Snowy Compost

How about this sign we found at a local store!?! Should buy that one for sure.


And while I'm on the topic here's what one of my composters looked like this morning after a lot of snow!! We are still composting over the winter. At least until both of our containers are full. Then we may switch over to the city's composting/wet waste service.


So what happens in the compost with all this cold and snow? Well not much really depending on the size but when the temperature gets above freezing (as it's expected to a few times this week) things start happening and the internal temperature of the compost heats up again. If it's a larger compost or it's well insulated they have been known to stay at or above 100 degrees F all winter! Even when the temperatures are well below freezing. So don't be discouraged, keep filling those composters up!

And this is the pile of snow between us and our neighbors. I'm glad we have as much room as we do. I'm imagining many other homes close by that won't have anywhere to put all this snow!


One of the great things about a big snow fall is that everyone comes outside. For just a little while all our neighbors were out at the same time shoveling their driveways. And once again my neighbor to the east of us was a hero on our street. He has a snow blower and helped everyone out by removing what the plows left at the end of everyone's driveways. You can see him at work below. Thanks again Rohan!!

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New Running Gear

I received some gift cards this Christmas for a Canadian running store chain called the Running Room. I had never really owned "proper" running gear. I always figured as long as my shoes were good I could deal with just wearing old clothes that I don't mind sweating in. A little over a year ago I bought my first pair of running socks and WOW! I couldn't believe the difference. Sure they were more expensive, but my feet felt dry even after a hot sweaty run. And that makes a huge difference.

Anyway, I decided this was the year to ask for gift cards for running gear and finally get properly suited up. I need to tell you about is the pants I ended up buying. I'm not really into the whole spandex thing (sorry Jon and Steve) so I was hoping to find some good running pants that were not spandex. I came across these pants made by Mizuno.


I run in Mizuno shoes so I already felt some brand loyalty to them which made me want to check them out. The thing that was weird about them is that the sales person told me that they get warmer as you sweat. That didn't make sense to me so I didn't buy them or any other pants the first time I was there. Eventually though, I did. Here is how the Mizuno web site describes this "Breath Thermo" fabric.

A unique type of insulation fabric that generates heat from the absorption of moisture. Heat is generated via a chemical exchange between perspiration and the properties of the Breath Thermo® fabric. This is especially useful for the protection of the muscle groups and protecting the human body from cold temperatures.

So after a couple of runs in this cool (not cold yet) winter I feel like I get how these pants work. Normally when I get back from a cold windy run, the skin on my legs is quite cold. This can be a problem if you decide to stop for more then a minute or two during a run in the cold. Muscles and joints can seize up if they aren't kept warm. This isn't a problem with these pants at all. And somehow they don't feel like they are too hot. This fabric does the job of keeping your skin temperature regulated very well. So what sounded like a strange product turned out to be quite good. I'm looking forward to testing them out when it gets really cold. I will have to see what else Mizuno may have for me to add to my gear.

Glenn

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