Because Being Ordinary Is Boring

Tuesday, January 6, 2026

Week in Review (December 30 - January 5)

Tuesday (13,423 steps) - Peloton and Olive walk before going to work. Went to the gym at lunch and did StairMaster, strength training and a mile at 12% incline.

Ben and I met up at Costco, which neither of us enjoys doing. Took Olive for another walk when I got home, stretch and sauna time! More Welcome to Derry.

Wednesday (14,859 steps) - Took Olive for a walk and then sadly had to go to work. Only nice thing is basically zero traffic. Walked to REI at lunch so I could try something on, only to discover it was not even available in store. Not a totally wasted trip, the weather was really nice, especially for December.

I got off at 2 and did a few deliveries. Tips were really great for once. Met up with Ben at 4 Noses for a drink (still NA for me, and a Topo). Went home to start dinner, took Olive for a walk and more sauna time!

Welcome to Derry since we couldn't find any streaming service that was actually showing anything for New Years.

Thursday (30,867 steps)

Took Olive for a walk before going to Morrison for the 6th (!!) annual New Years Day run I've organized at Red Rocks. This was probably our biggest turnout since the inaugural year.

Ben was hoping to run, but he threw out his back a few days ago and gave up on running and did his own thing after about a half mile.

We had unforeseen issues with our route when we discovered that Red Rocks was having some construction done and every access point was blocked off.

We had about 40 minutes of wandering around and looking for other ways to get where we wanted to go, including going up the backside of Dakota Ridge. I never mind going on trails, but I wasn't wearing the right shoes for it at all.

Only Jandy and Maureen were up for the full route we had planned, so we continued on.

Last group picture before we all went our separate ways

I actually felt way better than expected on the last 3-4 miles. Almost all of us walked over to the Holiday Bar / Mill Street for the tradition of burgers and beers, although just a diet coke for me. When we got home I took Olive for another walk before more sauna time. I am just loving the convenience of having this, and I really think I'm getting my money's worth. More Welcome to Derry, although this finished up the show for us, already. Ariel joined us for a short time for charcuterie before she went to home.

Since Ben has now watched the prequel, we of course had to watch It, since he had not watched it previously.

Friday (11,059 steps) - Once again, sad I had to go to work. Took Olive for a walk before we went into the office.

Just like I expected, it was very slow and no one was working. Went for a walk at lunch.

After work I met up with Ben at 4 Noses for happy hour. Headed home to take Olive for a walk and then sauna. Cannot remember what was for dinner, and pretty sure we finished It and started Chapter 2.

Saturday (29,192 steps) - Down to Lakewood for the season opener of Runners Edge! I had mapped out a few different route possibilities, but my main goal was to get double digits. Ben planned on starting with me and then walking whatever he might need to if his back started to act up.

Only picture I took...

The loop was 7 miles, and he managed the whole thing! Right before I got back to the store I turned around to do the back half of the loop in reverse. I got in just over 10 miles at a much faster pace than I normally do, so I was happy about that. The store was offering 50% off all apparel, so I shopped a bit - even though I really AM trying to weed through my closet and stop buying things. UGH. Went home and showered, walked Olive. We stopped to pick up Panda Express on the way to Rails End. Stayed there for a bit and then pack home for sauna time. Watched Final Destination: Bloodlines with A. After she headed out we finished It: Chapter 2.

Sunday (18,845 steps) - It was really nice out, so I went for my run while Ben went to pick us up Dutch Bros.

It's actually as warm/nice as it looks!

After I showered we took Olive to the dog park. It was insanely crowded and we had to stalk people to find a parking space.

On to Rails End.

We got a snack and stayed until the Broncos game started.

Pretty much right when we got home we got a phone call from Ariel that her clutch was overheating. I didn't even know that was a thing, and in all my years of driving, and 6 vehicles that have had a stick shift, I have never had a clutch got out. Thankfully she was with a friend and they were able to hang out at her house while we waited for a tow to get the car up near us. Unfortunately that was a whole "thing" and it took over three hours. UGH. Did my stretches and sauna time. Started watching a new show "The Following" - although I definitely was getting a sense of deja vu that maybe I have watched this before, but can't remember it well enough to stop watching.

Monday (17,693 steps) - Work from home. Shortly after the shop opened I got a call from the service manager that Lucy will definitely be needing a new clutch and flywheel. Since they were closed for 10 days over the holidays he wasn't sure if he was going to get a full diagnostic done, but this wasn't good news for any of us. UGH!!!! We literally just paid for new brakes and rotors in November. Took Ariel to Dutch Bros and then went on my run, where I also had my first big fall of the year, scraping up my palms and knees.

Took Olive for a long walk after. Ariel needed my car to get to work so I wasn't able to go driving. Instead, took Olive for a walk and then read and used the sauna while I waited for Ben to pick up pizza.

More Following.

Stats:

135,938 steps
28.75 miles run
19.56 miles walked
35 minutes of cardio
61 minutes of strength (11+ minutes of planks)
190 minutes of sauna

Tuesday, December 30, 2025

Week in Review (December 23 - December 29)

Tuesday (13,778 steps) - Peloton ride and Olive walk before work. Went to the gym at lunch and did some strength training and incline on the treadmill.

Another Olive walk and time in the sauna.

I think Batman is screaming "MOM, WHY ARE YOU IN A BOX?!"

Wednesday (21,049 steps) - Christmas Eve! Unfortunately, my office was open. Ben actually had the day off so he went and picked up Dutch Bros for me. Took Olive for a walk and then I took her to work with me.

Happy Olive running around the office

It was a relatively busy morning for me but definitely slowed down as the day dragged on. Took Olive for a walk during lunch.

After work I dropped Olive off at home, changed clothes and headed to the lake for my workout, only to find out that the parking lot was closed?! I guess because it's a holiday? I had to park down the street and run over, but that worked out ok for my warmup. I had done these repeats before, but this was 10 reps of 2 minutes instead of 7.

A tank top. In December. On Christmas Eve.

Difficult!!! Ariel unfortunately had to work, boo. Some sauna time and Black Rabbit (?)

Thursday (10,943 steps) - Christmas! Ben made a big "mountain breakfast" that we enjoyed while opening presents.

Big gifts were a new Purple pillow (for me), Apple Watch (for A), random fun tools (for Ben), and sauna accessories (for me/everyone).

The cats also got new collars. Robin simply doesn't know how to be photogenic

I did a Peloton ride, then Ariel went on a short walk with me and Olive so she could start figuring out her new watch. Took Olive for a longer walk to the lake since the weather was so nice.

We got the finishing touches done on the basement/gym, which was fun and has made the space SO much more inviting.

Not really "important" to the basement layout, but these are all my awards/trinkets

Did some strength and more sauna time.

Ben made Christmas dinner even though A had to work. Ham, sweet potatoes, stuffing and rolls.

We wanted to watch Elf, but it is not on any of our zillion streaming services, so we settled for watching the Broncos game. At some point I took Olive for another short walk to get my steps in.

Friday (12,822 steps) - Slept in. Ben got us Dutch Bros before A had to go to work, yet again. Ben and I took Olive to the dog park.

Rails End on the way home. Sauna and another Olive walk.

Testing out Olive's new glow-in-the-dark LED collar

More Black Rabbit?

Saturday (46,176 steps) - Had a very long run on schedule. There was an unofficial run with Runners Edge at Waterton, so I decided I would go, even though I knew I would end up running alone. Ben went with me because my brakes are STILL squeaking.

Ben asked what color my leggings were. I said "Terra Cotta"

After I started, he dropped me off and then went to Schomp so they could work on my car. Again. For the third time in 5 weeks. The run itself, other than the few times I had to stop and use the bathroom, was pretty good! It was chilly, but I had layered well.

Originally, I had thought I would run to Lenny's Rest and come back.

I decided that wouldn't be enough distance, so I went about a half mile past to get in more vert, then came back the other way, for a loop at the top.

These are not "December" trails

I haven't done that many times and thought I was lost. I also had no phone service or maps downloaded on Gaia... Thankfully my memory was correct and I was NOT lost.

The run down wasn't terrible and I saw quite a few sheep.

Ben met me with about a half mile to go. My car was STILL not done, but we headed to the dealership anyway to get a status. Once we realized it was still going to be a while, we went to Torchy's down the street to get lunch. Thankfully, my car was ready not too long after we finished eating and we were able to get home before dark. What a long day. Took Olive for a walk, then used the sauna. Black Rabbit? I think we finished it.

Sunday (11,289 steps) - Did some cleaning and procrastinated a bit deciding what we were going to do for the day. Ariel went and got us all Dutch Bros (yum!) and Ben and I finally got out of the house and took Olive to Boulder for a hike. Since we finally got some overnight snow, Olive was VERY pleased.

We stopped at Rails End on the way home. Delicious snack since there was a BBQ food truck.

Yoga video and sauna. Started a new series, "Welcome to Derry."

Monday (18,017 steps) - Blah, back to work. At least I was at home! Did a bunch of cleaning in my office, finally got about two years' worth of filing done. That's definitely one of my resolutions this year - get rid of clutter and crap we aren't using! Took Olive for a walk and then I went out for my run. I really thought I had overdressed, but turns out the layering was pretty good and only the gloves were overkill.

After work I went to Target and spent way too much money on Christmas candy. Ben and I tried to go to Parry's but there was a wait, so we just went home and had leftovers. Sauna and some stretching. Welcome to Derry.