Week in Review (December 21 - December 27)

Tuesday (16,515 steps) - Work in the office. Let's try this again - third times a charm?

Let's all admire the fact that not only did I get dressed, but I dressed NICELY to go into work. 

I had a one hour build on schedule, so I decided to head down to Lakewood and do a run on BCT. The temperatures were actually PERFECT for an evening run, and I was able to run for, oh, five minutes before I needed my headlamp. C'mon spring!! The first mile was... fine. The second mile was ok. The last mile was pretty awful. I had major stomach cramps that forced me to walk a lot more than I wanted to. Ugh, I swear I just get worse at running every day.

Met up with friends at Green Mountain after.

Wednesday (7,651 steps) - Work in the office. Went for a walk at lunch. Peloton ride after work. Nothing else?

Thursday (19,108 steps) - Up "early" to do my run before work. I had what I thought would be an "easy" run - 4 min run + 1 min walk for 45 minutes. The first half was fine, but then I had major stomach cramps again, which once again made for a not fun run. Why.

Took Pika for a walk at lunch. 

Friday (9,980 steps) - Christmas Eve, and thankfully had the day off! Took Pika to the dog park - which was surprisingly packed.

We had plans to meet up with Tyler & Denny, Kristin & Doug at 4 Noses. We actually managed to get an inside table. Fun as always to chat with everyone. Ben left a bit earlier so that he could do some last minute shopping, so Ariel and I got a ride home from Kristin. 

Once we got home, we started on what has become somewhat of a tradition for us - the annual puzzle! Ben's mom had sent it to us a few weeks earlier and we were looking forward to seeing how long it would take. Ariel started the initial work while I made pumpkin cheesecakes.

All in all, it took us around 3.5 hours to finish this 500 piece puzzle. Honestly, I expected it to be a bit harder! Ben's mom was really impressed, haha.

We haven't had the lights on much this year because it's been insanely windy and the lights keep blowing on the roof. Grrr.

We stayed up UNTIL MIDNIGHT watching the newest James Bond movie. Party animals!

Saturday (11,574 steps) - One would think that we would sleep later since we had stayed up so late. Sadly, that was not the case. I think we were up by 8, and woke Ariel up sometime before 9. Last year we didn't take ANY pictures, so I made sure to at least get pictures of all the fun wrapping paper we had this year.

Pizza paper AND wrapped in a fun shape. Isn't A creative?

Tree and "most" of the presents

Sloths (for Ariel) and Narwhals (for Ben)

Gingerbread cookies for me!

Dinosaurs (also for A)

It shouldn't come as a surprise that we get gifts for the animals. I don't know how Ben came across these, but the cats now have banana beds.

Ben's section of the couch doesn't have a cupholder, so I got him this amazing pink unicorn to hold his beverages

And no Christmas would be complete without a train for the cats, haha

Ariel and I took Pika back to the dog park since I had a "Strava Art" activity on my schedule. It didn't work out QUITE as planned, but it was fun working on this. A had a friend come over, so they disappeared playing video games and Ben and I made dinner (which I can't believe none of us took any pictures of). After dinner Ben and I watched "Don't Look Up" - holy funny!!

Sunday (27,079 steps) - Ben and I had plans to run separately. We started in Boulder and he was going to run the Dirty Biz loop and I was going to do the same loop I had done the week before. I was thankfully feeling a lot better this week, and it was not nearly as cold. There were, however, more people on the trail because it was warmer and we started later, but it wasn't too bad. Thankfully the wind didn't pick up until the last couple miles. Even the downhill sucked because it was so windy.

Ben and I stopped at Bluegrass on the way home for some snacks and a beer, and then to Costco to pick up a few things and get gas. Evening was spent watching "Don't Look Up" again (since A hadn't seen it). Robin found her banana! We had to put hers in the bin of old race shirts that she always sleeps in for her to use it, but she seems to enjoy it.

Monday (7,494 steps) - Work from home. Literally rolled out of bed right at the time I needed to log in. Thankfully nothing happened over the weekend, so it was a slow morning. Picked up coffee before taking A to practice. Took Pika for a walk at lunch. Watched "Don't Listen" and it was pretty good! Leftovers for dinner and a few episodes of Breaking Bad - getting close to finishing up. Forgot how intense this show is!

Stats:

• 99,401 steps
• 20.54 miles run
• 45 minutes of cardio
• 0 minutes of strength 

Week in Review (December 14 - December 20)

Tuesday (9,323 steps) - 45 minute Peloton ride before working in the office. In addition to a gift card, work gave us snazzy fleece vests. It's really warm, but I'd have preferred a jacket since I'm always freezing.

Went for a walk at lunch. After work I rushed to get A from practice, take her home so she could grab a snack and change clothes for her orchestra holiday concert. This one included the band also, so it was an hour and a half long. They sounded really good!

Wednesday (5,953 steps) - Rest day! I had switched my in office days because I had a client meeting scheduled for Thursday. It ended up working out nicely that I was at home since we had a crazy windstorm that lasted most of the day - it would NOT have been fun to be out in that. I took the below video of our neighbor's trampoline!

Even Pika didn't want to be out, we just did the neighborhood loop for her walk.

Thursday (17,450 steps) - Work in the office. I had an hour long run to do, so I figured I would go at lunch since the weather was nice. This was a pretty sucky run. I had posed the question as to why my heart rate has been so high even during easy runs, and a friend suggested it could be caused by the vaccines/booster. Hmmm. Either way, this was not the most fun I've had, but it was an unseasonably nice day.

Friday (11,291 steps) - Wash Park and coffee with the gang before work in the office

Last day of covering for Nicole - her desk is so insane!

Saturday (26,534 steps) - I had to get up early(ish) to get my long run done. I was a bit apprehensive for this one as the forecast was MUCH colder than anything I have run in for a long time. I left the house just after 7:30 and it was only 14 degrees, which was a lot colder than it was supposed to be. I had mapped out a bit of a different route to get my 10-12 miler in. I actually managed to pick the PERFECT outfit - Rabbit beanie, INKnBURN fleece with the Rabbit Zip & Zoom hoodie, Smartwool neck gaiter, my trusty New Balance fleece tights and Smartwool gloves. I had actually packed my Oiselle mittens as well, but the gloves actually were fine. The only issue I had with my wardrove was my sunglasses! They kept fogging up and icing over because it was so cold. I eventually had to give up on them - which was annoying because even though it was freezing (substantially colder than freezing), it was SUNNY. 

Will run for cow pictures!

Saw a herd of deer that was not shy at all

A few miles in (less than two I think), I tried to get some water - and the straws for my bottles were frozen! I don't think I have ever had that happen on my bottles. Crazy. I was once again trying to run easy and keep my heartrate down. Unfortunately, it still seems like I am working way too hard for my pace. Bah. The areas in the shade were a bit chilly, but it wasn't nearly as bad as I had built it up to be. The only section that I really noticed any damage from the windstorm was on Doudy Draw - a few trees that I know used to be upright...

I never tire of this view!

The perfect outfit!

I was getting a little discouraged at how "off" I was feeling, but luckily, when I started descending Spring Brook I felt better - obviously because it was downhill, but still. I struggle with this trail in the summer because it is so hot and exposed, but it's quite lovely in the winter. Because it was so cold, the trails were also relatively deserted, which was a big bonus.

Yay! More cows!

Second time I've had frozen hair this season

Rushed home so I could shower. Ben and I decided to go back to the same Mexican food restaurant before going to get the rest of my tattoo finished! I am really pleased with how this turned out - especially Transylvania - the bat looks AWESOME.

We stopped at a few new breweries on the way home - Novel Strand (which I didn't really care for) and Trve - which I LOVED. I had no idea it was a "heavy metal" themed brewery. Dark and spooky and just my style, haha. The most interesting part of the breweries was they both required proof of vaccination to enter - which was a first for us.

Picked up Marco's pizza for dinner and then Ben and I watched "Old" - which was a lot different than I imagined it would be.

Sunday (6,982 steps) - Slept in. Well not really, because my insomnia is definitely back. Sad. I was glad to have another day off. Lounged around and didn't do much all morning. Ariel and I took Pika for a walk.

We wanted to join the Jackalopes for the Ugly Sweater run, but neither Ben nor I was running today. So we just met them for beer. First one at O'Dells, then over to Joyride. We also got some food at Joyride since we were all starving. Fun afternoon!

Monday (10,167 steps) - Work from home. Had a dentist appointment, then took Pika for a walk. Seriously cannot believe this is December.

Checked my email when I logged back in and found out I am not an ambassador for Squirrel's Nut Butter! I love this stuff and have been using it for many years now.

Stats:

• 87,700 steps
• 16.22 miles run
• 45 minutes of cardio
• 0 minutes of strength

Week in Review (December 7 - December 13)

Tuesday (7,777 steps) - Work in the office. I had to leave early to pick A up at school and then take her to the doctor for her annual appointment. Pretty annoying that it wasn't on a day I was already at home, but it was one of the quickest appointments ever, and the doctor was even EARLY. I didn't even know that was a thing. I was busy enough at work that I actually had to log in when I got back home to finish up. At least Batman was adorable when keeping me company.

Wednesday (17,724 steps) - Up early to do my hour long Peloton ride before work. I just LOVE Cody. No matter how much I am not looking forward to a ride, he makes me smile, plus he usually has really good play lists.

Work in the office. Ariel and I took Pika down to Denver for the annual Runners Edge holiday light run! It is really my favorite run every year. Parking has become quite the headache, and we had to pay $12 to park in a lot. Oof. Ben met us down there.

Pika definitely started out too fast, and was wanting to be in front of the group. Luckily, in the early mile there are a TON of stoplights, so she had to slow down a bit. It was a REALLY warm evening and I was definitely overdressed.

Every year the Civic Center has the best lights (in my opinion).

Pika is a mile high!

First year the tour has had the lower part lit up!

This was a much smaller group than we have had in years past, but it was fun because we actually all stuck together the whole time. After the run we went to Amato's for a beer before heading home. It was really late by the time we left, good thing we don't do this often!

Thursday (8,133 steps) - Work from home. Pika was pretty zonked after running almost 5 miles, so she only wanted to go on a short walk. After work I met Ben at Goldspot so we could talk to Greg and NOT play trivia.

Friday (10,925 steps) - Denver's first OFFICIAL snow of the year! Not many of us were planning on walking in the morning. Imagine our surprise when we had a reporter stop us and ask for our names so that he could put our picture in the local paper! Pretty cool, since it was a record-breaking year. Full article can be found here.

Photo cred: Denver Gazette

Freaking brrr. It was a heavy and wet snow, but luckily the park gets plowed. Stella's for coffee before going into the office for work. The snow was already done by my drive in. After work Ariel and I headed to Sully's house for his annual Christmas party. It was a little weird this year since it was mostly his work friends and only a couple of runners, the only one we really knew was Andrew. The food was delicious, like always.

Saturday (30,830 steps) - Slept in because the only plan I had for running was that I wanted to finish before noon. I had 10 miles on schedule, so I figured I would just run by the house again. I felt like I had dressed warm enough for the temperature, but it was windy (again) and overcast, so I was actually pretty chilly on this one. Didn't feel great for most of this one either - wonder why I seem to be retreating into feeling more miserable again?

Showered when I got home and had lunch. As soon as my hair was dry I actually straightened my hair (I cannot believe I used to do this every day) in prep for my work holiday party. It was a smaller event this year, but it's always a good time. The food was amazing!

It turns out I don't really talk to anyone at work and Ben and I awkwardly sat at our own table for most of the night. We did at least take an awesome picture at the photo booth, haha. Ben is so weird.

We stayed a lot longer than I had intended, and it was about 11 before we got home. I haven't worn heels in YEARS, and my feet were hurting, so I took them off on the drive home. When I got out of the car I promptly dropped one on my foot. I didn't even realize I was bleeding profusely until I had walked all over the house. We had to clean blood off the couch, rug, and kitchen floor. Sigh.

Sunday (18,846 steps) - Slept in a bit later than planned, but since we had both fallen asleep on the couch only to wake up at 2 in the morning, we obviously needed it. Ben had his long run to do (he actually hired a coach to hopefully get him more consistent before WSER) and I figured what I had on deck (30 min easy run, 45 min power hike, 30 min run) would take about the same amount of time, so we headed up to Boulder. What a shock, it was windy again.

At least the way back was a tailwind, and I somehow managed to run really well. I'm glad my toe wasn't bothering me. We had to be done "early" because I had another thing to do... finally get some new tattoo work done! Sheila's son is a tattoo artist and had just opened up his new studio down in Aurora and I had an appointment at 2. We stopped to get some food beforehand, and it was DELICIOUS. Cheese enchiladas are a perfect post-run food! He got about half the work done before we decided to call it quits for the day - I have another appointment next weekend.

We stopped at Station 26 on the way home for a celebratory beer. 

Monday (14,996 steps) - Work from home. Went for a run at lunch and it was NOT great. My calves were pretty achy and then my stomach was off. I had to use the bathroom at the Simms trailhead. The way back wasn't as bad, but I still can't figure out why my heartrate stays so high when I feel like I am running "easy." After dinner we finally decorated the Christmas tree!

Stats:

• 109,231 steps
• 27.9 miles run
• 65 minutes of cardio
• 20 minutes of strength training