Week in Review (April 19 - April 25)

Tuesday (8,297 steps) - Peloton ride and strength training before work. I've been having a lot of fun building stacks!

Work in the office, walk at lunch. Nothing else?

Wednesday (8,886 steps) - Switched my workouts and did Pelton ride and strength before work again. The ride this time was a Guns n' Roses theme and I really enjoyed it! A randomly had a league relay meet that started late afternoon - so I took my laptop with me to the stadium again, although nothing exciting happened where I had to use it. She ran great in both relays (4x800 and 3200).

She was not happy about having to wait so long to run the 3200, but like most meets, it was one of the last events.

Thursday (25,827 steps) - Work from home. Took Pika for a walk at lunch. After work I headed up to Boulder for my normal "Wednesday night" hike/run. It was FINALLY "hot" - mid to upper 70s. 

Stopped at Resolute on the way home for a beer.

Friday (12,485 steps) - Walk and coffee with the gang

Work in the office. It was a pretty busy day, so time flew by. Met up with Ben at 4 Noses after work for happy hour. We finally had a day in the upper 80s, but by the afternoon/evening it was SO WINDY.

Saturday (8,666 steps) - Up not-too-early for my workout. Peloton ride was AC/DC that was really hard, but I enjoyed it. Also did a live class for my 100th strength class, but no shout out. Sad!

We had some lounging around - and for basically the first time ever (if I'm anywhere in the house), Batman was canoodling with Ben! It was pretty cute (and bizarre) so I had to document it.

Took Pika for an "early" lunch walk. A had a track meet and was told that she needed to be there by 12:30 for warm-ups, etc. Spoiler, she did NOT need to be there that early. She ended up not running her race until almost 5 pm!! And by then, the wind had REALLY picked up and she had a miserable time :(

Stopped at Dairy Queen on the way home for a treat, it was delicious. And in my opinion, weirdly crowded for such a chilly day/evening.

Sunday (32,051 steps) - Woke up unintentionally early for my long run. It was brisk (AGAIN) out, but with rain in the forecast I wanted to just get it over with. I had plans to do 3-4 hours, but after being out for about 30 minutes I opted for the shorter distance. It was actually a relatively nice morning, not too many people out. 

I had about an hour left of my run when I saw a guy walking his dog. And parrot. YES A PARROT. This was a first for me, that's for sure!

Ben was hiking with Pika and we finished up roughly the same time, so we met up at Resolute for a beer.

We were both hungry, so we went to Bluegrass for a late lunch. I typically just order snacks, but I got this sandwich and it was SO GOOD.

Watched a cheesy horror movie ("Choose or Die") that was actually entertaining for all of us.

Monday (15,935 steps) - Work from home. Went for an easy shake out run, took Pika for a walk. Had a tune-up sports massage in the afternoon. Tyler came over for happy hour. Nothing else?

Stats:

• 112,147 steps
• 26.31 miles run
• 90 minutes of cardio
• 110 minutes of strength training

Week in Review (April 12 - April 18)

Tuesday (6,899 steps) - Peloton ride and strength training before going to work in the office. Nothing else?

Wednesday (27,565 steps) - Cold, cold, cold. 

I switched my work from home day because A was taking the PSAT and I wanted to take her to lunch after. Took Pika for a walk and then picked up Panda Express.

After work I went up to Boulder for my weekly hills. It was definitely still cold, and I was even greeted with snow for about 45 minutes. WHEN IS SPRING EVER GOING TO GET HERE?

Snowflakes, if you can't tell

I *finally* got around to delivering the last couple boxes of Girl Scout cookies. Until next year...

Thursday (14,607 steps) - Initially I had planned on a big Peloton stack before work, but for some reason my alarm didn't go off and I overslept. I only had time to do a ride, not any of the strength I had planned. Went to work in the office and a short walk at lunch. After work I headed over to Zorro for some trail maintenance. In retrospect, I'm glad that I didn't do strength training in the morning, carrying these heavy tools and doing manual labor (plus hiking nearly 2 miles) was way more work anyway. It was a bit chilly and windy, but a good time working and we picked up a ridiculous amount of litter. Pack it out, people!!!

Friday (9,767 steps) - Up early for the walk with the gang and coffee before going into the office. It was a pretty slow day, and we sadly did not get an early release for Good Friday. After picking up A at practice Ben and I went to a quick happy hour at New Image.

Saturday (4,856 steps) - Up sort of early to do a 45 minute bike bootcamp and some stretching before a quick shower and taking A to her track meet. I knew she wouldn't be running for a bit, but it turns out I really like watching the events, so I didn't mind being there early. A had a GREAT meet! She was only running the 800m, but she actually won her heat, and got a new PR - 2:50:12!! 

On the way home we stopped at Kneaders to share a sandwich and get some celebratory dessert. A invited her friend over, and Ben and I went to Resolute for a beer and some race planning.

Picked up pizza for dinner, A went to her friend's house for a sleepover and we watched "McFarland," which he had NEVER seen before??

Sunday (47,182 steps) - I didn't set an alarm but still woke up pretty early. Got all my gear ready for my long run. I was really excited to be testing out the Ultraspire Zygos 5.0 - except it seemed much bigger, so I had to keep adjusting it. AND THEN, about 4 miles into my run, the shock cord broke! I had to spend a bit of time trying to rig it in a way that the pack wasn't moving all over the place. I didn't do a great job, but better than nothing. Disappointing for such an expensive pack!!

About this time is when the wind picked up. Again. Are you tired of hearing me talk about wind yet? Well I'm tired of being out in it! The weather was warming up, but because of how I had the pack rigged and the fact that I haven't done any heat training, I left my R1 on. I actually didn't even get that warm - weird!

I had probably 7-8 miles left when the next incident occurred. I realized that the front part of my pack seemed wet. Like really wet. To the point that I wondered if my bladder was leaking. Then I pulled out my flask and realized the seam had completely failed. Like the top was basically coming off. I put electrolytes in my bottles, so of course I was also sticky now. Geez, this wasn't a great day for gear, but glad this happened NOW, and not in a race!!

Decided to stop at 4 Noses for a beer on the way home. The rest of the day was spent trying to nap on the couch until Ben got home. A was still at her friend's house, so we went to get Mexican food for dinner. Nothing seems to taste as good as cheese enchiladas after a long run.
Monday (20,739 steps) - Work from home. Called Ultraspire as soon as they opened and am very pleased with their customer service, but a little distressed that they won't send a replacement pack until they get the damaged one back. ALSO, as I was packing it up, I realized that I was sent the wrong size in the first place, so no wonder it was big. Took Pika for a walk at lunch. Started doing some race packing... always a little stressful.

Picked A up from practice, then I still had to get my speed work done. I was a little nervous for this one as I had to do 4 sets of 7 minutes (hard) with rest in between. I decided to just run from the house since I was starting so late. Took it SUPER easy during the warm up.

Been a while since I've seen a ranger

I managed to pick a pretty good route that had minimal climbs and I actually did every single interval without walking. The last one was definitely rough, but I got through it. Determined to get faster again, since I actually have a road race and some flat stuff this year.

Yes, I know this is slow, but it's faster than I've run in ages

Shower, dinner and then we started watching the newest episodes of Better Call Saul. In bed a bit later than planned.

Stats:

• 131,615 steps
• 39.46 miles run
• 105 minutes of cardio
• 50 minutes of strength training

Week in Review (April 5 - April 11)

Tuesday (7,030 steps) - Up early for a Peloton ride and other cross training. 

Batman enjoys watching me exercise...

Work in the office. Nothing else?

Wednesday (23,518 steps) - Work in the office. I had plans to do my weekly hiking/running in Boulder, but Jeramiah informed us of yet another fire near the trails....

At least I knew before heading all the way up there. Ended up going to Green Mountain (again). Suffered through three summits before decided to take the long (less steep) way down for another hefty vert day.

Stopped at Over Yonder for a quick beer before heading home. Beer was meh, and so was the bartender.

Thursday (8,964 steps) - Work from home. Got my Peloton ride and cross training done throughout the day. Took Pika for a walk at lunch. Finally sunny, and "sorta" warm.

Friday (13,771 steps) - Wash Park and coffee with the gang before work in the office. Went for a walk at lunch to discover it was opening day... woof. Met Tyler for a few beers at Westminster Brewing and picked up Qdoba for dinner since A was seeing the high school musical with friends.

Saturday (33,508 steps) - After discovering the schedule for A's track meet, I decided to bring my stuff with me and planned to do my run in between events. First annoyance was arriving at the school to find out that there was a $7 CASH ONLY entrance fee. What year are we living in?? Thankfully they let me in without paying when I threw a minor fit, but come on. So A's first event was the 4x800m relay. Literally the first event of the day. She ran very well, but was unsure of her time as she said it's too complicated to use her watch and deal with the baton. When I realized where her event was I saw that I wasn't too far from Waterton Canyon, so I planned to do 15ish miles. Initially, I really felt like I was struggling going up the canyon, but I think I always feel that way on this trail. I kept my R1 on the whole time to simulate "heat" since it's been so cold here. Initially, it really was just keeping me from freezing to death, but it did get warmer as the morning progressed.

Finally saw some sheep!

Was worried I had taken too long since I saw a message from A asking if everything was ok and when I was going to be back. Turns out, nothing to worry about, it was still a long time before she was up next. She was hoping to run a sub 3 800 - and did it! She ran a 2:55 for a 5 second PR - wooot!!

She was ready to leave pretty soon after finishing. We were STARVING and as soon as we got home we accosted Ben and all went to Salsas for some delicious Mexican food. 

Sunday (31,769 steps) - Tyler picked me up at 6 am so that we could head down to volunteer at the Runners Roost aid station at the Platte River half. Even though I have done this multiple times, it always surprises me HOW COLD my hands get. It was horrible! Lisa brought us Voodoo donuts, which kinda made up for my hypothermia - I haven't had a Dirty Bastard in ages, it was delicious!

I had convinced Tyler to join me for another Dirty Biz loop - insisting that this was going to be "turtle pace." By the time we headed up it was noticeably windier than it had been. IT. WAS. MISERABLE. I would guess it was probably 40 mph winds. I had a huge headache from the wind, even commenting that this was probably the first time I'd use the adjective "howling" to describe wind. Nothing fun about this.

Met up with Ben at Bluegrass for beers and snacks.

By the end of the night A was feeling pretty miserable. The cold that she has had for a weeks seems to have progressed into something more serious, so we spent the evening getting stuff for her to feel better.

Monday (21,156 steps) - Work from home, and A stayed home because she felt so bad. Ben took Lucy to get new tires and an alignment that managed to take over three hours - WITH an appointment. Oof. A went on the walk with me and Pika, and then I managed to get her into the doctor for an afternoon appointment. No strep, thankfully, but she was still going to get some antibiotics. After work I headed over to North Table to do my "speed work" on the canal trail. 

Initially, I took it really easy for the warm up. The first interval probably started too fast and I ended up needing to walk quite a bit. Then my recovery was WAY longer than I actually needed (it was intended to just be until heart rate went down), but I had a bathroom emergency. Luckily I was able to make it to the soccer fields to use a port-o-potty. The way back the first interval went pretty well, only stopping briefly to cross a street. A bit more of a struggle on the last one. But to be fair, I don't do much actual "fast" running, so working on this one day a week will surely be helpful. It's still depressing to think these paces are "speed work" though.

BPRunco was there to celebrate Phil's birthday, so we had a beer and socialized a bit. 

Stats:

• 139,716 steps
• 44.6 miles run
• 70 minutes of cardio
• 100 minutes of strength training