Week in Review (October 4 - October 10)

Tuesday (21,678 steps) - Work in the office. Walk at lunch and then over to Lakewood for a run at Stone House. It was a GREAT run, and the weather was perfect. I only stayed for a bit at Green Mountain before heading home. 

Wednesday (11,443 steps) - Work in the office. Went for a walk at lunch, and then another walk when I got home. 

I created my first Strava segment and called it Pika's Loop. Finalized most of my packing.

Thursday (17,822 steps) - Tried to sleep in and failed. Went for a shake out run, then a walk. Finally gave up and headed down to Denver to leave my car at my office so I could take the train to the airport. I got there RIDICULOUSLY early, but better than running late? Read about half of my book while I was waiting to leave. Flight actually left on time and we landed early in Wichita. I was actually in line (after picking up my checked bag) at Hertz mere minutes after we were originally scheduled to land. Smoothest car rental ever, and I was upgraded to a Rav-4. Found my hotel without incident. 

Hard to tell with such a dark photo, but not a murder hotel like usual

Watched some of "House of Wax" before finally going to bed, later than I planned.

Friday (28,475 steps) - And... I woke up way earlier than I wanted to. I had hoped to sleep very late, but that didn't work out. I realized that breakfast was not free, so I opted to order from the Starbucks in the hotel, only to discover when I went to pick it up that they were out of the food items I ordered. Did you know that Sbux cannot refund if you paid with a gift card? Like wtf, I had to spend 15 minutes on the phone with corporate to get a refund. Finalized my drop bags and checked out around noon. To kill time I went to REI, Academy and Costco. Had lunch at Chick-Fil-A and then sometime around 3 or 4 I decided to drive to Cassoday. 

I don't know what I expected, but this wasn't it. 

There was NOTHING there. And by nothing, I mean a few houses, but zero open businesses. I wish I would have known that there wasn't even a nearby gas station!

The actual start line of my race

I did not want to drive a half hour each way just to get some bottled water and maybe Swedish Fish, so I headed to the (extremely creepy) start line and hoped that once it got dark I might be able to sleep. There were a few other runners there that I briefly talked with. I finalized what I would be carrying on me, and sadly sleep eluded me. Sigh. I gave up even trying to sleep around 9 and made a few trips to the bathroom, and then right at 10:00 PM, we were off... 

Saturday (180,109 steps) - Heartland 125. (Recap to follow)

Sunday (75,443 steps) - Heartland 125. When it was finally over, I stuck around at the community center for a bit, waiting for the drop bags. I got a massage that was pretty amazing, changed clothes (but wasn't able to wipe down at all, ugh). Finally, I was starting to get REALLY tired. I knew I needed to head towards Wichita ASAP. I only made it 9 miles down the road before I started to see things and had pull over. I was napping when I got a knock on the window by a police officer wanting to make sure I was doing ok. The 40 or so minutes I had been sleeping was enough for me to drive a bit further. I think I pulled over one more time, but I don't remember now. 

Finally, I got into town. I wanted to get lunch but I was really overwhelmed with all the options and finally just decided on Taco John's. (What? Why would I go there? I literally NEVER go there.) 

Anyway, I ate, then realized I still needed to pack up all my crap and get gas. I got in the back of the Rav-4, felt overwhelmed, and promptly napped for almost an hour. I woke up in a sweat and panicked because I couldn't get out of the back. Finally I started to pack everything up, filled up the tank and headed to the airport. 

This was a mess

I dropped off the car and the guy at Hertz asked "do I need to call for a chair for you?" when he saw me walking. Har har har, no I'll walk (and be in pain the whole time). I was trying to elevate my feet as much as possible, which meant putting my feet up on the seat next to me. And no, that is not a tan, that is dirt. And the red on my left foot is a giant blood blister that I didn't even feel. It's not easy to see in this picture, but I am incredibly swollen and had cankles. My feet were so swollen I could barely put my flip flops on. Ugh.

The flight home was uneventful, and I watched part of "The Breakup." It was not fun walking through DIA to baggage claim. Thankfully, Ben had offered to pick me up since the thought of walking all the way from Union Station to my office seemed tragic.

Monday (8,307 steps) - THANKFULLY, it was a work from home day. I stayed in bed working on my laptop (with Batman sitting on my chest) most of the morning. 

I got up to eat and do laundry and felt like I was doing well enough for a walk. Beautiful day!

Fazoli's for dinner, complete with chocolate cheesecake. Yum!!! 

Randomly watched the dumbest (but actually pretty funny) movie - Jexi.

Stats:

• 343,277 steps
• 132.76 miles run
• 0 minutes of cardio
• 0 minutes of strength training

Week in Review (September 27 - October 3)

Tuesday (19,694 steps) - Work in the office and a decent run at Stone House for Green Mountain run club.

Wednesday (17,630 steps) - Work in the office and headed to the south side of Standley Lake for different hill repeats. 

This hill is much steeper than it looks

I. Love. Fall.

Thursday (16,340 steps) - Work from home. Ben was working out of town and called to say he was going to be bringing Pika to urgent care. I did my run during an early lunch since I wasn't sure when I needed to meet him there. 

I don't want to go into a ton of detail, but by the time we spoke to the vet and went over bloodwork, we were told she was in acute kidney failure. We certainly weren't expecting to be going through this and didn't have much time to get a hold of Ariel to meet us at the hospital to say goodbye. Not at all how any of us thought the day would end. We will sure miss our furry friend :( :(

Ben and I ended up going to 4 Noses for a bit.

Friday (7,392 steps) - Skipped my morning run at Wash Park but still had to go to work. Work in the office. Ben met me for lunch and we went to Campfire again. Their food is so delicious! 

Don't remember what else, although Ben and I did go to 4 Noses again.

Saturday (25,999 steps) - Met Paula and Erica in Golden to head up to Frisco for a hike! We had plans to do lower Eccles to see the fall colors. The forecast didn't look promising, but it ended up being a beautiful day. 

I managed to be ok with a Pika lookalike sitting on my lap the whole drive

Me and Paula

We had plans to stop in town to get lunch before going home. Unfortunately, there was a major accident at the tunnel and we got stuck in some horrendous traffic going over the pass, where it was SNOWING.

THEN, I still had an hour long run to do, and I chose the canal trail near North Table for something different. It was not a great run. I had to take a ton of walk breaks because my heart rate was getting too high.

Qdoba for dinner. Nothing else?

Sunday (15,734 steps) - Drove up to Heather's house because we planned a hike in Golden Gate park. The weather did not cooperate - it was raining when we arrived and there was no parking. We drove around a bit and then just went back to her house and talked for a bit. 

Can you believe this is her backyard??

I still had a short run to do when I got home, but I just ran on the south side of the lake. It wasn't bad. Ben and I went out for a very late lunch (early dinner?). 

Ben and I went on a "Pika" walk to the lake. It was a pretty night.

Watched a movie.

Monday (12,439 steps) - Work from home. Went for a walk at lunch, which was pretty depressing because it was the same route I used to walk daily with Pika. Spent most of the day packing and organizing. Ben and I went for a walk in the rain after he got home from work and we had enchiladas for dinner. Since it's October 3, we of course watched Mean Girls.

Stats:

• 115,228 steps
• 23.59 miles run
• 0 minutes of cardio
• 0 minutes of strength training (but did hike for a few hours?)

Week in Review (September 20 - September 26)

Tuesday (21,651 steps) - Work in the office. Went for a walk at lunch. After work I ran at Stone House again. I really like the flat dirt path they've added near the paved section. I only had 5 miles on schedule, but saw the group coming towards me, so I ended up walking another 1.5 or so.

Wednesday (17,155 steps) - Up insanely early since it was supposed to rain in the afternoon and I had hill repeats on schedule. The nice thing about being out that early is the temperatures are so much better. Usually I don't see anyone at all, but I think other people had the same idea as me. The best part of my run was that I had a fox that was "stalking" me. It was so cute, every time I'd go up the hill he would sneak closer to watch me, and then as I got closer he would disappear into the tall grass. He stuck around for a good 15-20 minutes until he got startled by a guy walking his dogs. I wasn't feel great during this due to lack of sleep and feeling like I was getting sick, so my splits weren't as fast as they have been in the past.

Work in the office, hoped to get a walk in, but it started raining so I skipped it. After work A and I had plans to go to a movie - Barbarian - at Alamo. I initially got roped in because they were offering $5 movies on Fridays, but what a shock, the one we wanted to see was excluded. We also got dinner while we were there - truly a splurge for us. Movie was crazy and we got home LATE.

Thursday (17,350 steps) - Work from home. I felt blah enough to actually take a Covid test. Thankfully, negative. Are we going to have to do this forever?

Took Pika for another slow walk at lunch. Weather was supposed to improve as the day went on, so I had plans to run after work. I still needed somewhere flat, but getting tired of my neighborhood, so I drove up to Rocky Flats. I know it's in the name, but it was rockier than I remembered. It was also still kind of rainy and cold, and I definitely overdressed for this. There was not a single other person out, however, and I love that.

Friday (16,173 steps) - Wash Park and coffee with the gang before going to work. After years (?) Nicole and I FINALLY went to lunch together. Our favorite place is Tupelo Honey near Union Station, and we used to try to go a few times a year. I actually enjoyed a cocktail!

Lunch was delicious, and it was fun to be out at lunch. (I bring my lunch every day, so this was a treat).

After work I headed up north for A's meet. This time, the map took me to a much better place for parking. 

I could tell A was disappointed with her time (pretty sure she still ran around 23 minutes), so we didn't talk after her run. I went with Ben to 4 Noses for a beer, then early to bed.

Saturday (18,437 steps) - I didn't set an alarm and managed to stay in bed until after 8. I had thought I would run Rock Creek and maybe run into Kristin (who was doing something crazy like 20+ miles). I sent her a text but didn't hear back, but I ran there anyway.

It was HOT and I forgot to put on sunscreen so I got a sunburn. Stopped at 4 Noses for a beer on my way home. When I got home I realized that Ben had... left. He apparently decided to make our anniversary weekend alone in the mountains. So that was fun for me.

Sunday (13,525 steps) - Didn't set an alarm and somehow stayed in bed until almost 9:30. I can't even remember the last time that happened.

I only had 4 miles to do so I just ran from the house at the lake. Run was fine. Today was my actual wedding anniversary and I spent it at home alone. Also nice.

Monday (17,524 steps) - Work from home. Was grumpy all day. Batman was too, but he had an excuse. Look how empty his bowl is!

Did my 150th Peloton ride - it was a live one and I still didn't get a shout out. Of course, I can't compete with people that have done THOUSANDS of rides. (Literally). Went for a lot of walks today. 

Stats:

• 121,815 steps
• 26.07 miles run
• 30 minutes of cardio
• 0 minutes of strength

Snow Mountain Ranch half marathon (Race Recap)

Granby, CO

Saturday, September 17

Weather - Perfect!

I got a comp for this race back in June, and was looking forward to running for the sixth time. When I was in Banff, I even managed to convince Heather to come and join me!

Race Day

Since we were staying ON-SITE we didn't have to get up early. I was running at 7:30, but Heather's race wasn't starting until 8:30. I figured it's "just a half" so I didn't even get up until 6:30. Braided my hair, ate my yogurt and one mini donut, and got all my stuff ready. It was pretty chilly out, but I know it heats up, so I was confident my tee, skirt and gloves would be fine. 

We realized that the start line was literally like a quarter mile away, but decided to drive anyway so Heather could hang out in the car.

It was about 7:10 when I went in to get my bib and use the bathroom. Suddenly, there was only a few minutes until the race started, so I had to head over to the line.

Unlike every other year - no changing leaves :(

I lined up towards the back and was surprised to see Monica! She was telling me that she was going to be in the back as she hasn't been running. We will see. 

As usual, Jeff (the race director) basically walked us all through the entire course before the National Anthem and then it was time to run. 

My coach had told me to take it easy, but if I was feeling well, he indicated that I could "push the pace" if I wanted to. Well, I felt like garbage. Right from the start. I overall felt fairly fatigued and just blah. 

I started walking halfway up the first hill and basically did a run/walk for most of the day. In the past, when I've been feeling good, I've been able to run a lot of the course. Not this time. It was chilly and a tad muddy from all the rain we had received the night before.

The first miles was probably the fastest of the day for me, and after that it all went downhill. I did not remember there being so much tall grass on the course. IT SMELLED HORRIFIC. I don't know that I have ever mentioned it on this blog, but the smell of wet grass is the worst smell on earth to me. I had already not been feeling great at the start, and all this grass made it even worse. 

I. Walked. A. Ton. 

It was still a beautiful morning, and I found myself chatting with a few ladies on the course. One was new to trail running and one was back to running after some health issues. They both indicated they were pacing off me. Flattering, but probably not in their best interest the way this was going. In and out of the first aid station, stopping only long enough to grab a Spring Energy. There was a mile-ish loop with some flat (that I walked), then a nice downhill (but I was afraid to run fast because of all the divots I couldn't see with the grass). So, I didn't make up any time, but that was fine. Back to the aid station, grabbed another gel then off I went.

One would think that I would remember the course better, since I've run it MULTIPLE times, but... I didn't.

Around mile 5 or so was when we got to the steep climbing section. I hadn't been paying attention at the start and hadn't really been looking at the markers, and was worried that Heather would end up on this section and then be annoyed with me. (Turns out, the 10k was actually the back half of our course, not the front half).

I passed one woman I had been chasing for a bit on the climb, but then I ended up behind a woman that was jogging slower than I was walking. In the past, this section was super pretty with changing leaves, but it didn't look like that this year. Also, it was extremely overgrown in areas - nothing like I have seen in the past. 

I had hoped the descending switchbacks would be nice, but it too, was overgrown, and some of the trail was even washed out in areas. I was still behind the slow jogger because I wasn't necessarily in a hurry, but finally I got irritated and asked to pass. That ended up being close to the end of the single track, however. We were then on a nice dirt path. Finally some runnable trail! 

There were a bunch of people wandering around closer to the parking lot (with kids and dogs), but thankfully no one got in the way. My stomach was still feeling off, so I was happy that there was a bathroom at the lot. Felt somewhat better after that. There was a bit of a runnable section on some wider road, but it was definitely really muddy in areas. A 50k runner passed me and was gagging and I thought he was going to puke, but thankfully he didn't (that I saw). Got to the last aid station, grabbed a gel. Walked up the hill to the outdoor church, and then I still had to walk a bit on the downhill near the lake. What a disappointment! There was some construction on the far side of the lake, and I saw a sign that there were no pedestrians allowed past that point, so I was wondering if I had missed a turn, but thankfully saw someone in front of me. Ran a bit more here, then realized I was almost by the start line (finally). I had felt so awful the whole race that if I wasn't as far mileage-wise, that I was tempted to drop. My watch already had me over ten miles, so I kept going. Blah.

Headed up the hill, walking, of course. More tall grass. More mud. 

I saw Heather! She was pretty unamused also. Sorry, Heather! A little running here and there, but I knew by this point that my goal of beating my 2020 time of 2:51 was not even remotely possible. The only goal at this time was to just not have anyone in my race pass me. I did get passed by a few more 50k runners, but with all the divots and grass, I was still not willing to risk an ankle roll.

The last hill up the grassy area was just as miserable as I remember. With how tall the grass was, there didn't seem to be a direct trail and I felt like I kept choosing wrong. Finally, finally, FINALLY, I got on the last section at the top before the descent. One of the ladies I had been running with in the beginning was right in front of me. I didn't think it was possible to beat her, but I at least wanted to keep up. Tried to save all my energy to run up that last stupid hill into the finish, and I did it. Woo!!

Not feeling great after crossing the finish, all I wanted to do was sit down. Grabbed my medal and headed over to where the beer was. Spent some time talking with Heather, Greg, Monica (and her friends). Disappointing race, but a beautiful day!!

Official Time - 3:08:39

Garmin Time - 3:08:42

Official Pace - 14:24

Overall Place - 72/80

Division Place - 14/16

Elevation Gain - 16,31'

Mile 1 - 12:55

Mile 2 - 14:50

Mile 3 - 1557

Mile 4 - 14:16

Mile 5 - 13:54

Mile 6 - 15:58

Mile 7 - 18:15

Mile 8 - 12:22

Mile 9 - 13:49

Mile 10 - 12:22

Mile 11 - 15:37

Mile 12 - 14:12

Mile 13 - 13:26

Mile 13.1 - 11:02 pace

Thoughts:

• I love this race and I'm sure I will be back another year. I didn't have a great race this year, and I blame part of this on course conditions (ew to the mud and insanely tall grass), but I just also wasn't feeling great.
• Medal this year was "meh" - I wish the ribbon at least was half marathon specific!
• Boo that there were no changing leaves like years past, guess they are changing later this year.
• Again, race shirt is optional, I'm not sure what this year's looked like, since I didn't get one.
• Post-race party pretty good! I was feeling nauseous at the finish so I didn't eat anything, but they were back to having beer, which I appreciated.
• Will I run this again? I'm sure I will! I hope the course is in better shape next time, and of course, I also hope to be feeling better.