Week in Review (July 1 - July 7)

Tuesday (11,670 steps) - Slept much better, thankfully. Did a very short Peloton ride before getting ready and taking Olive to work. Never really thought I would say I was looking forward to work, but I was. I have taken a lot of things for granted that I am normally able to get done during the day for sure. Thanks to relatively good coverage, I was pretty much caught up on all my work by lunch. It helps that I had to check my email somewhat regularly because people were still emailing me since my out of office was vague on how long I would be out. Went to the gym and did the StairMaster (which I did NOT miss) and some weights. Really appreciate getting more sleep and being able to workout again on my lunch hour!! I did some deliveries on the way home from work and Ben picked up a pizza for dinner. We took Olive for a walk after dinner and then caught a few more episodes of Squid Games before another early bedtime. 

Wednesday (21,128 steps) - Slept AWESOME - first time in a while. I did have some weird dreams about the trial (not the case itself), however. Took Olive for a walk before going to work in the office. Since I actually had a hill-related workout to do, I had to do it after work. Unfortunately, since it was supposed to be about a zillion degrees. Ariel was able to let Olive out during the day, so I headed over to Green Mountain. I had a different type of hill workout, but since I was supposed to find something of at least 10%, I did my warm up on the bike path before doing the repeats. It was definitely HOT, but not as bad as I thought it would be?

I was starving when I finished up and met Ben at Torchy's for a delicious dinner.

Took Olive for a short walk. Squid Games.

Thursday (11,379 steps) - Work from home. Went to Dutch and Torchy's with Ariel before taking Olive for a walk. We got another episode of YOU watched while I finished up my day and did some packing for our weekend of "camping." There was a car fire with fatalities on I-70, so we were going to be delayed heading up. Once we got the camper loaded we went to 4 Noses for a beer, then stopped at the grocery store. By about 6:30 things were supposedly cleared up, so we headed up. Unfortunately, I think everyone else did the same thing - it took us probably twice as long as usual, but we got up safely. Our friend Lee lives in Dillon and has a huge driveway and he had no problem with us camping out in his driveway. The best part was having access to an indoor bathroom and running water.

Olive is the blur at the bottom of this picture

Lee was doing a bike race in the morning, so he headed to bed. We had a beer and relaxed.

Friday (14,475 steps) - We took Olive for a walk and Ben cooked some eggs while we decided what we wanted to do for the day. I had jokingly said that we should go to Webster Pass and run/hike up to Red Cone where the flag is for the fourth. Ben decided that we would drive up the pass. We got to drive by the house we are looking at (sigh, probably won't happen) and headed up. First off, neither of us seemingly had any recollection of the "road." It was a lot more technical than we remembered. Rocky, and very slow going. It took a LONG time to get to the saddle where we decided we would start. It was a bit windy and chilly when we arrived and took our initial pictures (and I let Olive roll around in the snow on the other side - but only on leash since there is still a drop off).

By the time we started it was a lot colder, very windy and was starting to lightly rain. Neither of us had pants, but we put on our R1s and rain jackets. The below picture is me looking back at where Camille was parked:

You wouldn't know it, but it was REALLY raining pretty hard at this point. With the wind, we were getting pelted and it almost felt like it was graupel. My legs were really cold! Since we were on the road, we had to wait for probably a half dozen jeeps to come down the trail.

Red Cone

We made it to the second hill before deciding we were  cold and not having fun and decided to head back to the truck.  

No regrets! I am glad that we came out this way though. I was really caught off guard for this section during Summit last year, so seeing it again was a good thing for me. It is definitely still really slow going, but knowing what I'm doing will benefit me, I think. We took the way down a "little" faster than the way up, but it was still a long way to town. We decided to visit a "new to us" brewery in Keystone, Steep. The beer was just ok, but the food was delicious.

Outer Range for one more beer before heading back to Lee's house. We made some hot dogs for dinner.

Saturday (20,844 steps) - Went into Breck for another activity. We decided to do Vomit Hill loop that we have done before. 

It was much warmer so we took a lot of breaks. Both for us and Olive.

Once again, I had forgotten Olive's bowl, but thankfully I always have random things I can turn into one. We stopped to let her drink out of a ziplock bag.

We took a different way back, this time on the Blair Witch trail. This picture of the three of us is relatively hilarious.

We were all toast when we finished. Stopped at Broken Compass on the way back to Dillon since dogs are allowed inside.

Hamburgers on the grill for dinner.

Sunday (22,308 steps) - Up early to head to Herman Gulch for the annual hike that I coordinate every year. I was especially excited that Ariel was going to drive up to join us since she had the morning off. We had a decent sized group this year:

As always, it was slow-going heading up. Partly because of all the pictures we had to take of the flowers. 

Once we got near the lake there was finally a snowfield for Olive and Waylon to play in - they had a great time!

We stayed at the lake for a decent amount of time waiting for everyone. Plus, the weather was much nicer than the year we summitted and had to immediately head down because it was raining. 

We made plans to go into Idaho Springs for lunch so that the people who had to go to Denver would be out of the worst of the traffic. Ben wasn't super crazy about that since we were still planning on being in Dillon until evening. Since we discovered last year that Tommyknocker's is dog friendly, we met up there. Lunch was delicious and it was nice to sit on the patio.

After lunch we headed back up the mountain, unfortunately hitting some traffic. We headed to Outer Range to meet up with Amanda, who needed a ride back to Lee's house. We packed up Shelly and had a snack before starting the drive down. Thankfully, waiting as long as we did, there was no traffic back to the city. Unpacked and had a frozen pizza for dinner, plus watched an episode of Squid Games.

Monday (18,116 steps) - Work from home, yay!! I had a run to do and went early since it was supposed to be in the mid 90s. Even starting before 10 am it was already so hot and I was sweating like crazy.

Ariel and I went to Dutch and Torchy's. I decided I better walk Olive before it got even warmer.

We were able to finally finish the last season of YOU. Joe is crazy. Picked up dinner at Costco and took Olive for a walk. Olive got so dirty camping over the weekend that Ariel actually gave her a bath. She doesn't need them that often!

Squid Games finale and then we started Nosferatu. 

Stats:

• 119,920 steps
• 25.97 miles run
• 11.15 miles walked
• 45 minutes of cardio
• 25 minutes of strength

Week in Review (September 28 - October 4)

Tuesday (18,223 steps) - Work in the office. I had a 6 mile trail run scheduled, so after work I headed over to Bear Creek for a run that I had mapped out. 

Unfortunately for me, a few things happened. First, less than a mile into my run, I managed to end up in a conga line of bikes. No kidding that there must've been at least 50 of them. 

Once that drama was done, most of the run was pretty enjoyable, except for the fact that apparently over the years there have been some permanent trail closures that still come up on Strava as active? I had to reroute a few different areas, and by the time I got back to the car I was definitely closer to 7 miles. Overall, it was good. 

After I was done, I headed over to Green Mountain for a quick beer before heading home. I found out that I won a t-shirt for completing some Strava mileage challenge, so that was fun.

Wednesday (5,302 steps) - Work in the office. Ben drove down and met me for lunch! We went to a Colorado Campfire a few miles from my office. I had a beer and the most delicious bowl of gourmet mac & cheese with ham. Tasty!!

Did an hour long Peloton ride after work. I definitely think Cody is my new favorite instructor. He is just so sassy and has the best music. Pretty good workout.

Thursday (15,114 steps) - Work from home. Took Pika for a walk at lunch. After work I had a 45 minute power hike session planned, so I went to the south side of the lake. I've gotten SOOOO much faster at hiking - sub 14 minute miles! (Now if only I could take that much time off my actual run pace, haha).

Friday (9,969 steps) - Wash Park! 

Beautiful morning and not as cold as I feared, although I did wear my puffy coat. Not ready for winter. Work in the office. Nothing else?

Saturday (34,956 steps) - Up early for a long run around Boulder before A's cross country meet. I had planned out a route from the high school and I was pleasantly surprised at how well this went (outside of my heart rate being REALLY high, even though I felt like I was taking it easy). The first five or so miles I hardly saw anyone, but by the end everyone in the world seemed to be out. Cool temperatures and changing leaves - does it get better than this? I even left my long sleeve on the whole time. Crazy.

Finished with plenty of time to find Ariel and watch the start of her race. She looked really strong at the start, but looked upset by the time she came through the finish. Came to find out afterward that she had rolled her ankle and the last mile was pretty painful for her :( 

Can you see the girls running along the lake? What a gorgeous day!

Headed home, took Pika for a walk and picked up Torchy's for lunch. Then we watched three episodes of Squid Game before taking Gracie home. Made chimmis for dinner, then I took A to a friend's house. 

I met Tyler and Ben at Luki. It was Oktoberfest there - music and all - so it was LOUD. Headed home and went to bed early.

Fun fact, Lady Gaga's "Born This Way" sounds basically the same on an accordion. 

Sunday (17,285 steps) - Slept in. Had a shorter run on schedule, needed a 45 minute hike up and easy run down. I opted to go up the canyon to Mayhem Gulch for a change of scenery. Had hoped to see some changing leaves, but there weren't many trees on the route. Everything went really well on this! 

Picked up coffee on the way home and then took Pika for a walk. Afternoon was spent watching more Squid Game.

Monday (10,133 steps) - Work from home. Took Pika for a walk at lunch, then took her for another one after work before picking A up from practice.

Stats:

• 110,982 steps
• 25.54 miles run
• 60 minutes of cardio
• 0 minutes of strength training