Friday Five: Favorite Winter Activities

Snowy training run last year.

Happy Friday! TGIF. I had a 4-day week thanks to an impromptu trip to Chicago, but I'm still recovering from our night drive home (and 2am arrival). My sleep schedule's been out of whack since Tuesday. Regardless, I'm back with another Friday Five linkup with Mar, Courtney, and Cynthia. This week's theme is Favorite Winter Activities. Here are mine: 

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A few puzzles over the past year or two

Puzzles
I love puzzles in the winter. My friend Tricia and I encourage each other's obsession and I've found a ton under $10 at Half Price Books. My favorites are at least 1000 pieces with lots of details. When I get into puzzle-mode I generally complete 2-3 before my obsession wains. #puzzleparty

Running
Normally I take time off after my October race and start back with my training group in January, but this year I've maintained a run streak from November 2 – today (day 47). It started with Oiselle's #chasethebird and I'm keeping it up with Runner's World run streak. It's been pretty easy with the nice weather, but the temperatures are dropping this weekend so we'll see if I can maintain it until New Year's Day! I loooove running in snow, but Columbus gets more rainy icky stuff than snow.

Winter Hikes
Alex and I don't get out much during the winter (see next item), but we like to make time for at least one or two winter hikes at the surrounding metro parks. There are a couple smaller parks with waterfalls that are also fun to see. They're only a few miles away and the trails aren't long so we can take Tobias. (Tobias doesn't like snow very much. He's very small.) Here's a trip from 2010.

Chai tea time 

Hibernating
Sometimes the best thing you can do is plop down on the couch, grab a hot drink and a fluffy blanket (my favorite kind), and either read or catch up on a show. One of the best parts of winter is allowing yourself to slow down, relax, and avoid responsibilities!

Planning Vacations
Yeah, when the weather gets miserable Alex and I like to plan our vacations for the year. Sometimes we have a winter vacation in the books to get us out of Ohio during February (the worst part of winter). Last year we spent the entire season talking about a tropical getaway, but never booked anything. This year we're going to Florida with my parents (and running a race).

Thanks for reading and don't forget to visit the host's blogs linked above to see what they're up to this winter.

What are some of your favorite things in the winter?