Week in Review (November 29 - December 5)

Tuesday (14,555) - Laura's barre class during lunch. Traffic was outrageously horrible after work and I was late picking up A (for the first time ever, and only by a few minutes). She was about 20 minutes late to gymnastics. ALL SO ANNOYING. Chili for dinner and bed early.
Wednesday (14,989 steps) - Picked up A after school and after I was off work we headed down to the Denver store for run club. It was ridiculously cold, but it was a fun night. SPI belt was there and gave everyone a free belt (score!) and after our 2ish mile run with Colfax, we had pizza and beer.

So, greatest night ever. Once we got home A decided she wanted to put up the Christmas tree (which we haven't done in at least one year, maybe even two or three). I made the mini Oreo cheesecakes for the upcoming Roost team party (even though I can't go) while all that was happening.
Thursday (12,713 steps) - Barely slept. Barre class with Meredith at 6 am. Left work just a few minutes early to get A and head back down to the Denver store for a special training session with Junko. Traffic was a NIGHTMARE. We ended up being about 15 minutes late, but WOW, were we in for a treat. Junko is an amazing athlete and her training session was HARD. I was sweating buckets by the end.

A didn't want to go to Rocko's, so we headed home. Stopped along the way to pick up some hats and gloves from the dollar store for the Roost party for donations to the Denver Rescue Mission.

Friday (9,875 steps) - SO SORE. Long, horrible day at work. Picked up A and went to the Empty Bowls fundraiser at the high school. We got some pretty cool bowls this year!

We then went home so A could pack and I could take an epsom salt bath. I took A down to Heather's around 8:00 for her weekend sleepover. Finished packing, stayed up a bit too late.
Saturday (16,053 steps) - Traveling, etc. for California International Marathon.

Sunday (62,331 steps) - California International Marathon and travel home.

Monday (8,596 steps) - Not surprisingly, I was exhausted all day. Work lasted an absolute eternity. Picked up A at Scouts, then home. I watched Walking Dead (dang long episodes!) and worked with Lisa to get A plane tickets for Texas since apparently my ex lost his job. Le sigh. Up later than I wanted to be.

Stats:

• 139,112 steps
• 28.6 miles run (thank you, marathon)
• Junko training session (which I was still feeling on Monday!) and 2 barre classes
• Current weight ??? - I may stop weighing myself for a while, seems counterproductive. 

Everything Else:

• Runners Roost was supposed to announce the 2017 team on Thursday... still waiting! So impatient! With the change of ownership and all new captains, I'm very nervous about my application!

California International Marathon (Race Recap)

Sacramento,  CA
Sunday, December 4
Marathon #30
Weather - Overcast and chilly

After running the California International Marathon in the 2012 monsoon, Heather really wanted to run it again, in better weather. We were originally registered to run in 2015, but after a lack of training, we deferred to 2016.

Saturday

A was already at Heather's house, I had taken her over the night before. I got up a bit later than I should have, made coffee, and drove to the off-site lot to drop off the car. I arrived at the airport a little over an hour before my flight, but security was a breeze, so it was no big deal. Charged my phone a bit before boarding, and even though I was in "B," managed to get a window seat in the second row. Now that Netflix has the download option, I was able to watch the Amanda Knox documentary and the first episode of Bates Motel. Both were good.

Heather had already landed and was waiting outside my gate. We took an Uber to the host hotel, the Sheraton across from the finish, and checked in. We went to the expo and picked up our packets without any issues.

Phew! I actually registered!

"California fall" outside the convention center - this is the last quarter mile of the course

Neither of us had eaten, so we walked to The Patio and got lunch. Mmmm, mac and cheese and cornbread.

We were both pretty tired so we went back to the hotel and watched TV until about 5 when it was time to walk to meet some of my teammates for dinner at The Waterboy. The food was good, but it was a lot pricier (and more fancy) than I expected. Ah well.

Sunset from our hotel room

Spent the rest of the evening getting gear ready and watching TV. Lights out around 9.

Sunday, Race Day

Alarm was set for 4:40. However, I hadn't slept well and had gotten up around 4:15. By the time the alarm went off I was ready to go. We made coffee in the room and walked down the street to the shuttle bus pick up at the convention center at 5:00 am. The bus ride sure seemed long, and NOTHING looked familiar. Had we really run this before??

A billion buses and a California sunrise

We stayed on the bus until about 15 minutes before the race started. I had been using my addaday massager on my right calf all day Saturday because it was crazy tight and achy after my crazy training session with Junko on Thursday. We used the bathroom, I picked up gloves off the ground since I had accidentally left mine on the bus (wah!!) and squeezed in around the 5:08 pace group. 5:08 pace group? Such a weird time!

Start line

The first 5 or so miles were fine. We were running a fairly comfortable pace. I was pleased that my calf did not seem to be acting up. Shortly after the section aid station (maybe mile 5.5), Heather asked if I minded if we started a run/walk. I did not mind, and we began doing 4:1 intervals. This worked well for the next few miles. We saw Libby working the aid station at mile 8.4 (random to see a friend from Texas working an aid station in California), and kept going. We adjusted the run/walk a bit for aid stations and hills.

So pretty!

Turns out, Heather was NOT imagining chickens on the course (we saw them around mile 9 I think). Then, we saw a guy with two goats spectating. Of course we had to get a picture with them, HOW COULD YOU NOT?? We seemed a lot more excited than the goats, though.

GOATS!!! PET GOATS!!!

There was  nice downhill after mile 10, and I made a comment that it was unfortunate that we had a walk break on the awesome downhill. That was when Heather told me that her left hip was bothering her and that running downhill was actually pretty painful. Uh oh. I've been there. I asked her if she wanted to walk a bit more, and she joked that maybe she would just quit. We did a few more intervals, and there was a climb near mile 12 where she said that she was indeed quitting. Oh no! I asked her if she was serious about quitting, if it was that bad. If she planned on just a lot of walking I had  no problems staying with her, but I did want to finish. She said the pain had spread to her IT band and that walking also hurt so she was going to walk to the relay exchange and stop. :(

Dang! Bummer! I told her I would text her later and hoped she felt better and moved on. I felt pretty good for a while, stopping around mile 16 to use the bathroom (the only one on the whole course that did not seem to have a line). Somewhere around mile 19 or so, my lack of road running and actual distance running caught up with me. I decided I would attempt to do intervals, running 5 or 6 minutes with a quick walk break.

At the "wall" around mile 20

The last "hill" - bridge at mile 22ish

This worked pretty good until maybe mile 23. I was really done by then. It was a lot colder than I had anticipated, and while I normally do really well in colder weather, I just felt... well, cold. I didn't want to put gloves on, but I kinda wished I had worn arm sleeves.

Action shot from Heather just before mile 26

I sent Heather a text at mile 24 to let her know that I was close, and she said she would be near the finish line. The last mile of the course seemed to go on forever.
There was a big blue arch that you would THINK indicated the end, but NO. The sign right after said mile 26, yet when I crossed the finish line I was closer to 26.5. The race has the strangest finish line ever, with men and women finishing in different chutes.

Got my medal and then met up with Heather. Thankfully, she had brought my jacket. We went and got some post-race food and beers before heading back to the hotel. I actually was not able to finish my brunch, which was weird because I was REALLY hungry the last few miles of the race.

This is actually a breakfast burrito, NOT a panini

Showered and checked out at 3:00. We didn't head to the airport until 5, and I was very sad to see my flight was delayed. By the time I got to the airport, picked up A, and got home it was 1:20 in the morning.  Blah.

Official Time - 5:14:23
Official 10K - 1:10:24
Official 13.1 - 2:35:29
Official 20 Mile - 3:57:31
Overall Place - 5186/6174
Gender Place - 2227/2838
Division Place - 401/505

Thoughts:

• The race caps at 7,500 runners. According to results, there were about 1,300 runners that either didn't start the race, or didn't finish. The race does allow deferrals, I believe it cost another $40 to register, on top of whatever we paid last year.
• Expo is in a nice, spacious location at the convention center. Packet pick up was a breeze. There were not too many vendors I was interested in. Unsure what parking would have cost if we hadn't been able to just walk there.
• The shuttles are organized incredibly well. They were loaded efficiently and got us all to the race in plenty of time.
• PLENTY of port-o-potties. Supposedly they had 300! We only waited a few minutes to use one. They also had quite a few on the course, there were always lines for those though.
• The course is very runnable - I didn't find any of the hills very long or unmanageable. 
• Tons of aid stations. More sparse in the beginning, with two sections where there was more than 3 miles between them. By the second half they were pretty much every mile - 17 aid stations in all. Plenty of volunteers, with Nuun and water. There were also a few "food" stations - some had GU, bananas, oranges and even baked goods.
• Every mile was marked, with a handful of timing mats on the course. Lots of crowd support and music and "energy."
• Medal is big, but not very interested. Kind of wish the cityscape had a more "bold" outline.
• Nice, long sleeve and gender specific shirt.
• Finish are is a cluster. Super crowded. And the beer was non-alcoholic.
• Would I run again? No. But it's more because it was just "meh" to me, and I've now run it twice. Too many marathons to run this one a third time.

Avenue of the Giants Marathon (Race Recap)

Weott, California
Sunday, May 1
Marathon #28
Weather - Sunny, perfect

Heather picked the Avenue of the Giants marathon as her birthday race. Since my birthday is only a few weeks after hers, I invited myself along, registering right away. Then, of course, people asked... "how are you getting there." I assumed, by plane. Until I started looking at the logistics. The Avenue of the Giants is pretty much in the middle of nowhere, and there is no such thing as a direct flight from Denver. Not such a big deal, but flying into the Eurkea airport (about 45 minutes north), was a lot more expensive. We determined that it was worth it to pay a bit more and not have to drive 5 HOURS from San Francisco.

Anyway.

We had already scoped out where the race was starting, so we planned on leaving the hotel at 6, giving us 45 minutes for the drive and then an hour to use the bathrooms, park, etc. Timing ending up working out really well. The marathon starts at 7:45, an hour before the half. It is also the smallest of the three events, so we were able to park with ease. By the time we parked, we weren't sure that we would have time to use the bathroom and then head back to the car, so we put on our throwaways and grabbed all our stuff and headed towards the start.

First time we went through the bathroom lines there was virtually no wait. We took some pictures and cycled through the line one more time before the start. It was REALLY foggy at the start, but we were sure that it would burn off later.

At the start line

Heather got a stress fracture in mid March. She had literally run less than 20 miles in the last 6 weeks. Up until the trip out, we were unsure what distance we were even going to attempt. That was settled when the race director told us that although she could stop at the half marathon point, she would get a DNF. Against better judgment, she wanted to go for the marathon. I, on the other hand, had put in my first ever marathon training cycle and run just about all my scheduled runs. (Well, until the whole lasik thing, then I had to cut some out). Kinda bummed not to see what my training could do for me (if anything), but I was committed to running with Heather. So the goal was "slow and low, that is the tempo" and not to screw up her injury any worse.

With that said, we lined up towards the back. I was still wearing my throwaway as it was a tad chilly in the midst of all the trees. The road we were on was pretty torn up, but very runnable. We chatted and the time was flying by. We were maintaining a slower pace than I even train at, but Heather was feeling good, so we didn't want to push the pace. The course was marked at every mile, and we had been warned that due to the giant trees, we might lose satellite on our watches, so I liked that there were markings. I hadn't really memorized where the aid stations were, but I had thought the first one would be around 2 miles in, and it wasn't until closer to 3. Not a big deal as it was still pretty chilly. Both of us got rid of our throwaways though.

The aid stations all had gatorade (the icky lemon-lime flavor) and water, as well as oranges. On the website, it said that there would be gels at "select" aid stations, which turned out to only be on the marathon course at mile 13, fyi, make sure you have enough for the whole race.

Anyway, we were stopping to take a lot of pictures. I had to stop every hour or so to put drops in my eyes. We walked all the aid stations and had to stop twice on the course to use the bathroom. The course is a double out and back, and the way out of the first out and back, it seemed downhill. However, it didn't seem that uphill on the way back (with the exception of a short climb around mile 11 or so).

At the half way point we joined the half marathon and 10k runners on a wider, two lane road. This road was MUCH easier to run on, as it was very smooth. We were definitely the back of the pack for the marathon, but I don't mind out and backs as I can see other people. I think the most interesting person on the course was a woman doing the half marathon CARRYING A BABY IN A BJORN. What. And she wasn't even last, or even close to last. Around mile 18 my garmin lost satellite. It would take over a half hour to recover it, so I was lost on our pace, and kind of where we were. (Not really, because there were markings every mile).
Heather finally started to have some issues around mile 20. Not where her stress fracture was (right tibia), but hip/glut and IT band on her left side. I'm guessing that she was favoring her left leg, trying to avoid hurting her right. By that point, spirits were definitely down and the chatter lessened, as she was in no mood for goofy chit chat. Did my best to keep her spirits high, but she was struggling. It was also getting really warm. The forecast had the high around 73, and considering I have been running in 40 degree weather, that seemed HOT. Most of the people at our pace were walking, so we actually passed quite a few people in the back half.

The sections in the sun were so warm!

We took a few short walk breaks, but I was really amazing at how much Heather was able to run! She is crazy/a rock star. I had thought the last aid station was about 3/4 of a mile from the finish, and was getting kind a discouraged when it seemed to be taking so long to get there. Turns out, it was like .3 from the finish. Both of us had some kick left and we sprinted past two people in the chute (one of which was behind us in line at the airport and remembered us).

Heather was pretty bummed with our "slow" finish. Since I'm slower anyway, I didn't care. PLUS, SHE HAD NOT RUN IN 6 WEEKS!

Official Time - 5:29:51 (not even my slowest road marathon)
Official Pace - 12:35
Overall Place - 444/522
Gender Place - 197/256
Division Place - 29/36
Garmin Time - 5:30:18
Mile 1 - 11:23
Mile 2 - 11:48
Mile 3 - 11:43
Mile 4 - 11:14
Mile 5 - 12:33
Mile 6 - 12:01
Mile 7 - 14:07
Mile 8 - 11:50
Mile 9 - 11:51
Mile 10 - 13:23
Mile 11 - 13:58
Mile 12 - 11:25
Mile 13 - 12:02
Mile 14 - 11:53
Mile 15 - 11:52
Mile 16 - 14:05
Mile 17 - 14:09
Mile 18 - 14:23
Mile 19 - 33:52 (this is where my garmin lost satellite, pretty sure this was almost 3 miles)
Mile 20 - 12:50
Mile 21 - 12:29
Mile 22 - 12:31
Mile 23 - 13:35
Mile 24 - 12:42
Mile 25 - 11:06

Overall, my watch only measured 24.59 miles, so I lost about 1.6 miles due to the whole big trees / satellite issue.

Collected our medals and headed up to the finish area. I was hungry and wanted beer. SADLY, the "food" SUCKED. A bag of stale chips and peanut butter and jelly wraps were IT. Urg!!! We were in the middle of nowhere, so it's not like we could just drive down the street and get food. As for the beer, apparently only some special "club" was able to get beer. They had a big sign for Eel River brewery, but not everyone was able to get a beer. SO DISAPPOINTING. They did, however, have a food truck where you could BUY food, but our car was a ten minute walk away.

Thoughts:

• Course is beautiful. Hands down, one of the prettiest road races I have run. I LOVE TREES AND GREEN THINGS SO MUCH!!
• Race was pretty well organized, and I liked that there were plenty of aid stations and potties located on the course. Lots of friendly volunteers, the aid stations were never out of supplies and it didn't seem like they were overwhelmed.
• Do not love that the race shirt is a cotton tee. I won't wear it. They did have lots of other options of tops and merchandise to BUY at packet pick up. Maybe if this was a first marathon, or I didn't have a bazillion other x,y,z.
• Cute medal. We think it is a bobcat on it. We did not see any on the course, nor do I know if they live in the area. But cute.
• BUMMER BUMMER BUMMER about the finish area. It SUCKED having to drive back to Eurkea (well over 40 minutes away, just to get food). Was not pleased with that.
• So, if the question is, would I run again? I probably would not, but more because of the expense in getting there. I don't think anyone would be disappointed with the course, and the lack of food and beer could certainly be solved - if you knew about it in advance.

Surf City half marathon (Race Recap)

Sunday, February 7
Huntington Beach, CA
Half Marathon #143
Weather - Sunny and HOT

Heather had made the best decision EVER when she purchased the "VIP" registration for the Surf City half marathon. We went to the expo on Saturday around lunch time. The VIP got us a parking spot right next to the tent. We spent an hour or so in the HOTTEST venue ever. Seriously, tents on the beach get super stuffy. Anyway, picked up some merchandise, said hi to my former Ragnar teammate at her booth (Bic Bands) and then headed out.

Race Day

I was planning on running with Maureen. Thanks to Jandy joining us, I hoped that she and Heather would run together (so Heather could run faster than my pace). Maureen's wave was scheduled to start at 8, and being right down the street with our super special parking pass, we decided that leaving at 6:30 would give us plenty of time. Our only issue was actually making the turn into the lot. Our spot was even closer than the one we got at the expo. Bathroom lines were slow so we hit them up first. We wandered down the beach path to get some pre-race pictures.

Teammates!

Heather, Jandy, Me and Maureen

Heather and Jandy waited in the corral for me and Maureen while we made one more pit stop.

Most baffling? All the people wearing pants and long sleeves!!

Best sign of the race!

Sure enough, right after our wave started Heather and Jandy took off. I had a great time running with Maureen, and I was surprised by the number of people I recognized on the course. I had studied the course map the night before, and other than the first aid station being at mile 2, it looked like most of them were only 1-1.5 miles apart, so I had decided to not carry a handheld, even though it was sunny and eleventy billion degrees. I stopped at every single aid station, taking water and the electrolyte drink when it was available.

The course was extremely crowded. It did thin out a bit after the first few miles, but it was definitely more people than I am used to running with. Maureen and I chatted the whole race, and both of us felt good the entire time. I cannot remember the last time I ran a race where I actually felt good the whole time, did not take unscheduled walk breaks, and STILL had a kick at the end. Obviously not anywhere close to the speed I had years ago, but I will take a race where I feel awesome the whole time over being speedy.

Official Time - 2:19:00
Garmin Time - 2:19:02
Garmin Distance - 13.18 miles
Mile 1 - 10:52
Mile 2 - 10:48
Mile 3 - 10:42
Mile 4 - 10:49
Mile 5 - 10:20
Mile 6 - 11:00
Mile 7 - 10:09
Mile 8 - 11:10
Mile 9 - 10:30
Mile 10 - 10:28
Mile 11 - 10:33
Mile 12 - 10:33
Mile 13 - 9:42
Mile 13.18 - 8:03 (FLYING)

Awesome medal - the center spins AND it has a fold out stand!

We found Heather and Jandy, discovered the beer line was way too long to bother with and headed home.

Thoughts:

• Virtually no shade. We were lucky to enjoy a slight breeze on the way back. It was unbearably sunny and hot (especially coming from single digit temperatures in Colorado!
• The course is very flat, with the exception of a small loop around a neighborhood around mile 5 and an overpass.
• Plenty of aid stations. It was a billion degrees and I did not ever feel like I was desperate for water. They also had gels and shot blocks.
• Some of the aid stations had trash boxes in the middle of the course. Awkward, especially when you are running with tens of thousands of people and can't always see them... I almost tripped over one.
• The marathon course looked SUPER confusing, based only on the signage I saw for it. No first-hand knowledge of course.
• The expo was not my favorite. Way to hot and crowded.
• Shirt is cute - of course no picture, sorry!
• The race branded merchandise was actually pretty affordable. I didn't buy any because I already have way more running clothes/items than I'll ever wear out.
• The finish area was a CLUSTER. I did not care for any of the "freebie" food items, and it was a bummer that the beer line was so long since we had 2 free beer tickets on our bibs.
• If you are running with a group, SPLIT THE VIP COST and buy it with one of the registrations. I cannot stress enough how awesome it was to have this! Totally worth the money at a race this size. We did not have to mess around with the shuttles and we got super close parking for both the expo and the race.

Holiday Half Marathon (Race Recap)

Sunday, December 28
San Diego, CA
Half Marathon #121
Weather - Chilly(ish) at start, pleasant

L had decided to join my parents in SoCal over Christmas. Due to the week off I normally take at New Years, I couldn't quite take the whole week, but then she mentioned her and Heather had been tossing around the idea of running the Holiday Half in San Diego. I was able to cash in a one way flight, so I went ahead and registered. Obviously, L would be running alone and Heather and I planned to run together. We picked festive holiday colors.

Heather and I stayed at a hotel close(r) to the finish area. My dad was planning on driving to the finish, picking us up and driving us to the start. In retrospect, we ended up doing a lot of driving, HOWEVER, according to the comments on the Facebook page, the shuttles were a CLUSTER, and the cause for the race starting late.

We had to be up somewhere around 4:30 (see what happens when you wait weeks to write a recap? You can't remember anything). The disaster in the morning was trying to put on the festive holiday socks L had gotten us. They fit ok over my foot but were SO INCREDIBLY TIGHT I could barely get them over my calves. My legs looked like sausages! I texted L to ask how her socks fit. Apparently, not well. She wore a spare pair of socks she had brought. I brought short socks JUST IN CASE.

We planned to meet at the finish area around 5:30. Then we decided to hit Sbux. Plus, it turned out to be a bit further than we planned. The good news was that we got a parking spot and that my dad and L were late anyway.

I think we got dropped off at the start line around 6:30, with the race scheduled to start at 7:30. We were able to get into the bathrooms with no wait. Begrudgingly, Albertsons "allowed" runners to hang out in the store. (After the race we found out we weren't supposed to be in there unless we were buying something). We decided to give ourselves 15 minutes for the bathroom. THE LINES WERE CHAOTIC. Totally should have taken a picture of it. Almost got in a fight with a girl that tried to get in front of us because "her line wasn't moving."

Headed toward the "corrals" in the back of Albertson's just as the race should have been starting. The DJ/announcer was very hard to understand but we kept waiting. And waiting. And waiting. And waiting. They finally started the race in waves. We started in the third wave next to this scary mostly naked "Santa"

I had been trying to convince Heather that "net downhill" and downhill courses are NOT the same thing. We had talked to a speedy friend of ours at the start that said "hill in the first mile or so, downhill until mile 8, then rollers." Ok.

So the hills in the beginning were no joke. I think the first BIG hill was just after mile 1. We walked up that. The hill actually came at a perfect place because the walking loosened me up. We came off the road onto a SKINNY bike path that paralleled the highway somewhere around the second or third mile. LITERALLY RIGHT OFF THE FREEWAY.

Yep. That was our view for about the first 8 miles. The sun went behind some clouds, cooling the temps and honestly, it was pretty perfect. The aid stations were nicely space. I only had one gel during the race and none of the electrolyte drink (which L said was gross).

Somewhere around mile 8 or 9 we moved into a neighborhood. Heather warned me that she might crash and burn. I was feeling pretty good and was perfectly ok if we were going to end up walking at some point. We figured (again, misreading the elevation profile), that we were going to end up walking some of the last mile as we were thinking it was going to be uphill.

Interestingly, we handled the last miles like #EliteAthletes, and we came into the finish at an unexpectedly "fast" finish time.

L found us right away, we got our finisher picture taken by the fake ocean backdrop and immediately headed out so we could get back to the hotel and shower before heading back up to Irvine.

Official Time - 2:12:29
Official Place - 1636/2748
Garmin Time - 2:12:31
Garmin Distance: 13.16 miles
Garmin Pace - 10:04 (???!!!)
Mile 1 - 10:25
Mile 2 - 10:52
Mile 3 - 10:27
Mile 4 - 9:44
Mile 5 - 10:14
Mile 6 - 9:32
Mile 7 - 10:10
Mile 8 - 9:46
Mile 9 - 9:40
Mile 10 - 10:21
Mile 11 - 9:46
Mile 12 - 10:13
Mile 13 - 9:53
Mile 13.16 - 8:54

Thoughts

• The race is only in it's second year, but they have a few logistics to work out. The bag drop off at the start was so complicated. We didn't do a drop, but apparently instead of just dropping off a bag there were mobile lockers? It apparently was time consuming.
• The shuttle at both the start and finish were super slow and sucky. Thankfully, we didn't have to use that.
• No gels on the course.
• RACE OF LIES!! I had no idea that a majority of the race was on a race NEXT TO THE FREEWAY. Thumbs down.
• Something screwy with the timing. There was a separate chip (which I wore), and yet I was not in the results at all. It took 3(?) days before I even got a response back from the timing company. 
• The course IS fast. L got a super sweet PR!
• Nice long sleeve tee (no really, I wore it like three days in a row after the race because I forgot to pack other clothes).
• Nice medal.
• Decent race entry. But even with a discount, I paid over $90.
• I had a really great time running with Heather. The most solid race we have ever run together. Do we have another marathon attempt in our future??

Week(s) in Review (December 16 - December 29)

So. In case you hadn't noticed, I am SUPER behind in blogging. I almost thought about just skipping all this, or just not blogging at all, but then I remembered that I blog for ME, and I like going back and reading stuff. I'll try to remember what happened in these lost weeks.

Tuesday (December 16) - No workout during lunch because I had a job interview! After work, a 3.2 mile run on the treadmill.
Wednesday (December 17) - Nothing during lunch (again) but A joined me for the last run club of the year. It was snowy, but not as cold as it looks. Heather got me a Roost beanie for the second year in a row! She is The Best.

Thursday (December 18) - Upper Body Tabata video during lunch. 2.5 speedy miles on the treadmill after work. A gave me my Christmas present that she made at school. So adorable!!

Friday (December 19) - The weather has been unseasonably warm, so I went for a run during lunch. I was confused as to how far away the parks were, so I only made it as far as East High School (with their AWESOME track) before I had to turn around and head back. A fairly fast 3.2 mile run.

After work I had to drive home, pick up A and head immediately to the airport so she could make her flight. My dad met me at my house to save me a few minutes and alerted me that my water pump was leaking pretty bad and I would need to get it replaced before my drive to Texas. NEAT.

Saturday (December 20) - I had managed to secure an "almost" guarantee that I would be able to get my car worked on at the dealership, as long as I made it there by 8 am. I had grand plans for a nice long run in Waterton Canyon, but it was too cold and windy, and I am a wimp.

Sunday (December 21) - 6.5 mile treadmill run at the gym. After my run, I met up with Lisa for brunch at a cool place near her house. Delicious food, mimosas, and great conversation.

After THAT, I came home, got on my super fancy clothes to head to my last party of the year. This time, not actually a holiday party, just a party with friends where it was requested we look our very best. I tried.

What IS this face? lol.

Monday (December 22) - I GOT THE BEST NEWS RIGHT BEFORE LUNCH!!! The place I interviewed contacted me. I GO THE JOB I GOT THE JOB I GOT THE JOOOOOOOB!!! I managed to eek out a Butt and Thigh video during lunch, and a quick mile on the treadmill after dinner after a celebratory dinner with L.

Tuesday (December 23) - All my stress has MELTED AWAY!! Work flew by pretty quick, as I found out that with my upcoming "vacation" to pick up A over New Years, my last day of work would be Christmas Eve! That escalated quickly :) I went to Happy Hour with Lisa, and then went to the gym where I ran a pretty great 4.2 miles.

Wednesday (December 24) - My last day of work! I ended up going to lunch with the Office Manager (turns out, she is somewhat bearable outside the office). I had plans to go to the gym but they closed early, so I ran a quick loop around the neighborhood before heading to Jessa's house for Christmas Eve dinner.

Thursday (December 25) - I went to Washington Park in Denver to run with Runners Roost run club host, Phil, who was fundraising for a friend. The park is a 2.5 mile loop. I was only planning on running one loop with my late start, but got suckered into running two. I am so glad I came out. Weather was perfect and I got to see a lot of friends out there.

Phil, me, Sean

I rushed home, took a shower, PACKED, dropped Batman Sour off at my parent's house and then headed to the airport. 

All I brought with me for four days in California!

Heather and her daughter picked me up at the airport, fed me, and then it was LATE to bed.

Friday (December 26) - Heather and I went for a hike/run in Bommer Canyon up to Turtle Ridge. Did you know it was the most clear day EVER and you could see forever? It was such a nice day and I really enjoyed being on the trails.

I have zero recollection of what we did the rest of the day, but I am assuming it involved TV. Was that the Doomsday Preppers marathon? It all runs together on vacation.
Saturday (December 27) - Quick run in the morning and then an early lunch at Lazy Dog with Julie (one of our awesome Ragnar team members). It is so great to catch up with people I haven't seen in forever.

Around 3:30, Heather and I drove down to San Diego. We had dinner with my L, H and my parents at their timeshare at Lawrence Welk before heading to our hotel.
Sunday (December 28) - Holiday Half Marathon! (Blog post coming, eventually).

We had lunch before heading back to Irvine. L joined us, because she was flying home out of OC with me. Afternoon was spent eating pumpkin bread and watching more high quality TV. Dinner at Chili's (with some ridiculously terrible service and not great food, but with great company). Heather dropped us off at our hotel near the airport. DID THIS TRIP EVEN HAPPEN???
Monday (December 29) - Immediately upon getting to the airport, for our 7 am flights (?!), we discovered L's flight was delayed due to poor weather in Denver. AWESOME. By the time we got back, it was already lunch time, so we stopped at Beau Jo's for a pizza buffet. Diet starts on Monday, right?

The weather was already super sketchy and the last thing I wanted to do was get stuck in bad weather on the back country roads in Eastern Colorado or North Texas. We picked up Batman Sour, went home and I WHIRLWIND packed. Like less than an hour later, I was out the door heading to Texas. I was hoping to get as many miles done as possible.

The roads were terrible. Just getting out of the city took way longer than it should have. I gripped the steering wheel, drove under the speed limit and got passed by semi trucks going 70 miles an hour on two lane roads. HOURS later, I had only driven 200 miles and stopped in Lamar, Colorado for the night. I was restless after being trapped traveling all day, and did a quick run on the treadmill at the gym.

Miles Run (W/E December 22) - 22.46

Minutes of Cross Training - NADA

Minutes of Strength/Stretching - 57

Miles Run (W/E December 29) - 31.63

Minutes of Cross Training - NADA

Minutes of Strength/Stretching - NADA

Weekly Gain/Loss - Weighed in 12/23, with a gain of 1.4 (122.2), no weigh in the week after, totally spaced it with all the travel nonsense. Ate all the things over these two weeks, who knows how it will all play out after all is said and done.

Everything Else

• As you can see, the best part of these two weeks was ME GETTING A NEW JOB. Seriously, a huge weight has been lifted, and I am SUPER excited to start! The only tiny storm cloud is that the job is literally right across the street from my old job (and on the SAME FLOOR??) - but I should be able to avoid people just fine.
• Had a great time hanging out in California with Heather, like always. I never want to leave, I just love it there so much (sorry, B, for taking over your TV for three days).
• I honestly did not even have TIME to miss A after dropping her off to go to Texas for the holidays. These two weeks were pretty crammed with stuff.
• Nothing else, but isn't ALL OF THAT enough?