Week in Review (January 7 - January 13)

Tuesday (10,167 steps) - With Olive's paw still hurting, no walk before walk. I did do a row session (and starting Squid Games 2) before going into the office. Went to the gym at lunch. Did a HIIT on the StairMaster, which was kinda fun. Also strength training. 

Still no walk with Olive after work because she is still limping a bit.

Wednesday (23,925 steps) - Work in the office. Did my run at lunch. Speed work, but not as horrible as what I've done recently. I would 100% rather do sprints vs. long and sustained paces. Like Ben says though, that is my weakness, so I guess I have to work on that. 

I still think something is wonky with the paces though

Olive was feeling better, so I took her for a walk after work.

Thursday (10,737 steps) - A half hour on the Peloton before logging in to work at home. Took Ariel for coffee, took Olive for a walk, rowing and some strength training. Busy day! Olive had a fun time doing "workouts" with me.

Friday (12,919 steps) - The group decided it was too cold to go to Wash Park, so I just took Olive to work again. It was a very busy day, as is evidenced by my messy desk.

Started a new series "The Day of the Jackal."

Saturday (35,463 steps) - Headed to Boulder to meet up with Terri and Larry for a day of adventuring! I had 3.5 hours on schedule, and I had created a somewhat beefy route. It was sunny, but windy out. 

I wasn't feeling spectacular, yet again. I wonder if I will ever feel rested and "in shape" again.

Once we passed the spur for Fern, I made the executive decision to do the Shanahan loop FIRST - it always sucks and leaving it until the end seemed like we would end up bailing. I like this picture of Larry:

This felt hard, hard, hard. We opted to cut out some of the miles we had planned since it was already taking longer than we planned. We headed towards Shadow Canyon, which unknowingly added back in the miles we had taken out earlier AND added more vertical gain. Oops.

We are all VERY happy to have this done. It was a long, tough day. Good company, though. We went to 4 Noses afterwards. I had an Athletic Brewing Hazy IPA and a Topo - plus the BBQ food truck was there again, which we like. Went home to walk Olive. I suggested to Ben that we go sit in the sauna at the rec center because I still couldn't warm up from being so cold all morning. We had a soft goal of a half hour. I am pretty sure I have never sat in a sauna for that long and I thought I was going to die and/or pass out.

Home to shower and Ben made dinner. Yum!

More Jackal.

Sunday (17,752 steps) - Took Olive for her first long walk in ages. She had a great time!

We still had a run to do, and neither of us was looking forward to it. I thought I was overdressed in a fleece-lined long sleeve and vest. By the time we started the run it was breezy and cloudy and I was NOT overdressed. I slogged up the first hill (but ran the whole thing). This actually was not anywhere near as bad as I thought it would be, so that's good. Slow, but ran all the hills.

Stopped at 4 Noses. More NA beer for me and the Ninja Ramen food truck was there and I got a very delicious "power bowl." 

We were basically done for the day. More Jackal. We had a late dinner since we were still full from lunch.

Monday (14,587 steps) - Work from home. I had to go for my run early, but thankfully it was only 45 minutes, and it wasn't terrible. 

Immediately took Olive for a walk after. Worked until I had to go to the dentist. Did some deliveries after work. Ben made dinner while I took Olive for a walk. Jackal.

Stats:

• 125,550 steps
• 26.99 miles run
• 13.69 miles walked
• 75 minutes of cardio
• 47 minutes of strength

Week in Review (January 2 - January 8)

Tuesday (15,907 steps) - Peloton before work. Work in the office and did a few miles of walking on the treadmill. 

Found this awesome picture of us at Javelina with Larry at the finish line

Finally got my acceptance back on the Runners Roost team for the 8th? 9th? year? There were I think two years that I was not on, but I can't remember when that was.

At lunch I did a full body strength workout, as well as a Pilates video and stretching. Ariel joined me for a neighborhood loop with Olive, although we hadn't wanted to do the bigger loop because it was pretty chilly.

Wednesday (20,626 steps) - Work in the office. Walked on the treadmill a decent amount. I had a sustained "rolling hills" workout on schedule. Unfortunately, we don't really HAVE great rolling hills, at least not ones that are open when I get off work. I knew part of Dirty Biz was closed, but I figured I could get a warm up done on the flat and just run up and down Meadowlark. It was actually not that horrible. 

I ran past my car a few times and actually called Ben because it seemed like there were some suspicious cars just idling in the lot. He came to check it out and said everything was good - I've never been paranoid about my car (or running alone) before, but I figured it was better to be safe than sorry.

Thursday (21,027 steps) - Work from home. Had an "easy 6" to do. It wasn't too bad, and since it's been dry, I ran the south side of the lake on the trails. Took Olive for a walk after. Other than getting these amazing bracelets from Melody in the mail, zero things happened.

Friday (12,186 steps) - We unanimously decided to skip the morning walk since it was supposed to be cold. I did enjoy getting a little bit more sleep for sure. Headed into the office, where I was shockingly busy and did a few miles on the treadmill desk. Took Olive for a walk when I got home.

Saturday (42,477 steps) - Dreaded today's run. Slept in and then took Olive for a walk before heading out. Ben seemed to REALLY not want to run, so I created a route that would allow him to bail after 10 or so miles. It was chilly out, but the sun was shining, so I opted to wear shorts and layered up top with a tee and my Patagonia Airshed Pro. Ended up being the perfect layers. I pieced together a run similar to what I've done in the past, and the first 3-4 miles were fine, but pretty much a big struggle after that. Was supposed to do 18 miles, thought I accidentally only mapped 16 - then ended up doing just under 19. Took FOREVER. 

The cutest little guy ever!

We ordered Hops & Drops takeout to eat at 4 Noses so Ben could have his post-race beer. 

Sunday (18,243 steps) - Possibly was dreading this run even more... only an hour recovery run at least. I decided to wear the Speedlands that I had won at Runners Roost for a test run. The run itself certainly wasn't as bad as it could have been. Of note: the Smartwool top I am wearing is literally the best winter top. I just picked it up in a second color because it's so good. I want to say the original price was close to $200, but this second one I got for $58 or something crazy. Totally worth the money.

Took Olive for a lake loop, then we headed to Torchy's for breakfast tacos and to wash Ariel's car. Olive had a grooming appointment, so we headed back up north so she could get a haircut. I drank Topo Chico while Ben had beer. Poof, the weekend was gone.

She looks so cute with her new bandana!

Monday  (20,464 steps) - Work from home. We got snow overnight, so I was dreading running. It was also supposed to get windier as the day progressed, so I sucked it up and went out pretty early. I was supposed to have a faster run but with the cold and sketchy conditions, I decided to just do a trail run. Randomly, went to the north side of the lake, which I rarely do. It was mostly ok, and just glad to have it done. 

Took Olive for a lake loop walk after that. Winter is here and I hate it. Olive, however, really enjoys the snow. She was happy.

Stats:

• 150,900 steps
• 41.25 miles run
• 30 minutes of cardio
• 50 minutes of strength