December 14, 2012 by

Friday Link Love, Staff Parties & Snow

running-cold-weather-1

Brrrr.

No new content today, but if you want my tips of maintaining a minimalist wardrobe, check out my post at Making Sense of Cents.

This weekend is my work’s staff party which I’m pretty excited about. It’s going to be fairly low key but I’m still looking forward to having a paid for meal and some drinks at the local pub.

My barefoot running has been going better! After a completely failed barefoot experience on Tuesday where I ditched my socks and ended up with nickel sized blisters on the balls of my feet, I went back to wearing socks on Thursday and successfully ran for 20 minutes on the office treadmill with no blister pain whatsoever! I also was running really slow and had a really low heart rate which made for a very pleasant experience overall.

This weekend I’m due for two runs, one long one short. I’m REALLY not looking forward to either because it’s supposed to be -17C (1F) which is freaking cold! Since I don’t have a treadmill at home, I have to run outside. However, I spent a bit of cash this fall on winter running gear, so it’s time to put my money where my mouth is and just do it.

We also had our first snow this week! Well, actually it was more like snow, then some freezing rain, then some ice pellets, then some more snow, but you get the picture. Should make the aforementioned weekend running even more interesting.

Finally, Molly’s starting to go a little squirrelly from a lack of exercise. In the summer time I was walking/running with her every other day, but with the bad weather that’s been reduced to about once a week. I’m starting to notice a difference in her behaviour, for example last night I caught her carrying around a pair of my PJ shorts – VERY unlike her. So, I’m starting to train her to run on the office treadmill in hopes that she’ll be able to burn off some energy indoors. Once she’s trained I’ll get some photographic proof. Wish me luck!

Blog Posts I Loved

There were SO many great blog posts this week I had a hard time pruning my list to a manageable level.

Cait at Blonde on a Budget won a $700 gift card from best buy! What would you do if you won that prize?

Kathleen from Frugal Portland saved half her income this year! That’s truly amazing to me.

Michelle from Making Sense of Cents talks about how she bought a house at 20 and other amazing feats like getting two undergrads and an MBA before age 23. Pretty sure she’s going to rule the world one day with drive like that.

My dear blogging friend Jessica from Mo’ Money Mo’ Houses celebrated her one year blogiversary. Congrats girl!

Bridget from Money After Graduation talks about the often forgotten networking tool: LinkedIn and how to optimize what you get out of it.

Jefferson from See Debt Run lays out ways to increase your cash flow quickly.

Grey at Club Thrifty talks about guarding personal information from corporate interests.

Catherine at Plunged in Debt writes about Money, Feminism, and Divorce.

Pauline at Reach Financial Independence asks whether cheap labour can make you lazy.

The Savvy Scot breaks down personal finance to it’s most basic and interesting form.

DC at Young Adult Money discusses how important networking is to your career.

Kevin at Work Save Live points out the downside to debt consolidation.

Bloggers That Loved Me

These bloggers mentioned me on their blogs this week. Thanks guys!

Modest Money
Work Save Live
Budget and the Beach

Top Social Sharers

These bloggers did a great job sharing my posts this week. Thanks!

Planwise
Frugal Rules
Modest Money
Work Save Live

Have a good weekend everyone!

  • http://clubthrifty.com/ Greg@ClubThrifty

    Thank you so much for mentioning my article!

    • http://my-alternate-life.com/ Jordann

      No problem!

  • Caitlin

    I would love to see the video/photo of Molly on a treadmill. I’ve tried with my dogs but I think they hate the sound of the treadmill motor. They won’t go anywhere near it.

    • http://my-alternate-life.com/ Jordann

      Molly is terrified of the treadmill, I’m using positive reinforcement to get her to become desensitized to the scary motor, I’ll do a blog post with step by step instructions of how I did it!

  • http://budgetandthebeach.com/ Budget & the Beach

    I thought you were barefoot running outside this time of year!!! Ah, a treadmill. Yeah, I think that would be hard. I barefoot run but in the sand, A little bit easier. Have a great weekend!

    • http://my-alternate-life.com/ Jordann

      Barefoot running in the sand is easier on the feet but it’s damn tiring! Have a good weekend!

  • http://twitter.com/SenseofCents Michelle

    Haha I hope I rule the world! :)

  • Jason @ WorkSaveLive

    Thanks for the mention again and I’m glad I was in the top social shares. Saweeeet! I know I shared a lot but didn’t know it was that much. lol

    That would really suck about the blisters. I realize I missed this somewhere, but why are you running barefoot? Why not get those shoes that have the toes and basically look like you’re wearing nothing (haha…I realize that’s not very descriptive but I hope you know what I’m talking about).

    • http://my-alternate-life.com/ Jordann

      No problem! I’m running barefoot because I’m training for a half marathon and I’ve read that running barefoot can guard against injury. I’ve got a long term injury that I don’t want to flare up. I’m not using vibram five finger shoes because I’m too frugal and I could just run with socks on the treadmill. :)

  • http://twitter.com/Lbeemoneytree Lauren Bee

    I always love your Friday link-ups, we share the same taste in blogs and I catch so many I miss during the week. <3 you!

    • http://my-alternate-life.com/ Jordann

      Great I’m glad you enjoy it! Loved your vlog today by the way!

  • FrugalPortland

    Thanks for mentioning me and I cannot even imagine running in that kind of weather! Although whatever it takes to keep the dog out of your pajamas, right?

    • http://my-alternate-life.com/ Jordann

      Right!

  • http://www.momoneymohouses.com/ Mo’ Money Mo’ Houses

    Thanks for the mention. Bah I so need to start running again. It’s been a few weeks since my last run and I hate getting out of a routine!

    • http://my-alternate-life.com/ Jordann

      Just do it! Don’t even think about it, just put your shoes on and go, that’s how I stick to my routine. :)

  • http://twitter.com/SavvyScot The Savvy Scot

    Thank you for sharing my post! -17 is crazy cold!!! I did a run today (only 3 miles) but it killed me for some reason

    • http://my-alternate-life.com/ Jordann

      Maybe you’ve got a low grade cold. Often colds don’t even register in our day to day activity, but when we try and exercise, it becomes apparent that you’re immune system is at work fighting something.

  • http://twitter.com/RFIndependence Pauline

    Thank you for the mention Jordann! Running in an all white landscape has to be beautiful.

    • http://my-alternate-life.com/ Jordann

      It definitely is!

  • http://twitter.com/seedebtrun See Debt Run

    Thanks for linking my post, Jordann. Running when it’s cold outside? You are much tougher than me..

    • http://my-alternate-life.com/ Jordann

      Hey thanks! And I’m not really, I didn’t run very far.

  • http://twitter.com/PlungedinDebt Plunged in Debt

    Thanks so much for including me, good luck training! Please don’t roll your ankle or break anything!!

    • http://my-alternate-life.com/ Jordann

      Don’t worry, I’m always extra careful in the winter time.

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