Tuesday, August 19, 2025

Week in Review (August 12 - August 18)

Tuesday (12,074 steps) - Walked Olive before going to work in the office. Went for a walk before going to the gym at lunch. Used the Peloton, did a full body strength workout and a quickie on the StairMaster. 
Did a delivery on my way to meet Ben at Costco to pick up groceries for the week. We tried a new dinner and neither of us liked it. Took Olive for another walk. Bosch.
Wednesday (14,542 steps) - Olive walk before work, another walk before going to the gym at lunch. I had planned on doing the 12/3/30 on the treadmill. Did you know that it's really hard work to walk that fast with that kind of incline?? I still did 1.5 miles of varying 12-13% incline, but couldn't quite get it done at that pace. Did a core video that was relatively tough. Did a few deliveries on the way home, put dinner in the oven and walked Olive. More Bosch.
Thursday (19,333 steps) - Work from home. Decided to go for a run, relatively early. This was awful. I guess I was due for a horrible run eventually. It was insanely hot and I walked a ton. Was sad to discover that one of the trails on the south side of the lake is now closed for restoration too. Boo!! Basically all that this was good for was time on feet.
Ariel called me when I was almost home to ask if I could meet her to bring her work shoes to her.... At least she bought me coffee for my troubles. Took Olive for a walk. Torchy's for dinner and Bosch.
Friday (15,457 steps) - Walked Olive before going to work in the office. Took her to work with me and we went for a few different walks during the day. As soon as we got home I went with Ben to Big O so we could get new tires for Shelly. Surprised they were able to get it done before they closed. We had to go back home to finish loading everything up for camping. Thankfully, there was virtually no traffic heading up to the mountains. Of course we stopped at Outer Range before going to our campsite at Prospector. This was our first time in a bit camping here, and it was nice to have a pull through spot - made setting up go a lot quicker. Hot dogs for dinner and we went to bed pretty soon after, a long day.
Saturday (14,082 steps) - I had not slept great, so of course we were up pretty early. Coffee and breakfast. 
I had suggested that we go to Buffalo Mountain. I knew it would be a decent amount of vert, plus the few people who had been up this year had all seen mountain goats! I wasn't super sure of which lot was technically the trailhead, and I was disappointed to see it was the small one at the edge of town. We ended up having to stalk someone to their car to get a spot, but at least we finally got one. I had estimated the hike to be about 6 miles round trip and close to 3,000' of climbing. The lower part is a section we run through when we do the loop, but we are usually coming from the other direction. 



Since I'm still trying to work on my climbing at altitude, I was trying to not take that many breaks, or at least take shorter ones. 
We had just crossed paths with a few gals and were in the woods when I saw something white barreling down the trail. I assumed it was someone's dog. Imagine my surprise when....
If you cant' tell, that is a mountain goat!! I screamed "holy shit" because I have never in my life seen a mountain goat ON a trial, especially below tree line and I had no idea what to do! Luckily, Olive is not the smartest dog and she had no idea what was happening.
The goat got within about 10 feet of us, stared us down, and then suddenly bolted and ran back up the mountain. We didn't see him again until we got to the boulder field - and there he was...
He definitely seemed intent on watching us, which made me a bit nervous, ever since I had done Mt. Evans with Lisa and Lucky and the ranger told us that goats can be aggressive to dogs. We spent a decent amount of time trying to determine if the goat would let us go by, when we noticed that there were some scary clouds of Ten Mile. 

We finally decided that maybe this was a sign that we should just head down without summitting 0 between the passive aggressive goat and an impending storm.


Adorable Pika!
We weren't even off the boulder field when we started to hear the thunder. We started to move a lot quicker since neither one of us had remembered to put a rain jacket in our pack. (Yes, we should know better, we are definitely more experienced than this).

The truly shocking part was the number of people we saw on the way down that were still continuing up. No packs, no jackets... Anyway, we got to about a half mile from the truck when the rain started. Luckily it was only lightly raining - the heavy rain started as we were driving away. We headed back into Frisco and went to Whole Foods for a pizza/Topo lunch before going back to Outer Range for the "Puppy Party." Back to the campsite for hamburgers and relaxation.
Ben had downloaded a few episodes of Bosch that we were able to watch on his laptop before we went to bed.
Sunday (10,175 steps) - Slept a bit better. Had some coffee before starting the journey to Leadville. Stopped at Dunkin for extra coffee. We parked in town a few blocks from the finish line. I used the bathroom and we found the rabbit tent before we went down the street to spectate the golden hour finishers. Josephine managed to find us and we had a great time watching everyone finish! Picked up the gear I wanted from rabbit before driving back down to the campsite to load up. Got out right on time at 11:59! Stopped at Outer Range for a beer and food from Bird Craft (which we ended up getting for free because the kitchen "lost" our order). When we left Frisco the map said it was going to be just over 2 hours. Unfortunately we got to Georgetown and it took two hours just to get to Idaho Springs because of multiple accidents. It was not a fun drive home. Stopped at Parry's for dinner. Got home and unloaded the camper and then Ariel went with me to walk Olive. Bosch.
Monday (19,972 steps) - Blah. Supposed to be another very hot day, so I went for an early run. I had no real plan and made some route changes. 
Had some numb feet again which had me walking for a bit, but after the walking and some stretching I was able to finish my run without too much other drama. Took Olive for a walk after that. Did some deliveries after work. Ben made dinner and I spent the evening on chat with Xfinity over an issue with the trade in we had done for our phones. Not a super fun night. Bosch.

Stats:
  • 105,632 steps
  • 15.68 miles run
  • 15.19 miles walked
  • 18 minutes of cardio
  • 30 minutes of strength

Tuesday, August 12, 2025

Week in Review (August 5 - August 11)

Tuesday (13,382 steps) - Walked Olive before going to work in the office. Normally I go to the gym on Tuesdays, so I still went. I did about 20 minutes of walking with incline on the treadmill while reading my book and then did a pilates video. 
After work I met Ben at Costco. We picked up a pizza for dinner and groceries for the first time in weeks. A horrifically hot day.
Took Olive for another walk to get my steps in. Bosch.
Wednesday (10,133 steps) - Walked Olive before going to work in the office. Didn't know what to do at lunch. I went for a walk (outside!!) even though it was nearly 100 degrees. Then I went to the gym and did a Peloton ride and a 30 minute strength video. After work took Olive for a walk and Ben made stir fry for dinner. Bosch.
Thursday (18,112 steps) - Work from home. I decided to go for a short run. It was sorta slow and didn't feel great, but also didn't feel horrible, so I'll call that a win. 
Took Olive for a walk right after since it was supposed to be crazy hot again. 
Met Ariel at Dutch for a coffee. After work Ariel and I went to the mall (egads, I haven't intentionally gone to a mall to shop in MANY years) to try on dresses for Lisa's wedding. Thankfully, we were successful at Dillard's. We also went to DSW and picked up some shoes. Met Ben at Torchy's for dinner. 
Took Olive for another walk. Bosch.
Friday (12,829 steps) - Bailed on the group walk but took Olive for a long walk at the lake before going to work in the office. Uneventful, slow day. Took Olive for a walk at lunch. 
Actually did a few deliveries after work before going home to make dinner. Bosch.
Saturday (20,693 steps) - Went out for a run, not really sure on where I was going to go or how long. I ended up running to the north side of the lake (which I typically do not enjoy), but it was actually not bad.
I rarely run the dirt road back, but did this time, and it was also not that bad. The last mile is so steep to the house. I felt pretty nauseous when I got home so I had to sit for a few minutes before I could take Olive for her walk. It does appear that leaves are changing?!
Went to 4 Noses with Ben, disheartened that they had no NA beer OR Topo Chico. WTF! We got a snack from the food truck - brussels sprouts!
I was pretty hungry when we got home, so made a taco bowl. More Bosch.
Sunday (14,013 steps) - Did nothing most of the morning. Ben and I took Olive for a walk to the lake. Decided I would go for a short run (mainly because I was otherwise going to struggle getting my steps in). Run was short and not awful!

Took a shower and then Ben and I headed to 4 Noses to meet up with Kristin, Tyler and Jeramiah. It was really good to see everyone, even though wasn't really in the mood for beer. We did pick up ramen from the food truck, delicious like always. 
Ben went to Costco to pick up a pizza (it is the last day the food court is open for TWO MONTHS, what are we going to do?!) More Bosch.
Monday (19,907 steps) - Worked for a bit before taking Olive for a long walk to the lake. Didn't see any owls, but saw a whole tree of birds that looked like vultures or condors?
Had to drop Olive off at the groomers, so I went up the street for a trail run. I had planned to hopefully do about 5 miles on the Coalton trail and hoped it wouldn't be miserable. Spoiler - it wasn't! It was actually a pretty great run!

Did a cool down walk and was headed back to the car when I got the notification that Olive was ready to be picked up. Like always, she was so happy to see me!
After work I did a delivery and then headed back home. Took Olive for a walk before dinner. Ben made grilled pork and vegetables, it was delicious! More Bosch!

Stats:
  • 109,069 steps
  • 16.70 miles run
  • 19.41 miles walked
  • 15 minutes of cardio
  • 40 minutes of strength

Friday, August 8, 2025

Week in Review (July 29 - August 4)

Tuesday (89,694 steps) - Summit 200
Wednesday (66,078 steps) - Summit 200
Thursday (13,506 steps) - Summit 200 DNF. Well, I promptly fell asleep when I got in Lee's truck and have zero recollection of the drive back to his house.
Problem One. All my drop bags that had clean clothes were still at aid stations. And the bag with my non running clothes were in Ben's truck, which was currently parked at the Duck Creek aid station. I took a shower at Lee's and borrowed clothes from Jillian to change into. I slept on and off for a few hours while they went to pick up Ben's truck. Ben, Jillian and I went to the Dillon Dam Brewery for dinner. Service was terrible and food was marginal. Need to remember for next time. Watched Wallace & Gromet "Wrong Trousers" but we were exhausted so we turned in early.
Friday (10,223 steps) - Tried to sleep in a bit, but I hadn't slept well. Jillian was out pacing Tek (waaaahhhh) so it was just me and Ben and Lee for breakfast. We hit up a new (to us) spot for breakfast - the  Mountain Lyon Cafe. It was delicious and I ate every single last bite of this.
I think we went back to Lee's for a bit. Ben and I went to Outer Range for a beer before heading over to the finish line. This was really tough for me, but I did want to see Tek/Jillian and Ana finish. Walked around a bit so I could get my steps in, but the weather was pretty gnarly. 
Spent most of the time under the tent at the finish line talking to Andrea and Rebecca and whomever else happened to be there. When I hit my max time there Ben and I decided to figure out our plan. Back to Outer Range for a beer and then we hit up Pho for dinner. So delicious!!
Back to Lee's. Watched The Lorax.
Saturday (14,641 steps) - Rolled out of bed and tried to start organizing stuff to pack up to go home. Jillian said she wanted to go for a walk and I offered to go with her. I didn't realize Lee was going to join, and I was surprised that we veered away from our normal neighborhood walk. Crocs probably weren't the best footwear choice, but we wandered around the trails behind his house, and even ended up at the Tenderfoot trailhead! Crazy how close he is to it.





We did want to get home and since Ariel was working we needed to get Olive anyway. Quick trip to Outer Range for a beer and more sushi. This visit was crowded and took a long time to get food/drinks, but makes sense since it was the weekend. 
Unloaded the truck, grabbed Olive and went to 4 Noses. 
Since obviously we hadn't been to the store we picked up food from the food truck.
Bosch! It's been a while.
Sunday (10,230 steps) - Blah. What to do. Well, we spent the morning unpacking, cleaning and recombobulating. We went to Torchy's for lunch and got some margaritas.
We initially had wanted to go to 4 Noses for the cheesecake/beer pairing but the price was insanely outrageous. We still went for a beer. We had to plan the evening and decided we didn't have enough time to go to Costco. Instead, we went to Home Depot (I think this might have been Olive's first visit?) and picked up a swamp cooler. I am tired of roasting to death watching TV at night and while sleeping. Yes, I realize summer is almost over. 
Bosch marathon and Ben surprised me with a delivery from Panda Express!
Monday (10,447 steps) - Back to work. It seemed that all my coverage was done very well and I only came back to 91 emails. And at least 10% of those were "reply all" emails that didn't even apply to me. The most aggravating part of my day was how slow the internet was! Why?! I took Olive for a walk and then headed down to Denver for my pulmonology appointment at National Jewish. Unfortunately, like I expected, it was just an initial Meet and Greet type of visit, nothing resolved or plan moving forward other than to scheduled some tests... dropped off the jacket I had picked up for Christina and then met Ariel at Torchy's for a very late lunch. After I got off work I had hoped to do some driving (it's been a very long time since I've done it regularly), but didn't get any offers. Ended up driving to Parry's to meet up with Ben for dinner. Had a beer and the spicy fettuccini, which I think is one of the only menu items I hadn't had before? 
Took Olive for a walk when I got back.  Bosch, and all the animals enjoying the swamp cooler. So hot.

Stats:
  • 214,819 steps
  • 85ish  miles run
  • 11.21 miles walked
  • 0  minutes of cardio
  • 5 minutes of strength

Week in Review (August 12 - August 18)

Tuesday  (12,074 steps) - Walked Olive before going to work in the office. Went for a walk before going to the gym at lunch. Used the Peloto...