Week in Review (February 16 - February 22)

Tuesday (24,478 steps) - After yesterday's brutal wind I didn't even want to THINK about running outside (even if it wasn't windy). For the first time in ages I suffered through running 7 miles in the basement inferno. And "suffer" is a pretty accurate way to describe this run. I was slow, it was hot, I was tired, NOT fun. Although I did get in a few more episodes of "Breaking Bad" (re-watching before I start "Better Call Saul"). After work we had a cookie booth. All girls showed up, so even though it was pretty busy, A's share was just under 50 boxes. Tokyo Joe's for dinner.
Wednesday (21,772 steps) - 5 terrible miles. My calves are tight, I haven't been sleeping well. My arm is so sore from where I got my depo shot that I actually had woken up in the middle of the night in extreme pain. Ugh. I guess this is what happens after weeks of "good" running? Blah.

But so pretty!!

After work we headed down to run club. Did a short run with Heather and A and then A sold cookies again.

Pretty exciting that I won one of the raffles and got a discounted entry to a cross country race - now, I just need to put together a team?
Thursday (13,920 steps) - I had 6 miles on schedule and I opted to skip the run because I've been feeling so crappy for the last week. I slept a little bit later and did a yoga/pilates video instead. The evening was spent trying to figure out how to solve a Girl Scout camp registration catastrophe.
Friday (22,896 steps) - All week long the wind has been unbearable. I didn't even bother to check what the weather was like when I got up, I just sucked it up and did 6 miles in the basement inferno. After work we had YET ANOTHER cookie booth. My new Roost teammate, Kate, met up with us at the booth so she could borrow my singlet. A and I went to dinner at HuHot and it was blissfully quiet so we didn't have to wait forever to get food (just the check).
Saturday (33,907 steps) - Long run day with Runners Edge and Heather. And by "long," we were both happy that we "only" had 14 on schedule. Unfortunately my legs were dead tired and I had crampy calves most of the run. Lakewood is also hillier than I remember. Always enjoy running with Heather, so it wasn't all bad.

Stopped at Einstein's to pick up brunch (seems to be a new tradition) and headed home to relax a bit before the Roost launch meeting. TONS of new faces on the team this year. I also won a week rental of Elevated Legs, which I cannot wait for. After we picked up our gear a group of us went to Crazy Mountain brewery, a new sponsor for our team this year. Such a fun night with everyone!

Sunday (16,781 steps) - Of course the one day I can sleep in, I don't. We made omelettes and pancakes for breakfast and then went to Target to do our grocery shopping. A joined me on a 3 mile run by the lake so she could test out her new Garmin. It was a bit windy, but FINALLY the sun was out!!

First, of probably many, A "Garmin" pictures

After lunch, we baked some red velvet brownies and then SHOCKINGLY, we had another cookie booth. We went over to Jessa's again for a viewing of the Walking Dead.
Monday (26,010 steps) - I only had 4 miles on schedule, but after looking at the forecast for the next few days I decided to swap my 4 with Tuesday's 8 (since we have more snow coming). Legs a tad tired, but it was honestly the best run that I've had in weeks.

A mile in... Super early, super moon

About 5 miles in - moon set!

7 miles in and a gorgeous sunrise!

I actually did a short yoga video when I was done (need to get in the habit of doing this ALL THE TIME). Began the run looking at the full moon and ended it with yet another gorgeous Colorado sunrise. After work? COOKIE BOOTH OF COURSE. The best part about the booth? It put A over her goal of 750 boxes!! We picked up Tokyo Joe's for dinner.

Stats:

• 159,764 steps
• Miles Run - 46.0 (with no races??)
• No cross training
• 32 minutes of strength/stretching

Everything Else

• As you can see, the miles were all there. But a lot of them were not good. Luckily the short trail run I did with A on Sunday seemed to "reset" everything. The training plan I am on is fairly high mileage and I hate to get burned out so early in it!
• Cookies!! A is super pumped that she hit her goal. We still have FIVE cookie booths left, but the pressure is now off. If she gets to 1000 boxes, it will save me another $60 for her camp. As for camp, she got into a pretty cool one, it's called "Girl v. Zombie" and is a survival camp where they teach self-defense, how to make a disaster kit, etc. Looking forward to hearing about it when she gets back (IN JULY).
• One of my Colfax relay buddies submitted pictures from the race for an article in the "Denver Business Journal" - and turns out, they liked mine.

Week in Review (February 9 - February 15)

Tuesday (24,024 steps) - 7 incredibly early miles. I was shocked that this felt great, even after #eatingallthethings while we were in California and the sheer exhaustion that came from getting back in town. Not to mention, it was cold. Either way, it was a great run.

After work we picked up some more Girl Scout cookies and then headed back to A's school for the music performance her grade was doing, entitled "Colorado." It was super cute, it was very obvious that the kids put a lot of work into it.

Wednesday (21,025 steps) - A yucky, windy 4 miles in the morning. I hate the wind SO MUCH. I would rather run in single degree temps and snow than wind.

We went to run club, where we did another short run with Heather, and A was allowed to sell cookies to the runners after.

Thursday (24,943 steps) - Had to get up extra early for the 6 miles on schedule because A volunteered at school to hand out candy grams. The 6 went surprisingly well, and was "fast" for me. I also got to see another amazing sunrise, so that always makes getting up early "worth it."

Friday (14,161 steps) - TGI rest day!! I was in a bad mood ALL day. First, found out that some items I sold and shipped were missing (to the tune of $100). I printed labels from PayPal and our office assistant SAYS she took them to the mail room, but there was no other tracking info. So somehow they boxes got "lost" somewhere between my office and mail room. THEN, I found out that one of my favorite attorneys I work for is moving!! Wah!!! After work we had to head right to her first cookie booth of the season. Being a Friday night and a pretty busy grocery store, A's share was over 50 boxes, so I guess it was worth it.
Saturday (43,800 steps) - Up early for our longest training run YET of this nonsense marathon training. It was INSANELY foggy on the drive down, and even though the forecast was for nice weather, I ended up keeping a jacket on for the first half as the fog cooled down the air. The first few miles were fine, but I REALLY struggled through this one. I certainly hope the next long run is better! Love running with Heather though.

Bought brunch at Einsteins and then headed home for to 1). make a lasagna, 2). shower, 3). watch the Olympic marathon trials. Yes, I managed to accomplish all that before we had to go to YET ANOTHER cookie booth. Man, cookie sales are a lot of work, for BOTH of us. After dinner we watched Hotel Transylvania 2 and I sewed more patches on A's vest. Ugh. I hate, hate, HATE sewing. Batman seemed to enjoy it though.

Sunday (15,179 steps) - Didn't have to get up SUPER early, but it felt early after the long week. Drove down to the Platte River Grill for the February RMRR trophy race. A didn't want to run the 5k by herself, so instead of running the long distance (7 miles), I ran with her. We clocked the first mile a bit too fast (around 10), and she struggled a bit. When she saw the 3 mile marker she booked it and beat me by quite a bit. My .1 pace was 7:06, so she was probably 6 something. Ah, to be young.

1. A looks adorbs. 2. I need to cut back on cookies and stop running with claw hands

This is the best race of the season! The Platte River Bar and Grill provided appetizers (nachos, quesadillas, fries, onion rings), which pretty much ended up being a meal. We went back outside to watch Maureen and our other teammates finish. Maureen talked me into doing the bloody Mary bar - that was a fun change!

Roost team (and A, because she feels she is an "honorary" member, lol)

After we went home and showered, A and I decided to go out for some door to door sales, hoping it wasn't in poor taste to sell on Valentine's Day.

She actually did pretty well in sales, and we headed back just in time to miss some of the obnoxious wind. We went over to Jessa's house for the spring premiere of the Walking Dead!! We had some beer, frozen pizza, veggies and fruit - I miss hanging out with Jessa. The show did not disappoint, it was a great episode.
Monday (19,147 steps) - I took the day to hang out with A - we planned on "Rebecca and Ariel's day of fun - and we had a "schedule" to keep so I still had to get up early for my run. I had 5 on schedule, but when I woke up the wind was howling and I was DREADING THIS. It was seriously the windiest weather I have EVER run in. I turned around at 2 miles. I felt like my face was morphing and the wind kept pushing me off the sidewalk (literally, this is not an exaggeration). My legs were tired, I was working incredibly hard, it was MISERABLE, AWFUL, TERRIBLE. I would consider this in my top ten of worst runs EVER.

As an aside, I love my new ERS ambassador top! Super comfortable!

Can you even tell it is windy? Because it was!!

After I showered we had to go to the doctor so I could get my depo shot, go to her scout leader's house to drop off money and get more cookies, do a cookie delivery for a friend, and THEN... the fun activity of the morning? Jump City! In the past, I have sat there reading while A jumped, but this time we both did! So fun! Gymnastics, slides and dodge ball, where YES, I beat a bunch of ten year old boys. HA HA.

We left around 11:30 to drive down to Denver to meet Jessa at Vine Street for lunch and STOUT MONTH!!! We each tried two beers and spent almost three hours playing Apples to Apples. Seriously one of the most fun board games EVER.

Thankfully, we had built a nap into our "day of fun" because I was exhausted. After nap time we did A's request of playing some video games (Super Mario 3D World) and then did another friend's cookie delivery. Leftover lasagna for dinner. Bam.

Stats:

• 145,079 steps (I didn't meet my "goal steps" two days this week)
• 45 miles run (only "race" was a 5k, and oh, maybe that's why I'm tired...)
• No cross training
• No strength/stretching

Everything Else:

• Girl. Scout. Cookies.

Week in Review (February 2 - February 8)

Tuesday (21,783 steps) - Impending Snowpocalypse meant sleeping in. I did a quick yoga video and then dropped A off at a friend's house since SHE got a snow day and I had to work.

Not sure why anyone thinks we should drive in this much fresh snow!

While I was at work, A made her Valentine's Day mailbox

6ish miles on the treadmill during my lunch break. Went out briefly to sell Girl Scout cookies, hoping for some sympathy sales (yes, we got a few, but WOW, it's COLD and people don't shovel their driveways or sidewalks!)

Wednesday (18,588 steps) - Tried to brave heading outside since two days on the treadmill was TOO MUCH. It was a freezing cold terrible 3ish mile disaster. The snow was super deep, but at least it wasn't icy? Nothing had been plowed yet.

Skipped run club.
Thursday (21,710 steps) - Thought (incorrectly) that the sidewalks would be plowed/better. NOPE. 4 miles of terrifying ice mess.

After work I picked up A and we headed up to Louisville Runners Roost for an ERS ambassador meeting. It was an incredible event! Food, beer, and TONS of merchandise from vendors/sponsors.

2016 ambassadors, our local Hoka rep, and the race director for ERS

The gear (not pictured, Native sunglasses!)

By the time we got home it was a crazy whirlwind of trying to get everything packed for our trip. I haven't really mentioned the trip, but basically, Heather and Maureen had plans on running Surf City in Huntington Beach, California. I was already registered for the Ralston Creek half marathon and didn't have the funds or resources to bring A with me, so I declined the initial invite. After Heather was able to secure the family jet and beach house for the weekend, INSISTING that A was welcome to come and could hang out with her non-running friend that was coming while we raced, I of course decided to join in the "Girls Only" weekend.
Friday (12,946 steps) - Last minute packing, dropped A off at school and then I went to work, but only for a few hours.

One of my attorneys went to Voodoo! Excellent start to a racecation!

Left work just before noon to pick up A and head over to Heather's house so I could follow her and the other Heather (we called her "H2" to keep confusion at a minimum) to Centennial airport for our flight to SoCal. We made a brief stop at Einstein's for lunch to eat on the plane. I have never flown on a private jet... what an experience this all was! We literally parked (or got the car valeted) about 12 feet from the plane. I sat in the back with H2 and we had a great time getting to know each other. The flight went by super fast.

Thank you for the flight!! Landed in the California sunshine!

We were picked up by a limo service (a big van/bus) and the drive to Heather's place in Newport Beach only took maybe 20 minutes.

View from the patio!

We had a quick tour of the house, and then we decided to get dinner.

We stopped at Inspiration Point to watch the sunset and then to Yard House at Fashion Island where I had a delicious grilled cheese sandwich and sweet potato fries. We stayed up pretty late playing Apples to Apples. Because, California.
Saturday (22,363 steps) - Up fairly early (all things considered). Tried to go to a French restaurant in the harbor, but it was closed. Instead we went to a diner that had the most amazing cinnamon french toast. I #ateallthethings.

Oh. Did I forget to mention the skillet I also ate?

We went to the expo in the morning before heading over to the beach in the afternoon.

We had a great time doing a barefoot run and playing in the water.

Stopped at the store to stock up on groceries for the weekend and the Super Bowl extravaganza. H2 made a delicious salad and pasta dinner for all of us. In bed fairly early after playing Scattegories for a bit. Ever played it? So fun.
Sunday (31,470 steps) - Surf City half marathon.

Heather, Jandy, Me, Maureen

We headed back to the house and found that A and H2 had prepared some fresh cut fruit for us to snack on while A made us all breakfast. (Seriously, she made a menu and made toasted bagels and omelettes for us all).

After we all showered and ate we got ready for the big game!

Pre-game!

The Super Bowl was the most fun I think I have ever had. We screamed and yelled at the tv, drank beer, and ate the most food ever. It was the most exhausting day of my life and I think I went to bed at 9.

DENVER WINS!!!

Monday (16,784 steps) - Up fairly early to meet California BFF Heather for breakfast!! She found an awesome place called Pancakes R Us. She had to go to work, so she dropped us off at the house. We immediately left for one more day at the beach (and another barefoot run).

We had just a short amount of time before the limo came to take us to the airport (although we had the driver stop at In N Out burger on the way). Flight back was just as (if not more) fun than the way out.

A got to be a co-pilot for a bit - she "helped" fly over the Grand Canyon!

When we landed, our cars were waiting for us (heater running and trunks open). I may never be able to fly commercial again... By the time we got home we barely had time to do some homework and unpack. Most fun girl's weekend EVER.

Stats:

• 145,644 steps
• 30.7 miles run (recovery week in training - worked out perfectly!)
• No cross training
• 14 minutes of strength/stretching (oops)

Everything Else

• Did I mention that the next month of my life revolves around Girl Scout cookies?

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.