Week in Review (June 13 - June 19)

Tuesday (15,200 steps) - Did my Peloton rides before going to work in the office. Did the rest of my cross training at lunch. Right after work I had to rush to get to Mt. Falcon for another evening of trail work! I was mildly surprised it didn't get cancelled since it has been raining for(seemingly)ever. 

I did something I've never done when doing trail maintenance - planted something. Look at the adorable sage bush I dug a hole for and planted. 

We even got some visitors:

It doesn't seem like a lot, but the dark dirt section me and two other people dug up, relocated some grass, planted a few bushes, and also laid some prairie seed. Trail widening is a huge problem - especially this year with how much rain we've had. At the top of the below picture others are building a new drain.

I have a great time volunteering on my local trails! I usually volunteer with TRV and Jefferson County Open Space - you can sign up here. A *very* long day, I didn't get home for dinner/relaxing until after 8:30!

Wednesday (20,137 steps) - Work in the office. Had another workout to do that was supposed to be done on a "hilly" area, so I opted to not run on my lunch hour when the weather was nice. I decided I'd rush home and run to the lake (to see the goats!) instead. Started to drizzle on me almost immediately, and then POURED, but thankfully it didn't last more than maybe 10 minutes. It was, unfortunately, humid for the rest of the run. Also, the goats are normally by the entrance, and this time they were way down by the water, so run was longer than expected.

Thursday (17,218 steps) - Work from home! I had speed work to do and the forecast was not looking great, so I went much earlier than usual in hopes of not getting rained on. It worked! I ended up doing out and backs on the bike path since I was supposed to run somewhere flat. Faster paces felt easy, worst part was the hilly run home.

Took A to get her nose pierced (nostril this time, she already has a septum piercing) at lunch since she walked Olive while I did my workout. We went to Belmar after work. Even though Maya was there, we opted to just walk - and it was lovely! We picked up Mac & Cheezy for dinner. Also - when I got home - my new watch had arrived! I sold my old Garmin on FB marketplace, and ordered a "custom" 7s. Isn't it pretty?!

Olive likes to get REALLY close when Batman comes to sit on my lap. She thinks it's amusing. He does not. 

Friday (14,589 steps) - Even A joined (with Olive!) for Wash Park! With the weather FINALLY "nice," Pete spread some of Rocket's ashes at his favorite spot. 

Kathy hosted everyone at her house for brunch and it was delicious! No recollection of the rest of the day, but I'm pretty sure I met up with Ben for a beer. Later we had a watch party and watched "Dog" which was a surprisingly good movie.

Saturday (36,726 steps) - Headed to Waterton with Ben for the long run of the weekend - 15 miles. Saw Jennifer at the trailhead! The clouds looked scary and we just hoped we wouldn't get rained on (for the umpteenth weekend in a row). On the way up, everything felt mostly fine. We were keeping a relaxed pace. FINALLY saw some sheep about 5 miles up the trail. The baby was definitely the smallest sheep I've ever seen. These two (and two additional sheep) ran up the trail in front of us for a good half mile. So adorable. 

The water in the dam was definitely raging! I've never seen it like that.

We had to head up the trail a bit and I was surprised it was in such good condition, especially considering the amount of rain we have had recently. 

We got about near the lower dam and ran into Mo!

I wish I could say that the run down was nice, but it wasn't. The dirt road felt very hard and I was soooo tired and just not into it. We got about a mile from the car when it started to rain. At least it didn't rain the whole time? Stopped at Lariat Lodge for lunch and a beer. Beer was not good, don't need to rush back to this one.

I think we had a watch party? 

Sunday (21,371 steps) - Ben picked me up at 8 for our morning trip to Summit County for a recovery run. Neither of us felt super great, but honestly, it was one of the better and more consistent runs we have had on these trails, so it was productive. 

We headed to Outer Range for a beer. Tyler met us for one! Headed back down so I could take Olive for a walk. 

We went to check out the new brewery in Superior, Bambei, and we weren't super impressed. The space is nice and they have a big food menu, but the beer was not great.

Had another watch party - some movie with Jason Statham that didn't really hold my interest. 

Monday (32,461 steps) - Since I didn't have work for Juneteenth, I headed up to Evergreen to do Bergen Peak for the first time this year. I picked a good day to get out of Denver, as even in the "mountains" it was REALLY warm and sunny.

No matter how many times I come to these trails, I always seem to get confused and nothing ever looks familiar. I was "sure" that I went up the way I normally come down. Nope, when I finally got to the junction to head to the summit I was where I always am. The hiking up felt hard, but then again, it always does.

I had expected this to take me about three hours based on historical efforts, yet managed to get to the top in just over 90 minutes, so I knew I would be done sooner.

Beautiful day!

I was home in time for me and A to get Dunkin and then take Olive for a walk. Even though it was a zillion degrees, we got motivated and decided to tackle the disaster that is the backyard. We spent over an hour pulling weeds. They haven't been great, since the first year we were in the house, but the constant rain definitely allowed them to get out of control.

THEN, I had to get my mammogram. I hoped to do some deliveries but nothing was happening, so I went to Costco to pick up a few things and then met Ben at 4 Noses. A had to work, so I vegged out watching Nip/Tuck. Finally had to turn on the AC. Summer is officially here.

Stats:

• 157,702 steps
• 42.73 miles run
• 35 minutes of cardio
• 40 minutes of strength training

Week in Review (February 2 - February 8)

Tuesday (17,030 steps) - Work from home. I had to switch days because Ben wasn't able to get the day off and we were FINALLY having our appliances delivered. They arrived within their window, but that was basically the highlight of the delivery. First off, what a shock that the change I had made weeks ago adding the haul away was not on their work order, and I was told only "they would see what they could do" about getting the old appliances taken. OF COURSE. To keep the story short, they were not able to install ANY of the appliances. The outlet for the fridge wasn't working, they thought because the new fridge had too much "output." So we had to have an extension cord and drag it across the entire kitchen for it to work. The hardwire for he dishwasher was too short (or alternatively, needed an electrician to add a dedicated outlet), and the cable for the stove wasn't long enough to reach the closest outlet, but they used an extension cord for that as well to test to make sure there wasn't a gas leak. What a freaking hassle that all was. 

Took Pika for a walk, then went on my run. Coach finally has me doing some speed work, and I'll admit I was feeling apprehensive about this run because my legs were pretty tired. Turns out, the run went VERY well, with the exception of getting about 80 texts during the run, plus phone calls. That was annoying. Bathroom is almost done!! 

Also, we managed to coerce an electrician to come over, and he was able to fix the wiring for the fridge outlet, installed the plug for the dishwasher, AND dropped the cable for the stove through the wall, which was actually even better. So happy we have so many good contractors to help us!

Torchy's for dinner, which was delicious.

Wednesday (11,272 steps) - Work in the office. Someone stole my lunch out of the freezer, so I had to run down the street to buy food. WAS NOT HAPPY. Ben also called while I was at work to alert me to "pouring water" under the kitchen sink. Apparently, Home Depot never capped off the water line when they did not install the dishwasher, so we had water running under the sink/cabinets/floor for 24 hours in. We have an insurance claim in with them now. (I can't make up all the stuff that is going wrong!) Ariel went with me to take Pika for a short walk when I got home because I hadn't done anything all day. 

Thursday (10,615 steps) - Work from home. Ben finally got the last of the cosmetic stuff done in the bathroom, meaning, I actually could brush my teeth and use my own toilet! It was SO windy that I skipped my run again. I did take Pika for a walk, did Bodypump, and rowed for a bit. Finally, FINALLY the guys were done with the bathroom. Finally!!! (Well, except for the glass. We have to wait about three weeks for that. But since we still have our rod and shower curtain, the bathroom is fully functional).

Friday (10,193 steps) - First shower in the new bathroom, and it was awesome. Water much hotter than it was before, and the water pressure is much better, thanks to our cool shower head. Work in the office (boo, hiss). Did my run with hill repeats after work. It wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it might be, although I didn't quite time the hill correctly, and pausing my watch somehow messed up the timing of the intervals in the program I had put in my watch. 

Ah well, I know I did them all! And with this run, I managed to nail all my runs all week, without walking during any of them. Woo hoo!

Saturday (34,168 steps) - Met up with the group to run Dirty Biz. I hate running on Fridays before a long run because I just seem to start out tired, and this was no exception. Tyler and Joe took off, and I felt bad that Kristin kept stopping to wait for me, I know she is so much faster and better trained than I am right now. For the first few miles I thought I was a bit overdressed, but then the wind picked up and it was FREEZING. Really happy to be done with this.

Went to 4 Noses for a beer, then home for a quick shower before picking up more cookies and then driving around for hours delivering. 

Ariel and I did stop and pick up Mac n' Cheezy, which we haven't had in ages. 

I met up with Kim for a beer at Rails End. 

Sunday (12,321 steps) - Drove to Runners Roost Boulder for the first run club in 11 months. We still started from the trail head, but luckily the fast people didn't catch us until we hit the top trail, so I was at least able to keep up on the descents. 

Delivered cookies to Carrie and Ben, then met Greg and Tyler at New Image for pre-Super Bowl beers.

We watched part of the Super Bowl, but weren't really into it. Fell asleep on the couch.

Monday (17,452 steps) - Work from home. Walked Pika, and then went for my run. It was easily my worst run in at least a month. I had to walk at least 6 separate times and my calves were sooo tight even during my warm-up that I thought they might burst. I'm really sick of this issue and wish I could find some relief. I at least hit all my faster tempo paces. Did another Bodypump video before picking up A at practice. Heather came over to pick up her cookies and look at the house.

Stats:

• 113, 051 steps
• 29 miles run
• 12 minutes rowing
• 52 minutes cross training