Week in Review (May 22 - May 28)

Tuesday (14,154 steps) - Up at 3:55 so I could be on the shuttle by 4:30 to the airport. Since I had my trekking poles with me I had to check my bag. The lines were long at the KLM counter, but it moved fairly quickly and I was through security in no time. The Budapest airport does a funky thing where they don't announce the gate you'll be at until about 45 minutes before it pushes back. So while I was waiting I sat in the food court and ate my bagel with peanut butter. The flight to Amsterdam was uneventful. Out of every connection I had, this was the tightest! I stopped briefly to pick up Sbux city mugs for Ruth, the only stop I made in the airport. By the time I got through passport control & Delta's customs, through the gate, I was on the plane with just 8 minutes until we pushed back. Eeek! I sat next a pleasant woman from Kansas City, and we chatted occasionally through the flight. Mostly, though, I was watching movies. This flight I watched I, Tonya, The Commuter, dozed off a bit during Murder on the Orient Express, Happy Death Day, and part of Dirty Dancing. We landed on time in Minneapolis, and customs there was about as seamless as I've ever been through. Certainly better than when we came through New York last year. The only middle seat I had was on this flight. I watched another movie on my phone, and once again, we landed on time. By the time we deplaned and I got to baggage claim my bag was already there. I was dropped off at my car shortly after 4. Home by 5:10. Immediately threw my disgusting race clothes in the laundry. Once A got dropped off we went to Red Robin for a belated birthday dinner, stopping at Kneaders for cake on the way home. I barely made it to 8:30 before I crashed. Longest day ever.
Wednesday (17,330 steps) - Runners Roost Boulder! Special run club with a BBQ provided by Saucony, so thankfully, we had a modified trail run that didn't go up into the hills. Actually not the worst run, considering what I had done over the weekend.

We stuck around until about 8. Had to stop at Target on the way home because A decided she needed tights to wear for her continuation.
Thursday (10,225 steps) - A's last day of 6th grade! How did this happen??

We opted to skip run club so that we could go out to dinner to celebrate her last day of elementary school.
Friday (10,965 steps) - Barre with Kelly! Extra tough, since it was my first class in 12 days! Dropped my car off at the dealership for brakes, and got a call later in the evening that I had a gash in the sidewall of one of my tires. OF COURSE I DO.
Saturday (13,313 steps) - Team run at 8:00 in Lone Tree. A decided to walk with Ang and I ran with Mo. It was insanely hot, and we all struggled.

Stuck around at the store until almost noon, socializing and eating. Arrived at the dealership to pick up my car and THE TIRES HAD NOT BEEN CHANGED. Urg. We ended up having to sit there for over an hour and a half while they got the work done. Such a pain.
Sunday (10,366 steps) - FINALLY got a great night's sleep, over 10 hours! Went to barre at 9:30. After lunch we went up to Runners Roost Boulder to help out with the last minute Bolder Boulder packet pick up.

"volunteering"

Monday (18,469 steps) - Bolder Boulder!! (Recap to follow). We got back to the store just after 12:30. We went to Under the Sun for food and drinks, until about 3:00.

Stats:

• 94,822 steps
• 16.7 miles run
• 2 barre classes

Week in Review (September 1 - September 7)

Tuesday (27,156 steps) - Cardio kickboxing. I gotta say, I don't like these. I don't have much coordination and I feel like I am "wasting" the exercises by not doing them properly. I used to enjoy the turbo kickboxing class at the gym, but these weird videos aren't for me. Met up with a couple of Craigslist who purchased my roll top desk and then went back to the doctor to get my injection. All this before 8 am! 4 slow/progressive miles on the treadmill. CIM is coming up quick and the thought of doing double digit training runs is daunting...

Wednesday (18,035 steps) - HIIT cardio & total body toning. Not sure what exercises I did earlier this week that had me feeling sore (inner thighs) and overall exhausted. J/K what I said recently about the videos not being "quite as hard." A and I went to run club (for the first time in a few weeks). Had a hot run with A, Lisa and Heather - great way to spend the evening.

Lisa, A and Me (The INKnBURN crew) - Lisa is an ambassador and on the Roost race team as well

Thursday (18,219 steps) - Cardio video that left me embarrassingly sweaty. Womp. After work we went to A's curriculum night at school (fancy new name for back to school night where they also corral you in the gym to be brainwashed into joining the PTA). We then went to the furniture store to put A's bed on order (since we sold her bedroom set when we moved - she is super pumped to upgrade to a more "adult" bedroom set).
Friday (16,530 steps) - Total body toning strength and HIIT cardio. I have done this video before (maybe a year ago?) and I like it. Not too many reps, and in the standard ABAB format, and then 20/10 x 4 HIIT sets. I swear time stops when you are doing 20 seconds of jump squats though. I added this one to my favorites and I will do it again. After work we went to dinner with Jessa and Jackson at a little Mexican restaurant down the street - it was tasty.

Believe it or not, I did not clean my plate. But it was close.

We stopped at the grocery store to pick up ingredients for my project - red velvet brownies. Thankfully, Jessa is an expert baker and she assisted me with making the delicious treats to take to Nate's birthday party.

Red velvet and blackish/green velvet (blue food coloring apparently didn't work)

Saturday (29,501 steps) - Up early for the American Heroes Run (recapped separately). On the way home we stopped in Boulder for a few errands. I had to stop at Sephora for some new lip gloss (if you haven't tried Buxom, you are missing out - it is the most fantastic gloss ever invented) and to Lululemon. Like most brands, Lulu discontinued the shorty shorts (best shorts ever to wear under skirts - they have tons of pockets and don't ride up). I had seen a pair online that looked like the pockets might work but the reviews were mixed so I wanted to try them in person. I ended up getting two pairs - one of which was on clearance - SCORE! A and I grabbed a quick Cuban sandwich for a small lunch and then met Heather at the Newton store. A talked me into getting her a pair of trail shoes (her first, and also her first pair of women's sized shoes - size 5 O.o). Then we made a quick stop at Flatiron's Running where I picked up another pair of INKnBURN robot capris for A in the next size up. Really happy that they brought in the kid's line! I hope these fly off the shelves so more styles will be made for them. Although at this point, A is now ok wearing women's XS tees, so it's not as urgent as before.

Went home and took a shower and then waited for Jessa and Jackson to get back so that we could drive up to Heather's house (the other Heather) in the mountains for Nate's 18th birthday BBQ. It was a ton of food like always, and I always love seeing all my friends.

A and the adorable Levi

Tried to stay up and watch a movie but was too exhausted.
Sunday (9,009 steps) - Slept in until something like 8:00. After a delicious breakfast of pancakes and peaches we went to my parents house to pick up a few things and then Target for a few others. (Which of course meant that I left with a lot of things I did NOT need). We also stopped by the animal shelter and looked at cats. My mom thinks Batman Sour needs a friend to keep him company as he seems very lonely at their house. I don't know about that, but figured it couldn't hurt to look? We went to Sprouts to pick up stuffed chicken for dinner. In the meantime, we needed to install her storm door. The box claimed it could be done in 45 minutes. Spoiler - even with the assistance of a neighbor it took close to three hours. Ended up eating really late, and by proxy, going to bed really late. Exhausted.

How many people does it take to install a door?

Monday (34,474 steps) - Up crazy early (after not sleeping at all the night before) for the Highlands Ranch half marathon (recapped separately). Was home by 10:30 and treated to a fried egg sandwich (yay, because I was starving). I tried to take a nap but couldn't sleep. So tired and exhausted. Quick lunch and then after watching a marathon of Tiny House, Big Living, A and I left to go to the Salomon fun run & BBQ at Bear Creek State Park. The turnout was HUGE and we had a great time. We started with a 2ish mile trail run (man, my legs were DEAD), and then A participated in the scavenger hunt (which required more running). There were burgers and beers and lots of friends. This was a lot of fun.

Dan and A running the trails at Bear Creek

Dan, Margo, Maureen holding Colfax and A at the top of the hill for the scavenger hunt

A looking "cool" in her hoodie

Heather and I wearing our matching "Will Run For Beer" shirts

This is what happens when A takes my phone - selfies...

A at the top of "mini Mt. Everest" - which she ran up a second time with Dan

Got back home around 7:30 for second dinner of stir fry, and then we watched the season finale of Walking Dead to get us pumped up for the new season starting next month.

Stats:

• 152,924 steps
• 29.7 miles run (wow, it's the most miles ever)
• 86 minutes of cross training (other cardio/HIIT)
• 35 minutes of strength/stretching

Everything Else:

• Obviously I still haven't moved. Shockingly, there were problems. Maybe this week?
• That's about it. I'm so boring.

Carnivore Classic Half Marathon (Race Recap)

Sunday, June 8
Keenesburg, CO
Half Marathon #108
Colorado Half - #44
Weather - Overcast and chilly at the start, warm and sunny at the finish

I can't even recall where or how we heard of this race since it wasn't really advertised. The price tag seemed a bit steep, but who can resist a race called the "Carnivore Classic." Our entry fee also included entry into the Wild Animal Sanctuary. The race was about 40 minutes east of Denver and my dad agreed to bring the kids out for the finish so we could check out the Sanctuary.

We left the house just after 5:30, arriving with no problem around 6:15 and there were already a lot of people there. The event was inaugural, with the exception of the 5k, which was running for the second year. I am always leery about new events. There wasn't too much information regarding the course or aid stations, so I planned on wearing my belt and had brought enough gels for the day.

I will say that I was impressed with the grandiose of the start/finish area. The race was not going to be huge by any means, but they really went all out.

We checked in and got our bibs and shirts, and noticed our medal was already in the bag. We also got our wristbands to gain access into the park after the race. With nothing to do we cycled through the bathroom lines a few times. We were surprised when we headed to the start line for our 7 am start to find out the half actually was starting 10 minutes later, after the 10k. So, of course, we went to the bathroom. Again.

We had lucked out with some cooler weather and overcast skies. I just hoped it would last as we were seriously in the middle of nowhere and there was NO shade.

The gun went off at 7:10 and we headed out, immediately with a gradual uphill. I kept thinking to myself, if it is uphill NOW, that means that it will be downhill later. My legs were tight and I wanted to walk but I pushed through that until I warmed up and things got better. The first aid station was at mile 1.5. We headed up a hill for the half course and the 10k turned left. We ran the entire course on dirt country roads and I think I only saw one car the entire time. It was never crowded, and since we were in the middle of nowhere, I could always see people in front of me.

This is what the course looked like. For 13.1 miles.

I was really happy to find out that there were aid stations every mile. They had small cups of water and Gatorade at every stop, and at least 3-4 of the aid stations also had gels, both Powerade and GU, depending on the stop. The course was very clearly marked, although again, we were in the middle of nowhere, so it would have been tough to get lost.

After my legs loosened up, I was feeling pretty good. By the time I hit mile 3, I actually was pacing a bit faster and I started passing people. The weather was still holding up, and now it was just a matter of time before I crashed.

The miles ticked by and I was still feel really good when we hit mile 8. Then... the clouds broke and the sun came out. I got real hot, real quick. And even though we were on our way back, IT WAS NOT DOWNHILL. There was a shocking number of hills in between miles 9 and 10. I ran up most of them, but by the time I got to about mile 9.7, I CRASHED. I was sad to have made it that far without my brain breaking, but I was struggling with the heat and the hills. I took quite a few walk breaks over the next mile or so. Once I saw the mile 11 marker, I reset my brain. I had a goal to beat this woman that had been run/walking for most of the race. I did really well until I hit this hill at mile 12:

No, really, the mile marker was in the middle of the hill, by the time I took this, I was probably 2/3 of the way up. Gross. I finally saw the fenced area and knew I was close and gave it everything I got. I had less than a tenth of a mile to go, and I saw a woman coming up on the side of me. I gave it everything I had and sprinted in to the finish. According to the results, we have the same gun time, but she beat me by a few second on chip time. Oh wells.

Is that a photo finish or what??

Bib #163
Official Time - 2:17:42
6.55 mile Split - 1:07:37
Official Pace - 10:30
Overall Place - 40/72
Gender Place - 24/48
Division Place - 1/5 (WHAT)
Garmin Time - 2:17:48
Garmin Distance - 13.13 miles
Garmin Pace - 10:30
Mile 1 - 10:24
Mile 2 - 10:39
Mile 3 - 10:32
Mile 4 - 9:59
Mile 5 - 10:20
Mile 6 - 10:26
Mile 7 - 10:10
Mile 8 - 10:03
Mile 9 - 10:15
Mile 10 - 11:55 (yep, died here)
Mile 11 - 11:18
Mile 12 - 10:09
Mile 13 - 10:32
Mile 13.13 - 8:27

I saw A and my dad right away, and we got our picture taken by another one of the inflatable animals before heading over to the food spread.

The kids wanted their picture there too, of course:

The finish line spread was impressive. They had beer:

They had Dickey's BBQ (chicken, pork, sausage) with cole slaw, potato salad and corn bread. A giant spread of fruit (pineapple, grapes, melons, etc) and TONS to drink. Sodas, milk, juice. They also had a band playing. So while we were eating and hanging out with my dad, they were doing the awards for the 10k. They said they weren't doing the awards for the half marathon until 1:30. Not that we cared, no way we were getting anything. My dad headed out and we went to the results tent for our official finishing times. I glanced at mine, then headed to the car to put on sunscreen, grab jackets and head to the "tram" to take us to the Wild Animal Sanctuary.

We are almost to the tram at the very far end of the parking lot, and we hear that they are doing awards for the half marathon earlier than planned. Then we hear L's name for 2nd place in her AG. So we run back to the podium area and then I hear MY name called for 1st place in the old lady AG. WHAT WHAT WHAT. Turns out, that it WAS printed on my results sheet and I glazed over it.

In absolute shock!

With all the running stuff out of the way, we headed over to the Wild Animal Sanctuary. The entry for the kids was only $7.50 and we headed in for the one mile walk on a bridge over the Sanctuary. A enjoyed being our tour guide and telling us all about the animals.

It's really too much to type here, but what a cool place this was. We ended up spending about two hours there, and left only when the weather turned poor (high winds and rain) and, by now, we were REALLY hungry after our race.

Thoughts:

• WOW. I've run well over 100 distance races, and I rarely am left with a race where I have nothing bad to say.
• TONS of volunteers - both from the Sanctuary and from local race organization 3W that assisted with the timing, set up and tear down, and aid stations. They were friendly and helpful.
• Well stocked and frequent aid stations. Even though the weather was unseasonably cool in the early portion of the race, it heated up quickly and it was great to have so many stops.
• Chip timing and official timing on the course for additional splits.
• Markers at every mile, and they were dead on.
• Awesome finisher spread of food and drinks. There were also local vendors and a live band.
• Results and photographs up same day. I had something like 25-30 pictures on my "page" - which is weird since I don't recall seeing photographers. The price tag is reasonable, only $5.95 a picture.
• The $79 price tag was a bit steep, but after visiting the Sanctuary and knowing our entry would have been $15, the race is very reasonable and again, the Sanctuary is amazing and worth a trip/donation. If interested in making a donation, you can do so here.
• If you have a chance to run this one, do. Take a few hours after the race to visit the animals afterwards. 
• I have NOTHING bad to say about this event. If TWAS can put on this fantastic of an inaugural event, I can't wait to see how they can grow this event in the future. Awesome.