Week in Review (May 7 - May 13)

Tuesday (16,442 steps) - Peloton before working in the office. Cross training at lunch. Ben got off work early enough that I was able to meet him at New Terrain for the cat takeover event! Ideally, I would love it if Batman could have gone, but he doesn't really love being in his backpack, nor does he like being in the car. We did get to see OTHER cats (including our friend's bengal, Bones, so that was fun). Kong sponsored the event and even though the cats didn't attend, they still got a goodie bag, including the snazzy bandanas they now wear.

Wednesday (24,000 steps) - Work in the office. On the fence about where I wanted to run after work and ended up just going to Big Dry Creek. On the way there I remembered how much Ben and I had enjoyed listening to the livestream while we were finishing the race, so I was trying to listen to that while I did my progression run. Unfortunately, I wasn't in great cell service range so it kept cutting out - but by all accounts it was a close race between first and second place. 

Thursday (22,500 steps) - I wasn't feeling very motivated but wanted to get my run done in the morning again, so I headed out thinking I would have to run on the roads because I'd seen online that part of the lake trails would be closed. When I ran by, they seemed open, so I ended up hopping on the trails for the way back. Slow and seemed hard. Glad to have it done. 

Work from home, took Olive for a walk at lunch. 

Friday (18,936 steps) - Wash Park and Stella's. I had plans at lunch to go to Tupelo Honey with Nicole for our birthdays. I think we have done this tradition almost every year we've worked together (except 2020) since our birthdays are only two weeks apart. Food was good and it was nice to catch up with her.

Ben had a... rough day and we met up for a beer at 4 Noses and then took Olive for a walk. 

Saturday (36,912 steps) - Ben wasn't recovered from his long night of "partying" so I got up and headed up to Boulder solo for the adventure day with Larry and Terri. We had plans to meet at 8, but the lot was already full! Met back up at the big free lot and luckily on our way back we were able to get the last parking spot across the road. I had no idea what we had planned. I had brought my poles and probably should have been using them. We went up Mesa from the lot and headed up South Boulder Peak and Bear (which we decided we didn't care if we summitted or not). 

The weather was perfect for this type of adventure day, somehow I was even a tiny bit chilly when we got closer to the top.

Somehow I had never gone down the trail from Bear. I think I had mapped it a few years ago and the trail had been closed. I did enjoy it - a nice single track that wasn't too crazy. I had NO idea where we were going to come out - but then we arrived at Bear and I knew we had quite a few miles to get back to the car. 

Ended up with over 12 miles and over 3,000' of gain. A bit more beefy than I expected, but it was a good day and will be good training for Summit. I let Ben know that we were going to go to Murphy's for a snack and a beer and he met us there. We have been there quite a few times and didn't know that there was a whole other menu that we could order off - I got grilled cheese and tomato soup - yum!!

Took Olive for a walk when we got back while Ben continued working in the backyard. 

Sunday (22,295 steps) - Ariel had sneaked out to surprise me for Mother's Day! She brought me a coffee from Dutch Bros. and made cinnamon rolls for breakfast. She also got me flowers and a cute Squish. What a great morning!

Ben and I had plans to meet up with Lisa and Kristin for a run. I was not looking forward to it and I was very sore and still tired from our big adventure day. It was actually perfect running weather when we started. At times, though, there was thunder, lightning, rain and even hail. 

So we had a bit of everything. At least we got back to the car about 3 minutes after the really heavy rain started. We went to Parry's for a snack and a beer. Home to take Olive for a walk and shower and then over to Rachelle's house for Mother's Day burritos. Rachelle got a new puppy, isn't he the cutest??

We decided to take Olive to 4 Noses and were surprised to not get rained out. 

Monday (21,516 steps) - Ariel's very last day of high school classes?! How?!

I have to add in her first day of preschool picture - we've been doing first/last day of school pictures for 14(?) years!!

Work from home. Ben called in sick so that he could do more work on the yard and we were actually going to be getting a mulch delivery. We went for a run and then took Olive for a walk. Ben and I went to Parry's for a lunch special, which was delicious like always.

We did a second set of pictures after Ariel got home because she wanted her hair to be dry. Olive still can't seem to figure out pictures. Or  her name.

Took Olive for a walk in the evening.

Stats:

• 162,601 steps
• 37.89 miles run
• 22.18 miles walked
• 40 minutes of cardio
• 40 minutes of strength

Week in Review (September 20 - September 26)

Tuesday (21,651 steps) - Work in the office. Went for a walk at lunch. After work I ran at Stone House again. I really like the flat dirt path they've added near the paved section. I only had 5 miles on schedule, but saw the group coming towards me, so I ended up walking another 1.5 or so.

Wednesday (17,155 steps) - Up insanely early since it was supposed to rain in the afternoon and I had hill repeats on schedule. The nice thing about being out that early is the temperatures are so much better. Usually I don't see anyone at all, but I think other people had the same idea as me. The best part of my run was that I had a fox that was "stalking" me. It was so cute, every time I'd go up the hill he would sneak closer to watch me, and then as I got closer he would disappear into the tall grass. He stuck around for a good 15-20 minutes until he got startled by a guy walking his dogs. I wasn't feel great during this due to lack of sleep and feeling like I was getting sick, so my splits weren't as fast as they have been in the past.

Work in the office, hoped to get a walk in, but it started raining so I skipped it. After work A and I had plans to go to a movie - Barbarian - at Alamo. I initially got roped in because they were offering $5 movies on Fridays, but what a shock, the one we wanted to see was excluded. We also got dinner while we were there - truly a splurge for us. Movie was crazy and we got home LATE.

Thursday (17,350 steps) - Work from home. I felt blah enough to actually take a Covid test. Thankfully, negative. Are we going to have to do this forever?

Took Pika for another slow walk at lunch. Weather was supposed to improve as the day went on, so I had plans to run after work. I still needed somewhere flat, but getting tired of my neighborhood, so I drove up to Rocky Flats. I know it's in the name, but it was rockier than I remembered. It was also still kind of rainy and cold, and I definitely overdressed for this. There was not a single other person out, however, and I love that.

Friday (16,173 steps) - Wash Park and coffee with the gang before going to work. After years (?) Nicole and I FINALLY went to lunch together. Our favorite place is Tupelo Honey near Union Station, and we used to try to go a few times a year. I actually enjoyed a cocktail!

Lunch was delicious, and it was fun to be out at lunch. (I bring my lunch every day, so this was a treat).

After work I headed up north for A's meet. This time, the map took me to a much better place for parking. 

I could tell A was disappointed with her time (pretty sure she still ran around 23 minutes), so we didn't talk after her run. I went with Ben to 4 Noses for a beer, then early to bed.

Saturday (18,437 steps) - I didn't set an alarm and managed to stay in bed until after 8. I had thought I would run Rock Creek and maybe run into Kristin (who was doing something crazy like 20+ miles). I sent her a text but didn't hear back, but I ran there anyway.

It was HOT and I forgot to put on sunscreen so I got a sunburn. Stopped at 4 Noses for a beer on my way home. When I got home I realized that Ben had... left. He apparently decided to make our anniversary weekend alone in the mountains. So that was fun for me.

Sunday (13,525 steps) - Didn't set an alarm and somehow stayed in bed until almost 9:30. I can't even remember the last time that happened.

I only had 4 miles to do so I just ran from the house at the lake. Run was fine. Today was my actual wedding anniversary and I spent it at home alone. Also nice.

Monday (17,524 steps) - Work from home. Was grumpy all day. Batman was too, but he had an excuse. Look how empty his bowl is!

Did my 150th Peloton ride - it was a live one and I still didn't get a shout out. Of course, I can't compete with people that have done THOUSANDS of rides. (Literally). Went for a lot of walks today. 

Stats:

• 121,815 steps
• 26.07 miles run
• 30 minutes of cardio
• 0 minutes of strength

Week in Review (March 9 - March 15)

Tuesday (10,068 steps) - Work in the office. I had a headache for most of the morning and decided to walk and get a beer at lunch. The close places didn't have any specials that early in the day, so I walked over to Tupelo Honey by Union Station. I couldn't believe how slow they were on such a nice, sunny day. I hadn't planned on ordering lunch, but figured I should to help them out somehow.

This was PHENOMENAL

I picked A up from practice and then we immediately headed back over to Berkeley Park so she could exchange her shoes that were apparently a half size too big. After many years of wearing Brooks Pureflow, she has moved into the Hoka Hupana.

Wednesday (18,558 steps) - Work from home. Did a Peloton ride in the morning while Ben was at work, then we took Pika for a walk. After work we went up to Boulder for a run with Kristin. It was a fairly decent run, and thankfully, no mud!

Thursday (11,092 steps) - Work from home. Took Pika for a walk at lunch. Later in the afternoon Ariel joined me for a strength video, and after I got off work we alternated between the rower and the Peloton. I like it when A joins me for workouts!

Friday (15,755 steps) - Actually got up early (both to my disbelief and Ben's) to get a short run in before he had to leave for work. The run actually went pretty well, although it was a bit longer than I remembered and I barely got back before he had to leave.

Liked the lights on this house!

Worked in the office until about 1:15, then rushed home to finalize packing before Doug and Kristin came to pick up me and Ariel. We headed out right around 2:00. Once we got out of Denver there really wasn't any traffic. Somehow we managed to end up directly behind Jeramiah on I80 - random! 

Wyoming does have pretty sunsets!

We arrived at our hotel just after 9:15 pm, and had a "happy hour" at Kristin's hotel room.

Saturday (18,282 steps) - Up early-ish to drive up to the Tetons for hiking/snowshoeing. We had actually planned on going to Taggart Lake, not knowing that was basically the only place we COULD go, because they close the road past that in winter. There were a jillion people there, so we had to park on the road and walk over. Only Doug and Ariel were smart enough to bring snowshoes, the rest of us figured trail shoes with traction would work well enough. It did... but only on the lower sections. 

I apparently really like this backdrop - I have the same picture from 2018 when we visited in the summer

Not our snow angel

We hit a decent amount of unbroken trail when we circumnavigated the lake. It was a beautiful day out there, we hardly saw anyone. The drama ensued when Jeramiah and Ariel started to goof off and were sliding down hills (which I joined in once, as well). The second time J decided to "sled" down a hill he actually hit his tailbone pretty hard and jarred it bad enough that he wasn't sure if he was going to be able to run the race we had all come up to do! We stopped on the way home to eat at this little dive bar in Jackson, then headed back to the hotel. J dropped us off so he could try to remedy his back, and the rest of us drove to find the start line for our race, which we luckily found without issue. When we got back we decided to get dinner at the local brewery, which was close enough to walk to. Shortly after arriving the waitress came over to tell us that Ben had called to buy us all a round of drinks. It was very sweet! 

The food was delicious, and as we were leaving we found out he had also bought a bunch of dessert for us all, which we had to take home with us because we were too full to eat. (Carrot cake, double chocolate cake and cheesecake!)

In bed early-ish.

Sunday (33,356 steps) - The Drift half marathon! 

While Kristin and I had been running, Ariel and Doug went snowshoeing!

We went back to the hotel to shower and change, and then walked down the street to a Mexican restaurant for a late lunch. I got a delicious plate that had a chili relleno and cheese enchilada - and we all got margaritas! (Ariel's was more fun, having whipped cream on top). 

After lunch we went for a drive to look at the Fremont Lake - fun facts, 2nd biggest lake in Wyoming and 7th deepest lake in the country at 610' (!!!) 

No recollection of the rest of the day, other than we watched TV, drank beer and stayed up late chatting. Kristin and Doug are pretty fun road trip buddies.

Monday (6,934 steps) - Initially we planned on packing up the car first thing, but we decided to wait until after we did our Mountain Man museum tour. We walked over to Obo's for coffee and breakfast sandwiches, although we ate in the lobby of the hotel so we could ask for a late checkout. Then we went to the museum. Kristin had to arrange a tour since this is off-season and they weren't really open. The tour was actually really interesting, we learned about the time period of 1825-1840 mountain men who hunted beavers to make hats for rich people. 

After the tour we headed back to the hotel to brush up on road conditions. With I-80 closed indefinitely we planned on our backup route through Utah to get home. We left around 11 am, and braced ourselves for 9ish hour drive (instead of 6.5). We made very few stops, really only to get gas and food. We did stop briefly in Sheep Canyon, however, to get a picture of this guy:

I was able to text with Ben for a decent amount of the drive. We marveled how dry it was on our way when there were literally feet of snow at home. 

Even coming into town the roads were actually fine until we got to our neighborhood. The plows never did come down our street, so that wasn't fun. We actually had to unpack Kristin's car and put everything on sleds to get it home. Glad we made it back!

Stats:

• 114,045 steps
• 19.25 miles run
• 40 minutes Peloton
• 15 minutes rowing
• 20 minutes cross training