Week in Review (November 7 - November 13)

Tuesday (9,392 steps) - Nothing... walked on the treadmill and watched an episode of Game of Thrones.
Wednesday (19,114 steps) - Runners Roost Boulder! Once again, we arrived with like a minute until the trail runners headed out. A decided that she was just going to do the road run at 6:15, so I went out by myself.

I managed to start about 30 seconds after everyone else and that was just enough for me to not be able to catch up. I figured I could re-create a route we did a month or so ago. The trails were crazy muddy and the glowing eyes freaked me out. Plus, I never saw a single person out there. I managed to not get lost.

Got back to the store in time for pizza, beer and dessert. Criminal Minds when we got home.
Thursday (9,386 steps) - Belmar run club!

Friday (13,192 steps) - Barre with Sasha.
Saturday (31,769 steps) - Runners Edge. We were running out of Broomfield, which was nice because we didn't have to get up super early. Ran 6 with the group and the last 8 solo for 14 total.

Home to shower and then met up with Heather and Eric at her house so we could carpool to Lone Tree for our indoor skydiving! We got to iFly a few minutes early, which gave us time to do our waivers. We watched other people take their turns, took our "class," got our super snazzy suits and then a group of us headed in. I will say that it was pretty fun, but that I would never pay full price for it.

Went to California Pizza Kitchen for A's birthday dinner with Heather, Eric, Beth and James. Service was terrible, company was great.

Sunday (14,898 steps) - A was running the Great Candy Run with her Girls on the Run team. I didn't want to pay $40 to run a 5K, so after I dropped her off with her school I ran 3ish by myself and then headed to the start to watch. It's always fun to spectate!

After everyone was done we stayed at the finish eating candy and socializing. We went with Ang and her girls to Chipotle (50% of all proceeds were being donated to GOTR for the day) and then home. Walking/Talking Dead.
Monday (16,684 steps) - Last New Terrain run club of the year (sad face). Since Dulce was with us we told the group to not wait for us at the intersections. I felt pretty good and would run sections, then wait for Dulce and A. We ran the 4.5 mile loop and it took a long time, but the weather was really nice. We socialized for a bit with the group before heading home.

Stats:

• 114,435 steps
• 31.4 miles run
• 1 barre class

Week in Review (November 3 - November 9)

Tuesday ( steps) - Upper body video. This was a video with NO equipment. So basically it was a billion different types of push ups. THIS WAS HARD. After work we went to the gym where I had one of the best runs I've had in ages. Got 5 miles in at a sub 11 pace, which for me, is really fast.
Wednesday ( steps) - HIIT Cardio. For the first time in ages I could NOT get through this video. The moves were EXTREMELY difficult and the intervals were 1 minute long, with random "drops" or "jumps" - depending on the exercise. I thought I was going to die. I will NEVER do this one again if I can help it. Goodness. A and I went to run club. It was cold, dark and rainy. And we were 20 minutes late because the highway was at a standstill. WOMP.

Thursday ( steps) - Upper body strength and yoga. This was a pretty decent workout for me. And a nice, welcome break from all the lower body and cardio. After work I ran 3ish miles at the gym - it was a pretty decent workout.
Friday ( steps) - Lower body strength. A really good video - lots of different types of reps. I actually added this one to my list of favorite videos. Grocery shopping so that we could make the oreo cheesecake for the Roost team party on Sunday.

Saturday ( steps) - Backcountry Wilderness half marathon.

After we left the race, we met up with Heather for delicious Thai food. Headed over to the Roost to pick up our bibs for The Great Candy Run, and then we went to Heather's house to decorate shirts for the race. Didn't get home until it was dark... early-ish to bed again.
Sunday ( steps) - Out the door by 8:15 to meet Heather at her house so we could carpool to the race. I haven't done a "big" 5k in a long time, and WOW, was this one big, crowded race. Heather is a GOTR coach and we had a bit of a hard time finding her school. After getting some pictures, we got into the bathroom line before getting in the corrals. A didn't want to start with us "old and slow" people, so she started in the third corral and we were in the last corral with her girls. We chatted and I tried to NOT walk. My legs were DEAD after running the half the day before. I was pretty pleased to end up finishing in just over 32 minutes. We found A and Dan at the finish, got a picture, and then headed back to her house to get ready for the Roost team party. We got to the Copper Kettle Brewery for the party at noon (oreo cheesecake in hand). Had a wonderful time hanging out with friends and teammates.

Left there around 4, got back to Heather's house, grabbed our stuff, and drove home so A could take a shower before going over to Jessa's for a "Walking Dead pizza party." The company and food was great, the episode was ok. Didn't get home until 9. What a long day.
Monday ( steps) - Almost turned off my alarm instead of getting up and doing my video. Cardio warm up, HIIT, lower body and cool down did not sound appealing, but it actually felt pretty good to get it done.

Stats

• 146,609 steps
• 24.6 miles run
• 59 minutes of cross training (HIIT/cardio)
• 79 minutes of strength/stretching

Everything Else 

• The most exciting part of the week was finding out I am back on the Runners Roost racing team for another year! I had so much fun running and socializing with my teammates. I love being an ambassador for the best running store in Colorado and the sport of running. GO ROOST!!!
  
  
  

The Great Candy Run (Race Recap)

Sunday, November 8
Denver, CO
Weather - Sunny and warm

I decided to sign up to be a "Running Buddy" for Girls on the Run at the The Great Candy Run. I signed up to run with Heather's school. A and I left the house early enough to meet Heather at her house and ride over to Wash Park with her and Dan. Thankfully, since I didn't realize this was pretty much the biggest 5k ever.

Took us a bit to park, and then we walked over to where her girls were. Turns out they all had buddies to run with, so I would just be running with Heather and A.

Heather with A and her GOTR

Me, A and Heather

We headed to the bathrooms and then got into the corrals. A decided at the last minute that she didn't want to run with us because we are "too old and slow." I managed to get back into the last corral with Heather. We didn't end up crossing the start line for almost 20 minutes! Apparently there were about 6,000 people running, according to the race director.

Somewhere WAY up there is the starting line

I was actually a bit sore from running the trail half the day before (and the lower body video the day before THAT), so I was happy that Heather wanted to run "just for fun." Which is what we did. For ME, I actually pushed the pace a bit and actually ran fast (again, for me).

I couldn't believe how warm and sunny it was during the race, I actually got pretty hot, even though I was only wearing a skirt and tee. We had arranged with A and Dan to meet up at the bouncy castles at the finish, and we found each other without any issues.

My times are fairly unimpressive.

Garmin time - 32:07 (seriously, I haven't run this pace in a while)
Garmin distance - 3.15 miles
Garmin pace - 10:11 (practically sprinting)
Mile 1 - 10:44
Mile 2 - 10:00
Mile 3 - 9:55
Mile 3.15 - 9:29

What WAS really impressive was A's performance! She told me she knew she was running fast because she must have passed two thousand people. She could have!

Thoughts:

• Wow, this would have been the most fun race EVER for a first time 5k! There were almost as many spectators as there were runners! The course starts on the road and then runs parallel to Wash park, with a loop inside the park. It was estimated that there were over 3,000 spectators. What a boost for these girls!!
• For a race this size it was extremely well organized. We picked up our packets the day before, but I could see exactly where I would have picked them up race day.
• Plenty of bathrooms. Even with around 10,000 people out for the event we only waited maybe 10 minutes.
• There was one aid station on the course with water and it was well stocked with friendly volunteers.
• There was a nice long sleeve tech tee (A is wearing it in the start picture). 
• And according to Heather, this was the first year the race gave out medals. And we all know how much I love medals.
• This was a really fun race, I would probably run again if I had the chance to be a "real" running buddy!