Week in Review (Mar 18 - Mar 24)

Tuesday - Got my one mile out of the way in the basement inferno before work. Glad it's an "off" day as the arch of my right foot feels... off. Videos of the night - (new to me) brutal butt & thigh, (new to me) upper back, arms and chest and because I have been slacking - fast abs.

Wednesday - Up early and got out a solid 3 miles in the (hotter than usual) basement inferno. Got to the gym early, but since I did my run in the morning I decided to check out the new bikes at the gym. ARM RESTS AND BUILT IN FANS?? I only got a picture of the new high tech screens, but will try to get a picture of the full bike next time I'm there. I was concerned it was not even going to be a real workout, but HOLY COW, 5.7 miles on a random hill program (level 7) was TOUGH... I'm the weakest. Then an hour of BodyPump, where I am also (still?) the weakest. Exhausted.

Thursday - Left work early, HOPING I would have a quick doctor's appointment. SADLY, getting my depo shot took almost TWO FREAKING HOURS, and I did NOT get an outdoor run in. Sad, three miles on the treadmill.

Friday - Up early for a mile in the inferno, and a 5 min abs/obliques. Did not care for this one, I will take the extra few minutes for a better workout. Went to happy hour with the girls from work, which was a lot of fun. I like getting a break every now and then!
Saturday - Spring Fever half marathon in the morning. Immediately after the race, I went out to lunch with my A, L and H, and my dad for H's 7th birthday! We may or may not have coerced her into going to Chili's. Yum. In the afternoon we went to the rec center for birthday swimming with all the cousins. I spent a bit of time in the hot tub, no swimming. Dinner was pizza with the fam and then I took my older sister, W to Odyssey for a (very) belated birthday beer. My parents were watching Frozen with all four grandkids, and by the time the movie was over, so were the kids. Too much excitement for one day.

Sunday - Roasting vegetables day, tv time, packing the kids for Moab (they get to go on vacation for Spring Break, and I don't, BECAUSE OF OUR STUPID OFFICE MOVE). L and I made the mistake of making S'mores bark again (I may or may not have had a billion pieces). I thought about running, but then did that hour long upper tabata video instead. Running streak officially over. I gave it some thought, and I have been feeling tired lately, and I would rather end the streak on MY terms, not because of an injury or illness or something else. Well, that was fun. Now what...
Monday - With A being gone for a few days in Moab, I decided to head to a close-ish trail nearby, Green Mountain. I briefly looked at the map and thought, ok, the big loop is just over 6 miles, I have an hour and half or so until sunset, I'll do that. LOL. Well, I was at least smart enough to wear long sleeves, but NOT smart enough to wear gloves. Even though the sun hadn't set yet, it stayed behind the clouds and it was cold and exposed. It was also steeper than I had anticipated, and the first two miles were SLOW, with a lot of walking. I finally started running, tripped over a rock and face planted. Thankfully, no bleeding, but I took it more cautiously from there. DUMB. I was starting to get concerned at some of the forks in the road that this "big loop" wasn't as easy as planned, and figured if I hit 3 miles or so and didn't seem to be heading back, I would turn around. Luckily, I seemed to be heading in the right direction. I arrived at the parking lot to discover I was at the WRONG lot and had to run another .3 or so to get to my car, about 5 minutes before the sun set. My hands were FREEZING and it took the entire drive home to warm up. Hopefully, lesson learned. Just under 7 miles of trail glory.

Weekly Miles Run - 27.79 (8 treadmill, 6.7 trails, 13.09 race)
Weekly Cross Training - 25 minutes on the bike, about 5.7 miles
Minutes of Strength - 185

Weekly Loss - 2.6 pounds

• What a cluster of a week. I ate EVERYTHING. As per the norm, I did fine during the week. It was H's birthday this weekend, I had a ton of pizza and cake and DONUTS.
• Related: Apparently, my body will do whatever it wants...
• No new recipes this weekend. However, I roasted more veggies and L and I made another batch of the S'mores bark, which at least THIS TIME I am sharing with folks in the office. I bought a pre-made meatloaf from Sprouts that was pretty good.

Everything Else

• PURELY to ruin my life, the day I left work early? I ran into J on the street outside my building. He said "hey, what's up" and I gave a death stare, said nothing, and kept walking. Unlike the rumors I had heard, he looks fucking great. And I, OF COURSE, looked like total shit in a sweater and pants because I was too lazy for tights and a pencil skirt. The real insult was I was heading to get my depo shot (for period regulation, OBVIOUSLY not because I'm sexually active now), and it apparently was time for my annual questionnaire. Last time I had sex? Soooo long ago, I wonder if its different. Totally wrecked my afternoon.
• As for running, as I said, the run streak is done. Will be a big relief to not have that hanging over my head. I did enjoy my day off, and I plan on another day off later this week.
• Related: What to obsess about now.......
• Have I mentioned that moving our office is RUINING MY LIFE???? UGH. There is a reason I don't move - IT IS TERRIBLE. T minus 3ish more days and yet we have like 10% of the office packed. I'm for real going to stab someone.
• Related: I am at least PLEASED with where my desk is located. I'm near everyone I enjoy working with and the few people I don't especially enjoy (cough*officemanager*cough) are faaar away. Also, I'm right by the kitchen and close to the bathroom. SCORE. And I guess when I'm visiting with other people, the view isn't so bad:

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+.