Boston Marathon 2019: Lucky #7

Boston Marathon 2019. Lucky number 7 for me. (7 Boston's, I have done a few other marathons here and there.)

This is one of the only times I have gone into this race without my BQ for the following year already in the bag.
Years ago, I randomly decided that I really wanted to qualify for, and run, 10 consecutive Bostons. Kind of an arbitrary goal, but isn't that the way goals are sometimes? Anyway, Boston 2020 (#8) was most definitely NOT locked down yet, and I was certainly feeling some self imposed pressure.

Eric and I were walking down Boylston on Sunday evening, while looking at the forecast for the next day. The prediction was holding steady from the day before- temps rising from 60-70 during my race hours, humidity, possible thunderstorms, maybe some rain, or some sun, or some wind who knows!!! I had received no fewer than 3.2 million texts wishing me luck in "the sauna". I was like "Eric! I have to go for it, I can't mess around. You think I can do this, right?" And he like, snorted and said "duh, of course you can." So the plan remained intact, run BQ pace for as long as possible. Do or Die.

We were awakened early on Monday by a fire alarm. While it did not affect our floor, Ellie woke up quickly and needed to go out, and then she and Eric were stuck in the lobby for close to 40 minutes. I was glad that I stayed put in the room, as I was able to putter along and get ready according to plan. Just as Eric returned, a huge thunderstorm blew through Boston.
This is a first for Marathon day (for me, anyway.) It was pretty exciting, although I was glad to hold off on hiking to the bus until it had let up.

This is the thunderstorm

I had originally planned to dress in 19 layers of winter clothing, to avoid frostbite in the village. That ended up being completely unnecessary, as it was both warm and humid. I chucked on a couple bonus layers, my trusty muck boots, and (umbrella in hand) I headed off into the storm!!!

Ellie and I ARE READY TO BRAVE THE STORM

I hopped onto lucky bus #15 (as one does) and enjoyed the LONGEST RIDE EVER (in the HOTTEST BUS EVER!!) I was lucky to make friends with a super nice woman from NYC, and we passed the time chatting and sticking our heads out the window to stay cool (not really.) It was just a really long trip this year. I was on the bus at 8:06, and off of the bus at 9:26. Not a problem at all, but pretty rare.
(I have never been on the bus for more than an hour.)

I MADE IT TO HOPKINTON! And it was warm and not raining.

Athlete's village was an absolute delight compared to last year. I mentioned to my bus friend that I expected the rain to finish up before we arrived, and it did! The clouds were still quite ominous, and it was cool-ish. I stood in bathroom lines, and ate some food, and my feet stayed nice and dry in my huge boots.

Pics of potty lines are critical

It was not long at all until my wave was called for corral loading. I was not in the mood to procrastinate this year, because I wanted a few minutes to pee, and get my kit in order. So I actually left the village on time, possibly for the only time in my life.

Off we go!

On the walk into town, the clouds began to break up, and the temp began to rise in a very noticeable way. I was sad to part with my too big boots, but it was time!

Bye big boots

I had become nervous in the morning, and had applied a layer of sunscreen but was uneasy that in the following hours (and sweating in the bus, and pulling layers off) that it easily could have rubbed off. So who do I find? A wonderful fellow Mainer, who was also running for Crow, who knows me on the Insta (as Ellie's mom!) who had a tube of sunscreen and was happy to share (spoiler: this was a LIFE SAVER.) (and hi Leslie!! Thank you and congrats on a great race!)

Due to my mindful planning, I made it into Corral 1 with two whole minutes to spare. Impressive!!

Down to bare min clothing at the start.... Not always a great sign.

 I felt good from the start. Really good. The snap that I hope to feel in my legs after a nice taper was right there, and I felt ready to roll. Oh, and it was humid AF. Like a dripping mess. I kept thinking "wow, we need a puff of wind" and right on cue, a little puff of wind would come along. This gave me the amusing notion that I was somehow in charge of my climate zone, like in a little bubble of magic. This was quite cheering.

I stopped to pee at mile 7 because I can not not pee. It took me an actual 5 seconds. NBD. This was the only time I stopped for bodily functions. (YAY!)

Here's the thing. At mile 10 I knew it was my day. WHO KNOWS WHY THIS WAS, THERE WAS STILL SO MUCH RACE LEFT! But in my mind, I knew it was going to happen. I did not care that the sun had come out in absolute blazes (WHAT?) I totally ignored how warm I was. (and it WAS warm- close to 70.) I was running calmly, and still was running with a healthy buffer for the second half of the race.

Yes. I came in with a solid plan to positive split. I have run this course enough to know how to manage the miles to meet my needs. Even on a day when I feel good, I plan to add several minutes to the back half of the course. (because it is a bitch. and because, let's be real, I'm just not that strong! Fuck it. I get it done.)

I came into the half with a nice bit of time to play with. 1:42:37. This, absurdly had me not just on a BQ pace, but a borderline PR pace. I was like, "hahah woman, nope. today is NOT that day!" (and this was not self sabotage, but an honest reminder to myself about my current fitness, the weather, and realistic expectations. I came to run a 3:37 not a 3:25.)

At mile 17 I shouted a text to my Dad. "MILE 17 104 PM. RUNNING WELL, THIS WILL NOT BE A LONG STOP." Poor Lee drives 8 gazillion miles, and then he and my Aunt and Uncle set up camp by Chestnut St to see me for 12 seconds. I felt bad! But with the sun beating down on me, I thought an epic crash could possibly happen and I needed the banked time safely in hand. I had sent in a pre-order for chapstick (I was desperate for it)

Thank heavens for Lee's chapstik!

So I basically cruised though my mile 18.2 pit stop in a complete flurry.

Hi Lee. Bye Lee.

Everyone was like "GO GO GO!!!" And it was very exciting. So off I went! (literally, 16 seconds later)

GO GO!!!

At mile 19 my body decided, rudely, that it had had enough gel, enough water, enough sun, and enough running and it was going to be sick. I'm like, "body, you are NOT." I began to calculate exactly how much time it would take me to barf and get going again. I did not like how the numbers looked, so I shut it down. ALSO. ALSO, you don't want to be the person who blows chunks on heartbreak hill. That is just wrong. I decided that that when I felt super sick, I would keep running but keep my mouth shut and tread gently. And when I felt better, I would speed up! This was a good plan, and it kept me going (although, in a rather heater skelter way) until mile 23 when I suddenly felt better. YAY! Feeling better is the best.

So, barfy feelings left behind, I decided to finish the damn race.

Shockingly (especially since I really had not been able to eat since mile 16 or so) my legs were feeling good. I was poaching a bit in my own sweat, but I had hiked up my singlet and had been dumping cups of water on my torso for quite some time. (I was very *moist* GROSS.) But I was happy.
I was happy to have had a great race on a day when the weather easily could have messed me up. Or, messed with my head.
I was happy that I was going to BQ again, and with a "safe" amount.
I was happy to have enjoyed almost every mile!
I was very happy that I had not succumbed to a fit of violent vomiting.
And MOSTLY I was happy that I was close to the finish, and would be able to get an extra extra large ginger ale, with extra ice. I had been thinking about that since mile 20, and I was SO SO thirsty that I never thought I would not be thirsty again. I could not stop imagining the deliciousness of a ginger ale. (I get a weird ginger ale craving after certain long runs. Clearly, this was one fo those runs!)

As I cruised down Boylston, I was able to pick it up for one last "sprint" (haha.) I heard my name being called, and saw Eric, Evan and Ellie waving to me! I was so happy to see them!

YAYYYYYYYYYY!!!!

I finished and went all weird hands-on-knees gasping for air ugly crying. This is the kind of behavior that beckons the medics, but I assured them that I was fine.

AND I HAD DONE IT. 3:30:38, my BEST Boston time Ever!!!!!!

I was 100% delighted

I was tired. THIRSTY, SO THIRSTY. Salty. Definitely not jogging to the family meeting area like last year. I was pooped, I had left everything out there. I ran a much better race than I thought I could. I refused to let the heat, or the hills, or anything get in my head. When it got tough, I refused to stop. And I was pretty exhausted because of that. But happy. VERY happy.

And believe it or not, I saw Mainer/sunscreen goddess Leslie again! I babbled incoherently to her about lord knows what. Marathons make me even more verbose than normal. And dumb.

And go figure, by the time I made it to meet Eric (and Elle, and Evan) clouds had rolled in (and 30 minutes later, it was raining! CRAZY.)

My babykins. Too big to hold post marathon!

The 3 of us humans, and one of us dogs, walked the one magical block to the hotel. Evan immediately collected a giant, icy gingerale for me (which I drank in one big gulp.) And I babbled to Eric for a solid 40 minutes about my whole day! I took a painful, blistery, chafey (but NOT sunburney!) shower and then proceeded to lie in bed for 90 minutes, drinking endless ginger ales and eating the Kings Hawaiian sweet rolls that we get in the finishers snack bags. I love those stupid things.

Then, so as not to spend the rest of the day in bed, we took a magical family walk (and the wind had picked up, and was all aggressive!)

My hot husband

Because we are bossy parents, we made Ellie pose on/with things.

Ducks!!

Big trees!!

So that's a wrap! What a great Boston experience. I'm extremely happy to have secured my spot for next year, (and it's a weight off my mind, to be honest.)

I'm very happy with this race, and felt that I did my best in many ways. It's races like this that remind me why I work hard to get here in the first place! See you in 2020, Boston.

Boston Marathon Training 2019: Game OVER (but not like, in a bad way.)

Yep, it's that time. Every year, just like Christmas. This is when I say "game over."

GAME OVER

Because there is only ONE week to go! So basically, no matter what has happened in the past few weeks, Or in ALL the weeks since November, there's nothing that can be done now! So sit back, chill tf out, do yo' damn laundry, and enjoy.

Thankfully, I was more of less back to normal last week. (physically, anyway. haha) After my Saturday massage I began to feel better. I was extremely thankful for this, as my back issue was drastically impacting my work day (and yes, running as well. but I was somewhat more concerned with how I was half assing my actual job.)

I had a short 4 mile run on Monday which felt ok- and not much more than that. My back was about 85% better (than it had been- even on a good day this winter it was still a little sketch) but my legs felt pretty dead, and my calves felt as thought they were working about 75% harder than normal. Weird.

Right, and it was also not really Spring for most of the week. In the end, we had a couple nice days. But not Tuesday morning.

Cold

On Wednesday I had a Chiro appointment which was pretty major. There were quite a few adjustments needed throughout my whole body, but there certainly seemed to be some rather significant problems in my pelvis. Gross. Once I headed out, I felt better than I had in weeks and was able to have a very normal feeling 5 miler. Good news. I have another Chiropractic visit next week to make sure that the improvements stuck, and then I'm on my own until after race day.

I hoofed it over bitch hill on Thursday, to find a smaller snowbank.

I can see over the snowbank!

Saturday brought about the final long run (I think I did a few easy miles on Friday- but who can remember?) 11 miles, on a pleasant day (about 53 degrees) at around an 8:20 pace.
Ummmm, but ALSO, there was a little garbage snow in the morning.

Gross

Luckily, it warmed up well, and was a really nice day! And the workout: Basically a carbon copy of the final long-ish run from last year. Hopefully, a good omen. I also saw a fox hunting a turkey, so that was cool. And random.

Looks almost like Spring!

No workout on Sunday, but a 90 minute massage/trigger point session that sucked (but not as badly as last week.)

My feelings

Since it was national beer day, we then took Ellie to the pub and she fell asleep. Lame!

Perfect

So, during the great back crisis of 2019, I missed approximately 212 workouts.
Or, 3, to be more accurate.
I missed my biggest bitch hill workout.
I missed my final chance at downhill reps (which were already lacking...)
And, I missed my final long-long run which was expected to be about 16-17 miles.

UGH. I must assume though, that 3 workouts won't have made or broken me. There was nothing I could have done about it anyway, so I'm not going to ruminate.

The weather is looking alright for race day. No complaints from me!

Terrible photo

So this week will be all about fluffing around as per the taper usual. I'll run a couple little 800's or something mid week, and then put the legs up and on ice.

And that, my friends, is that.
March was a super month of running- I finally felt that things were really solidifying. I am going to take that confidence to the start line and run the shit out of this race.

Stats:
Mileage: 30.5
Crisis bodywork appointments: 2
Actual sobbing meltdowns: ZEERO
Times I ran 0.04 miles and stopped: ALSO ZERO, SO A HUGE WIN
Times I was so pissed: ZEROOOOOOOOOO

Boston Marathon Training 2019: Week 12

And here we are, just 3 weeks away from race day (umm, that came up quick.)
(edited to add: I had this post ready to go yesterday and when I hit publish I discovered that blogger was malfunctioning. I lost half my post and all the pics. So I'm going to cobble this back together, but I am annoyed.)

I am once again in Wave 3, corral 1. I can't help but think that I am the slowest person in that particular corral. Oh well, I can start in the back (or knowing me, just basically miss the start, and start when/wherever.)

The past week was a good week, and a big week. A warm (er) week, and a cold week! An up week, and a down week (like, literally, not like feelings wise or anything.) A fast week and a slow week (but mostly fast, woof.)

Monday was a nice, slow day. 5-ish recovery miles, a few done with my crazy ass puppy, and a few (far less exciting ones) without her.

*AND THEN THE WORK BEGAN*

Wednesday was evening speedwork day, with 6x1 mile reps on the agenda. This workout went really well, and I managed to complete every repeat in the low 7's (like, the fastest one was a 7:08. Jesus Christ, I have basically become Shalane Flanagan!!! orrrr not.)
Oh, and winter is still going strong. It warmed up to right around 40, but it was a freezing morning.

Cold. Why?

Thursday was big bad bitch hill day. Luckily, unlike last week, I was able to do this a full 24 hours after speed work instead of 11.
Since this was a peak week, I added in an extra lap up the bitchiest part of the hill.
And the snowbanks are still stupid, STUPID BIG.

12' snowbanks

I also took Ellie for a short hike on Thursday evening, to let her work on her own running skills!

RUN!!

On Friday the weather was just disgusting. 3 inches of snow, a bunch of rain, wind, SHIT.
I hate to do downhill reps on the treadmill, because it is impossible to make them as aggressive as I would like to (the treadmill's best decline is 3%, and then your pace is limited to 8MPH.) So, I did what I could, but the workout just does not feel as legit done this way.
*Sigh* Either way. It beat certain death on the roads. And I did 3x1.5 miles downhill, so it was still ok.

Saturday was "rest" day this weekend, and I actually made a concerted effort to limit the time spent on my feet. Evidently, this is the best I can do (and it really is- this was the bare minimum of steps taken on a "light work" Saturday...)

Basically, I slept all day

And this brings us to Sunday. Long run day. It was warm enough! (48!) Less wind than the previous day, when it was a hurricane. And enough sun so that shorts and a tee shirt were in order.

SUMMER!! or, 48 degrees

Despite the run getting off to an iffy start (nothing major- just a sloshy stomach for whatever reason) it ended up being solid. A couple minutes of stopped time (like, 4 minutes total) for a quick outfit change, to say hello to Eric and Ellie as they drove past me, and a couple pee breaks. As much as I'd like to eliminate all stops, I also don't care to pee myself.

A little bit of hip soreness starting at mile 17 reminded me of the need for some focus on that area for the next few weeks. 3 weeks isn't long, but it's enough time for me to make a little headway in that area,.

Anyways, I arrived at the pub on schedule.
And met my friends!

Ellie is embaressed by us 

And Ellie met hers.

Winston stole her bone

So, I'm feeling good. More fit than a month ago! Time for me to begin to predict the start of Summer on April 15th (hey- I'm not being gloomy, I'm just being historically accurate!) I feel physically good, and mentally significantly better than pre-Hyannis. But if it is 67 (or like, 60) there is no way I can be physically ready for that change. Oh well.

 Stats:

Mileage: 51.7
Long run: 20.2
Beer at pub: The typical triple/double, which is called a Pentacream, FYI
Coldest day: It was 9 on Wednesday morning. Gross. And 34 with 35 MPH wind on Saturday, also gross.
Snow days: The 3" snow, plus rain, plus gross made for an early release Friday

Boston Marathon Training 2019: Week 11

So at this point, we're in the thick of things. This week and next are definitely going to be peak weeks of training.

The good news? I'm feeling good. Stronger. The legs are coming around.

And generally speaking, the weather was far better this week. It was the first week in (I believe) the past 5 months that I have been able to avoid the treadmill entirely.
Which is good. While I am thankful to have the treadmill, I have REALLY not been enjoying it this season.

Last Monday I had a normal recovery run. The roads were a soggy, slushy mess after the 4" of Sunday snow, but it was warm (about 42!!) so out I went. I ran about 3 miles with my puppy, and then finished up on my own. Other than having sopping feet at the end of this, all was well.

Tuesday was technically a rest day, but Ellie, Evan and I went for a snowshoe/hike that was a pretty solid workout. The weather was spectacular, and it was a really enjoyable time, so, TOTALLY worth it.

OMG worth it!!!

Even when I have an "easy" day at work, when you throw in a 3.5 mile hike, your rest day looks like this. Not so restful.

Very restful

Wednesday was the beginning of ALL kinds of hard work.
I finally managed to get my speed work done on the road. This made me happy, because getting off the treadmill is always a good thing. This also made me feel afraid, because I am not terribly good at setting a pace. I was able to pace off Eric last year, because he was running a lot, and he is basically a metronome. This year, I seem to be rolling solo (because Eric is riding his bike, not because he has vanished or something terrible.)

I ran 3x2 mile reps, randomly hoping I could manage the arbitrary 7:36 pace that I seem to be sticking with in 2019.

They came in at 7:45, 7:31, 7:29.
While I'm not going to do the math on this, I would say the average is close enough to 7:36 to just call it good!
I finished this workout as the sun was setting....

And then, well before the sun rose the next day, I was running over Bitch Hill.
In an inch of fresh snow, and icy roads, just to make it extra special.

I'm not a huge fan of running at ass o'clock. On this particular day, there was no choice. So I woke up feeling pretty good about the adventure, and just got it done (just as the sun rose....)
(which made for a very, very tired Thursday...)

Yeah. I don't really look fresh as a daisy here.

The one good thing about completing two runs less than 12 hours apart? I basically felt like I had two rest days. So by Saturday, I was like, super fresh!!

And it was a good thing that I was all rested up by the weekend, because I had a 14 mile run planned, 11 of which were to be at marathon pace.
AGAIN, I'm really not the most confident at pace setting, PLUS my watch is kind of a psycho, and therefore is not really a lot of help. So I was like, ok. I'll warm up for a mile. Run kinda fast for 11. Then run less fast for 2. It was a solid plan!
Well, it turned out well, and was one of the better workouts of this training cycle (coming in at a 7:55 overall pace, which is silly. I will not be running 7:43 pace miles at the marathon, which was my pace for the 11 MP miles...)

Straight to the pub

Anyway. Good, done, went to the pub, saw my dog/husband/dad, the end. It was also 40 and windy AS FUCK which was both good (warm) and annoying (wind.)

Yay!

Sunday was downhill repeat day, which was just fine and not worth talking about. It was warm enough (30) windy (typical) and even though I had run fast the day before my legs felt quite good. Go figure.
The roads are clear. The snowbanks are big. And March is only halfway over, so we could still have Winter's second coming.

Currently...

Stats:

Mileage: 44.6 (plus about 5 miles of hiking which I do not count.)
Long run: 14
Beer at pub: The typical triple/double, plus a random pickle gose that we all had a sip of AGAIN! (I hate to think that I am beginning to enjoy pickle beer!!)
Coldest day: Not terribly cold. it was in the mid 20's on Bitch Hill morning, but that is basically summer
Snow days: We had 4" on Sunday, and another inch on Thursday morning. So basically nothing. 

Boston Marathon Training 2019: Week 10

Well, another week done. While we might be one more week closer to Spring, the weather for most of this week would make you think we were still fully ensconced in winter. MEH.

I feel like this was a good week of training. I'm definitely feeling the motivation that comes along with the LACK of a 2020 BQ. So yeah, watch out bitches. (meaning: don't let my very average training scare you or anything...)

Monday was a snow day, but the temps actually moved in to the 30's, so by late in the day the roads were half way decent. I had a nice easy few miles, and spent a lot of time trying to see over the snowbanks (not happening.)

Ellie thinks the snowbanks are Mt Everest

Tuesday was a good, and hard, workout. 5x1 mile reps, at the all too common 7:36. I fit this in after a very, very busy work day (where I had already been on my feet for over 9 miles, per the phone...) I think this was a good workout to get me ready for some challenges in the upcoming weeks.

Thursday I hit bitch hill again. The snowbanks continue to be ridiculously high. This winter has been as big of a bitch as the hill is. However, it was an excellent workout.

Saturday was 18 to the pub. It was about as nice of a day as we have seen in 200 years (39, sun, light wind.) If I had run earlier in the day, I imagine it would have been quite warm. But, as usual, the shadows were pretty long by the time I was able to leave work, and it was comfortably cool. The icy dirt road had more or less lost its ice, and had turned into a flood.

This was the small flood

Other than the mud, and the flood, it was a good run. My right hip felt a little strange for the final 2 miles (which is weird) but it immediately felt fine.
Plus, it was so warm that I needed ZERO orange hats, and ZERO vests (also, weird.)

Basically no winter clothing

It was a fun reunion at the pub, because Eric, Lee, Ellie AND Evan were waiting for me!!

Ellie was like "nope"

There was another (small) snow storm on Sunday, but after all the melting on Saturday the roads were like death. I had been planning some downhill reps, and attempted to take the workout to the treadmill. Downhill reps are best done outdoors, but one does what one can when conditions are not ideal.

Overall, this was a good week. I'm really shooting for the BQ in Boston, and the only thing that will be out of my control will be the weather. (my head is back in the game for grossness, but I certainly won't have any chance to train in heat.) I'm really trying to hit the hard workouts, I'm keeping an eye on my annoying sesamoiditis, and I'm trying to determine if I can tolerate the blisters that the Hoka 5's keep giving me... (annoying....)

 Stats:

Mileage: 44.3
Long run: 18
Beer at pub: The typical triple/double, plus a random pickle gose that we all had a sip of  (plus a smoked pineapple sour that we all had one sip of! It was a weekend of one sip beers.)
Coldest day: Still SO COLD. It was well below zero on a few days in the morning. It was 19 when I ran on Friday. It was cold, it was windy, it was winter. 
Snow days: Monday was a no school snow day, because there had been 5 inches overnight. However, Monday was actually a properly nice day once the snow quit at 9AM. 

Boston Marathon Training 2019: Week 9? I think?

The good thing about Hyannis becoming an unexpected half, is that I was able to get right back into training. (making lemonade here, right?)

I didn't want to crack out a 45 mile week, after having a couple really easy ones, but I headed in the right direction.

(and this is going to be a quick, shitty recap. I have 1.2 million things on my plate but still want to document the progression.)

I got back on the road on Tuesday, after tanking a couple days to get my head right. I know Hyannis was not a physical breakdown (although I could send to gain some fitness.) But I definitely thought over my mental strength training strategy, and know what I want to work on for the next 6 weeks. I'm certainly not going to let another cold, rainy day derail me! (it's another story if it's 90 though, haha.)

I went for an 0.2 second run on Tuesday to let Mrs Ellington stretch her gorgeous legs.
(Don't call PETA people. We ran like, 6 feet....)

She is perfect

Wednesday was treadmill 1200's because it was 12 degrees out with 40 MPH wind. Not gonna run outside, in the dark, and the freezing, and the hurricane. THANKS.
The repeats were good. And done at 7:36 as always....

Thursday was a quick 4 before puppy class, where Ellie discovered that she was scared of other puppies (?) and sent most of the time hiding under a chair. (Eric took her out and about to a puppy party on Saturday to work on this timidness!)

Friday, I ran over bitch hill. When I need to get some mental (and glute) strength, this is a good route. And dark. And snowy.

Hello snowbank

Saturday, I ran 15-ish in decent (33 degree) weather. Probably the warmest day of the week.
It was a fine run. I Picked a route that would not allow me to stop to resupply, and I think removing this convenience will be good for my toughness. Even though is is usually a 90 second stop, I may choose to eliminate it for the rest of the season since it makes my life "easy" (and I clearly must work on womaning up!)

The usual people 

Oh, and one more thing?
This winter has been just a mess. People keep saying "it's been so easy, we have no snow!!"
And I'm like, homey, you live in Portland. Maybe you have no snow, but WE have a metric fuck ton. Plus, February was super cold. And March came in like a lion.
Luckily, I have decided that no cold, or snow, or rain, or sleet will mess up my day. (racing, that is. I must continue to claim my right as a Mainer to complain daily about the conditions!)
No promises once Fool's summer hits though ;-) I will complain and hate it.

No danger of that this week, though.

SO MUCH

Stats:
Mileage: 34.7
Long run: 15.4
Beer at pub: The typical triple/double 
Coldest day: UGH SO COLD. A couple mornings at -6 degrees. A couple days with a high of 14, plus awful wind. 
Snow days: Oh lord. None from school. Pretty sure we got a little stupid mess at some point? Stupid. It's bad that I can't recall but there's too much in my head!