Week in Review (August 18 - August 24)

Tuesday (11,203 steps) - Peloton and walk with Ben and Olive before going to work. Gym at lunch for strength training and a treadmill walk.

Took Olive for another walk while Ben made tacos for dinner. More Marshals. 

Wednesday (20,524 steps) - Long walk with Olive to the lake before work. We saw an adorable raccoon!

I was supposed to run "rolling hills" - but we don't really have those, at least not near the house. Decided to run at Rocky Flats, even though it is probably more flat than running by the house, but at least it was somewhere different! ZERO people out, which is always nice.

Took Olive for another walk after I ate lunch. Hot. After work I did a delivery waiting for Ben to get home. Dinner and more Marshals.

Thursday (16,992 steps) - Since I had to go into work (dumb mandatory meetings are on Thursdays for the next three weeks), I got up early for my run. I GUESS IT WAS FINE.

Olive walk before going to work. Headed into the office since I needed to go to a lunch meeting. Sneaked down to the gym for a quick strength workout. Meeting was boring, but the food was good.

Went for a walk afterwards. Ended up having some sort of last-minute things that caused me to get out a little late. ANNOYING. Torchy's for dinner and Marshals. 

Friday (16,911 steps) - Hadn't really planned on going, but since I woke up in time, Olive and I went to Wash Park. She was slow and it was a little frustrating that she didn't seem to want to be keeping up with people. To the office. The new paralegal actually BROUGHT HER CAT to work. Sebastian was a gentleman and I never heard a peep from him the whole day. How could anyone NOT love this kitty??

Olive and I went for a late morning walk before it got too much warmer. We left after lunch to finish the day remote. Had to quickly pack everything for the weekend since I neglected to do it earlier in the week. We headed out around 2 pm and I worked in the truck (thank you, Starlink) and we were at Outer Range in time to finish out the workday. We ordered Ollie's for pickup and thankfully we were at the campsite during daylight to get everything set up - just in time for a little rain!

Ben got Olive her own puppy burger!

Took Olive for a walk around our campground loop - surprised at the number of vacant spots!

The rain held off and we had a nice night sitting outside

Probably went to bed about the same time we normally would at home.

Saturday (14,243 steps) - Up with the sun. Took Olive for a walk around the loop while Ben got coffee ready. Ben had mapped a route up by Peak 10 for us to do now that the road was open. We stopped at King Soopers and I ran in to buy some donuts and a coffee. The drive up took a bit longer than expected and Ben mentioned that it was more technical and challenging than he thought it would be.

We finally got to where we were going to start around noon? The start was just on the road, so it wasn't too bad and it was easy to follow.

You can see Ben's truck way down there

Still would like to know what this building is

We stopped less than a mile up to give Olive water - there was nothing for her drink up this high with how dry our winter was.

We got to the saddle at the base of Peak 10 and there was a group of Broncos that had driven up. We talked with them for a few minutes before heading up.

On top of the world, seemingly! It didn't take too long to get to the summit. 

We took a minute to sit and give Olive more water. The plan was to continue on to Peak 9 and then head back to the truck. As we looked around it seemed that there was a good chance of getting stuck in some nasty weather, so we chose to start the descent down (at least to get off the peak) before deciding what we were going to do next.

You can definitely see the weather coming in - we were not sure what direction it was going to be going.

It was hard to see the trail on the way down and I was regretting that I was wearing my H1's and not something with better tread. It was incredibly steep and there was a lot of gravel and loose rocks that made it tough to navigate. Ben was leading and course-finding and I was bringing up the rear behind Olive.

We probably got halfway down when the weather took a turn and we decided to just continue down and not risk going up Peak 9 - especially with the risk of lightning/thunder.

Olive did really well! Until there was a section when I kicked a rock loose and a small avalanche of rocks came down behind her and then she was scared to go. Thankfully she continued on fine once I got ahead of her for a bit.

Olive really blends in

I was not having fun trying to get down this AT ALL.

Once we got down to the field/valley - I took a picture of what we just came down. This sucked.

We weren't really on a trail at this point and the terrain really reminded me a lot of Wales with marshy/boggy sections. I rolled my ankle, thankfully not too far from the truck. What a bust of a day, always an adventure.

Started to rain basically right when we got back to the truck and then it was time to head back down. Thanks to the turn in the weather we only saw one vehicle on the way down. The highlight of the drive was seeing this cute guy!

On to Outer Range for lunch and meet up with Lee. Someone was very exhausted after our excursion!

Very quick trip to Safeway to pick up some food for dinner and more ice. Back to the campsite and we spent the afternoon/early evening under the canopy. We took Olive for a walk around the loop before the sun set. Another gorgeous evening!

Ben cooked the hot dogs for dinner. It was raining on and off and finally I got cold so decided it was time for bed.

Sunday (17,836 steps) - Somehow we slept until almost 8?? Took Olive for a walk around the loop while Ben got coffee ready. With checkout being at 11 we didn't think we would have enough time for a hiking adventure. Ben said he would get the loading up started while I went for a run on the perimeter trails. I had mapped out a 2.7ish mile loop, but I was feeling good once I was out there and ended up doing closer to 4 miles.

By the time I got back Ben pretty much had everything done. We dawdled for a bit since we had about a half hour until we needed to leave. Stopped at Outer Range. I got a delicious latte and we both got breakfast burritos. Missed our window to avoid traffic and it was well over two hours of suffering to get home. We moved quickly to get everything unloaded. Up to 4 Noses for happy hour. I honestly can't even remember the last time I was there - I think it has been months. Still the same meh NA. I reminded Ben to not renew my mug club since I'm at many months since I even had beer last! We stopped at Costco to pick up a pizza for dinner and it was a total cluster. Took Olive for a walk before watching the newest Reacher and starting in on season 3 of Lioness. 

Monday (18,623 steps) - Went for my run early since it was supposed to be sweltering, AGAIN.

It was... fine. Clocked in and then the internet went out not too long after, so I took Olive for a walk while I was waiting for that to resolve. Ben and I took Olive out for another walk at lunch. Ben ordered in Cupbop for dinner.

Finished up all the available Lioness episodes. 

Stats:

• 116,332 steps
• 19.13 miles run
• 16.63 miles walked
• 30 minutes of cardio
• 50 minutes of strength
• 0 minutes of sauna

Week in Review (June 16 - June 22)

Tuesday (14,189 steps) - Woke up insanely early, which seems to just be how this summer is going to go. Is it the heat? Peloton and Olive walk before going to work. Went for a short walk late morning before going to the gym at lunch. I liked my outfit today!

Full body strength and treadmill hike/walk - really working on picking up the pace for all my upcoming adventures. Olive walk after work. Dinner? Good Fight?

Wednesday (19,351 steps) - Olive walk before going to work. I had an easy run with strides to do at lunch and decided to go the other way on the bike path since Josephine mentioned some new (?) art. It was pretty darn warm, but not the worst run, thankfully.

And a handful of pictures of the art I haven't seen before!

This one might be my favorite!

Normally I just get dressed and go back to work, but for the second time in the recent past I had to take a quick shower first. Another quick walk in the afternoon before heading home. Ben had to work late, so I stopped at home to pick Olive up and we went to Runners Roost in Louisville for "run" club. Since it was hot AND I had already run, we just went for a walk. 

Larry and Lisa joined us. It was the summer VIP night, and probably for the first time ever, I didn't get anything. Ben stopped on his way home and picked up a pizza for dinner. Good Fight.

Thursday (13,793 steps) - Up early again. Even though it was a work from home day, Ben went with me and Olive for a pre-work walk around the block. I did a quick row session and had an uneventful morning. Took Olive for a little bit of a longer walk at lunch.

Got my strength training done before finishing work. Took Olive for a walk and did a delivery on the way to meet Ben at Torchy's for dinner. Good Fight.

Friday (17,181 steps) - Actually got up early even though I didn't have to work. Olive and I had plans to go to Square Top for a hike and last year I got stuck in traffic for the Floyd Hill construction - not gonna get me this time!! Took Olive for a walk with Ben before we got everything ready to go.

The drive was actually quite pleasant - virtually no traffic! I stopped in Georgetown to use the bathroom and then it was up Guanella Pass. I was worried that we had left too late since people were parked on both sides of the road starting at the last turn, but there were still probably a dozen spots in the lot. It was the perfect morning for a hike!

Thanks to warm temperatures and a low snowpack, there was really nothing for Olive to play in - outside of a small patch of snow near the upper lake - which she definitely enjoyed!

We stopped briefly at the lake for a snack, but it was the only part of the trail that was windy, so didn't stay long.

LOTS of dogs on this one, so she stayed leashed the entire time.

Headed down almost immediately and then stopped again in Georgetown to use the bathroom and to let Mo that we were heading to see her. I had found a new-to-us coffee shop in Lakewood that had a wonderful covered patio. We stuck around for a couple hours drinking coffee, snacking and catching up. Always great to see her and Colfax!

Olive and I left and went straight to 4 Noses to meet up with Ben for happy hour. We didn't stay too long and ordered in Mod Market for dinner.

Good Fight.

Saturday (23,400 steps) - Took Olive for a walk before heading to South Table for our run. There was a new trail recently added and I had mapped a route that would actually make it a full loop - so I was very excited! It was supposed to be freakishly hot again, but it wasn't too bad thanks to some cloud cover for at least part of the time.

The new T. Rex Tooth Trail was FANTASTIC!

"They" did a great job with it - fairly non-technical single track (but wide enough for two-way traffic and some views that we hadn't seen before. We both really liked the addition.

We stopped at Dutch Bros on the way home - our (new) Keurig broke last week and we have been going through withdrawals. Took Olive for a long walk to the lake. We ran a few errands to pick some things up for our upcoming trip, then went to Rails End for indoor treat town with Olive. We must have done dinner, but I don't remember what it was. Took Olive for a walk and got eaten alive by mosquitos again. Good Fight.

Sunday (14,841 steps) - Olive walk around the block while Ben picked up coffee for us. Then, up to Boulder for a hike. HOT HOT HOT.

We stopped in at Runners Roost so I could drop off the NINE pairs of shoes I was recycling. Yes. Nine. I didn't get anything, but Ben got a few pairs of socks. Then, it was on to Resolute for indoor treat town and a snack.

We were all pretty blah after that, so we just sat around and then Ben ordered in Panda for dinner. Good Fight.

Monday (16,585 steps) UP EARLY AGAIN. Curse this. Since I had a lot of things to get done, I went for my run early and stopped by the library to drop off my ballot.

Took Olive for a walk around the block while Ben went to get coffee at Dunkin. Worked for a few hours and then had to take Robin back to the vet for another follow-up. She has thankfully gained some weight back and her numbers are holding steady - which is about all we can hope for. So, continued kidney meds, but she is doing good.

Took Olive for a walk at lunch - HOT.

Worked in the afternoon while getting some cleaning done, laundry and got quite a bit of my packing done. Did a quick delivery after work and then Ben ordered in Chili's for dinner. Yes, I realize we have gotten into a pretty bad habit of ordering food in - we just both hate cooking so much - especially when it is hot outside. Good Fight.

Stats:

• 119,340 steps
• 19.14 miles run
• 18.92 miles walked
• 25 minutes of cardio
• 51 minutes of strength
• 0 minutes of sauna