Week in Review (January 24 - January 30)

Tuesday (13,728 steps) - I had set my alarm thinking I might get up and run my neighborhood loop and then decided to go back to sleep. Hustled to get out the door at 7:45 so I could get my depo shot. They were super quick and we were out of there by 8:00 and A was actually at school earlier than a normal day. Laura's barre class at noon. After work I picked A up and took her to gymnastics. She had a pretty intense class again, only this time she left in tears. They were working on wall handstands and she was upset that she couldn't stay up for the full 45 seconds. Quick dinner and watched Quantico, did laundry, in bed by 10.
Wednesday (17,427 steps) - 6 am barre class with Sarah. She hasn't taught in a while, but thanks to two full time instructors leaving, she is on the hook for the morning classes. The thigh series was good, but man, I really hated the glut series under the barre. Not my favorite. I left with a twinge in my left leg, not good. Run club after work. Heather was a no-show so I ran with Colfax and Francesca, and it was NOT THE BEST. We also found out that it was Joe's last night - turns out he got a job offer to work at Nike! The only good part about that is that Phil will be in charge again (if only for a little while).
Thursday (15,402 steps) - Skipped barre in the morning since I was still feeling a bit off. Went to Belmar run club after work and it was SUPER DUPER COLD. Colfax and I ran random trails again and it was nice to get back to the store. Rocko's and then home.

Friday (14,207 steps) - I have no recollection of what we did. At all. Strava says I walked on the treadmill at home and watched House of Cards for 2.5 miles.
Saturday (26,487 steps) - Up early for Runner's Edge. We shadowed again for aid station set-up, but since the route was just on Ralston Creek in Arvada, we weren't up super early. Ariel and I had compromised on running 7 miles, but once we got to the turnaround she decided to just go for 8. It was about 15 degrees colder than what the forecast had predicted and I was very chilly the first few miles.

When we finished our run we had breakfast at Einstein's. Drove over to the Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge to work on a project for Scouts. We went to the visitor center and then did the 11 mile wildlife drive, which was really cool!

Headed home for showers and some TV. We watched a documentary, Minimalism, and A was totally inspired to get rid of a bunch of junk. After we finished we both cleaned out our closets.

Around 3:30 we went over to Mountain Toad brewery for Happy Trails. I did not want to run, but we chatted with Kim and the Altra rep and had beer. Just before 6, we left to go to the Runner's Edge party at the Tavern. Super fun night there as well, we sat with Doug and his wife before heading out at 8 to pick up Girl Scout cookies. Good lord.

That's 27 cases (324 boxes) that fit in the back of Bee Rad

Sunday (36,911 steps) - Couldn't sleep in. Dang it. After breakfast we stopped at King Soopers to pick up some donuts and then JoAnn to buy more ribbon for the medals. FYCO.

After the race we went to Patxi's with Bill, his wife, Daniel and Mo for the most delicious pizza EVER. Home for a shower and an attempt at relaxing.
Monday (12,923 steps) - Jackie's Happy Hour for her retirement was late in the afternoon. Such a bummer that she is leaving! Picked up A at school and then we came back down to Denver for a barre class with Jen. By the time we got home it was after 8:00.

Stats:

• 137,805 steps
• 27.1 miles run
• 3 barre classes

Everything Else:

• In a few days about 1/4 of our office is leaving to go to another firm. Sadly, not a department that I work for. It will be weird to have the whole south side of the suite empty.
• Bah. Cookies.

Week in Review (January 26 - February 1)

Tuesday (25,434 steps) - Finally have my training program. Lo and behold, crazy stupid long(ish) run scheduled (7 miles). It was COLD COLD COLD, but I got it done. I was tired and pretty much miserable the entire time though. Oh, marathon training.

Yes, this community in west Arvada still has their trees decked out with lights from Christmas...

Wednesday (21,021 steps) - And the opposite of Tuesday's run... 4 miles and they were glorious. Almost wished I had more time and miles on schedule.

After work we went to the "Pre" themed run club at the Roost. We ran a few miles with Heather and then stayed for yet another super fun event, like usual.

Thursday (18,448 steps) - Totally unmotivated for my 5 mile run, but it actually turned out all right.

Tokyo Joe's rounded out the evening.
Friday (17,029 steps) - Rest day! I have been waiting for you! My mystery box from INKnBURN finally showed up. I managed to wait ALL DAY until I picked up A before we opened it.

We met up with my friend Amy for dinner (we had to go a few places before we found somewhere with less than a 45 minute wait, which ended up being Sweet Tomatoes). In bed early.
Saturday (44,299 steps) - Long run with Runners Edge of the Rockies! Thankfully, the weather was perfect. Our route was in west Arvada on Ralston Creek trail and I imagined it would get really windy, but thankfully, it didn't. 16 miles ironically didn't feel as terrible as 14 miles did last week. Serious about building a better base for racing season this year!

After lunch A and I went to the Colorado History Museum. I actually had never been there. It was super interactive and even I learned a few things.

We went grocery shopping, out to dinner for Mongolian food, and then picked up her ration of Girl Scout cookies. LONGEST DAY EVER.
Sunday (17,951) - Short recovery run... in the mud. I had envisioned a nice, easy run in the dirt before the storm rolled in. Turned out I barely beat the storm (started getting snowed on on my way back), but the "dirt" was "mud."

A and I loaded up the wagon and went door to door selling cookies (or trying to) for about an hour and a half before heading to yet another birthday party at the skating rink.

After THAT party, we went home to pick up cookies, headed out for a bit more selling, and then went to Runners Roost for the Trail Sisters event, which was a LOT of fun, and very informative.

By the time we headed home the snow had started falling. BOO.
Monday (16,878 steps) - I knew it had snowed the night before so I slept later and did a total body strength video (I KNOW, I haven't done strength training in forever) and then did my 3 mile run on the treadmill during lunch. After I picked up A we went door to door for about 45 minutes, hoping to get some "sympathy" sales (which we did), since by now the snow was really coming down and it was about 20 degrees.

Stats:

• 161,060 steps
• 46.2 miles run. With ZERO races. 
• No cross training
• 24 minutes of strength/stretching (hey, better than the zero I've been at lately).

Everything Else:

• Girl Scout cookies. For the next six weeks. Arg.

Spring Fever Half Marathon (Race Recap)

Saturday, March 22
Golden, CO
Half Marathon #101
Colorado Half #37
Weather - CHILLY, windy, flurries, overcast

I should have been racing in Moab this weekend, like have the last two years. However, the price got too high since I waited, AND my travel buddy bailed. Instead, I half-heartedly signed up for the Spring Fever half marathon (that Ariel and I volunteered at last year). L hated the course and didn't want to join me, so I was in it alone.

I got there with about 30 minutes until the start. Packet pick-up was easy, but people clearly don't read the emails that say "ID required." I agree, it's pretty dumb, but the volunteers are instructed to not hand out if you don't have it. I was FREEZING just in the few minutes I was outside and debating on wearing a jacket in addition to my long pants and long sleeves. I sat in the car until about 15 minutes before the start and then headed to the indoor bathrooms (where there was no line AND a volunteer with TP just in case a stall was out).

Headed out just as the National Anthem was playing and then walked up to the start, lining up in the back. I had no real goals, just hoping to come in under 2:30 and to not freeze (I had opted for no jacket, thinking I would get too hot).

The course is basically the Ralston Creek half marathon course, just in reverse, which meant all the hills would be at the end when I was already tired.

I felt ok the first mile (gradual downhill), but noticed that my legs felt very fatigued. Not necessarily the calf tightness that I normally have, just "tired." The first 5.5 or so miles were a slight downhill, and I held back a bit, trying not to overdo anything. The miles from about 1.5 to 5.5 were an out and back section, but it never got crowded. There were plenty of aid stations, and they all had Powerade and water. At least one of the stations (maybe two) had Clif gels in various flavors. At the second aid station, I grabbed one, but didn't take it until closer to mile 4.

I have run this section a few times, so there wasn't much to look at, just concentrating on running and trying to stay warm. I was really happy I had grabbed hand warmers, as I kept them the entire race. But, a few pictures I took anyway:

At the turnaround is where I really started to get tired. I made it until just before mile 7 when the walk breaks started. I was feeling very fatigued and the breaks helped. The gradual uphill continued until about mile 9 when the real steep uphills began. Remember in my Ralston Creek recap where I have all the super speedy downhill miles toward the end? That's what I was running up. And by "running," I mean I walked up most of that. A few people in front of me were jogging, and in all honesty, with the exception of one or two, I caught them all at the summit doing a run/walk. Mile 10.5 or so and the course finally flattens out.

That SUPER STEEP hill that lasts a 1/2 mile in the Ralston Creek half? FINALLY DOWNHILL... I was clocking 8:00-8:30 pace and blasting by people. Of course, it was short lived, and I run/walked a lot of the end of the course too.

The flurries started to pick up a bit more when I got to mile 12.5. Turned the corner and I could see the finish banner, AND, what looked to be A!!! I was running right by a lady but didn't have any kick to pass her. I was pleased when I saw the clock time, as I had expected to run much slower.

Official Time - 2:21:25
Overall Place - 174/234
Gender Place - 97/138
Division Place - 37/54
Garmin Time - 2:21:25
Garmin Distance - 13.09 miles
Garmin Pace - 10:48
Mile 1 - 9:28
Mile 2 - 10:02
Mile 3 - 10:42
Mile 4 - 10:29
Mile 5 - 10:08
Mile 6 - 11:03
Mile 7 - 11:27
Mile 8 - 10:58
Mile 9 - 11:15
Mile 10 - 13:00
Mile 11 - 11:22
Mile 12 - 9:47
Mile 13 - 10:55
Mile 13.09 - 9:47

I received a fancy water bottle at the end filled with water. I was too cold to drink anything, and just wanted to get out of there. A wanted my free burrito, so I grabbed that, said a quick hello to friend, and got out of there. It was probably in the low 30's when I got done, but I was shivering for at least an hour after I got done. Luckily, the really heavy snow held off until about an hour after I finished. THAT would have been miserable.

Thoughts

• This is a very challenging course. Know that going into it. I knew it was going to be no fun, and I'm not sure if that affected my performance, but those miles of hill toward the end were BRUTAL.
• Related: This was only about a minute slower than I did RnR Denver this year, where I really did NOT walk, so maybe SOMEHOW I am regaining some of my former speed?? MAYBE?
• The weather on this particular weekend, in general, seems to be not great. Last year, there was so much snow that the race had to be postponed a week. Prepare for WIND.
• The race is pretty inexpensive, I think I paid about $50. The shirt is a nice, woman's cut tech tee in a fun bright yellow color. I'll likely wear it again.
• There were plenty of bathrooms at the start, inside. Enough to handle three distances (the 1/2, 10k and a 5k).
• Not crowded, the race director does a staggered start for the distances.
• The course was very well marked with neon green electrical tape on the sidewalks and orange domes to mark where to NOT go. Last year there was a volunteer shortage because of the rescheduling, but there were plenty this year, and one was posted at any area that might be "confusing."
• There were port-o-potties in multiple places along the course.
• PLENTY of aid stations, all well-stocked, with the trash bags located far enough away to actually get used.
• Overall, very impressed with the organization of this. Other than the terrible and difficult course, I would give this an A+.

Week in Review (Jan 21 - Jan 27)

Tuesday - So the most exciting part of my day happened while I was having lunch at work. I cleaned my glasses and this happened:

That meant I "had to" (who am I kidding, I was FINE with it) leave work early so that I could go to the eye doctor. I had plans of going in the near future anyway, since I'm on my last box of contacts. However, I was not expecting to need new glasses as my prescription has actually not changed in the last 2 years. But, my Flex card was loaded at the beginning of the year, so I had the money in my HSA to get new frames (didn't need new lenses!), my contact lens fitting and 4 boxes of contacts. Hurray.

1.5 miles in the basement inferno, and then I actually did some videos!! I did the arms video and tried two new ones - 8 minute abs (Fitness Blender) and something called yoga for runners (not Fitness Blender). Wow, so motivated today.
Wednesday - 1 mile on the treadmill, BodyPump. The triceps track on this release is NUTS. But, it felt maybe a teeny tiny better than last week? Maybe there is hope for me yet!!
Thursday - 4.1 not-so-great miles at the gym. The highlight of my night was when I went into the sauna after my run and the guy I have a crush on was in there with no shirt. I know, I'm totally inappropriate. AT LEAST I DIDN'T TRY TO TAKE A PICTURE. I do have some morals, guys.
Friday - A had a Girl Scout thing that was going to last until 8:30. Sadly, no one was available to go out with me for a beer. So sad! Instead, I went grocery shopping... ALONE. Then, 1.25 miles in the basement inferno, and more videos. (Arms, 8 min abs and quick yoga/stretching video from Fitness Blender).
Saturday - We have been having some unseasonably LOVELY weather for January. L convinced my dad to watch the kids so we could go for a run.... OUTSIDE!! We had to stop and use the bathroom at the rec center on the way out, and L wasn't feel well on the way back, but the last time we ran this section of Ralston Creek we were about a minute slower, for the same number of miles. So, yay us!

I finally wore the INKnBURN pullovers for an outdoor training run. I have used them before as base layers at the end of distance races (after mile 50 of my 100), and I wore one during the FREEZING Route 66, but in general, I haven't used just for a "run of the mill" run. I gotta say, it was GREAT. Also, thumb holes are the best invention ever ever ever ever. I would have one of these for every day of the week if I could afford it!
Sunday - A got an EZ Bake Oven from my mom. She has been asking to make cake pops for WEEKS. I finally agreed, and we set out to make them. The first part, making the doughy brownie part (the bulk of the cake pop) was EASY. The melted chocolate was the hardest thing, EVER, and they didn't really provide the proper equipment in the kit. I think, if A ever convinces me to "bake" ever again, I will stick to brownies or something. This was insanely complicated and time-consuming, but A was pleased with the final product.

Later, 1 mile in the basement inferno, and more videos. (Arms, a new "inner thigh" Fitness Blender video, 8 minute abs, and the Fitness Blender yoga/stretching).
Monday - 4.3 miles at the gym. I tried slowish/easy for the first 2 miles but my legs never seemed to loosen up. I threw in some .10 strides which helped a bit. Overall, not a great run.

Also, it's probably obvious, but I haven't really said anything about it. I started a "run streak" back in November. I wasn't sure how long I was going to let it go, but I think I'll stop on day 100. Monday's run was day 80... I still have a while to go.

Weekly Miles Run - 20.15 miles (7 outside, 13.15 treadmill)
Weekly Cross Training - ZERO
Minutes of Strength Training - 137!!

Weekly Loss - 3.0 pounds

• Clearly, it must be the vegan, lactose/gluten/sugar/fat free paleo cleanse Magic Diet I have been on.
•  Juuuuuuuuust kidding. I paid a bit more attention this week to what I was eating.
•  Related: I didn't go out to eat at ALL last week. Not one time. That has to be a record.
•  I did, however, go to Sprouts for the first time. I got a ton of spinach, onion, red/green peppers, cucumbers, and a weeks worth of apples for like $6??! WHO KNEW. It's literally BLOCKS from my parents house, so I will be going back for sure.
• I of course still had the Yogurtland this week, but only 1.5 donuts. The German chocolate danish was TOTALLY worth it.

 Everything Else

• Sigh. So, Jessa was in my the Office Manager's office last week and noticed that she was posting a new ad on Craigslist for the secretarial position that IS STILL EMPTY. She told me the pay range, and I was PISSED to discover that they are offering a new hire more money than I currently make. SO, after discussing with a multitude of people, I decided to do what any normal person would do. In the midst of applying for a decent amount of jobs, I purposely applied for the job at my own firm. So... this happened:

• Luckily, I knew exactly what she wanted to see me about, and I told (mostly) the truth. I CANNOT AFFORD TO WORK HERE. Parking expenses eat away at my cash flow, and the new health care laws mean I can no longer pay for A's insurance pre-tax. I have less money NOW than I did when I started, and that's AFTER my negligible raise last summer. So, she said she would talk to my boss and see about getting me a raise, but she did NOT want to tell him about me applying for "her" job. So, I ask, what on earth would the incentive be for my boss to give me an "out of cycle" raise? I'm not optimistic, but at least they know I'm looking. (TO CLARIFY - I had ZERO intentions of actually wanting the other position - this was more of a "I know what you are doing and that you don't value your current employees" type thing. They would never transfer me to that position as I currently have very specific duties for other attorneys and chances are slim to none they will offer me a raise to compete with what they are offering a new person. I want them to know I am a flight risk!!)
• Related: That job I interviewed for back in December? I got the rejection email yesterday. Le sigh. 
• And, after this week, I am going to re-close the online dating window. For real, I must either have the worst profile on earth or the skeeviest and creepiest people in the universe seem to be attracted to me. My favorite message this week:

Week in Review (Dec. 24 - Dec. 30)

Tuesday - Christmas Eve. I ran a decently warm 6.7 miles along another section of Clear Creek trail that I've never run. Not super scenic and like usual, struggled a bit. Running with L is definitely like doing speed work. SHE IS THE FASTEST.

Wednesday - Christmas Day and the weather was once again nice enough for a run outside. L and I picked Big Dry Creek, and we knocked out a pretty tough 6.3 miles. For REAL, running with her is the hardest.

After our run we sat around and watched tv and then we headed over to Jessa's house for Christmas dinner. She went all out and made a TON of food. We were so full after eating that we could barely move. L dozed off a bit and Jessa and I stole Jackson's Lego's and build the Vampyre Hearse. These Lego kits are COMPLICATED. Holy crap, that took HOURS. Had more beer once I got home.

Thursday - 2.5 miles on the treadmill at the gym. I think it was ok, I don't remember. Also did the video trifecta (legs, arms, core)

Friday - 1 mile in the basement inferno. Zero recollection if this was good, bad or otherwise.

Saturday - Last run of the year in Colorado. The weather was really pretty great again and L and I ran a new section of Ralston Creek in west Arvada. Solid 7 mile run. Will really miss these runs when I have to get back on the treadmill when A gets back from Texas.

L had to nap so she would be able to drive me to the airport, so I sat around watching tv before heading to the airport. It magically started snowing, and even though my flight was supposed to leave at 9:50 pm, my flight would eventually be delayed THREE HOURS. This resulted in me sitting at the airport bar until close, spending an OBSCENE amount of money on beer. I barely remember my flight.

Sunday - What. A. Long. Day. I felt like shit all day after all my drinking at the bar. With my flight not getting in until almost 4 am, I didn't get much sleep and spent most of the day nauseous and wanting to die. Managed to squeeze in a mile-ish run with A around the neighborhood. SUPER chilly.

Monday - Wasn't really in the mood for a long run, you know, tapering for DOUBLE MARATHONS. Lisa had to work a few hours, so I ran a mile-ish in by her work. IT WAS THE HARDEST MILE EVER. Really really really really REALLY dreading the DOUBLE MARATHONS I was stupid enough to sign up for. For REAL, there is something wrong with me.

Weekly Miles Run - 34.55 (3.5 treadmill, 31.05 outside)

Minutes of Strength Training - 30 (ouch)

Gain/Loss - ?!? It's a MYSTERY!!! NO WEIGH IN.

• First off, it's the holidays. Second, I've been out of town since the 28th. I am sure there has been a gain, but I didn't even bother with a weigh in, so I have no idea what it might be.
• The biggest culprit of the week? BEER, BEER, BEER, AND MORE BEER.

• I've been super hungry lately, but that isn't necessarily out of the ordinary. I didn't eat nearly as "clean" as usual, and I think that was showing in my laziness. Ohhhhh welllls. It's the HOLIDAYS.

Everything Else 

• So, there was a secretary hired. And she worked one day. And never came back.
• Related: When are they going to recognize my manager is A CRAZY PERSON and eliminate the REAL problem in our firm??
• Related: I will deserve a medal of honor if I survive my employment without my head exploding and/or me snapping.
• NOTHING ELSE.