Week in Review (August 23 - August 29)

Tuesday (10,554 steps) - Work in the office. Went for a walk at lunch. Took Pika for a short walk when I got home. Met Ben at Resolute for a beer.

Wednesday (7,701 steps) - Work in the office. Went for a walk at lunch. Took Pika for a walk when I got home. Did a short Yoga video. Watched a cute documentary about cats - Batman was VERY fascinated by this.

Thursday (17,350 steps) - Work from home! Went for my first run since Lean Horse - it wasn't bad! I kinda love the "low HR" runs, it's pretty amazing how much "easier" they are.

Another slow walk with Pika. Ben and I went to the new food hall at Candela's for a date night. It was actually pretty good - we haven't been getting along great lately, but this was a lot of fun.

The chicken sandwiches here are pretty ridiculous. 

Friday (8,066 steps) - Surprise work from home day! I had found out that Joyce was actually going to be out on vacation for a while, so I talked to Nicole about working from home for a bit. We haven't found anyone permanent to walk Pika on the days I'm in the office, so this has been a big help. Pika actually picked the long walk at lunch - first time all week. Ben was working in the mountains again, so I was home alone for the evening. Actually did an upper body video - I haven't been doing much strength training the last few weeks, so this felt hard. Then, I picked up Tokyo Joe's for dinner and a new Weldwerks beer. Yum!

Saturday (31,739 steps) - Another early morning for me. A had a XC meet down south so I opted to head to Waterton Canyon for my long run! The goal was "easy" and low heart rate.

I actually was able to do a lot more running than I normally do on the way out. I was supposed to do two hours total, but I wasn't sure on timing, so I turned around about 4.5 miles in. 

I literally was able to run the entire way down without walking, and without running "too fast" that it elevated my heart rate. Not sure that I have done that before, or at least not recently. 

A's meet was at Mountain Vista, which was only about 15 minutes away. I actually lucked out and got parking pretty close. What a cluster! These things get so crowded. I had invited Jandy to watch the meet since it was so close to where she lives. This was an interested race as it was only 2 miles instead of a 5k. 

A ran very well, just over 15 minutes on a hilly course. Proud of her! And I love the selfie that Jandy got with her after she ran.

I offered to take the girls to breakfast and we headed up north to Snooze. We had a bit of a wait, so we got coffee from Caribou in the meantime. I was very indecisive, but ended up getting a french toast Monte Carlo. Delicious!

A had her first opportunity to drive Blue-C and she said it was scary because she is so powerful. Also, finally got a picture of the three Mini Coopers! The middle one is Bee Rad(2) - Gracie hadn't come up with a good name, so she asked if hers could be Bee Rad... awwww! The yellow paint is actually the same as his was (same year even!) - the only differences is that Bee Rad(2) is an automatic and stripes are white instead of black. Cute. (In real life, the two girls even have parking spaces next to each other, which I think is adorable).

Ben and I had the opportunity for a second date night. We got some beers at Four Noses, and then went out to dinner. I got some delicious Buffalo Chicken mac & cheese. Yum!! 

Sunday (6,532 steps) - The day of nothing! Took Pika for a (short) walk at lunch - although at least this time it was the little lake loop and not the small neighborhood loop. Went to New Terrain for a few beers.

Nothing else?

Monday (5,369 steps) - Work from home. Took Pika for a short walk at  lunch. Went to the dentist. That's it?

Stats:

• 87,311 steps
• 14.26 miles run
• 0 minutes of cardio
• 15 minutes of strength training

Week in Review (July 26 - August 1)

Tuesday (7,735 steps) - Core before going to work in the office. Went for a walk at lunch. Nothing else?

Wednesday (19,017 steps) - Work in the office. Headed up to Boulder after work to meet Terri and Tyler for some trail time. We've been spoiled with cooler temperatures the last few weeks and this felt HOT.

Got back to the store with enough time for a beer before heading home.

Thursday (10,480 steps) - Peloton ride before work at home. Took Pika for a walk at lunch, and had to do our "mud route" because we had some torrential rain overnight and I figured the lake trails would be a mess. 

A had a night track meet! Not just "night" or "late," she wasn't going to be STARTING until 9:15. PM. ON A WEEKDAY. Ben and I headed down separate, and stopped at Dry Dock.

We arrived at the race with enough time to watch the citizen's race - saw quite a few people we knew! The light up sign was a hit, even though most of my pictures were garbage. This is actually my friend, Lisa!

We got to see A run by a few different times, although NONE of my pictures came out. I hate the delay on the iPhone for night pictures - is there a way to turn that off permanently? Anyway, even the finish line pic of her wasn't great. For someone NOT racing, I'd say hovering around 8 minute miles was pretty impressive.

The girls were psyched to get their picture on Colorado Mile Split! 

Home SO late (like 10:45?!) and in bed even later. Dead.

Friday (13,503 steps) - Wash Park and coffee with the gang. Work in the office, with a walk at lunch. Met Ben at Resolute for happy hour. Nothing else?

Saturday (32,705 steps) - I had agreed to meet Jeramiah at White Ranch at 5:30. In the morning. For a run. Last run with climbing for a bit. Haven't seen J in a bit, so it was nice to catch up, and we only got "lost" a few times! We were done fairly early in the morning, thanks to the pre-sunrise start.

Home to shower, go to Costco to put gas in Lucy, then take Pika for a walk. In the afternoon Ben and I headed up to Loveland for... Blue-C!! In the grand scheme of A turning 16 (a while ago) and getting her license (recently),  had been spending the last year or so looking for a car for her. With Ben having a somewhat unpredictable work schedule and my job requiring certain in-office hours, it had been a bit of a struggle getting her places. I was not able to find a reasonably priced stick shift Mini (as requested by A since that's what she learned to drive on), so back in the spring I ordered a custom Mini Cooper JCW!! Initially I was told delivery wouldn't be for 6-8 months, but as the process went on, it was WAY faster than planned - closer to 3 months. Anyway, all things considered, this was a pretty great experience (other than spending all that money of course!)

Stopped at Liquid Mechanics on the way home, Salsa's for dinner, and then the last installment of Flowers in the Attic.

Sunday (13,244 steps) - FINALLY, slept in! (Not LATE, but at least I didn't have to set an alarm). Went out later than I wanted for my 5k I had on schedule, which was just kinda meh. Not great, but not awful. Shower and then Ben and I went to 4 Noses for brunch and a brewmosa. Took Pika for a (slow) walk.

After lunch we went to Bluegrass, but unimpressed with their beers on tap so we went to Resolute. There were some random vendors there and I picked up some plants for Ariel - aren't they ADORABLE??

Monday (11,067 steps) - Work from home. Walked Pika at lunch. A's friend came over and I had to get a pic of the Mini Cooper "family."

Took A to get her sports physical and then met Ben at Luki. 

Pizza for dinner. We randomly found the movie "Zathura" on Amazon Prime and watched it. Fun fact, it was one of A's favorite movies when she was around 2-3 years old. Watching it now, that seems crazy, seems like it should have been a bit scary for a toddler.

Stats:

• 107,751 steps
• 20.16 miles run
• 20 minutes of cardio
• 15 minutes of strength

Week in Review (January 12 - January 18)

Tuesday (10,676 steps) - Work in the office in the morning. Lucy's check engine light has been coming on once in a while over the last month. We initially got the light to go off by adding coolant, but the light came back on and she is idling rough, so I had an appointment at the dealership. I got a loaner from them so I could head back to work while she was getting looked at. The newer Minis are fancy!

When they finally contacted me to authorize work, I found out that Lucy is no longer under warranty (about 5,000 miles over, and time-wise two weeks expired!) so I did not authorize the work, planning on having a closer, local shop do the work. I had a 25 minute run on schedule, so I took a late lunch and got that done with Pika. Somehow, we managed to run into A's track practice, so it was definitely more of a tempo run than an easy one!

Picked A up from practice and headed down to the dealership to pick up my car. They had magically "fixed" her under a parts warranty and it cost me nothing. I'll set some money aside in case the problem comes back. As an aside, I do have a maintenance warranty that is good for another few years, it's just the manufacturer warranty that's expired. Sigh.

Wednesday (12,942 steps) - Work from home. Quick row in the morning, and a walk with Pika at lunch. We saw the bald eagle again!!

It was SUPER windy again, so Tyler and I decided to postpone our trail run one day. I still had a 30 minute run on schedule, so I headed out right after work to get that done. After having a couple of pretty decent runs in a row, this one was NOT great and I had to take a few walk breaks in the first mile.

Thankfully, my calves loosened up and the back half of my run wasn't AS bad. Plus, it was pretty outside. Also, it wasn't nearly as windy as it had seemed earlier, so that was a bonus as well. 

After dinner I did a quick upper body video and band routine. LONG DAY.

Thursday (18,076 steps) - Work from home. 

Super short row in the morning. I was tired and not feeling it, so I cut it short. Went for a walk at lunch with Ben and Pika. After work, headed up to Boulder to run with Pika and Tyler. It was icier than last week, and Tyler took a nasty fall. I had remembered to bring batteries for my headlamp, since I knew they were getting ready to die. Unfortunately, my headlamp takes three batteries and I brought two, so it didn't help. My headlamp was super dim and kept flashing. Ugh. All in all, an "ok" run, but I need to remember to bring my spikes and keep extra batteries in my pack.

When I got home I did pilates/abs video. I really shouldn't have taken so much time off from the gym. Everything is so hard!

Friday (10,417 steps) - Work from home. Off day from running (woo hoo!) so I just took Pika for a walk at lunch. 

I did an abs and upper body video that was ok, and I may do it again. I planned on a row in the evening, but barely got into it before the doorbell rang and A insisted I needed to deal with it, so I gave up on finishing my activity. Oh well. 

In other news, our basement flooring is almost done (pictures to come soon). We also finally installed the kitty door so the cats can get to the litter box (but Pika can't). At first they weren't sure about it, but c'mon, it's so cute!!

Saturday (36,228 steps) - Up "earlyish" to head to Golden to meet Kristin, Joe, Jeramiah, Tyler and Maureen for a run! We had been planning a route all week and settled on Chimney Gulch to Beaver Brook, about 12 miles. Although I had planned to bring my spikes, I forgot them (again!) so that was not fun as there were some incredibly icy sections. I slipped a lot and fell a half dozen times. I spent most of this activity in the back and was really struggling (I don't know if this was worse than usual or not). Hopefully my dietary changes will help in this regard, along with more consistency.

Maureen got this picture of me. This section was a skating rink.

View from the top of Chimney Gulch at Windy Saddle

Maureen and Kristin are both in a plank challenge, and I joined in!

Everyone is happy, but we have barely done 3 miles, haha

At some point, Maureen got behind us and she called me, unsure if she was still on course. (Turns out, she was, but she was uncomfortable with all the ice and terrain, so it was probably better that she turned around a tad early). We turned around at about a 10K, but then of course we still had to go back to the car... the way back should be easier since it was mostly downhill, but the ice made things slow, plus we were tired!

OK, I guess this was still uphill

I sent Ben a text when we got back to Windy Saddle to have him meet us at Mountain Toad for a beer. Tyler and I decided to just walk there since it was only a few minutes away. I hadn't been there in a while - the beer was pretty good! I also grabbed some food from the food truck because I was STARVING.

In our seemingly never-ending house drama, we had to go to Home Depot to get new trim for the basement. I was not looking forward to making dinner, so I walked to Pho a few doors down and ordered takeout while Ben was loading up the truck.

Sunday (10,916 steps) - Ben had to work, and I didn't have any big plans for the day, so I tried to sleep in. I didn't really accomplish that, but I did stay in bed a while. Ariel and I got coffee, haircuts, Panda Express for lunch, and went on another REALLY WINDY walk. This time of year sucks, because if it is "warm" it is windy.

I made spicy sausage and roasted a BILLION vegetables. I love this dinner though. Once everything is chopped it's actually pretty easy to make. While dinner was getting ready I did a lower body video that I thought would be easy, and wasn't.

Monday (16,411 steps) - I had the day off, but managed to stupidly schedule a doctor's appointment for 7:15, so I was up early. Our contractor was supposed to show up 7:30 to start work on the bathroom, but it was closer to 9 before he got there. Immediately, we were informed that Ben hadn't done enough demo, so he didn't stick around. Ugh. Ben headed to physical therapy and I went for a run. I had 40 minutes on schedule. Once again, it was supposed to be an easy run, and it once again felt "easy." I didn't walk at all, and pace was very similar to the week before. Also took Pika for a walk. I did an upper body video that I really liked and will definitely do again. None of us felt like cooking, so we picked up Qdoba.

Stats:

• 115,666 steps
• 25.2 miles run
• 23 minutes rowing
• 87 minutes strength training