Week in Review (March 22 - March 28)

Tuesday (9,378 steps) - Got up early and did a bike boot camp before going into the office for work. These are always SO HARD. Went for a walk at lunch. When I got home did a half hour on the rower while watching... Dawson's Creek! So happy to see it available for streaming, haha.

Wednesday (24,370 steps) - Work in the office. Left work a few minutes early to go to Boulder for my "2 hours" on trails. I had mapped out a pretty cool route that had a few segments I hadn't done before. With the snow we had gotten on Monday I was REALLY surprised to see the trails were in pretty good shape!

There were very few sections that had snow and ice - which was nice!

It had been a few months since I had been out and doing "really long" stuff - and the last time I still had to use my headlamp. Going up Fern was a little sketchy, but it seemed to go much faster having poles and still being light out.

I was definitely glad to have some sections that were not as technical to run down (and up) as I'm still babying my foot a bit and it seems like I roll my ankle EVERY TIME I run where there are rocks.

By the time I got to Bear I realized the route was going to take me a bit longer than expected, but I got to see a pretty sunset!

I had hoped to visit with everyone at the store, but when I drove by it was dark. Sad! I might try to get out of work a bit earlier on Wednesdays so I can still see people after my run/hike. I got a few minutes away from the store and thought that maybe I had left my headphones on my roof?? I pulled over as soon as I got the chance and... I HAD. AND SOMEHOW THEY WERE STILL THERE. I had driven probably 5 miles (?) and they were STILL THERE. 

Did a yoga video then it was time for a (late) dinner - and Ben and A had waited for me.

Thursday (9,590 steps) - Work from home! Took Pika for a walk at lunch. 

After work I did a (very long) Peloton ride. Ugh - doing anything low impact on the bike is NOT my favorite - I find it boring and hard. Plus I used a new instructor that I didn't care for.

Friday (12,496 steps) - Wash Park and coffee with the gang before going to work. Ben mentioned that we should do something since it was our 18 month wedding anniversary. We headed up to Westminster Brewing, where Tyler met us for a bit, and then picked up Qdoba for dinner.

Saturday (48,734 steps) - Up early(ish) for my long run of the day. I had five hours planned, and I was hoping to do the Dirty Biz loop that had been closed since the Marshall Fire. Really excited to wear a new pair of adorable Zensah socks!

Parked the car much later than planned, nearly 8:30. It was "warm," but not as sunny as I expected. Almost immediately, I was having some GI distress, but "lucky" for me, I typically plan this route so that I can hit the bathroom fairly early. Always frustrating to have to walk some of the "easier" parts of this route though.

After using the bathroom, I headed west - and the wind was NUTS. I usually walk quite a bit in this section anyway, but the headwind was BRUTAL.

I was not happy in this section. I even sent Ben a video of the wind so he would know that I wasn't being dramatic about it. The below picture shows my twangers standing up on end, if you look close. Ugh, wind.

It's been a decent amount of time since I've run out here, and I had sort of forgotten a). how bad the wind gets and b). how much I dislike all the bikes on the single track. It's also a fascinating phenomena that 50% of bikers don't seem to have the ability to let you know they are coming up behind you. I only wear one ear bud on these trails so it's not like I couldn't hear them if they said something.

I was REALLY hoping the wind would die down, and after crossing 93 I made a quick detour to the bathroom - since it was there. I also briefly stopped to dump sand out of my shoes, but there really wasn't much there. I really should just wear gaiters all the time I am on trails.

Once I got away from Dowdy Draw and went up towards the Spring Brook Loop things seemed to clear out a bit. This was really the only section of the route that had a bit of mud and some sections in the shade where there was actually some slush left.

I was right, that at some point the wind wasn't as bad and I ran a bulk of the way to Community Ditch. I had loaded up my pack pretty full with 3L of water, as well as a lot of gear I plan to carry for Cocodona. ALSO, I have suddenly been struggling with fueling properly, so on this run I also was setting an alarm for every 45 minutes to eat something. I was only getting in about 100 calories each time. I'll want to bump this up for next run. Saw my first cows at 16+ miles in - which is crazy! This baby was cute.

I hadn't been on this section of the trails that were in the burn zone. LOTS of damage in here :(

The rest of the run actually went REALLY well. I did a lot more running and ran negative splits for the next 5-6 miles.

Some of the worst damage was actually really close to where I had parked, just a bit northwest. Definitely shocking to see the damage to places I've run so many times.

Ben messaged that he had a stop to make in Evergreen, so I headed home to take a shower and get something to eat. Since A was at a friend's house we went up to 4 Noses for a beer. We ended up sharing a table on the deck with a really fun couple! (We are even Peloton friends now, haha). Picked up pizza for dinner.

Sunday (7,626 steps) - Slept in! Was doing some random stuff around the house when I remembered (sadly) that I had a long Peloton ride to do. I don't know why, but the 75 minute mark seems impossible - every time. I was also supposed to do low impact, so I did a power zone endurance ride on mute and just watched a movie on Netflix. Took Pika for a walk and then met Ben at New Terrain. Tyler came over for happy hour.

Monday (18,556 steps) - Work from home. Took Pika for a walk at lunch. I had 6ish miles on schedule and had to do it after work - when it was 76 degrees. 76! (That's literally 40 degrees warmer than last week). I just felt totally blah during this. 2 miles warm up, 10 intervals - with my fasted pace being 8:50 - and that felt pretty damn hard. My recovery wasn't great either. Last week I jogged all but two of them, I think I only jogged 1-2 TOTAL. Weirdly, though, my overall pace was only a tiny bit slower than last week. I really hope that after doing this for a while I will get back some of my speed that I lost... ten (?) years ago? Dinner and Ozark.

Stats:

• 130,750 steps
• 37.6 miles run
• 210 minutes of cardio
• 17 minutes of strength training

Week in Review (March 15 - March 21)

Tuesday (11,526 steps) - Back home and back to reality. Work in the office. Weather was nice for once, so I went for a long walk at lunch.

Wednesday (6,228 steps) - Work in the office, although I worked through lunch and left early so that I could go to A's first track meet of the season. 

The forecast was abysmal, with rain and snow. Ben actually got out of work early and met me there with my laptop so I could finish out my work day. A ran the 1600 before any of the rain started and got a new PR of 6:30!! 

There was some on and off rain for a bit, and it got REALLY cold. She also ran the 800, in about 3 minutes flat. She is really getting fast! She was going to be getting a ride home, so we headed out since we are old and were dying of cold. We picked up pho for dinner.

This picture cracked me up. These two never sit together but Pika took Batman's spot on the couch and he slinked up next to her in a moment of defiance.

Thursday (9,005 steps) - A decent amount of snow fell overnight and it was still snowing reasonably hard when I woke up, so I was VERY glad it was a work from home day. 

Took Pika for walk at lunch, and thought that the lake would be mostly frozen. I was wrong. It was muddy and slushy. Sigh.

A had a rough day between some stuff going on with track, PLUS, she found out that the music program at school is being slashed and the Chamber Orchestra class is not going to exist next year - not to mention, the orchestra/band teacher is being cut and will be taught by the choir teacher. Took A to Dairy Queen for a blizzard.

Pika got a treat too!

Friday (12,171 steps) - Wash Park group was small, it was just me and Pete. 

Got coffee before heading into the office. Ben came down at lunch so we could have an "REI date." As he was taking me back to work we got a ring notification that the UPS guy wasn't leaving my iPhone because it was signature required. Grrr! They don't normally come that early. Ben ended up grabbing the delivery notice the driver left and drove all over the neighborhood until he found the guy and my phone! Wheee! Spent the evening transferring all my stuff over to my new phone.

Saturday (23,815 steps) - Set an alarm but I woke up before it went off. I knew all the close trails would be a muddy mess, but I heard a rumor that Evergreen would be fine, so off I went for Elk Meadow and Bergen Peak. There were a few people walking dogs on the lower trails, but at 8:45 am it was the least crowded I have ever seen. And as I climbed, I figured out why... the lower trails had been packed pretty nice and I was moving well. 

About 2 miles in, it got crazy. The snow was up to my thighs in places! It was a LOT of work and slow going. I ended up not even attempting to summit because it was so ridiculous out. 

Of course by the time I was almost done a lot of the lower trails were wet and muddy. Good day though! Went home to shower and then met Ben at the new New Image location in Wheat Ridge. 

It's nice, but the parking is really not any better than Olde Town. Since A was still out with friends, we went to Salsas for dinner. 

Sunday (6,919 steps) - A rare day off for everyone! Slept "in" and Ben made breakfast. Took Pika for a walk at lunch. Went to New Terrain, Costco, and then home for dinner. 

Monday (18,524 steps) - Work from home. It snowed. Again. I'm really tired of the snow. Took Pika for a walk at lunch. After work I had my first real run on schedule since before Antelope. Coach is giving me some "speed" and this one had me apprehensive. Like usual, I stressed out about it way more than I needed to, it was fine. Dinner and Ozark.

Stats:

• 88,188 steps
• 14.47 miles run
• 0 minutes of cardio
• 20 minutes of strength training

Week in Review (March 8 - March 14)

Tuesday (10,568 steps) - I headed to work but ended up only staying in the morning since my main "in office" attorney is on vacation. Went home at lunch to walk Pika. Did a yoga video and some packing/ A had a fundraiser at Panera, so we got dinner there, which is always a treat.

Wednesday (14,334 steps) - Worked from home again, since it was "snowing" - but also because my attorney was out. I had to go for a run, and I was definitely dreading it. I ran 4 and my comment on strava was "I've been colder," so I guess it wasn't that bad.

I took Pika for a walk about an hour after I got back from my run and THAT was the worst. It was soooo cold. We didn't even do our "small" neighborhood loop. More packing?

Thursday (11,852 steps) - Work from home. Went for another really cold walk with Ben and Pika. Did a stretching video. We then headed to the school for A's orchestra concert. They really sounded amazing!!!

They had pictures and clean up after, so Ben and I left to get ice and pick up pizza for dinner before picking A up. I realized I had left my water bottle in the auditorium, so I ran back in to get it and slammed my leg into one of the seats. It instantly hurt pretty bad, so I had to ice it when I got home. I swear, only me...

Friday (10,287 steps) - See Antelope Canyon.

Saturday (142,397 steps)- See Antelope Canyon.

Sunday (21,444 steps) - After leaving the race and picking up my drop bag, it was after 4 in the morning before we got back to the hotel room. Took a shower and had part of a beer before deciding to go to sleep. I think we managed to sleep until 10:30 or 11, at which point we wanted to find some food. I picked a dive bar down the street. It wasn't very crowded and the food and beer was good.

Food made us tired, so we went back to the hotel, intending to just relax for a bit. Well, that ended up being a relatively long nap. Walked back to the brewery down the street for beers. Ben ordered take out, but I wasn't hungry. Went to bed pretty early, without packing, because we are dumb.
Monday (5,209 steps) - Alarm went off early because we still had to drive back to Denver. We had to pack and clean up before heading out. Then we stopped at this cute restaurant in town for breakfast sandwiches and coffee.

Drive was uneventful. We stopped for lunch at Milt's in Moab and then when we got to Frisco we got beer at Outer Range. 

Hope around 9 and then a quick dinner of frozen pizza before bed.

Stats:

• 215,891 steps
• 78.62 miles run
• 20 minutes of cardio
• 27 minutes of strength training