Wednesday, November 30, 2022

Week in Review (November 22 - November 29)

Tuesday (16,529 steps) - Work in the office. Headed directly to Stone House after work. I was supposed to be doing an Z2 trail run, and with it being so dark, I didn't want to have to do any road crossings. It was a gorgeous night, maybe a bit chilly. 


I got all my miles in with just running up and down random trails. Went to Green Mountain Beer after. It was cold enough that we actually sat inside! Had just one beer.
Wednesday (19,305 steps) - Work in the office. Thankfully, we were getting out early for the long weekend! I had another "hike" on schedule. I headed over to North Table and figured that if I ran at least SOME of it, that I would be done before I needed a headlamp. There were a decent number of cars at the trail head, but it was actually pretty deserted. Saw ZERO bikes (which is RARE) and not that many people. I actually ran almost the whole loop, with the exception of the first big climb and a small section about 4 miles in. It was windy, snowy, icy and muddy, but what an incredible day for being alone on the trails. I needed this.




Arrived at home to find out my new lamp had been delivered! I love it! And maybe I can read in bed without going blind with my current dim lighting.
Thursday (9,960 steps) - Up early to go to Golden to run the Turkey Chase! It was pretty chilly, but I was worried that I was overdressed wearing two top layers. I met Maureen there and we cycled through the bathroom lines and chatted with Carol waiting for the race to start. We kinda screwed up and started WAY too far in the back. Most of the course was on bike path and there were way too many people for such a narrow area. The 3/4 of a mile were pretty frustrating. I ended up running most of the race by myself because at some point I guess Colfax had to stop and poop and Mo didn't catch back up. This was not fast by any stretch of the imagination, but I ran at a "fast" pace for ME, and I didn't walk at all - plus, I had negative splits! Woo!!

We stuck around at the finish in the tiny beer garden. Somehow, NONE of us won any of the raffle prizes. Boo. Went home to shower because I was freezing. We watched some American Horror Story until it was time to go to Kristin and Doug's house for Thanksgiving dinner. OMG, it was so delicious and I definitely ate too much.
A talked me into playing some Nintendo Switch game with her - Gang Beasts. We were both awful at it, but we laughed a lot. Fun!
Friday (17,071 steps) - I managed to talk Ariel into going with me to Wash Park for a walk - mainly because we weren't starting until 8, plus I told her I would buy her coffee.
It was a great morning! On the way home we stopped at Runner's Roost in Lakewood so A could get some new shoes, Michael's for a picture frame, and to give Blue-C a much-needed car wash.
Afternoon was spent hanging my Bigfoot finisher print, and getting the remaining wall in  my bedroom ready for painting. The before picture:
While I was working on the wall, Ariel was putting the coverings on my windows - I hope it will get a little darker in my room at night!
We got the initial coat of paint done - but still another coat, plus still have to get the shelf painted, but making progress.
Saturday (24,279 steps) - Headed to Golden to run with Runner's Edge at South Table! This has been a tradition to run the weekend after Thanksgiving for many years, and I was glad to be out again. I had two hours on schedule and ended up running (faster than planned) with Kristin and Lisa.
Socialized for a bit before heading home to shower. Finally got the shelf painted! It matches the darker walls in the room now. I love it!
Did some grocery shopping (grumble grumble) and we watched more "Dead to Me." This show is seriously crazy.
Sunday (13,844 steps) - Kristin and Doug picked me up around 8:15 so we could go to Sloan's Lake for the "Brunch Run," although it was a scheduled rest day for me, so I planned to walk with Doug.
The walk was quite lovely (although a bit chilly). We went to Tap and Burger for brunch, and it was DELICIOUS!! When the check came I quickly remember why this place annoys me. Don't tell me something "comes with it" and then charge me more than $2 extra for it. Plus 75c for ranch? I don't mind paying for it, but tell me beforehand.
Laundry, TV, putting things away, making dinner and trying out my new pom pom hat.
And I just had to post this picture of Batman, because it's just so silly:
Monday (16,841 steps) - Work from home. Had a 6 mile "Z2 trail run" on schedule. I was cold sitting at home so I went early for my run on the south side - basically as an excuse to take a steaming hot shower sooner. Unbeknownst to me, but I was about to have the best run of my life!! I have never EVER (in the 7+ years I've been running at the lake) run this route without walking. SUCH a fantastic feeling to be able to do this!!!

I know that I've been working hard, and runs like this prove that it's not for nothing!! Definitely feel like I'm coming down with something (YES, AGAIN), so I spent the second half of my work day working from bed. Blech. TV and in bed early.

Stats:
  • 117,829 steps
  • 29.62 miles run
  • 0 minutes of cardio
  • 0 minutes of strength training

Tuesday, November 29, 2022

Week in Review (November 15 - November 21)

Tuesday (6,760 steps) - Work in the office. Didn't even do a walk at lunch. We are having some insanely cold temperatures right now and I just didn't feel like it. Lazy. Finally fixed my front license plate bracket, not sure what was happening with that. 
Picked up my free "half Birthday" entrĂ©e from Tokyo Joe's for dinner and did the first round of painting in my bedroom. So productive. 

Wednesday (18,746 steps) - Work in the office. Excitement of the day was trying to help Nicole get tickets to Taylor Swift. Let's just say that after HOURS, we weren't ever able to get any. Seems like a scam.
Went to Boulder after work from a solo trail run. It was pretty darn snowy/icy out - need to find my spikes. At least I had my headlamp, though.



Thursday (12,479 steps) - Work from home. Did a Peloton ride and some upper body work. Also, got the new furniture delivered. Woo!!


A was going to Phoenix with her XC team and her flight kept getting delayed. We ended up leaving for the airport around 5 and it was snowy and NOT a fun drive. Her flight ended up being delayed for MANY hours, but at least they got out.
Friday (6,190 steps) - Got a lot of snow overnight, which I was expecting. I had asked Nicole if I could come in late and avoid morning rush hour. That gave me time to sell my dresser to a couple that drove down from Longmont. Wasn't expecting to have to help move it, but the woman was pregnant, so I did a little lifting. Went to get dinner with Ben after work, which was nice.
Saturday (19,157 steps) - Went to Crown Hill to meet Maureen for a run. Ended up seeing Christine in a the parking lot and she joined us. We did 5 miles, which is the longest I've run since Cowboy.
Went to get coffee and pastries at Sbux afterwards. Yum!
No idea what happened the rest of the day, but I did pick up Pho for dinner.
Sunday (10,851 steps) - Went grocery shopping (waaaaah) in the morning and ran other errands. Went for a walk at lunch. Nothing else?
Monday (6,123 steps) - Work from home. Did a Peloton ride and some core and upper body. Nothing else?

Stats:
  • 80,306 steps
  • 11.81 miles run
  • 55 minutes of cardio
  • 35 minutes of strength

Tuesday, November 22, 2022

Week in Review (November 8 - November 14)

Tuesday (21,296 steps) - One would have hoped I would have been able to stay in bed longer after basically having been up for three straight days. That was NOT the case. Even though it was probably 4 am before we went to sleep I was still up before 8? We went downstairs to see what was available at the breakfast buffet - I was very pleased!! The rest of the day is kind of a blur. We went back to the room and I definitely ended up falling asleep again. Woke up and decided we needed to get out and look at that big bridge in the daylight. On the way we tried to find a waterfall, but didn't have much luck. We did find turkeys, however!
And this smaller bridge that looked pretty neat too.

We were able to find the turnoff that had the signage in the race and walked over - go me, I walked about a mile and a half. 
We decided that we were pretty hungry, so we headed to one of the only restaurants in town for dinner, the Peppermill. It was really REALLY good. And yes, I finished everything on this plate, plus took some cheesecake to go!
After getting back to the room we had to pack up and get ready to leave. I spent a LONG time sitting in Lisa's foot massager, which was WONDERFUL. Went to bed fairly early, but I didn't sleep well at all with tender skin/legs. Ugh.
Wednesday (9,607 steps) - Up relatively early. Finished packing at got food at the buffet again. Still delicious. Made a quick stop to get a snow brush and drinks at the gas station before heading out of town for the long (but not as long as the way out) drive back to Denver. It was COLD and very foggy most of the drive. We finally stopped at a tiny cafe just in Sedgwick.

The food was SO delicious - and not expensive! The rest of the drive was really uneventful, and we got to the house maybe around 3:00. Initially, the door wouldn't unlock, so that wasn't fun. Luckily it hadn't been that long since I'd changed the passcode, so I knew how to change the batteries and get that done. Ben was supposed to be moved out while I was gone, but all he'd done was cancel the internet and move a few things. I went to pick up the cats, then tried to get the internet done, but it was too late in the day. Arg.  
Thursday (9,907 steps) - THANKFULLY, I had decided to take an extra day off at the end of my vacation. This ended up being a CRAZY busy day. Still not sleeping well (which is not abnormal after these longer races, it takes me at least a week or two for my skin to feel less twitchy and everything to calm down). Ariel and I got coffee, but she had to go to school. After she left, I opened up one of my packages that had arrived while I was gone. I was excited to see my shipment of beginner crochet kits!
I decided I REALLY wanted to try to make Ariel the penguin for her birthday. I had even ordered accessories for it - a birthday cake and party hat. First, I needed to start - and actually learn how to crochet. Ugh.
All the initial training happens through videos, and I was trying to watch them on my phone. It worked, but it wasn't ideal. I made some basic progress, but then decided I had other things OUTSIDE the house that really needed to get done. I made a grocery list and headed out, also stopping to pick up my Xfinity modem for the internet - which I was told was "super" easy to install. We'll see.
Then, had to go to Target to get all the essentials that we had run out of over the last few months that Ben didn't replace, even though household stuff was supposed to be his responsibility. I digress. 
I had a little bit of time before Ariel would be home, so I worked on the crochet. I got a little stuck and Kristin had offered to assist, so I headed over to hear house for an hour-ish so she could explain things a bit more clearly and help. "Pierre" is coming along nicely, I think!!
Since I was going to be losing some furniture, I headed to AFW to look at stuff and had Ariel join me when she was done with practice. Priced some stuff out, but a lot of stuff was pretty delayed for delivery. We did not make any decisions. Dinner, and I watched some TV upstairs before bed.
Friday (10,656 steps) - Wash Park! It had been a while and it was good to see everyone. It was very cold and Rocket was struggling, so we did an even shorter walk than usual, which everyone was fine with. Coffee was delicious, like always. Into the office for the first time in over a week, and I was crazy busy, which is actually really nice, as long as it's not too overwhelming. I had messaged Greg earlier in the day to see if he wanted to meet up for a Happy Hour beer, which he did. It was great to see him!
The rest of the night was spent being mad because I got an email that I had been kicked off the Google Nest network - which basically just meant I can't control the thermostat from my phone. I was trying every tutorial trying to figure it out, and NOTHING was matching up with what the steps said and finally Ariel and I gave up on trying to figure it out.
Saturday (11,319 steps) - Did a Peloton ride, then sat around for a bit in the morning, icing my shin that STILL hurts. I've never had pain in that spot and it's definitely frustrating. 
Went for a walk at lunch. In the afternoon I went to look at more furniture options. I ended up really liking a table/chair set AND a bedroom set. I wasn't initially planning on getting anything quite this soon, but they were going to be able to deliver really soon, I figured it was better to get it now than to end up being without stuff. Later in the evening Ariel and I ran some more errands. No idea what else happened.
Sunday (10,072 steps) - May have actually "slept in" a bit. Since Ariel was at work, I REALLY needed to get to work Pierre! Spoiler - Batman is NOT a big help while I am doing this.
It isn't perfect, but I made a LOT of progress!!!
I also finally got around to making more mini quiche! I haven't made these in a long time, and I forget how fast it is to make these and how nice it is to take them to work for breakfast. 
Went for a walk at lunch and noticed a new bench!
Did some stuff around the house, including ripping out some of the built in shelving in the bedroom and getting stuff moved around for the furniture delivery later in the week. Headed down to Old Town to New Image to meet up with Tyler, Terri, Jeramiah, Doug and Kristin to celebrate Javelina and Cowboy. It's been a long time since we've gotten together like that - it was fun! 
Headed home for dinner and TV. Jeramiah came over for a bit to chat about some stuff. In bed relatively early.
Monday (7,892 steps) - HAPPY 17TH BIRTHDAY TO ARIEL!!!!!!!!! I posted this picture on social media because it was the first time she ever had pancakes and she looks SO happy - and to this day, she loves pancakes and STILL is really happy when she eats them.
As an "almost" adult, she was excited to get a new Hydroflask. Haha.
On my lunch break I did a Peloton ride and went for a short walk. Since I was working from home and used all my breaks to work on the rest of Pierre!! I only had one wing left, which didn't take long.
Then onto the party hat, which wasn't as complicated as I thought it would be.
And finally - the cake!! Everything turned out SO WELL. Not perfect, by any stretch, but I thought I was pretty unteachable, and these turned out pretty great. 
Even MORE great was Ariel genuinely liking that I made them for her. (Or at least, she faked it well). We had plans to set "Smile" and had to rush a bit to get out the door. We stopped at King Soopers to pick up cake for later, then went to Panda Express for dinner. They were SUPER busy and we had to eat pretty fast to get to the movie on time. The movie was GOOD. I don't normally scare/jump easily and this had me doing both. We liked it! Quickly had cake at home, and since it was late, in bed soon after.

Stats:
  • 80,749 steps
  • 0 miles run
  • 50 minutes of cardio
  • 0 minutes of strength training

Week in Review (April 16 - April 22)

Tuesday  (43,134 steps) - the end of Southern States 200 ! After I loaded up my drop bags I was suddenly exhausted. I knew there was no way ...