Tuesday, November 19, 2019

Week in Review (November 12 - November 18)

Tuesday (17,809 steps) - Strength class during lunch. Milk Market run club! I guess I technically felt better than last week, and managed to run the whole thing without any walk breaks, but pace was pretty slow. Ran with Paula, Annette & Lisa - which is always fun. Dinner was salad and potato salad.
Home fairly early and we were hoping to watch Mean Girls, but apparently I don't actually own that movie? Instead, we watched Heathers. I remember it being one of my favorite movies as a teen, but probably not the most appropriate movie to watch? Weird that I didn't remember how crude and dark it is!
Wednesday (18,211 steps) - Slept horrible. I don't know it it was the full moon or the wind, but the petting zoo (Pika & Batman) were super weird and fidgety and loud and I must have woken up 400 times during the night. Blah. Core class during lunch.
Runners Roost Boulder! A decided to stay home to finish homework, and for the first time Ben got to join. He was hoping to run the full trail course, so he headed out with the group and I met up at the trail head. Thankfully it was WAY less muddy than last week. Pika was pulling uncontrollably on the leash - probably because she knew Ben was in front of us.
Near the top of the last switchback Ben was waiting for us because his calf was hurting a bit. Once we were all together Pika ran much better. Weird route, where we went up the "ant hill" - so got quite a bit of vert in this run. Chili potluck at the store before heading home.
Thursday (13,333 steps) - A's 14th birthday!!
We rode with Tyler to Kokopelli and met up with Doug (and eventually Kristin) for pizza and beer (it actually was A's choice, there's a breakfast pizza she really likes). Her gifts of a Dunder Mifflen hoodie from me and an R1 Techface from Ben were a huge hit. Doug also made the most delicious and decadent chocolate cake ever. Yum.





Friday (10,553 steps) - Core class during lunch. A invited Rachelle over and we had plans to see Zombieland Double Tap. That is until we realized that Rachelle had not seen the first one. Ben and I went to Torchy's to pick up dinner and while the girls watched that, we started Ozark (have you seen this? It's bizarre).
Saturday (23,479 steps) - Kristin picked me and Tyler up to head to Aurora for Runners Edge. I super don't like this route and have never had a good run there, so I was pleasantly surprised when my 8 miles were not horrible.
Home to shower and then head to Olde Town. I pre-bought tickets for the movie, and then we went to Denver Beer (actually we went for Mighty Burgers, but the beer was nice too). Then we went to the movie (and the theater has actually been remodeled since I was there last) and it was SUPER funny. If you at all liked the first one, the sequel did not disappoint.
Hmmm... three nearly identical pairs of Vans and one pair of flip flops...
No real recollection of how the rest of the evening was spent, other than playing with Tyler's new puppy, Koda!
Sunday (14,763 steps) - "Slept in." The girls made breakfast (and a big mess) and Ben and I took Pika for a long walk by the lake. I finally got around to doing most of my packing. The girls wanted to play Monopoly, so Ben and I made a stop at Resolute and then the grocery store so we could make tacos again. Jack Ryan and Walking/Talking Dead.
Monday (10,154 steps) - Nothing?

Stats:
  • 108,302 steps
  • 15.3 miles run
  • Three gym classes

Wednesday, November 13, 2019

Week in Review (November 5 - November 11)

Tuesday (19,192 steps) - Strength class during lunch. Milk Market run club! First experience (basically) running downtown in the dark from beginning to end. Run was... not great. I started out too fast and then had to walk a bunch in the second mile. Pizza and salad for dinner.
Wednesday (18,511 steps) - Core class during lunch. Runners Roost Boulder!
The group opted to do a run that didn't loop all the way back around the trail head, so Pika, A and I did our own run, opting to go up Skunk and down Bear. Oh my lord was there soooo muuuuuch mud when we got up higher. It ended up being a little comical, but geez.


Thursday (14,401 steps) - Berkeley Park walk around the lake with Pika and Ariel. Ben was finally able to join us for run club, although he mentioned that he was having some fairly severe calf pain when he ran by us. Back over to Goldspot for trivia! We ended up having a tie breaker for the win - turns out second place isn't THAT bad, we still got a small bar tab.
Friday (10,338 steps) - Core class during lunch. A had spent the night at Abby's, so Ben and I went to 4 Noses for happy hour and then to Torchy's for dinner - where we ran into Maria and her husband (that we didn't know live only about a mile from us!)
Saturday (39,442 steps) - Runners Edge! I was not looking forward to running on Big Dry Creek (nor running 14 miles). I showed up in a skirt and tee shirt while everyone else looked like they were running in sub zero temps. I chose wisely, it really heated up quickly. The first 8-9 weren't terrible, and I ran most of the way with Jen and Lisa. Mile 12 was about when the wheels started to fall off. Ah well, got all the miles done AND it was my longest run since Tahoe.
New tunnel art
Ran some errands on the way home while waiting for Ben to finish up his adventure of the day. Ariel wasn't getting dropped off until later, so I picked up Chipotle for lunch and then took Pika for a long walk.

Went to Dulce's for second Saturday/November birthdays! Zach made pizzas again, and it was a really fun night.
Zach, Greg & A - November birthdays!
Sunday (25,229 steps) - I managed to get up early to run 6 miles at the lake (that was pretty awful and also hot).

We drove over to Resolute to meet up with Maureen for the Five Alarm 5k. She still isn't able to run, so Pika and I walked with her and Colfax.





Had a few beers before going to the grocery store and heading home to throw stuff in the crock pot. Tyler came over for a bit, then we binge watched a few weeks worth of Walking Dead.
Monday (8,028 steps) - Apparently, nothing?

Stats:
  • 135,141 steps
  • 27.5 miles run (and already "taper" time... haha)
  • Three gym classes

Wednesday, November 6, 2019

Week in Review (October 29 - November 4)

Tuesday (9,967 steps) - Day two of the nasty cold front/blizzard that came in. I didn't even try to drive into the office today, and Ben drove me into work again. Strength class during lunch, and thankfully, the CEO called an early release after Denver Public Schools did, so I was able to get out at 2!! We decided that meant we could stop for a beer at Odyssey on the way home.

Wednesday (17,575 steps) - Late start for work. A also had a delayed start because our county was the only one in the area to not call a snow day. Core class during lunch, and I knew I'd have time to burn, so I also walked for a bit on the treadmill. Carpooled with Tyler to Roost and we did a VERY brisk modification of the 5K road route. Fun times getting to demo the new Hoka  Speedgoat 4, and if I ever go through all the 2's I have left I can't wait to pick up a pair of these. The walk was fine until Pika saw a raccoon run up a tree and I almost died.

It was really fun seeing all the costumes - even on dogs! I think Miles was the dog-winner. So cute!

Thursday (6,666 steps) - Halloween! Clearly, I didn't do much. (Except eat lots of sugar, like this adorable spider donut)
Ariel and her friends dressed up like Pac-Man and the ghosts (they actually researched and made the costumes themselves).

She decided to trick-or-treat with her friends (without me) and Ben, Pika and I went to Kristen's for trick-or-shot. De to the cold weather there were hardly any kids!
No kids, but a super great picture of me doing a shot with an excessive amount of whipped cream
Friday (10,854 steps) - Left work early because A had her annual doctor appointment. Ben had made a pot roast in the crock pot and it was delicious!
Saturday (29,815 steps) - Up early for Runners Edge. Last minute, I decided to sign up for the winter session (without doing an aid station) in an attempt to get my base miles up again. I've been struggling getting into a steady running pace after Tahoe.
I didn't recognize so many people in our pace group! It was actually pretty great weather for running, and I only had to take one unplanned walk break towards the end.
Hurried home to shower because LISA WAS VISITING FROM VEGAS! It took her forever to get her rental car, so we decided to meet for a late brunch (or early lunch?) at El Camino in the Highlands.
It was really fun to catch up! We took a long walk (everyone!) to the library so I could vote, and then me, Lisa and Ben went to 4 Noses. Interestingly, my original bar tab was lost (no complaints, we spend a decent amount of money there). It was super crowded, and we decided to pick up pizza on the way home.
Sunday (26,325 steps) - Me, Ben and Ariel were up early-ish to go to RMRR for the 9 mile race at Prairie Gateway Park. (After looking, this was my 4th time running, although the first year I ran the race was actually 10 miles). Initially, I thought the race might go ok considering my run had been fine with RER. I was wrong. After the first mile I was hot, so I took off my long sleeve. Then I had to start intervals, which at least I was basically able to maintain for most of the run (3:00 run and :45 walk). Even though Ben started more than 20 minutes after me, he passed me with a few miles to go. I finished only about 11 seconds over predicted pace, so it could have been worse.
Garmin Time - 1:36:53
Garmin Distance - 9.01 miles
Mile 1 - 10:20
Mile 2 - 11:05
Mile 3 - 10:50
Mile 4 - 9:58
Mile 5 - 10:47
Mile 6 - 10:43
Mile 7 - 11:21
Mile 8 - 11:00
Mile 9 - 10:44

Ariel also struggled a bit with her run, and even though it was a while before she came in, she still ran faster than I did (she had just started later).
We left after awards and met up with Greg and Lisa at Old Chicago. I was starving when we got there, yet I was only able to eat half my burger. That was weird. Spent the rest of the day feeling kind of blah. Took Pika for a walk, watched the Broncos game.
Eventually, we decided that we would go to Torchy's for dinner.
Basically the most unflattering picture of me ever
By 9:00, I was exhausted, so I headed to bed. Such a fun, but always too short, weekend.
Monday (15,696 steps) - Ben was up crazy early because he was heading to Vermont for a visit with his parents for a few days. Took Pika for a walk, and really appreciated that it was much lighter out! Of course by the time I got home from work and we went out for a 2.5 mile walk, it was NOT pleasant. I really don't enjoy headlamp season :(
Stats:

  • 114,898 steps
  • 16 miles run
  • 2 gym classes and LOTS of Pika walks

Week in Review (March 19 - March 25)

Tuesday  (12,786 steps) - Work in the office. Since Ariel is in France, I had to hire a dog walker for the first time in a VERY long time (l...