Week in Review (May 16 - May 22)

Tuesday (22,341 steps) - Speed work! We had to drive alllll the way down to Greenwood Village for this one.

1.75 mile w/u

10 x 200m repeats w/ 200m recovery

1:06 (8:17 pace)

1:12 (9:11 pace)

1:14 (9:15 pace)

1:11 (9:06 pace)

1:10 (9:13 pace)

1:10 (9:18 pace)

1:14 (9:36 pace)

1:12 (9:26 pace)

1:10 (8:56 pace)

1:04 (8:11 pace)

.5ish mile c/d

Took A to the doctor for a follow-up appointment and then on to work. The staff took me to lunch at Marlow's, I had a filet mignon steak sandwich. Holy cow was it good! Gymnastics, then home.

Wednesday (21,113 steps) - Denver run club. A decided to run with Heather. Mo, Colfax and and I ran a modification of the route, ending with 4.7 miles. There was another beginner trail runner panel, but it was upstairs and there was no seating so we ended up leaving to go to dinner with Mo, Sheila, Ted and Dave. I had a key lime beer, which was strange, but not terrible. Burgers were on special so I had one and it was really good. I was very surprised when I got back from the bathroom to see the table had bought me dessert and sang happy birthday to me. Turns out they also paid my bill. So nice! We didn't get home until almost 10 though - way too late!

Thursday (16,835 steps) - Forecast was NOT wrong. It was snowing when we got up - enough that I had to scrape the car. Good lord, it's mid May?! It snowed all day, so A's soccer was canceled yet again. Luckily I was able to arrange a ride for her - I picked her up around 5:15 to go to Belmar. A decided not to run, Mo, Colfax and I still went out for the big loop. Brrrr. It was wet and cold.

Went to Rocko's and got quesadillas, nachos AND a beer. Jeff bought me sopapillas and the table sang happy birthday - probably best birthday I could hope for on a Thursday. 

Friday (10,877 steps) - A was going to the Royal Gorge with her Scout troop right after school so I made plans with Jessa for a birthday dinner and drinks. (This is the most I've gone out to eat in an eternity). I worked late to make up hours and then home to change clothes before meeting up with Jessa at Grand Lake brewing. Grilled cheese and a stout for dinner, headed home around 9. 

Saturday (31,414 steps) - I should have been running the Palmer Lake half, but it has been postponed until August because of all the snow. So in my head I thought I might run 12-14. I wasn't feeling great and hasn't gotten enough sleep, so I just ran 10 with Alison at Runners Edge.

I had enough time for a quick trip to Target before going to barre (for the first time in over a week). It was tough! I barely had enough time to pick up some pho for lunch, eat and shower before heading to the Colfax expo. Chatted with some people before going to Sparkle Skirts. I had signed up to work for a few hours in exchange for "sparkle dollars." Time flew by and it was a fun experience. Mo and I met up and went to Champ St for burgers (again). I had never been there. Food  was good and they had $1.50 beers on tap.

While I was doing all that ^, A was at the Royal Gorge with her Girl Scout troop bridging from Juniors to Cadettes.

Picked up A at a friend's house and then home. 

Sunday (17,745 steps) - 4:15 wake up call for volunteering with Pete at the Colfax marathon. We were assigned to Sloan's Lake aid station, which runners would pass through twice. It was way colder than I expected it to be - especially since we were set up in the shade.

I saw lots of people I knew, which was fun. We tore down by 9 and then went to the finish, where we ended up staying until about 1.

All the food was gone early so we w went to IHOP with Mo for a very late lunch. Quick trip to the store and then finally home for some sitting. Volunteering may be more exhausting than running!

Monday (13,453 steps) - I got my standing desk at work! Unlike my last job, all I had to do was ask for one and they told me they just want me to be "comfortable." Still waiting on my second monitor, but that should arrive soon.

Barre with Jen after work.

Stats:

• 133,778 steps
• 21.9 miles run
• 2 barre classes

Week in Review (May 10 - May 16)

Tuesday (16,991 steps) - The Lazy has set in. I snoozed, again. I did get up eventually and did the big loop around the neighborhood, so I suppose that is better than nothing.

After work we had to stop and pick up groceries since we've barely been home the last few weeks. While I was making dinner I did another video (!!!). I promise, I'm really going to work at NOT dropping my cross/strength training.
Wednesday (17,356 steps) - Even though we had gone to bed early(ish), still tired. I did get up with enough time to do another video (!!!) and stretching. I'm doing a two week program so I didn't just randomly choose these. Did not love the cool down/stretching video though. Went to run club, and ran 3 miles with Maureen, Heather and A. After, we went out to eat at Noodles & Company.
Thursday (16,302 steps) - Got up early with plans to run 3-4 miles. Felt terrible, so turned around after 15 minutes and went home to do video instead.

Cardio warm up (which I did not like) and abs/upper body. Gymnastics and Tokyo Joe's, followed by baking cookies.
Friday (17,896 steps) - Skipped the daily video because it was LONG and lower body focused. With a race on Sunday I didn't want dead legs. Instead, did a short run out to the lake - it was gorgeous! Busy day at work. Had to go to the Colfax marathon expo during lunch. It was set up in a ridiculous way (best described by my friend Lisa as similar to the layout of Ikea). Took an hour just to grab my bib and baton. Annoying! We also had happy hour at work, and some  last minute filings that made the day fly by. Picked up A, quick stop at home, then went to our other friend Heather's house for a gathering with friends that we haven't seen in months. Great night! Of course, ended up being out way too late (didn't get home until almost midnight!)

Saturday (26,034 steps) - Tired, tired, TIRED. I forced myself to get out of bed on a dreary and foggy morning to drive into Denver for a run with Runner's Edge. Actually, my first run with them in ages (due to racing and LASIK). The max mileage was 14, but it was essentially a big loop. I had thought I might like to do 8, but instead of doing an out and back, I just did the big 7 mile loop. Somewhere around 6 miles in my right ankle started to ache a bit (same one that was bothering me during Avenue of the Giants).

Picked up Einstein's on the way home. A and I had some TV/nap time, and then headed down to Runner's Roost in Lakewood to pick up a new torture device and rock tape. Quick stop for a snack, and then we met up with Rose, Madi and family at Elitch's.

I was feeling a bit... "off," but we had a great time in the cooler weather going on rides. Headed home to lay down (trying to ward off whatever was making me light-headed), and to pack. Headed downtown around 6 so that I could go to Cheesecake Factory for my pre-birthday dinner. They were SUPER busy. I was very distressed to learn they no longer have pepper jack or sharp cheddar cheese, so I skipped getting my normal grilled cheese sandwich. Got some nachos instead (which were tasty) and mac and cheese. I actually couldn't even finish the mac and cheese (???) and we had to take our cheesecake to go.

Headed over to Heather's house to spend the night. Watched some TV, sat in the elevated legs, and had a beer. In bed by about 10:30.
Sunday (24,692 steps) - Planned on carpooling to the start of the Colfax marathon relay with Eric (who was running the full). He was a bit late picking me up, and we didn't get out of the house until 5:20 (for a 6 am start). Colorado was closed around 13th, but we found a spot not too far in a residential area on the east side. I have never shown up so late to a race! Luckily there was no line at the port-o-potty, so quick stop there, and I went right into my corral (and happened to end up standing next to Ruth).

I wasn't sure at all how the day was going to go. Hoped to run fast, but take it easy at the same time. Legs tired right off the bat and I had to do some unplanned walking around mile 2. Legs loosened up a bit and everything went pretty well until I got closer to the stadium. The last half mile or so of the leg is pretty cruel, with a steep hill leading up to the exchange. Handed off to Heather, and sat in her car while she ran her leg (which was mostly a loop, and then a mile back to the car). We drove back to the house to get A, and then headed over to the finish area, where we would remain until after noon. It was great seeing so many friends and teammates at the finish!

Heather, Lisa, Dierdre, Colfax and Maureen, Me

A was getting hungry, so we decided to get food (with Heather, Eric and Maureen). Our first stop was Snooze, but with a 90 minute wait, we went down to Sam's instead. Finally got my pepper jack grilled cheese (and a spicy bloody Mary)!

Headed home for a shower, and then over to Jessa's for some catching up and lasagna. Longest day ever. In bed at 9:30.
Monday (13,493 steps) - Turned off my alarm, so no morning workout. Even getting 9 hours of sleep, still tired. A and I made chicken sweet & sour stir fry for dinner, and then I did a lower body video. In bed early again. Still so tired from the weekend!

Stats:

• 132,764 steps
• 23.5 miles run (I think I'll wait another week before rebuilding)
• 35 minutes of HIIT/cross training
• 122 minutes of strength/stretching

Everything Else:

• The big victory this week, obviously, was getting back into my cross/weight training. Another one of those things that once you fall off the wagon, it's very challenging to get back on. I did 4 days worth.
• Surprisingly (not), I won the "March Madness" fitness challenge at work. I won another gift card for Target. Hooray!!
• #noteatingallthethings did not go that well over the weekend. I have a hard time during my birthday month not "treating" myself. Bah. I just need to be better at making good choices.
• It's been super busy the last few weeks, and unfortunately, I won't have time to rest for a few more weeks. This time of year is just crazy! Heather and I have started sharing food pictures again, so that's fun. Not.

Week in Review (May 12 - May 18)

Tuesday (22,224 steps) - So my running has been suffering. This time of year I always seem to suffer burnout as a result of crappy runs, most of them being on the treadmill. I'm frustrated with being slower and having less time to cover more miles. Had a bit of a "heart to heart" with some of my virtual running friends, and the bottom line is that I need to find a way to make it less awful, or just stop doing it. So, I've been getting up EARLY (like just before the sun is up) in order to get some running done outside before work. 3 miles done around my neighborhood. Now, that doesn't sound like a lot, but I consider it a victory since that 3 miles was including a pretty big hill that I would have walked up if it was in a race. After work, headed to the gym for 40 minutes on the elliptical, and then when I was at home I did the total body video.

Wednesday (24,845 steps) - Up early again. Did I mention it's been cold and rainy? This one required a light jacket, although I did warm up and took it off after about a mile. Same general route as the one I did the day before, but went a bit further. 5 miles done. Went to run club after work for another couple easy miles.

Thursday (24,845 steps) - Got up, headed out for a run and came back after less than a mile. Just not in the mood for it. Went to the gym after work and got in an hour on the elliptical.

Friday (24,099) - Historically, this has been an "off" day for me. However, I got up and tackled my longest morning run yet. Just over 6.5 miles before work.

Saturday (28,903 steps) - Since I've been running in the neighborhood, I wanted a change of pace. Headed down to Clear Creek trail and had a pretty good 5 mile run. Everything is so green right now because of all the rain that we have been having.

Went to the gym after for 55 minutes on the elliptical. Then A and I headed to the only thing I was looking forward to on my birthday weekend - seeing Pitch Perfect 2! It wasn't nearly as good as the first one, but we had a great time. Birthday dinner was a delicious burger. I hadn't had one in ages.

Sunday (32,141) - I was up EARLY to get to the Colfax marathon relay since I was the runner for leg 1. I have already recapped the race so I won't go into much detail, but the 6.5 miles were pretty great, other than the last mile.

I rushed home to shower so that we could all go get breakfast. I had thought about going to get waffles, but we just ended up going to IHOP because it was close. I was EXHAUSTED after the race and ended up napping for half the afternoon. Welcome to old age... Quick total body video before dinner with my family.

Monday (16,362 steps) - Up early for my birthday run. 3.7 miles for 37 years... still very cold here, so I was running in long sleeves. I don't do that often and I'm running out of cold weather tops, so it was Christmas in May.

A and I went out to dinner for my birthday - shared a pizza. Then we indulged in all the dessert I had. One of my co-workers made me a huge cake and then another bought me little ones from "Nothing Bundt Cakes" - all delicious.

Stats

• 173,115 steps
• 33.2 miles run
• 155 minutes of cross training
• 48 minutes of strength
• SOLID week, and 0 miles on the treadmill

Everything Else

• I'm 99% sure I won the step challenge at work. We turned in the last of our number on Monday morning, but for some reason it will take a WEEK to add them up? Are chickens doing the math?? I want the glory!!
• Related: Work is still going really well
• A's wrist is healing nicely. However, the bills have started rolling in. OMG can I complain and bitch and moan about the cost of health care???? AFTER insurance I'm looking at over $2200 out of pocket... and that does not include her follow-up appointments which will include more X-rays and a new cast. I'm sad, mad, and overall wtf. No wonder people go broke over medical bills. BLAH. I've been selling a lot of stuff, including some of my INKnBURN and my "designer" handbags in an effort to pay these bills. I've also got some pretty great friends that have offered to pitch in and send a few bucks my way if needed.
• And as for all the running... my stage race is less than a month away. I figure I might as well get some miles in now. The outdoor running has really helped, so hopefully the run funk is over. What isn't over is all the rain. No sun is depressing.

Colfax Marathon Relay (Race Recap)

Sunday, May 17

Denver, CO

Weather - Sunny, NOT raining

The only relay I have ever done was the Ragnar in SoCal with #VanAwesome. I had no intention of ever running Colfax again. I ran the half two years ago only to knock it off the list. It always falls on my birthday weekend and I don't really like running on my birthday. I would rather eat and spectate, like I did last year.

Anyway, I somehow got roped into running with people from work. Two people who had run in the past were going to be on vacation and my attorney volunteered me since he calls me a "real runner." Wheee.

Our captain did not pick up our stuff for us, so since I had the first leg I went to the expo on Friday so I could get my bib and the baton. The expo was at Wings Over the Rockies - a pretty cool museum. However, it was INSANELY CROWDED, which as you all know, makes me twitchy. I think the drive to and from the expo and the time I spent there took an hour and a half. Sigh.

The marathon relay began at 6 am, so I had to be up just after 4:15 to drive down to City Park to get my car parked before 5 am so I could walk over to the start and do all my port-o-potty nonsense. I think I parked in almost the exact same spot as when L and I ran a few years ago. I was parked by 4:58 am, and the walk to the start was 10-15 minutes.

There were billions of bathrooms at the start so I didn't even have my normal "waiting in the bathroom line" stuff to do. Luckily I ran into a fellow roost teammate and we chatted until about 15 minutes before the start.

I had a throwaway sweatshirt since it was cold and I kept it on until about 5 minutes before the start. The race started about 5 minutes late and since I was in the 6th wave back I texted my team to let them know to expect me a bit later.

I had no idea what to expect but decided to just run on feel and hope for the best. We started in City Park, ran by East High School and we were on Colfax pretty early on. I was feeling good and running much faster than I normally do. I briefly stopped to get water at the first aid station just past mile 2. The best part of the early miles was seeing the guy dodge into Voodoo Doughnut and come out eating one. He got a bit of grief when he didn't finish it and tossed part of it in the trash.

Came up on a Grease Monkey around mile 2.5 - "Marathoners, you are at mile 3! 23.5 to go!" Nice try. Just before I25 we ran through the fire station (lame, there were no shirtless firemen" and then we turned onto the Cherry Creek trail, which I have never run on. Normally it is filled with homeless people, but they had apparently all been cleared out. There was an aid station around mile 4 on the trail and I briefly stopped there as well. I was still feeling pretty good. I was not having the fire calves, but I could tell I was starting to get tired and wasn't sure how long I could hold out. We got off the trail, ran by Confluence Park and then ran behind Elitch's. The answer to how long could I hold my pace? About mile 5.25 we started a small climb and my legs just stopped. I took a few walk breaks for the next half mile or so. We arrived at Sports Authority field and ran through Gate 5 and got to run inside the stadium:

We exited the stadium and then had to run up the ramp and back around the west side. Seems unfair to end on a hill. Didn't want to walk because I was SOOO CLOSE to the exchange. As I got closer I was wondering how on earth Sheryl was going to see me - the exchange area was so tiny!! They were announcing bib numbers and luckily she found me right away. I was so happy to be done!

The big annoyance was having to wait in a ridiculously long line just to get my bottle of water. I was pretty hot and thirsty and I didn't appreciate the 15 minute wait to get my water. Wah. No good food at the exchange, so I had a gal take my picture and headed out:



I figured I would have to catch the bus on Federal and luckily there were others wandering around confused like I was. We figured out that we needed to walk about 6 blocks south to catch the bus. The bus wasn't "special" for the race, just the regular city bus, so it stopped about 25 times before dropping us off near the start at 17th and Colorado. By this time it was already 8:30 in the morning. I briefly considered walking over to the start to see if I could catch up with anyone I knew who was running the half and decided going home to shower and eat was more important. It was another 12 block walk back to my car.

Garmin time - 1:07:17

Garmin distance - 6.53 miles (my leg was 6.4 according to the race)

Garmin pace - 10:18

Mile 1 - 10:37

Mile 2 - 10:12

Mile 3 - 10:03

Mile 4 - 9:32

Mile 5 - 10:09

Mile 6 - 11:15

Mile 7 - 10:26

Thoughts

• For such a large race, this was really well organized. The aid stations had both Gatorade and water, and there were bathrooms on the course. And PLENTY at the start.
• Very cool medal - even for the relay.
• The baton that we had to use for the relay was a bit archaic for me - join the 21st century and do bracelets or something. I had considered running back to my car instead of dealing with the bus but decided I didn't want to carry a handheld AND a baton.
• The exchange could have used a little work. The water really should be separate from the food so we didn't have to wait so long.
• The bus was a bit complicated to find, but it was nice that I was able to get back to my car without any difficulty. Our bibs had our bus tickets attached as a tear off, so that was nice.
• They have a pretty good finish line deal with BBQ and beer, but I didn't go because it was too early and I wanted breakfast instead.
• All things considered, it was fun and I would probably do it again. It helped that work paid for the race so it didn't cost me anything but time.