Week in Review (January 14 - January 20)

Tuesday (12,927 steps) - Peloton and dog walk before going into the office. Went to the gym at lunch. Did another HIIT program on the StairMaster, one level up from last week. It's definitely a good workout, even with the slower climbing. 

Also did some upper body. Took Olive for  walk when I got home before going out and doing a few deliveries. 

Wednesday (22,870 steps) - Walked Olive before going into the office for work. Had another workout/tempo run at lunch, which obviously I was dreading. It was actually relatively nice weather (for January), and I ran most everything outside of the warmup in a tee shirt and thin tights! I didn't quite hit my goal pace of 9:55, but I did get under 10:30 for the 19 minutes (I know it shouldn't be that hard to sustain, and yet...) - even with a few minutes of walking. When I was actually running, I was in 9:40-9:55 pace range, I just struggled to hang on for the whole time. Meh.

Thursday (14,022 steps) - Work from home. Did some time on the Peloton before taking Olive for a long walk since the weather was INCREDIBLE. I wore only a sweatshirt and was fine, almost hot. After lunch I actually pulled out my step and barbell and weights and did a BodyPump video. Holy cow, I haven't done one of these in ages and I was sweating to death while doing this. I did forget how much it hurts to have the bar on the back of my neck though, I might need to invest in some foam (or a pool noodle) to fix this. Did some packing for our weekend trip, but didn't finish. We did our usual Torchy's Thursday, then I took Olive for a walk. We are now watching the Dexter prequel, which is decent. 

Friday (13,521 steps) - Wash Park with Olive and the gang. Another boring day for Olive at work.

Also heard back and I'm back on the Roost team for another year. If I hadn't taken a few years off during Covid I think this would be my 10th year, so this is probably year 8! Go Roost!

Thankfully, I got home from work before any weather came in. Dropped Olive off and did a few deliveries before meeting Ben at 4 Noses for an NA. Ben picked up pizza and I finished packing/cleaning. Dexter.

Saturday (10,876 steps) - I had my alarm set for 7:45, so of course I woke up at 6. Double checked all my gear, poked around, ate breakfast and had coffee. Got Olive all dressed up in her puffy coat and boots for a walk. She doesn't mind the coat but HATES the shoes (still).

She made it about 2 minutes before she started chewing on her front boots. It was incredibly cold and I got tired of it, so I took off the front boots. She doesn't seem to mind the back ones as much. She loves the snow and had a fun time burrowing, like usual. 

After a few minutes I noticed she was chewing on her front paws so we headed back home. We left the house at 9:30 with a quick stop at Dutch Bros. before going to pick up Ariel in Golden - it was snowing pretty decently, so I was glad Ben was driving us.

We were really surprised to be boarding on time, but then we sat on the plane for nearly two hours while they fixed some valve. It was truly bizarre, they actually were letting people off the plane, so when it all got fixed we had to wait for everyone to get back on, which took forever. BUT, we made it out!

We had to wait for Lisa to get out of church, but it wasn't bad and it was warm enough for me to pace outside and get all my steps in for the day. Juju was with her, and we went back to Lisa's house in Elgin for dinner. Lisa and I watched a movie "I See You" that I swear I had already seen, but couldn't remember how it ended. Was midnight before I got to sleep. VERY long day.

Random pic of Lisa's dog, because he is adorable

Sunday (10,226 steps) - I had set an alarm so I could go for a short run before we drove down to San Antonio. It was much colder than I expected it to be, so I wore my joggers and a hoodie (which I never do). Especially for Texas, feels like 10 and windy was COLD. I ran up and down her neighborhood, including a new section that hadn't yet been completed last year.

Juju made breakfast tacos, we had coffee, and got out the door by 9:15. The drive to San Antonio was 1:45, but we stopped at Buccee's along the way to get some drinks and a snack. Our first stop was Ariel's grannie's house - I haven't seen her in many years. We spent a few hours talking and then headed to Ben's parents house. We got there just in time to join them for brunch.

Bill, Ben's stepdad, is President of the Board of their building, and he gave us all a very thorough tour of the building. Lisa and Juju stayed long enough to get the tour of the building and their unit before they had to head back home. 

Ariel me, Ben's mom

Bill showed us a slideshow of their Vermont property (they sold their 80+ acres in 2020, and unfortunately we never got to see it in person) and the grounds of Shelburne Farms where he was a tour guide for years. Very neat to see the photos and hear stories. We continued the tour and watched the sunset from the 22nd floor (the room where they do social hours and get togethers - I swear they are more active socially than me and Ben).

They don't have dinner in the building on Sunday evenings, so we decided to go out. The first two places they wanted to go were closed, so we went to the 410 Diner. It was delicious! I got a BLT with egg and a side of mac and cheese.

It was after 9 before we got back to their building, but that just meant it was time for dessert! We had ice cream and talked until 10!!

Monday (10,221 steps) - I actually slept pretty well and got up just after 7 to do a quick run. It felt even colder! The temperature was supposedly only "feels like 14" - but it felt more humid. Bill had shown me a good neighborhood to run in behind their building. It WAS a very quiet neighborhood, I didn't see a single vehicle on the roads the whole time I was out. It was a little hillier than I expected, but I'm glad I went out - plus, I saw the yard of the month!

Quick run to the room to change clothes before meeting Ben's parents for breakfast - I had french toast and strawberries.

His parents are incredibly popular and friendly and seemingly knew everyone! Many people came up to introduce themselves and they had all obviously heard stories about both of us, inquiring about Ariel's school and my running. We were just about to head to the airport when I got a notification our flight was delayed an hour. We opted to grab our bags and have a quick lunch before going to the airport. I had a club wrap and carrot cake!

Bill drove us to the airport and I got a selfie of me and Ben's mom in the back of their fancy electric Mercedes.

We left for the airport with an hour until our flight was supposed to leave, but with a 15 minute drive and only a dozen people ahead of us in line at security, we still made it to the gate just as they were starting pre-boarding. I watched a few more episodes of Squid Games 2 on the flight. We actually didn't even land that late and Ben picked us up. We stopped for dinner at Table Mountain Inn for dinner on the way to take Ariel back to school. 

I had thought about taking Olive for a walk, but it was really too cold for it. Unpacked and watched an episode of Dexter before I called it at 9 to go to bed early. 

Stats:

• 94,663 steps
• 8.52 miles run (and that's only because I voluntarily ran in TX, didn't have anything on schedule)
• 15.39 miles walked
• 60 minutes of cardio
• 40 minutes of strength

Week in Review (October 29 - November 4)

Tuesday (13,378 steps) - Olive walk before going to work in the office. Quick StairMaster, climbing Big Ben.

Also did a full body workout and stretching. Apparently today was National Candy Corn Day. Unknowingly, I wore my candy cane shorts.

Took Olive for a walk when I got home from work. Enjoying fall and daylight while it is still around :(

Made burrito bowls for dinner and watched Murders - sadly, it was the season finale!

Wednesday (14,346 steps) - Olive walk before going to work. Strength training and stretching at lunch. Pretty sure we watched one of the last Friday the 13th movies, but won't get them all done before Halloween.

Thursday (18,260 steps) - Work from home. Went for my run and it seemed really sunny and hot. Felt pretty good though.

Temperatures were a bit cooler for Olive's walk. Since it was Halloween, she wore her costume.

We went to Kristin's for dinner and Trick or Shot. It was pretty chilly after the sun set and I had to convince Ben to get out of there around 7:45. It was nice sitting on the couch and watching another Friday the 13th.

Friday (14,669 steps) - Wash Park with Olive and the gang! Chilly, but a nice sunrise. I wore my new North Face puffer mittens and my hands didn't get crazy cold. (Of course winter isn't actually HERE yet, either).

When I got to the office, I set up my winter lights. NO, they are not CHRISTMAS lights. Backstory - I bought Ariel lights to decorate her door and dorm room for Halloween and was jealous, so I got some fun lights for my desk.

Meanwhile, Olive had to suffer through another boring day at work.

We went to Torchy's for dinner since we missed our standing Thursday visit because of Halloween. There was not a taco of the month so I tried the quesadilla plate, which was decent.

Took Olive for a walk when we got home. Sad to see the Halloween decorations are coming down so soon.

Saturday (39,769 steps) - Backcountry Wilderness half marathon, recap to come.

Took Olive for a walk when I got home while Ben went to the library to vote. (Long story, but our mail carrier didn't deliver his ballot, and apparently election mail cannot be forwarded, so he had to vote in person). Olive had her grooming appointment, so we had lunch next door at Four Noses while we waited for her to be finished. The BBQ was a new-to-us food truck and it was delicious!

Olive's haircut turned out great!

Maybe this was the night we started the "Nightmare on Elm Street" series?

Sunday (13,838 steps) - Stupid time change. We were up before our alarms. Got ready and headed out to get coffee and pick Ariel up. We headed over to Runners Roost in Golden for our end-of-year race team gettogether. 

I had promised no running (not that I wanted to anyway), so we planned on a walk/hike. Jeannene and Ollie joined us for a loop up/around South Table. 

There was coffee and snacks at the store, we planned to go out to breakfast so we only had the coffee. After the "party" was done we went to Table Mountain Inn for food. Thankfully they had an enclosed patio that Olive was allowed on.

Breakfast was DELICIOUS, and the portions were HUGE.

We dropped Ariel off at home and then headed back north. Ben went out to run some errands and I took Olive for a walk and then did some driving. Another Nightmare on Elm Street.

Monday (15,829 steps) - Work from home. It was CHILLY since we had received a small amount of snow overnight. I needed to run and walk Olive and put it off ALL MORNING. By the time I braved walking Olive it was nearly 11:30 and it was overcast and brisk. I got dressed for my run and nearly headed out completely overdressed. The sun came out and it wasn't bad at all. 

It seems the new trailhead at the library is nearly complete! I haven't run by here in a bit.

Planned to do some driving after work but only got one offer so I met Ben at Parry's for dinner.

We took Olive for a quick walk when we got home. Can definitely feel the cold weather rolling in, this was chilly! We watched "Nightmare on Elm Street 3" and I fell asleep at the end. Bed just after 9 pm?? I don't remember the time change affecting me so badly in years past.

Stats:

• 130,089 steps
• 23.34 miles run
• 18.67 miles walked
• 8 minutes of cardio
• 80 minutes of strength