Week in Review (January 4 - January 10)

Tuesday (18,557 steps) - I had asked Steph to modify my workouts for the week since we were supposed to have a severe cold front come through later in the week. I decided to just get my run out of the way before work since I needed to get A from practice. It was warmer than I expected! I ran out on the road and then decided to jump on the trails for a bit after using the bathroom. That didn't last long and I'm glad I tested them out first. The trails were chunky and traction wasn't bad, but I also didn't want to roll an ankle, so back on the sidewalk I went. Pretty morning!

Work in the office. I figured I would double check on the gym situation. Sadness. :(

Wednesday (9,337 steps) - Another early morning. I had actual strength training on schedule, in addition to over an hour of biking. I got my strength training done before work - a core video and lower body*. (*I'm going to be feeling that later). Work in the office. The impending snow storm seemed to be having a slow start. Snow was supposed to arrive around 2, and I kept checking every 15 minutes or so. Ben told me things were getting "bad" although I didn't notice it until after 4. I left work a little early in hopes of avoiding nasty traffic. It was slow-going, but not that bad. Did 70 minutes of Peloton before dinner. LONG DAY.

Thursday (9,097 steps) - Work from home and a rest day, thanks to moving my schedule around. It was FREAKING COLD out, I don't think we got above about 12 degrees the whole day. Took Pika for a walk at lunch, and really nothing else.

Friday (19,546 steps) - I really really don't like having to run on Fridays, but I sucked it up since I had a wonky schedule this week. I was supposed to be running an hour "as fast as I could maintain." I was really shocked at how icy the park was - it's normally really clear, but it wasn't great. I couldn't believe no other runners had lights - it was the only way I could see the black ice. As per the norm, I wasn't really able to get into a great groove and walked more than I would have liked. Really hope I can get back to more consistent running - can I really do that while training for long stuff though? Hmmm.

Went to Stella's with the gang before going into the office. It was a really slow day since Joyce was out. Met up with Ben (late) at Torchy's for a drink and to pick up dinner.

Saturday (33,458 steps) - A was going tubing and snowshoeing with her Girl Scout troop, so I was up pretty early to see her off. After she left, I headed down to Waterton Canyon for my 15 mile long run. I haven't run that far since... October? I was optimistic, but thankfully within 5 minutes I knew it was not going to be my day. My calves were incredibly tight and I felt very out of breath right off the bat.

I was worried I had overdressed when I opted to forego a long sleeve and vest for my Zip & Zoom hoodie. It always gets windy enough in the canyon that I was fine in what I had chosen. (I did see a girl wearing just shorts, a bra and compression socks. Her legs were definitely wind-burned!

The road was actually in great condition. Very few icy and muddy spots, I couldn't believe it. I knew that I had to go at least a mile past the dam to get round trip of 15 miles. Once I got to the single track it was a completely different story. Lots of snow!

The best part of my day was running in this section back towards the main road. I naively thought that my legs would feel better with the gradual downhill, but I was wrong. This was overall a pretty sucky run. At least I saw sheep on the way down!

I got back to my car and saw this email:

I've been trying to get into Vermont 100 for YEARS (seriously, I've been first on the waitlist for TWO YEARS) and to get this email was pretty exciting, although maybe not after the worst long run I've had in ages. I called Ben to see if he wanted to meet up for a beer.

We hadn't been to Over Yonder for a while, and they had a few new beers, so that was exciting.

Sunday (18,060 steps) - Had an "easy" day of 6-8 miles of power hiking on schedule. I didn't want to get up too early, but also wanted to get out early enough that the trails wouldn't warm up and be a muddy mess. I decided to take Pika with me since it was mostly hiking. I figured I would be warm enough in a pullover and vest, and it turned out to be the perfect outfit choice.

I had worn my Kahtool EXO spikes, thinking the trails (at least the ones up top) would be pretty icy. It was a weird mix of conditions. Some of the trail was completely dry, and then we would have sections that were crunchy snow or ice. Thankfully, no real mud.

Steph had wanted me to aim for a 16:30 pace, but between Pika dawdling and the crappy conditions, we didn't get anywhere close to that. Pika loves going to Boulder because she can be off leash since she has a sight/sound tag.

SO ICY!

I planned to easy jog the way down so we wouldn't be out forever. I should have taken my spikes off sooner, because between them, the rocks, the high stack of Hokas and the mostly dry conditions, I was asking for a rolled ankle - which I got. Still had about 2.5 miles to go. Ugh. I took off the spikes and walked a bit to loosen it out and then jogged most of the way down. I realized after getting to the car that I had forgotten a towel to clean a VERY muddy Pika off. Ugh. Met Ben at Westminster Brewing for a beer.

Monday (8,914 steps) - Work from home. A rest (or optional bike) day. Just took Pika for a walk, opted to skip the bike since... I am switching coaches. I love Steph (I really do), but I think I have outgrown what she can do for me, and with what I have on schedule for the year I really need someone who can give me better workouts/feedback and be overall more responsive. Spent quite a bit of time working with him to get on track with a new and "improved" training plan - starting tomorrow! Excited to be working with him as he has also done a few 200s and is signed up to run Cocodona as well. Lots of hard work ahead of me, that's for sure.

Stats:

• 116,969 steps
• 32.58 miles run
• 70 minutes of cardio
• 35 minutes of strength training

Week in Review (March 2 - March 8)

Tuesday (10,040 steps) - Work in the office. Just went for a short walk on my lunch break. A went with me to take Pika for a walk when I got home, then I did some Peloton strength/yoga and a ride.

Wednesday (18,837 steps) - Work from home. Did a short core video in the morning. Pika walk at lunch. WE FINALLY HAVE A FINISHED BATHROOM!! The last step of the process was waiting on a custom glass shower door. So happy this is done.

Up to Boulder for a run in El Dorado. It was a beautiful night, and thankfully there was not too much mud. It was so warm that I actually started the run in bare arms, but as soon as the sun started to go down I was happy to have brought my light jacket.

Thursday (10,442 steps) - Work from home. Really no recollection of the day, other than I did a Peloton ride and a strength video, and took Pika for a walk. The lost day...

Friday (11,376 steps) - Work in the office. I actually managed a longer walk on my lunch hour, and the weather was really nice. After work, Jeramiah, Kristin and Doug came over to hang out at the fire pit. We ordered pizza and set up a buffet outside, it was a lot of fun! Before we knew it, it was pretty late.

Saturday (24,402 steps) - Kristin and I had plans to go up in the hills for run to avoid the mud on the front range. She picked me up at 8 and we headed to the Sourdough trail (that I ran once, in a race, back in 2018). We were really surprised that there were not many cars in the lot. With our upcoming race, we were excited to be trying out our new spikes. Unfortunately for Kristin, she realized after the hour long drive that she had left her pack at home. Ugh!! We "only" had 8 miles to do, and since she had a small handheld, we headed out. The trail was 100% snow/ice. I have never done a run in spikes, but I was glad to have them. By the time we turned around, it was sunny and warm enough that the snow was getting soft, which was really hard to run in.

We definitely avoided mud, and as a bonus, people! Between the fat bikers, cross country skiers, hikers and snowshoers, I think we only saw about a dozen people over the course of a few hours. I was also really glad to have had the chance to try out the Ultraspire Zygos pack. I think I actually FINALLY found a pack that will check all the boxes for longer events. And I have been working with customer service to return the Astral pack that I didn't love (and actually had a small manufacturing defect anyway) to get that one returned. ANYWAY, we started the drive home and realized Nederland was packed with people, so we headed closer to home to get food/beer. On the drive we saw a giant moose, but by the time we pulled over to try and get pictures he had moved into the brush. We stopped at a cute restaurant near Wondervu that had absolutely amazing food - and a great patio.

Did I mention that we FINALLY got a bar in the basement? I told Ben we should have happy hour down there, and of course neither him nor Ariel wanted to be in a picture. Now that we have everything set up in the basement, we will be hanging up the rest of our artwork and such, but it's really a work in progress.

Sunday (15,978 steps) - "Slept in" as much as old people can. Ben had plans to run longer-ish, which I had no interest in doing again, so like last Sunday, I moved my Monday run to Sunday and headed out for what ended up being a REALLY WARM 45ish minute run. Overall, I felt pretty good, I just have been having an issue with numb feet again, which hasn't been a problem in a long time, so I need to figure that out. When I got back, I rowed while Ariel did a Peloton ride, then we did a strength video. I love when she joins me for a workout! Ben and I took Pika for a walk and then decided we should have a date day and go to a brewery since the weather was so nice still. We went to Over Yonder and had a few beers before stopping to pick up dinner.

A friend of ours had posted a delicious charcuterie plate and so we improvised one and snacked on it while Ben made burgers. This was the most full I have been in a long time. So good though!

Monday (17,208 steps) - Work from home. Took Pika for a walk while I waited for it to warm up for my run. (Even though it was actually much warmer than I thought it was.) I had speedwork on schedule again, and while I wanted to be optimistic about it, after how well it had gone last week, I wasn't. I was dreading the fact that my coach took out a minute of rest out of every rep. Since the trails at the lake had finally dried out, I thought it would be "easy" to do out and back repeats. Turns out, running north is gradually uphill, and I really struggled on those. I took two unplanned walk breaks, but I gutted it out. I really hope that I will start to see more improvement in my base over time if I keep this up.

I did a 20 minute ride on the Peloton and boy was it hard - I can't believe how much work it is on this bike, haha. 

Stats:

• 108,283 steps
• 21.56 miles run
• 55 minutes Peloton
• 20 minutes rowing
• 40 minutes cross training