Week in Review (September 30 - October 6)

Tuesday (14,328 steps) - Peloton ride and Olive walk before going to work in the office. I was on the fence as to whether I wanted to run or just do inside gym stuff. Ended up doing a brisk few miles on the treadmill (walking, not running) and some weights. After work went home to let Olive out before meeting Ben at Costco for a long overdue grocery trip. Dinner and Wednesday! Dressed Goosie up for Halloween, isn't she adorable??

Wednesday (17,446 steps) - Up early and walked Olive before going to work. Went for a run at lunch, doing intervals. 

Stopped at REI mid run to check out the dry bags that I might use for my next race. Spoiler: they are going to NOT work at all. I'll have to return. Ben and I took Olive for a walk. Only Murders in the Building

Thursday  (17,299 steps) - Work from home. Ariel called to let me know that her tire light is on (AGAIN) so I met her down at Big O. We ventured to get "coffee" from Ziggi's since we both had coupons and took Olive for a walk while we were waiting for her car to be done (it was just the sensor, but we didn't feel the need to spend $90 on a new one).

Did my run at interval run at lunch, it wasn't bad, but another activity where I'm ever so grateful for the bathroom at the trailhead! Took Olive for an afternoon walk and then met Ben at Torchy's for dinner.

More Murders!

Friday (16,711 steps) - Wash Park with the gang! I wasn't sure if I was going to go because I've been really tired and lethargic all week, but since I woke up before my alarm, off we went. I was glad to see everyone. Skipped Stella's so I could get to the office a bit earlier. Olive and I walked to REI at lunch to return the dry bag I had bought earlier in the week. It was hot hot hot, unseasonably warm, nearly hitting 90 degrees today!

After work we met up with Ben at 4 Noses for happy hour. I had their new NA beer and it was not the best, so we left pretty soon after that. 

Saturday (19,369 steps) - Up early to take Olive for a quick walk - although we ended up doing a bit longer than usual since the sunrise looked like it was going to be extra pretty, we headed east instead of our normal west route.

We headed over to Golden so that we could run the Homecoming (Blaster) 5k! Last year we didn't register in time and missed it, so I was much more on top of it this year. We found everything pretty easily and had plenty of time to use the bathroom before starting. We found Ariel and her friend/roommate Margaret before the start and got this picture with adorable Blaster! 

Could Blaster BE any cuter??? Wearing the race shirt and his own bib!!!

I had told Ben we should do our own thing for the run, so I had one earbud in so I could listen to music. I knew the course was going to be relatively hilly and I had a (lame) soft goal of sub 35 minutes. Well, the course starts as an uphill and I took my first walk break like a half mile in. There was some crowding on the bike path and this stupid woman was running with her two kids, holding at least on of their hands and taking up most of the trail with zero situational awareness. Second break maybe 1.5 miles in, shortly after I saw Blaster (yes, he ran the whole 5k!!) and Ben. Ariel and Margaret caught up to me and we walked together for a minute. I started to run again around 2 miles in and did pretty well until the last hill up to the finish - what a cruel finish!! Official splits 11:04/11:01/11:41/10:21 for a 34:39 finish. 

Finisher pic with Blaster!

That felt stupidly hard. Trying to give myself a break since I haven't done speed work in AGES and I have been sick for a week or longer. Anyway. Ariel and Margaret finished just a few minutes after me. We got a sno cone and a burrito to take home for later. Ariel had to head out for additional Homecoming activities, and we had to head home as well. Did some reading while Ben took a nap and then took Olive for a long walk before we headed down to Bear Creek for our volunteering shift at the Bear Chase races! Bear Chase was my first 50 miler in 2011 (!!!!) and I ran varying distances there for years up until Covid - this was my first time back since! We arrived right on time at 1:00. The weather seemed to already be rolling in and it was cloudy and windy when we arrived. Stella was volunteering, as was Jim. Well, it was quite an adventure out there. The wind only got worse as time went on. We ended up having to tape everything down because full containers of food would blow off the table. We even got some rain and I wished I had brought more clothes!!

By mid afternoon the wind had gotten exponentially worse - to the point where all four of us were hanging on the canopy to keep it from blowing away. 

We were able to head out shortly after the last runner at 8:45 pm. I cannot believe how exhausting this was! Had hoped to get food on the way home and we were way too tired. Ate some leftovers and sat on the couch for a few minutes before bed. What a long day.

Sunday (22,920 steps) - Definitely exhausted when I woke up. Crazy how much volunteering takes out of me! Took Olive for a walk and then we headed up to Louisville for our long run. I didn't look until after we got back home, but it was my longest training run in MONTHS. 

Apparently the only picture I took all run

Pretty sad that I haven't run double digits outside of a race in who knows how long. Guess this means I need to get back to work on base building, as 9 miles seemed REALLY tough towards the end. I had worn long sleeves for this since it seemed chilly when we left the house. It was partially perfect, but any time the sun came out it felt really warm. On the way home we stopped at Torchy's for lunch/snack. Went home and took a shower, read for a bit and then went out to do some driving. By the time I got back it was raining so Olive did not get an afternoon walk. Ben had Panda delivered (YUM) and we started "No Time to Die" but between Ariel showing up for a surprise visit and the length of the movie, we weren't able to finish it. Goodbye weekend?

Monday (18,227 steps) - Work from home. I had to run to the obgyn to get my IUD replaced, fun times. Picked up a coffee from Dunkin' as a reward. Took Olive for a walk before taking her to get groomed. I went for my run on the US36 bike path. Really not bad at all! I also had to wear tights and long sleeves as it was pretty chilly. Never gonna survive winter!! After work I did a few deliveries and then took Olive for a walk before dinner. Ben ordered Domino's, which we haven't had in ages. Finished "No Time to Die."

Stats:

• 126,300 steps
• 25.95 miles run
• 16.43 miles walked
• 15 minutes of cardio
• 5 minutes of strength

Week in Review (September 23 to September 29)

Tuesday (11,850 steps) - Peloton ride and walked Olive before going to work in the office. 

It was a rainy and crap commute into the city. Went to the gym at lunch and did a strength video and a couple miles of fast walking at 7-9% incline. After work I walked Olive, STILL in the rain. Ben brought home pizza for dinner. Caught up on Wednesday. 

Wednesday (13,158 steps) - Olive walk before going to work in the office. Went for a run at lunch. Since I have another "flat" race coming up, I did intervals, which makes running go so much better! 

Did a lower body video before going back to work. Home for a walk with Olive. Stir fry for dinner and Wednesday!

Thursday (16,148 steps) - Work from home. Took Olive for a walk, went for an interval run, another Olive walk and then a chest/back video. 

Had to go to Costco to put air in my tires and then we went to Torchy's for dinner. Yes, even though it was our five year wedding anniversary, we still chose to go down the street for queso and tacos.

Watched the remake of Naked Gun and an episode of Wednesday. Surprise visit from Ariel before we went to bed.

Friday (16,219 steps) - Wash Park with Olive and the gang! Ended up being really busy in the morning at work because I had missed a huge stack of work Joyce had left for me while I was in Canada. Took Olive for a walk at lunch. Left early to finish the day at home so we could get everything packed up for camping! Unfortunately, Ben didn't get off early, but we still got out before 5:30 and met Lee at Outer Range at 7:30. 

Headed to Safeway to pick up food and decided to just have snacks for dinner.

Saturday (16,491 steps) - It was COLD when we got up - frost on our chairs! We had coffee and then headed to Vail to do the "traditional" Berry Picker hike. GORGEOUS.

We had a beer at the summit and then took the gondola down. We were starving, so hit up Garfinkel's for lunch.

We headed back down to Frisco and met up with Lee again at Outer Range. We did get back to our campsite before dark this time. Since we were pretty full from a big, late lunch we just had snacks for dinner again. Both exhausted, we went to bed really early.

Sunday (15,410 steps) - I wanted to do another activity before we had to head back to town, and the North Ten Mile trail is always nice. Not too crazy and lots of water access for Olive. 

After we finished we headed back to the campsite so we could get everything loaded up. Traffic still didn't look terrible, so we stopped at Outer Range before heading out. Olive was exhausted after the weekend!

Traffic wasn't great on the way down, but we have certainly sat through worse. Stopped at Parry's for dinner. Once we finally got home we had to unpack the camper and then watched more Wednesday.

Monday (10,331 steps) - Work from home, thankfully. I had thought about running but never felt like it. Took Olive for a walk at lunch and finally saw an owl again.

Drove up to 4 Noses to meet Ben for happy hour, then had to take Olive for a longer walk. Wednesday.

Stats:

• 99,607 steps
• 16.35 miles run
• 12.77 miles walked
• 15 minutes of cardio
• 40 minutes of strength

Week in Review (September 16 - September 22)

Tuesday (15,404 steps) - I about had a stroke when Ana came to wake me up. Right as she said my name a car alarm started to go off in the parking lot. Anyway, I got dressed pretty quickly and we met up with CJ to drive to CP13 to see Paul and to drop CJ off for pacing. I was glad that I had Gaia with me as the map CJ was using to drive there wanted him to take something that was not even a road?? It was about a half hour drive to get there. Once we were parked we headed into the aid station. We decided to walk to meet Paul since we figured he couldn't be that far out. We were probably a half mile out when SAR stopped to let us know that he was 1-2 kilometers back. We did find Paul and boy, was he moving well! I actually had a bit of a tough time keeping up with him! We got back to the aid station and got him prepped for a power nap and clothes change, and Ana and I got food prepared for him. After we got them out of the aid station I drove us back to the hostel. We weren't sure when Andrea would be finishing, but I set an alarm so I could walk up and see her. I snoozed through it a few times, I was suddenly exhausted. Headed up to the finish line around 7:30 maybe and watched a few people finish before she came in. 

I think I probably headed back down to the hostel to shower (?) and retrieve Ana. We were at the finish line for a long time waiting for the final finishers. Paul was DFL and came in a little over 20 minutes under cutoff. Talk about stressful!! We all got something to eat and sat around talking. We all decided to go back to the hostel to rest and get all our things packed up. I got bored at some point and went back up to the finisher area just to find people to talk to. The post-race dinner and awards started at 5. Sat at a table with all the usual suspects and the addition of Lee, Karmell, Marc (Ana's crew) and Lance, the volunteer that got me and Ana both back to the start/finish after our respective DNFs. The food was ok, I was glad to get a beer, and the awards were fun. 

CJ wanted to get us all back to Calgary in the evening since they all had early flights. Somehow, FIVE of us (CJ, Paul, Ana, Andrea and me) managed to fit in a Ford Bronco AND all our gear. It was definitely a tight squeeze. 

I got dropped off at the hotel that Ben had booked for me and was pleasantly surprised with room service showing up about 5 minutes after I got into my room.

I stayed up long enough to eat 90% of the pizza and drink the beer before I passed out. I slept absolutely wonderfully.

Wednesday (11,225 steps) - I had scheduled a seat on the shuttle at 9:45 and my alarm was set for 8:30. Took a quick shower and then re-packed all my stuff. Don't even ask how I was able to condense into just Big Red and my tiny backpack, especially since I bought gear!! The bag weighed at least a thousand pounds.

The shuttle was super quick and efficient. I could not WAIT to get rid of Big Red. Dropped the bag off and then went through security - getting flagged again. Batteries and weirdly the cargo pants I wore on outbound flights with no issues were suddenly suspicious. I had some time to kill and needed to get my steps in. I picked up a delicious smoothie for breakfast.

The flight, like last time, was super quick. We were on the small plane and no one sitting next to me. I watched an episode of Gossip Girl. Was told I would not have to get my bag prior to going through customs - yay!! Headed towards my gate only to realize that I had to go all the way back past the gate I was at before. Picked for random screening and was told I had to take the case of my iPad and the guy went through all my things. Then I went through customs, which I wasn't expecting to do until the states. The guy asked why I was in Canada. I told him about the race. He asked how it went, I mentioned the bear and that I quit and he said he didn't blame me. By now I am feeling rushed since we are supposed to be departing soon. I ordered a beer and mac and cheese to go from a place right across from my gate.

We boarded on time. Taxied. And then sat and sat and sat. Some part apparently broke off when we were taxiing and maintenance is not on site? (Which seems odd). All in all I think we were delayed over 90 minutes - most of which was spent on the plane. Once we finally left, the flight was fine. Once again, I lucked out not having anyone next to me. Watched multiple Gossip Girl episodes. Upon arrival my bag was there and Ben picked me up without incident. We stopped at Parry's on the way home. Took Olive for a short walk - boy was she happy to see me!

Thursday  (10,497 steps) - Thankfully, a work from home day. Got all my things unpacked and put away, did laundry. Took Olive for a long walk at lunch and then another walk after we went to Torchy's for dinner. Finished up Bosch... sad.

Friday (10,719 steps) - Took Olive for a walk before going to work in the office. Per the usual, she was bored at work, but got lots of treats.

After work we headed up to 4 Noses to meet Ben for happy hour. We decided to check out a "new to us" restaurant on the way home,  G's. Food wasn't too expensive and it was pretty good! I actually ate this entire burrito.

Ben and I took Olive for a short walk when we got home since I still needed to get my steps in.

Saturday (11,636 steps) - Really nice to not have to get up early! Did a Peloton ride so that I wouldn't break my streak. Ben picked up Dutch Bros for us and then we took Olive to the dog park. Ben had to go to a work function, so I went out and did a few deliveries. 

Also - it is Robin's 15th birthday! We adopted her ten years ago, and although the shelter didn't know how old she was exactly, they guessed around 5. Happy birthday! Took Olive for another walked and watched multiple episodes of Gossip Girl waiting for Ben to get home.

Sunday (12,343 steps) - After coffee Ben and I went for a "recovery" run. He picked the route to run along the dam. I didn't feel too horrible and took just a couple walk breaks when I didn't really feel  like running.

I took Olive for a walk, and then we went to Torchy's for brunch while we were waiting for an Amazon Fresh order to be delivered. 

Headed to the Alamo to see "The Longest Walk." It was a pretty good movie and reminded me a LOT of most ultras. I would not have made it was far as they did, that's for sure. Ben grilled chicken and vegetables for dinner and we started the newest Mission Impossible movie. Since it is THREE HOURS LONG, we did not finish it. WHY ARE MOVIES SO LONG?!?

Monday (10,543 steps) - Work from home. Took Olive for a quick walk in the morning and then another long walk at lunch. A really nice day!

I had a dentist appointment in the afternoon - why did I schedule a 4 pm appointment??? It started raining on the way home. Ben picked up pho for dinner - perfect for a chilly evening.

Took Olive for a quick walk around the block when we had a window of no rain. Finished up Mission Impossible and then onto Wednesday. 

Stats:

• 82,367 Steps
• 3.65 miles run
• 17.26 miles walked
• 20 minutes of cardio
• 0 minutes of strength