Week in Review (January 9 - January 15)

Tuesday (10,203 steps) - Bonus work from home day since Joyce is out of town at a conference.  Rode the Peloton before clocking in for the day. Took Olive for the mud route walk and did some strength training at lunch. The evening became eventful when we realized that Ariel's bathroom has a water leak - very similar to what happened to our main bath three years ago. Woooo.

Wednesday (20,000 steps) - Another bonus work form home day! Was supposed to do some speed work during my run, but the crazy wind prevented that, so I just did a regular trail run. Not my favorite.

After work I went to Runners Roost in Golden with Olive to meet up with Maureen (and others) for a ladies night. I figured we would just be doing a dog walk, but the wind died down and we ended up running instead. Pretty fun and I loved that they still had all the Christmas lights up downtown. 

Me and Olive, Mo and Colfax, Lisa

Thursday (19,479 steps) - Work from home. Did a run at lunch that was mostly fine. I seemed to be dressed perfect for the start, but definitely felt colder by the time I got back - glad I went early. Took Olive for a walk. The end.

Friday (19,379 steps) - Work in the office (but only for the morning). Walked a LOT on the treadmill desk while I was there. Took Olive for a walk when I got home while finishing up my lunch hour. Had hoped to beat the wind, but I didn't. Boo. Went to happy hour with Ben and we picked up 4 Noses' new NA hop water for the weekend. Got pho for dinner on the way home. Perfect weather for it. 

Saturday (23,622 steps) - The polar vortex arrived and it was WAY too cold for my scheduled 10 mile run. I convinced Ben that we could go to the rec center and run on the indoor track. I somehow forgot to hit the lap button a few times on my watch, but running 14 loops for ONE MILE is a lot. This was not the most fun run ever, especially since I didn't remember headphones. Thankfully, Ben had some in his truck and the last part of the workout we jammed to the Eras Tour setlist. Woo. It was nice not wearing a ton of layers at least.

We went to 4 Noses so Ben could get a beer, then we went to Torchy's for a late lunch. We had Ariel pick up a pizza on her way home from work and we all watched the new (prequel) Hunger Games movie, which we all liked.

Sunday (13,685 steps) - Slept in. Somehow even colder than Saturday, so we figured our run wasn't going to happen. Ben was working on Ariel's bathroom destruction and I read my book. At lunch I figured Olive was getting cabin fever, so I took her out for a walk, which she enjoyed (aside from the snowballs in her paws).

I had been warm enough that I convinced Ben we could do a modified run - and we agreed on a 5k(ish). The temps were ok - and the sun in this picture is deceiving, because it was windy and single digits. The worst part was the fresh snow. I hate it. But, overall, it was fine.

We threw chili in the crockpot for dinner. Went to 4 Noses for Ben to get a beer, then we still had to go to the grocery store to pick up random odds and ends. And there went the weekend.

Monday (10,427 steps) - No work for Civil Rights day. It was EVEN COLDER. My biggest stressor of the day was going to be how to get 10,000 steps in without really going anywhere in double digit negative temps. Ariel and I went to Dunkin and got the seasonal pink velvet coffee. I was emailed a BOGO for Tokyo Joes, so we got bowls for lunch. Took Olive for a walk at lunch - VERY COLD again.

Convinced Ariel to go grocery shopping with me - which she hates. Once home, I read my book until Ben got home, then started dinner. After Batman's failed mousing adventure, he was still certain the mouse was under the kitchen trashcan. He had Robin and Olive convinced, as they joined him in looking.

I heard Robin's battle cry from the mud room, and sure enough, I saw the cats chasing the mouse! Or maybe just "a" mouse, maybe there is more than one?) The animals all gave up when the mouse ran under this shelving unit.

Ben proved to be "Mouser of the Year" and caught the mouse. He's very cute, but we had to put him outside :(

Watched Fargo until it was time for bed. So far season 5 is way more interesting than season 4.

Stats:

• 116,795 steps
• 26.72 miles run
• 50 minutes of cardio
• 35 minutes of strength

Week in Review (December 14 - December 20)

Tuesday (9,323 steps) - 45 minute Peloton ride before working in the office. In addition to a gift card, work gave us snazzy fleece vests. It's really warm, but I'd have preferred a jacket since I'm always freezing.

Went for a walk at lunch. After work I rushed to get A from practice, take her home so she could grab a snack and change clothes for her orchestra holiday concert. This one included the band also, so it was an hour and a half long. They sounded really good!

Wednesday (5,953 steps) - Rest day! I had switched my in office days because I had a client meeting scheduled for Thursday. It ended up working out nicely that I was at home since we had a crazy windstorm that lasted most of the day - it would NOT have been fun to be out in that. I took the below video of our neighbor's trampoline!

Even Pika didn't want to be out, we just did the neighborhood loop for her walk.

Thursday (17,450 steps) - Work in the office. I had an hour long run to do, so I figured I would go at lunch since the weather was nice. This was a pretty sucky run. I had posed the question as to why my heart rate has been so high even during easy runs, and a friend suggested it could be caused by the vaccines/booster. Hmmm. Either way, this was not the most fun I've had, but it was an unseasonably nice day.

Friday (11,291 steps) - Wash Park and coffee with the gang before work in the office

Last day of covering for Nicole - her desk is so insane!

Saturday (26,534 steps) - I had to get up early(ish) to get my long run done. I was a bit apprehensive for this one as the forecast was MUCH colder than anything I have run in for a long time. I left the house just after 7:30 and it was only 14 degrees, which was a lot colder than it was supposed to be. I had mapped out a bit of a different route to get my 10-12 miler in. I actually managed to pick the PERFECT outfit - Rabbit beanie, INKnBURN fleece with the Rabbit Zip & Zoom hoodie, Smartwool neck gaiter, my trusty New Balance fleece tights and Smartwool gloves. I had actually packed my Oiselle mittens as well, but the gloves actually were fine. The only issue I had with my wardrove was my sunglasses! They kept fogging up and icing over because it was so cold. I eventually had to give up on them - which was annoying because even though it was freezing (substantially colder than freezing), it was SUNNY. 

Will run for cow pictures!

Saw a herd of deer that was not shy at all

A few miles in (less than two I think), I tried to get some water - and the straws for my bottles were frozen! I don't think I have ever had that happen on my bottles. Crazy. I was once again trying to run easy and keep my heartrate down. Unfortunately, it still seems like I am working way too hard for my pace. Bah. The areas in the shade were a bit chilly, but it wasn't nearly as bad as I had built it up to be. The only section that I really noticed any damage from the windstorm was on Doudy Draw - a few trees that I know used to be upright...

I never tire of this view!

The perfect outfit!

I was getting a little discouraged at how "off" I was feeling, but luckily, when I started descending Spring Brook I felt better - obviously because it was downhill, but still. I struggle with this trail in the summer because it is so hot and exposed, but it's quite lovely in the winter. Because it was so cold, the trails were also relatively deserted, which was a big bonus.

Yay! More cows!

Second time I've had frozen hair this season

Rushed home so I could shower. Ben and I decided to go back to the same Mexican food restaurant before going to get the rest of my tattoo finished! I am really pleased with how this turned out - especially Transylvania - the bat looks AWESOME.

We stopped at a few new breweries on the way home - Novel Strand (which I didn't really care for) and Trve - which I LOVED. I had no idea it was a "heavy metal" themed brewery. Dark and spooky and just my style, haha. The most interesting part of the breweries was they both required proof of vaccination to enter - which was a first for us.

Picked up Marco's pizza for dinner and then Ben and I watched "Old" - which was a lot different than I imagined it would be.

Sunday (6,982 steps) - Slept in. Well not really, because my insomnia is definitely back. Sad. I was glad to have another day off. Lounged around and didn't do much all morning. Ariel and I took Pika for a walk.

We wanted to join the Jackalopes for the Ugly Sweater run, but neither Ben nor I was running today. So we just met them for beer. First one at O'Dells, then over to Joyride. We also got some food at Joyride since we were all starving. Fun afternoon!

Monday (10,167 steps) - Work from home. Had a dentist appointment, then took Pika for a walk. Seriously cannot believe this is December.

Checked my email when I logged back in and found out I am not an ambassador for Squirrel's Nut Butter! I love this stuff and have been using it for many years now.

Stats:

• 87,700 steps
• 16.22 miles run
• 45 minutes of cardio
• 0 minutes of strength

Ralston Creek Half Marathon (Race Recap)

Sunday, February 8
Arvada, CO
Half Marathon #126
Colorado Half #59
Ralston Creek Half #4
Weather - Sunny, warm, WINDY

I was really pumped in the week leading up to the Ralston Creek half marathon. I have run it every year since inception and this was going to be THE FIRST YEAR that temperatures were scheduled to be above freezing. Not just above freezing, but WARM. I think temps at the start were upper 50's, and a TON of sun. What I didn't count on was the wind...

We dropped the kids off at my parents house just before 8:30 and drove to the start. By the time we parked the winds had pickd up to mid 20 mph. It was SO windy. In the shade it was almost chilly, although I knew I was going to warm up as soon as I started running.

Heather and I had talked before the race and we planned to run together. I was pretty confident going into the race that I was going to have a good race. HAHAHAHAHA.

We were in the second wave, which didn't start until 9:45. Normally the late start is really nice because of the freezing cold, but that was not an issue and I wished we were starting earlier.

We cycled through the bathroom line a few times and then lined up, towards the back. I wasn't wearing headphones and we chatted through the first mile. I was feeling ok but knew I was moving too fast when I clicked a sub 10 mile. The  "speed" caught up with me and I had to take my first walk break around 1.5 miles in.

View from mile 5!

I was REALLY surprised that Heather stuck with me, but it was great to have the company. The first 8 miles of the course is a gradul uphill and we were running west, against the wind. I pretty much gave up about 3 miles in and we walked A LOT. As I remembered, mile 5 was the worst. Heather's hat blew off (again, this was already the third time?) I thought that I could run up the switchbacks like I did last year. NOPE. I checked somewhere around mile 6 and the winds were upwards of 30 mph. SO MISERABLE.

I kept trying to convince Heather (and myself) that once we got to the top of the switchbacks that we would have a nice few miles of downhill. Which we did, but WHERE WAS THE WIND NOW??? We were now headed east and the wind was not at our backs like we had hoped. I was tired and ready to be done. Had a sort of decent last five miles but not the race that I hoped. Heather's hat blew off for a last time as we were getting ready to turn the corner to head into the straightaway to the finish.

Not too much to say about this race other than I was really disappointed. We had a pretty good last mile and came in just shy of 2:30 on the clock. BOOO. I run with Heather almost every time we go to run club but I have never run for this amount of time with her. It was really great to have a few hours to catch up. It was a miserable weather day and I'm grateful she kept me company!

Garmin Time - 2:28:42
Garmin Distance - 13.24 miles
Garmin Pace - 11:14
Mile 1 - 9:42
Mile 2 - 10:30
Mile 3 - 13:56
Mile 4 - 11:29
Mile 5 - 12:10
Mile 6 - 14:01
Mile 7 - 11:52
Mile 8 - 12:07
Mile 9 - 9:22
Mile 10 - 10:05
Mile 11 - 10:01
Mile 12 - 10:15
Mile 13 - 10:55
Mile 13.24 - 9:21

Met up with Dan and L, and just like I remembered, we got chocolate chip banana bread and a nice breakfast burrito. There was also diet coke, which was great.

Freakishly Amazing is a stretch for me. L, however, got a course PR for her and was pretty happy

New medal this year!

• I will run this race again. It is the only half marathon in Colorado in February. I hope that next year we don't have the wind. As miserable as the cold is, I certainly prefer THAT over THIS.
• I hate this course, but I know what I'm getting into. The views are nice, the hills are not.
• Related - with how little snow we have had the course was BROWN... so ugly :(
• This year the race shirt is a 1/4 zip tech tee long sleeve. I probably won't wear it (just because I have a billion running shirs, not because it isn't good). Dark grey color, race logo small on left chest.
• I LOVE the post race food. No beer, but the chocolate chip banana bread and burritos are good. And soda. Love me some soda.
• They offered "free" race pictures but then sent the download links in an email with this wording, so I guess I can't even post them here, although they didn't come out terrible: Your order contains one or more free digital images. SkiPix.com, LLC reserves the rights to all images. This license is for personal use only and does not grant any copyright to the image(s). No other use is authorized. All other uses are prohibited without the express written permission of SkiPix.com, LLC. Personal use does not include use in any media, publications, editorials, promotions or advertising of any kind. Unauthorized use of SkiPix.com, LLC images is prohibited and punishable by law. Statutory damages can lead up to a $150,000 fine for infringements. If you have any questions, please contact us at skipix@skipix.com. 

Giving Back - Volunteering at the Spring Fling Half Marathon

L was supposed to be running the Spring Fling half marathon the day I was in Moab. However, due to a foot of snow, the race was postponed. The organizers put out a frantic request on Facebook for volunteers. Due to the rescheduling, spring break AND Easter weekend, they were experiencing a major shortage in help. For a brief moment, I thought about racing. Then changed my mind and signed A and I up to help out instead.

My dad and H decided to join us, and the four of us added to the giant total of 22 volunteers for the race. We arrived at 7:30 and were greeted with donuts and coffee. My dad and H were assigned to the first aid station and A and I were helping with packet pick-up. There were three distances available - 5k, 10k and half marathon. And they all started at different times. Luckily, this eased the congestion of handing out packets.

Due to the shortage of volunteers, it was a bit frustrating when we came across "problems" and there was no one of authority to help. People who say they registered online but they were not on my list was an issue for a few runners. Also, this race required a photo ID to pick up, and probably half the people didn't have one. Then there were all the people that wanted to change distances or use someone else's bib. All issues I have never really thought about when I race. No one got too upset, and everything went pretty smoothly.

Due to the lack of volunteers, there were multiple cautions given to the runners about following the course markings as there were not enough volunteers to be at every possible location - only at places where runner safety might be in jeopardy. Remember, only 22 volunteers, and most of them were at the aid stations or the start/finish line.

The half marathon started at 9:00, the 10K at 9:30 and the 5K at 9:45. This staggered start I'm sure eased congestion on the course, and had people pretty much finishing at the same time.

I was GLAD I had decided not to run. It was the WINDIEST ever. A lot of time was spent trying to make sure things didn't blow away. However, a lot of the canopies had to be taken down because even sand bags zip tied to the legs wouldn't keep them from blowing away. Even the finish line blew down a few times before they finally gave up putting it back up.

We had about 20 minutes of prep time before the runners started finishing. A and I were also in charge of handing out finisher medals:

All runners would get a medal, regardless of the distance they were running. This was a smaller race, and for most of the runners, they did special announcements (I'm assuming there was a section for "about me" information during the registration process). For many, this was their first race. Awesome to see so many "first timers."

A few runners claimed they "didn't know it was the finish line." Well, I know the finish line sign blew down, but the neon green chute and canopy at the end should have been a hint.

Most runners do NOT want you to put the medal around your neck. Probably helpful to A since she is so small. Also, runners are sweaty, sweaty, sweaty. Further amazement at the Disney characters that ACTUALLY TOUCH RUNNERS. ON PURPOSE. Ew.

A few runners refused their medal. Adamantly. Interesting.

And, a few runners were MAD. I got screamed at by a decent number of half marathoners that got lost on the course and ended up running extra distances. I know I was the first person they saw across the line, but it was frustrating for me. By this time, I had already been out there for HOURS. Gives a whole new appreciation to runners, especially those at the bigger events that deal with WAY more runners. So, just try to be nice to volunteers, remember, they are doing this for FREE.

Overall, I had a pretty fun day, and I will of course volunteer again when I have the opportunity. If you haven't had a chance to do so yet, please do, most runners are very appreciative of the efforts you put in! I enjoyed my free burritos, coffee, donuts AND, thanks to the postponement, all bananas from the prior week became the most delicious banana bread EVER.

(This race offered FREE race pictures, which is how I have so many of me and A to share. There are probably 30 more of us that I'm not posting. Running Guru is the BEST!!)

California International Marathon (Race Recap)

Sunday, December 2
Marathon #16 (Wow. I had no idea I'd done this many)
California Marathon #2
Sacramento, CA
Weather - Monsoon/Windy

The Monsoon California International Marathon (CIM) was on my radar as soon as I saw the results of all the people who ran last year and qualified for the Olympic trials. It is supposed to be a fast and pretty course. And usually, the weather is fantastic. I registered for this back in July, before the beginning of the end of my running injury free and enjoying myself (SFM). I roped my BFF Heather into joining me.

Starting about a week before the race, I start seeing panicky tweets about the weather. It's supposed to rain like crazy, flood watches, etc. I mean, I've had pretty good luck with no truly terrible weather during a race, so I headed to Sacramento assuming everything would work itself out.

Saturday

My flight out of Denver was not delayed. I flew Frontier and paid the $6 to watch tv, watching the newest Batman movie. Which, unfortunately, was longer than the flight, so I have no idea how it ended. Landed on time. Sacramento's airport is GREAT. Outlets EVERYWHERE. I found Heather's gate, and only had to wait about 45 minutes for her to land. Grabbed a salted caramel latte from Sbux, then headed outside. Apparently, Heather had booked the BEST HOTEL EVER. We paid practically nothing, and we were able to get picked up and shuttled to the hotel. They also shuttled us downtown for the expo. WHAT?? (A++ to the Hawthorn Suites).

We checked in and sat around until 1, when we were taken to the convention center. EASIEST EXPO EVER. No lines for ANYTHING. Nothing too exciting at the expo, and we were STARVING, so we walked a few block to the Firestone Pub and got something to eat. And by something, I mean, the giantest pretzel ever in the universe.

In addition to being giant, it was the best tasting thing ever. While we were eating, it started raining. I'm not sure if I can call it a "downpour" yet, but it was substantial. We had some time to kill and didn't think heading back to the hotel was worth the time, so we braved the elements and wandered around Sacramento:

This water is mid/upper calf deep

Hrm. And it had not even been raining that long. Heather had actually looked at the course profile and said that the puddle I was standing in was pretty much mile 26 on the course. EXCELLENT. Also, my boots were fairly "water resistant" as my feet weren't saturated after this.

We found a weird "mall" and wandered in and out of stores trying to find festive holiday knee socks for Heather. I'm guessing California has boycotted these, as we checked a dozen or so stores and found NOTHING. Well, except for Nutcracker socks, but Heather finds them DISTURBING and refused to get them.

Random Sacramento Alley Art

We discovered there was a Lululemon nearby and walked there in hopes of seeing the new "Chase Me" print. Turns out it was the smallest store ever and there was practically no product to even look at. Thankfully, we got the message that people were already at the bloggy meet up at a pizza place and we headed over. I finally FINALLY got to meet Average A - the very FIRST running blog I ever started reading. And there were some of my friends from Colorado there, and Reneigh, one of my favorite runner friends ever.

Heather, Reneigh, Me

The girls of the bloggy meet up (Pic from cisforcourtney)

The pizza was DELICIOUS, and I had a couple of beers. I swear, it felt like the middle of the night when we left. In actuality, I think it was 6:45? We got picked back up by our awesome shuttle service (after FAILING MISERABLY TO FIND DONUT HOLES). TV, outfits ready, in bed by... 9:30?

Race Day

Turns out the forecast was NO JOKE. First thing I did after my alarm went off (at 4:26) was to look out the window. I believe the adjective I used was "marshy" to describe the parking lot.

It wasn't raining THAT badly when we headed to the lobby to catch the shuttle. Grabbed a cheese danish and got on the bus at 5:15. We got about halfway to Folsom when the monsoon began. And the howling winds picked up. Thankfully, we were allowed to stay on the bus as long as we wanted. Which, turned out to be... about 10 minutes before the gun went off. I'll admit that there was some talk about maybe NOT getting off the bus. It did NOT look pleasant outside.

Obviously, we are not quitters and eventually got off the bus. Pretty sure my feet were soaked within 60 seconds. Since it was about 6 minutes before the race started, there was no line at the bathrooms. (Which, by the way, there were a JILLION of). Bag drop was easy, and we followed the herd. I vaguely remember hearing the Star Spangled Banner, but did not hear a gun.

Start

And then we go...

Neither of us was wearing a watch, but I started mapmyrun on my phone (in it's Ziploc bag) and off we went. Um. It was rainy. And windy. The raindrops felt like bullets and HURT. Within about a minute, one got in my eye and I swear it knocked my contact lens RIGHT OUT OF MY EYE (Related: 24+ hours later, I still have no idea if my contact is in my brain or not). Solution to the rain bullets in the eye? Not looking up.

Rainiest/Windiest EVER

First mile was fine, and the fastest of the day, 10:47. Pretty psyched, no calf issues off the bat. A mile or two in and we saw the 4:45 pacer. I certainly have no business running that fast. We decided to just go with it. The rain sucked, but it wasn't THAT BAD. It really wasn't. I mean, it was unpleasant, but since it wasn't that cold, it was not the worst ever.

Mile 3, the insoles of my Newtons start scrunching up. I have to keep stopping them to flatten so they don't bunch up under my feet. Finally, after a few miles, I just take them out altogether. Um. Something happened, we ran, and then, early on, my brain broke.

Around the first relay checkpoint (mile 5.9), the rain kicks into high gear. I have never experienced anything like it. It was the rainiest rain ever. The end. The intersections were flooded:

Heather's Famous Picture

I wish I could say I was exaggerating when I say the water was probably 6 inches deep. I'm sure I wasn't. It was crazy. Even more crazy, was there were SPECTATORS out in this. Yes, even in the above picture, there were people out CHEERING FOR US. Spectators are the best.

So. More "running" happened. But also, lots of complaining. My feet hurt. So I put the insoles back in around the halfway point. Heather stopped to use the bathroom, and since I was going slower than slow, I told her to catch up to me. The second half went on FOREVER. We had a 24 mile split around mile 18. That might have been when I stopped to use the bathroom and the line was the slowest moving EVER.

Then, something funny happened around mile 20. THE SUN CAME OUT. I didn't feel like taking any pictures, but Heather got some good ones off a bridge if you want to check out her recap here. When we finally got to LOOK at the course, it was really pretty. I took this around mile 23(?).

I'll spare everyone the whining and complaining. I'll just say my feet hurt. A lot. And there was a lot of walking.

We were going slow enough that we had to worry about sweepers. WTF :(

Anyway, we finished, and the medal is pretty glorious:

Bib #8802
Official Time - 5:57:52 (yes, slower than MCM)
Pace - 13:48 (ouch)
Overall - 5886/6496
Division - 452/502

Phone died before we finished, so I guess course measured long for me

Get our pictures done at the finish line, and then we grab a pancake (tasty) and cookies (even better) and then get our drop bags. Sadly, the monsoon didn't miss our drop bags and our nice dry clothes were no longer dry.

We were hoping to eat downtown, but since it took us SO long to finish, everywhere was packed. Instead, we got a Sbux and got picked up by our shuttle. Changed in the bathroom of the hotel lobby, where I discovered that I did, indeed, get crotch chafing again. Owie.

Lunch at Denny's on the corner, and then shuttle to the airport. I had a beer and Heather and I split the tastiest Nutella cheesecake:

We managed to run into Faster Bunny while we were people watching, then I had to catch my flight. Thankfully, it was on time. Landed EARLY, and got home at 10:45.

Yet another crazy race weekend, complete.

Thoughts:

• We were pretty apprehensive about the logistics of the race. Turns out, no big deal. Everything was really well organized and smooth. (I heard later that because of the rain/wind some tree branches downed some power lines and some of the busses had to be re-routed, causing some people to miss the start.
• Running in the rain, while not the most fun ever, was also not nearly as traumatic as I expected. Even with all my dumb shoe issues and inches and inches of standing water and bullet rain, I got ZERO blisters on my feet. Hurrah! However, my jacket is NOT waterproof/water resistant. It is, however, absorbent. It weighed about 8 pounds when I took it off when the sun came out.
• Related: My phone and camera were both fine. Even in a monsoon, apparently a Ziploc bag will keep them dry and secure.
• My ankles HURT. Like REALLY hurt. Bad. I am concerned I really injured myself by running insole-less. It felt "ok" at the time, but this morning it hurts to even touch. Inside, both ankles, below the bone, both feet. Ouchie. 
• Our costumes were the best. I have never HAD so many comments about them. Maybe there is a picture of us on the Internet Machine, neither of us thought to get a picture.
• Running with Heather is fun.
• Related: Heather is the best. I feel like the crappiest friend ever for jacking up this race. She really didn't need to stick with me, but I'm glad she did. I'm a bit sad she wasted her awesome marathon training.
• My mental game is gone. My IT Band injury July/August caused me to become a more cautious runner. I've been running WAY less and WAY slower, and it shows. My training is suffering, and I haven't been enjoying racing. ESPECIALLY not the marathon distance.
• I have ZERO plans to register for another marathon. (Of course, I'm currently registered for a few, and I'll give them a go).