Week in Review (June 7 - June 13)

Tuesday - Peloton stack to start the day:

Work in the office. Went for a walk at lunch. After work I headed to my second job. Home in time to eat and go to bed...

Wednesday - Out the door early for what was supposed to be an easy 4 mile run. It FELT easy, but my heart rate was pretty high. Ugh - I don't know why that is. Either way, I was able to do the ENTIRE run without a walk break, and only a brief stop at a light. Woo!!

30 minute Peloton ride before heading to work. Another walk at lunch, and then back to job number two... 

Thursday - Short(ish) tempo run before work. The only reason I got up as early as I did was because I had to take A to practice. After how well running has been going for me lately, I told Greg I was ready to incorporate some speed work back in. The last time I tried to do this tempo run I majorly blew up and I swore of speed work again. Anyway, it was HARD, but manageable, especially since I did end up walking part of the recovery.

W/U, 5 easy, 10 tempo, 5 easy, 10 tempo, C/D

I'm fully aware that this isn't fast, by any stretch of the imagination, but just being able to run 10 minutes straight at a faster clip is a huge win for me. With the way I have the rest of the year laid out, I hope to get those tempo paces into the 9's! 

Work from home, took Pika for a walk at lunch. After work, on to the second job. It was a pretty busy night, and time flew by!

Friday - Wash Park and coffee with the gang. Work in the office. After work I headed home for a quick dinner of Qdoba - then it was back downtown for the NKOTB concert!!! Hard to believe it's been three years since we last saw them. Once again, parked at my office (just about a mile away) because I'm too cheap to spend $30 on parking. I was really pleased with the seats I picked, and we had a GREAT time.

Left - 2009 and now - same shirt!

I've said it before - I absolutely LOVE how they format the mixtape shows. It was three hours of nonstop music. NKOTB still puts on an awesome show. Salt n' Pepa and En Vogue were good, and Rick Astley was a treat! We didn't get out of there until 11 pm, and then still had to walk back to the car. A still needed some night driving, so I had her drive home - she wasn't overly impressed with downtown on a Friday night.

Saturday - I didn't have a ton of miles on schedule, and since it was a free day with Runner's Edge, I decided to get up (on just a few hours of sleep) and head downtown (again) to REI for the run. Now that Alex has taken over, he was able to secure REI as a sponsor!!

It had seemed like the route was mostly going to be flat, but there was definitely a climb heading out to Sloan's Lake. I ended up doing most of the run by myself, as I was seemingly between other people's paces. I did run with Kristin and Lisa for a bit towards the time I was getting ready to turn around. We would find out later that someone stole the entire aid station we were all expecting around 4 miles in. I ended up having to go over an hour without water, which isn't my favorite thing, especially when it's hot outside. At least the last mile or so was a nice downhill. Got my 8 miles in and felt great! 

At 9 REI opened up one of the upstairs event rooms for us. They provided Nuun, coffee and Santiago's breakfast burritos! I didn't win the raffle (sniff sniff), but spent some time chatting with Alison, Sheila, Kevin and Susan - people I don't get to see much anymore. Headed home for a quick shower before A and I headed out to see the new Jurassic World movie. It had a bit of a slow start, but we enjoyed it. Turned our phones on to an alert that our AC wasn't cooling the house and it was 86 in there! Rushed h home to find out we had left windows open (oops). Took A to work and I took Pika with me to the Roost team party in Golden.

Had some food and chatted (mostly with Jandy, Christine and Maureen). There wasn't a big turnout, but it was a lot of fun. Once everything started to wind down, Maureen, Jandy and I walked Colfax and Pika to the creek to cool down. We hit 100 degrees today - and Pika really appreciated getting her belly wet.

It was after 8 before I got home. Ugh.

Sunday - Even though I really only had a 4 mile easy run on schedule, I agreed to get up early and go meet friends at Waterton Canyon. I haven't been running with people much at all, so I was pretty apprehensive about this - even though things have been going better for me lately. About a half mile in we saw a hot air balloon - REALLY close to us!!

I was running with Jandy, Lisa and Maureen, and we had decided on 6 easy (and slow) miles. It wasn't as slow as I probably would have gone. For the most part, I held my own, but it was not as "easy" as I would have hoped. Didn't see any sheep, but we did see a half dozen deer, which was fun.

Me,  Nikki, Maureen, Jandy, Lisa & Christine

Mo's emergency jell-o shots "just in case"

We stayed in the parking lot for a bit chatting - I've missed seeing people!! Got home in time to take A to work. Did some laundry and had lunch. Met up with Ben at Westminster Brewing before going to pick up A from work.

We got pizza for dinner and watched some of the older Jurassic World movies. Where did the weekend go?

Monday - FINALLY, after more than a week, I didn't have to get out of bed crazy early, although I of course was still up before 7. Work from home. Took Pika for her walk earlier than normal since it was supposed to be close to 100 degrees again.

Right after the walk I got on the Peloton for a 30 minute ride. Finished job one and headed to job two. This ended up being a busy and fun shift and I got off work about 45 minutes earlier than I usually do, so that was nice. I actually had time to relax a bit after dinner. As much as I thought I would hate having this job, it's actually not bad, and I'm enjoying the extra money.

Stats:

• 21.82 miles run
• 80 minutes of cardio
• 40 minutes of strength training

Week in Review (July 3 - July 9)

Tuesday (10,505 steps) - No barre class, the schedule was bleak for the 4th of July. I had been optimistic that we would have time to get to Runners Roost in Boulder for the weekly trail run, but A didn't get home from camp until after the run started and it seemed silly to drive that far for a burger.

They both had a great time, another successful year at camp!
Wednesday (30,058 steps) - Wake up at 2:50 am (ugh) to get ready and drive to Lisa's house for a 3:30 departure for another 14er! With Lisa moving in a few weeks, this was going to be our last one together for a LONG time (if ever again, womp). Shockingly, there was no traffic at that hour. We arrived at the trail head just before 6, and it was PACKED. Like, we barely got a spot? Crazy, we didn't think it would be that busy, and we assumed we would be safe with that "early" of a start. Mt. Elbert is the tallest peak in Colorado at 14,439 feet. There were two different routes listed, and we picked the shorter, more popular one. With that said, we estimated it was going to be close to 10 miles round trip and probably would take about 10 hours to complete.

The first mile or so were lovely. Not a lot of climbing and not technical at all. I think that is because it merges with the Colorado trail? Unsure, but it sure was nice. However, we of course realized that the less climbing we did in the beginning would surely mean more heart attack inducing climbing later.

As we should have expected from how full the parking lot was, there were a LOT of people on the trail. I think that this was the most crowded I have seen a 14er, other then Bierstadt (which is typically known as the most popular & beginner friendly 14er. Plus, it's pretty close to the metro area).

Maybe 1.25 miles in we arrived at the split in the trail. To the left the Colorado Trail continued - we of course were going to the right, up the Mt. Elbert trail.

It was already pretty warm, we had all shed our layers/jackets in the first 20 minutes. The first few miles were pretty great thought, the trees kept everything cool. We remained below tree line until about 2.75 miles up. Thanks to our research, we knew that there were not one, but two, false summits. Sky was blue as could be and the moon was still setting. One of my favorite shots from the hike was as we were approaching the first bit of tough incline.

We stopped to ask a few people (knowing we still had a few miles to go) if we were there yet (kind of as a joke). A few guys told us that the section we could see was the steepest, and then it got better after that. That actually was a big mental boost for us. And, turns out, the steep section really wasn't that bad!

We got to the summit a lot earlier than we expected, AND, it was super nice at the top. There were lots of people at the summit, but the weather was just awesome. I have never been at the top when it hasn't been windy and miserable, so we stayed up there for close to 45 minutes. We had lunch and enjoyed the views.

Nature's cup holder 

Pizza with a view

Lucky was kinda looking!

Lucky needs some shades!

It's always "better" going down, at least in terms of breathing. We took very few stops on the way down. First was to take off our long sleeves and reapply sunscreen. We tried to stop every mile or so to give Lucky more water.

I was REALLY looking forward to the lower section that wasn't as steep. For whatever reason, my feet/toes were not happy with the descent, specifically my big toes. I wonder if that was a lacing issue as well.

Stream crossing just before getting back to the car

Our calculations were "correct," at least in terms of distance. The route we took was supposed to be 9.1 miles, and my watch had us at 10 round trip. Overall, we did the whole hike quicker than we expected, finishing in under 8 hours.

We weren't sure what would be open because of the holiday, but thankfully, High Mountain Pies was open! I had heard about this pizza place from all our Leadville regulars, and it did NOT disappoint. The pizza was fantastic, and we enjoyed sitting on the patio.

Ariel and I split a San Luis (green chili, pork, avocado & cilantro!)

The drive home was uneventful. I don't think I've ever seen the highway so barren, especially on a holiday! A and I were home by 6. Did a load of laundry and managed to stay up until 8. Not even sure how many years it has been since I watched fireworks.
Thursday (12,730 steps) - Nothing! My sister-in-law,  Lisa, and my niece were in town! We went out to dinner and then for a walk to the lake.

Friday (15,075) - Barre with Hanna. Out to dinner for Greek food with the fam, then we took another walk to the lake. It was a really great (but short) visit.

Me, with two tweens that are taller than I am

Saturday (32,869 steps) - Runners Edge. Thankfully, we didn't have an aid station AND it was close, so we got to "sleep in." Legs felt ok, but the rest of me did NOT. One of the worst runs I've had in ages, stomach just felt off. Happy I only had 12 on schedule.

Dropped A off at her friend's house for a few days of camping. Did some shopping, then worked on my DVD project until it was time to meet up with Lisa.

Goodbye shelving unit & bulky cases!

We went to Alamo Draft House to see Jurassic World (which I really liked!) and then had a beer at her place.
Sunday (22,201 steps) - Drove down to Lakewood for the July RMRR race. It was "only" two miles, so I was cautiously optimistic it wouldn't be too bad. Last year I had run the day after Chase the Moon and was painfully slow, so I at least knew I would PR. I started out way too fast the first mile, and then with only a half mile to go (or maybe less) had to walk. Eh, at least I managed to finish under 20 minutes, which is an accomplishment in itself.

Love my teammates!

After awards, Maureen & Colfax joined me for another three sweltering miles in the park.

We then drove into Morrison for a late breakfast, and it was phenomenal. Tortilla-less burrito, hashbrowns and a side of french toast. A walk with Colfax by the river rounded out the day. Too hot to do anything else, I finally finished my DVD project. Man, I really love to get rid of stuff. I even did a video! Well, "part" of a video. It was two sets, and I only did one.
Monday (21,231 steps) - I had plans to run at North Table, like usual, but then Lisa said she wasn't going to be able to make it and I didn't really want to be dead last yet again. Especially in the heat (it was mid 90's out). I had plans to run at Bear Creek, but on the way made the decision to stop and run at Green Mountain instead. I had not run out there in over three years. In my head, I was convinced that I didn't run out there because of the propensity for car break-ins (I've known more than a few victims), but in reality, it was my amnesia of how ROCKY the trail is. I compared my time to three years ago and was MUCH faster this time around, even IN the ridiculous heat. 7 miles done (which is more than I would have done at North Table anyway).

Stopped at Panera on my way home for a 1/2 salad, 1/2 sandwich. So good.

Stats:

• 144,669 steps
• 21.2 miles run
• Hiking, 1 barre class, 1 video, lots of walks

Week in Review (November 10 - November 16)

Tuesday (18,321 steps) - Ridiculously long warm up, shoulders, and cool down. After work we went to the gym and ran 3ish miles. I've been having a weird niggle in my right groin area (started around the time of Denver RnR). It feels fine when I'm running, but hurts a bit when I'm walking. Sure hope that goes away soon...
Wednesday ( steps) - HIIT/cardio warm up, total body HIIT and abs (which, to be fair, was WAY more HIIT than abs), and cool down. Overnight we got the first real snow of the season. Luckily, temperatures have been pretty warm, so it wasn't super icy. However, Colorado drivers cannot be trusted, so we left early for school/work. Maybe it was the premonition of snow, or maybe it was because of Veteran's Day, but traffic was extremely light and I actually got to work in about half the time as a normal work day. Went to the gym during lunch and ran a few miles since I planned on skipping the gym and run club. After we got home, we made cookies! Four dozen cookies to be exact. Peanut butter chocolate chip for the Friday the 13th party at Heather's and for A to take to school for her birthday.

Thursday ( steps) - Alternating dumbbell upper body video. I have done this one once before, and WOW, it is not easy! Did a 4 mile run during lunch because A and I were heading down to Runner's Roost for Ladies Night and the Nike fashion show! A great evening of light shopping, food and friends.

New Roost beanies!

When we got home there was MORE baking to do. This time we made the Oreo cheesecake cupcakes for A to take to her "real" birthday party on Saturday morning.

Friday ( steps) - One of the longer videos of this program, a lower body strength video. 3ish mile run on the treadmill during lunch.

A dressed up fancy for her last day of being 9

After work I picked up A and we headed up to Heather's house for a gathering of friends. Delicious food and great company.

Crazy eyes.

Saturday ( steps) - A'S TENTH BIRTHDAY!!! We had a FULL day planned. I gave A her presents first thing upon waking up. (Since she doesn't do Christmas with me, this is the closest thing to that for us). We enjoyed hot chocolate (for her) and coffee (for me) and tested out her new Wii U.

That thing is pretty high tech! We changed into our running clothes for a short birthday run to the lake.

Had a few minutes to get ready before going to IHOP for her birthday breakfast and then it was on to Skate City for her party.

Two hours of skating and then it was time for seeing Jurassic World with Jessa. As in previous years, A wanted to go to Country Buffet (yuck) for her birthday lunch. The rest of the evening was spent watching TV and playing Mario Kart. We ordered a pizza for a late night snack. We took selfies with the cats using her new "cat selfie kit". A said it was the best birthday ever. LOL.

Sunday ( steps) - Went to Target to get our grocery shopping done and after lunch we headed up to Boulder for birthday part 2. We met up with my older sister and my nephew Adam and went to the Valmont bike park for some mountain biking. All was going well until I (stupidly) decided to ride up a ramp. I didn't go up straight, panicked, braked and flew over the handle bars (off the 5' ramp) onto my head). Thankfully I didn't break anything, but holy crap, that hurt.

We left shortly afterwards and went to Sweet Cow for some delicious ice cream. THEN we went to the climbing gym. I didn't freak out as much this time and had 4 successful climbs. My arms/wrists just kind of gave out on the last one (not surprising since I for real almost died a few hours earlier on the bike).

A went with my sister and nephew to my parent's house for dinner. I did a quick 2 mile run to the lake and then picked up some Tokyo Joe's for dinner. After dinner I watched the Walking Dead (and I'm still really irritated that I don't know what's happening with Glenn).
Monday ( steps) - HIIT and lower body strength. I had to modify some of the moves because my wrists (left wrist especially) was hurting a bit. Hard to say if it was from the biking accident or the climbing. 3 miles on the treadmill during lunch as we had a blizzard warning and I wanted to go home and stay home. We picked up Tokyo Joe's on the way home (again). The snow started falling around 8 and I got the notification from my work around 10 pm that we would be having a two hour delayed start. (Hooray!)

Stats

• 119,870 steps
• 19.2 miles run
• 60 minutes of cross training videos, plus about an hour on the mountain bike and an hour at the climbing gym
• 97 minutes of strength/stretching.

Everything Else 

• Winter is here. And I hate it. That's all.