Week in Review (May 7 - May 13)

Tuesday (18,435 steps) - Core class during lunch. Felt really hard! It was POURING when I left, which was not fun walking back to the office. I was mildly relieved that Milk Market run club was cancelled - I can do snow, but I do not love freezing cold spring rain! Picked up Pho.

Walked on the treadmill and watched the premiere episode of "Chernobyl."
Wednesday (17,965 steps) - STILL RAINING. I wasn't going to be able to run in the evening anyway, as A had her last orchestra concert of the year.

Squeezed in a bit more walking on the treadmill while re-watching the most recent Game of Thrones episode.
Thursday (15,752 steps) - Core class during lunch - and it was SNOWING today. Grrr. Is spring ever really going to be here? (I know that it is, and then I will be complaining about the heat, but c'mon). A didn't want to run so I went to Berkeley Park by myself. I started my run early (with Kevin) and felt pretty junky the first 15 minutes or so until I used the bathroom (TMI) and then the rest of the run was ok. But seriously, had enough of the snow!

Friday (9,778 steps) - Went out with Janna, Jackie (and Mat!) to dinner at Adelita's on south Broadway. The food was meh, but the company was fantastic. Fun to get together with them! Got the aid station ready and in bed early.

Love the dish that Jackie made me for my birthday!

Saturday (43,242 steps) - I had 22 miles on schedule, but the route was only set up for 20, and I figured that was probably plenty. No one else was running long, so after 7 or so miles I was running solo. While it was long and fairly miserable, I didn't want to die until closer to 19 miles and I didn't feel nearly as terrible as the last time I had to run 20.

I decided that with the warmer weather a beer sounded really good and we googled the closest brewery. Imagine our surprise when one of the four cars in the lot belonged to Greg!

Went home to shower/nap, then to Dulce's house for family dinner. Such a great night, and got to share a birthday cake with Michael!
Sunday (18,747 steps) - Opted to sleep in instead of meeting people for a trail run. I can't believe I was still in bed until something crazy like 9. Cleaned a bit, ate some toast & then went on a solo run out on the new trails at the Rocky Flats Wildlife Refuge. It was warm and pretty deserted, but a beautiful day.

Once again, seemed like patio weather, so I sought out another new brewery. Lucky for ME, they were giving ladies their first beer free for Mother's Day, so it was a win-win for me.

It looks pretty sketchy from the outside, but it wasn't that bad in reality

Home to shower, then on to Rachelle's house for Mother's Day burritos!

Food & company was delicious, home for laundry and an INSANE EPISODE OF GAME OF THRONES.
Monday (20,249 steps) - Core class before work. Scrolling through Facebook - and I came across a last minute promo for the Transylvania ultra that I ran last year... OH LOOK, IT'S MEEE!!!

Picked A up at her last Girl Scout meeting of the year and took her to her friend's house to finish homework. Met up with Ben & Pika at New Terrain for a run at North Table. Pika was NOT into the run at all and we hiked most of the climbing. Then, coming onto the Lithic switchbacks, I rolled my ankle. Boo! Hiss!

Beers on the patio - a lot of fun! Picked up A and got Torchy's on the way home.

Paula, Jon & allll the dogs

Stats:

• 144,168 steps
• 35 miles run
• 3 gym visits & some walking

Week in Review (April 16 - April 22)

Tuesday (20,001 steps) - Strength class during lunch. Milk Market run club! I decided I really need to get my ass in gear for my big races this year - instead of starting with the group, started from my office and got 6 miles in.

Once again, the food was fantastic. Going to enjoy this group!

Wednesday (20,544 steps) - FINALLY got back up to Boulder for run club.

I was not surprised to be the last one up the hill, but man, it was nice to be out on the trails again - and they were actually in pretty good condition, considering how much moisture we've had.

Thursday (15,872 steps) - Core class during lunch. Berkeley Park run club! A didn't want to run so I started early and ran a little over 4 miles. Woot!

Trans Rockies was at the store giving away an entry, and I really can't believe I didn't win. Rigged! (haha)
Friday (17,453 steps) - Got to work and there was an email that the office was closing early - hurray!! Went for an hour long walk during lunch - so warm and sunny out. Is spring finally here??

Actually saw... a bookmobile!

Got my tires rotated on the way home, picked up A and then headed back into Denver to meet up with friends at Wynkoop Brewery. The service was pretty much the worst I have ever had. Grrrr. It was fun to see everyone though (Corky, Jen, Eliot, Bob, Jennifer, Jared, etc).

Got home a little later than we would have liked and then had to get our aid station ready.
Saturday (42,923 steps) - Drove to Northglenn to set up our aid station.

By the time we got to the start the sun came out and I feared we might all die of heat stroke. Micheal made a surprise appearance and I convinced Jen to join me for 20 miles. Blah!! I haven't run a 20 miler since last summer, and even though I've been getting my long runs in, my base miles have been VERY low. The route had a bunch of rollers, and I knew before even finishing the first 10 mile loop that I was going to be suffering on the second one. I made it through 15-16 miles before I really started to fall apart and ALLLLL the walking in the world. It was so hot, and I was so miserable. At one point I actually decided to lie down on a picnic table. Miserable. But, I got it done.

 A and I went to Godfather's Pizza for lunch - yum! Wings and pizza. Met Ben at Torchy's for dinner.
Sunday (16,282 steps) - Up early for Wester! Super happy that Ben was able to come down for the weekend and we were able to get out there - even though he takes forever getting ready and we were a tad late. He had big goals of running the whole trail (12 miles) - and I had no intention of doing that many because I figured my legs would be toast after 20 (plus he is a lot faster than I am).

Ariel and I had a great time running with Pika, however, and the weather was SO much better - cool & even a little rainy.

Right near the end of the trail, Ariel did fall - sliding on her stomach. She got some pretty nasty battle wounds. She's tough, though, and still finished the rest of the run.

Once Ben got back we headed into Morrison and went to the Red Rocks Beer Garden - we each had a beer and after hanging out for a bit decided to head towards the house and get some wings at Buffalo Wild Wings. By now, totally exhausted. 2+ hour nap, and then Game of Thrones! This season is completely nuts.
Monday (18,112 steps) - Core class during lunch. Ben decided to stick around for another day and we planned on going to New Terrain for run club. Then I found out that they had cancelled the run due to poor conditions. Jeffco didn't officially close, so we planned on Ben heading out for more miles and then we would meet him there. Unfortunately trails were super muddy. A and I took Pika for a run/walk around the neighborhoods.

"Big" Pika in a tiny car 

We met up at the brewery for a drink, then had pho for dinner.

Stats:

• 151,187 steps
• 46.4 miles run
• 3 gym classes and a few walks

Week in Review (April 9 - April 15)

Tuesday (14,978 steps) - Strength class during lunch. After work I was excited to be going to a new run club! (How can there possibly be SO MANY run clubs in metro Denver?) This one was at the Denver Milk Market - basically a big venue with many different eateries. Friend and teammate Anne was in charge. Thankfully, Lisa showed up so I had someone to run with. It was warm, and it felt hard.

But!! There was a TON of free food after, plus Anne bought our first drinks (and I only had one), so the whole evening was free! Plus, there was enough food left over that I was able to bring stuff home to A!

Wednesday (6,577 steps) - Woke up with a full blown cold, and felt crappy all day long. Picked up pho on the way home and skipped run club. Which I was on the fence about attending anyway, since it was a blizzard outside.
Thursday (13,380 steps) - Core class during lunch. Berkeley Park after for Phil's 50th (?!) birthday! Felt super crappy during this run. Fatigued and just overall blah (thanks, cold or allergies). Ran with A and JT and we decided to call it quits after running just over 2.

Spent the evening trying to fix my iCloud glitch and watching the finale of This is Us.
Friday (12,923 steps) - Walked on the treadmill during lunch so I could watch Game of Thrones. Rushed home after work to get A and then drove down to Dulce's for family dinner. (Can't believe we haven't seen everyone for two months!) Delicious evening of nachos and margaritas!

This is Matilda, isn't she adorable?

Saturday (36,427 steps) - Runner's Edge! I had 16 on schedule and was SUPER not looking forward to it. I've been sick, and generally fatigued since getting back from vacation. It was a lot colder than I thought it would be for sure. Sheila was out of town, and our back-up pace group leader bowed out after mere minutes. So between all THOSE things, I started the run off on the wrong foot. I generally felt horrible the whole time, but a bit better after using the bathroom at Caribou around mile 7, haha. Suffered through, and super happy to be done.

Made fajitas for lunch.

FINALLY got caught up on Game of Thrones and then drove up to Summit County. Like last week, met up with Ben at Angry James. Usual routine of grocery store & picking up pizza.
Sunday (13,628 steps) - Big plans of running outside, but by the time we had breakfast & a nap it was windy and yucky outside. Ben then insisted that we run at the gym. I'll cut to the chase and say that my first treadmill run in almost 3 years was miserable. I do NOT miss running inside AT ALL. Suffered through just under an hour before giving up. Picked up dinner at Cheba Hut (I hadn't been there in years, so good!) and then took Pika for a quick walk.

Don't we have cute shadows? haha

Game of Thrones premier!! I was a tad disappointed, mainly because for some reason I thought it would be two hours, and it was only one.
Monday (9,155 steps) - Another 4:15 wake up call to get home in time to get ready for work and school. Core class during lunch. Had hoped to get over to North Table, but ended up having to pick A up at Scouts a bit later than usual.

I certainly didn't get to drive go-carts when *I* was in Girl Scouts

Tokyo Joe's BOGO, laundry, in bed early.

Stats:

• 107,068 steps
• 25.1 miles run (it's hard to believe I was running 40-50 mile weeks, like ever)
• 3 gym classes