about a dude in the Disney Marathon a few years ago (when they had freezing temps) broke his leg by stepping on ice at a water station. I do not want that! Going to stay safe and happy!
OMG that’s crazy! Good- safe and happy is always a good thing!
I feel sad that the marathon was cancelled. Is that weird? Sort of a runner sympathy system?
I’m sad too. If I had trained for half a year, paid a ton of money for gear, registration, training, etc. and the race gets cancelled. That would be tough. I feel for the race orgainzers too. This will hurt them as they are trying to make the Dallas Marathon a world class one. Also, they’re sure to get a lot of angry feedback when registrants realize they aren’t getting a refund, or even a race shirt!
You know, you typically blanch veggies before adding them into a casserole of some sort and baking them further. Which seems appropriate for our weather since I’m sure we will be back in shorts before Christmas.
I don’t see you getting in 9 outside today. I just checked the streets – solid ice. And the pretty white stuff on the grass – solid ice. Keep it safe and boring on the dreadmill.
Ha, I was wondering how many days it will take to get us back in short weather.
Yeah, it’s all just ice out there. Now I have to hope that the gym is open and that my vehicle can make the 3 miles to get to it!
That is sad that the marathon was cancelled, but it would be horrible if people ended up with broken legs and hips as a result of slipping. I dig the bandana and old school running gear. I remember wearing pink jogging pants when running back in high school. Running on ice is never a good idea. Stay safe!
You should bust out the pink jogging pants!
Yeah, it was way too slick all weekend, had to stick to the dreadmill. A handful of marathon registrants went down and ran the course anyway. Luckily nobody got hurt!
I was 4 years old the last time I saw snow! 🙂 Must have been a nice surprise to find that old pic!
Oh wow, that’s a long time to go without any powder!
It was in the 60s here in St. Louis a few weeks ago and now it’s in the 20s. Brrr. My longest treadmill run was 8 miles and it was very boring. Anything longer than an hour is a problem for me.
I hear ya! I did 32 miles over the weekend on the dreadmill. It was awful. Yesterday’s 19 (3 hours) was the worst – especially when the gym’s TV’s went down!
ya i heard/saw all the snow you guys got!! Being a midwesterner you may be used to it… but I am sure there were a LOT of Texans freaking out haha
um… that pic of your two little “monsters” walking is just down right adorable!!
The snow has been super duper annoying (got my little car stuck on a hill!! couldn’t make it up!)) but at the same time I am old school. Christmas Time=SNOW. I love it like that 🙂
Too bad about the Dallas Marathon! I am sure they were not expecting that!