Week in Review (June 11 - June 17)

Tuesday (13,780 steps) - Work in the office. Took Olive for a walk after work. Nothing else? Went to 4 Noses.

Wednesday (15,137 steps) - Work in the office. Did some strength work at lunch. Hurried home to meet Ben so we could go to "run" club. Met up with Larry and Terri and walked with Olive. We had just gotten to Murphy's for a beer and snack when we finally heard from Chuck (AC guy) that he was at the house and was able to fix our unit. Thankfully he had the part in his truck and we didn't need to be there.

Thursday (13,578 steps) - Work from home. Drove to the north side of the lake so that we could see the goats and take Olive for a walk. 

It's been a while since we headed towards the dog park, but there is now a paved path on the south end by 100th. That's interesting. We ended up working from 4 Noses in the afternoon because even with the AC working it was still insanely hot and miserable. 

Friday (19,713 steps) - Wash Park and Stella's! Ben and Olive joined since it was Ben's last day of freedom and he was bringing Pete back the canopies and tables we borrowed for Ariel's graduation party. Work in the office and then had a pretty good evening of driving.  

Saturday (31,175 steps) - Up early to go to Highlands Ranch to meet Christina and Jandy for a run at 6:30. I only had 90 minutes on schedule, but we ended up running 10 miles. Oops. The run was actually fine, except I wore a skirt I haven't worn in a bit and I got some chafing on my inner thighs. Sad.

We went to #hashtag for mimosas (I only had one) and breakfast (which was delicious, Ben and I shared an entree and it was plenty for both of us). Headed home to take Olive out. Sweltering. 

Went to Torchy's for dinner.

Sunday (20,233 steps) - Slept in as much as we ever do. Came up with a plan to go to lake near Guanella Pass to avoid another day of horrible heat. Went with Ariel to get Dutch Bros. before she went to work and then we headed home to pack for a day in the mountains. We had planned on a route to Shelf Lake, which looked to be 3.5 miles (each way), with the promise of hitting 12,000' and a lake. Neither of us had been there before, and it turns out the last few miles getting to the trail head were a bit sporty (dirt road). There didn't seem to be any actual trail head, but we had Gaia open and found our way up. We didn't see very many people all day, so it was funny that the second people we saw were Ryan and Kelly. The first mile was a sporty climb and felt really hot.

The weather was gorgeous, and the views were so pretty!

We were promised snow fields as we got closer to the lake. We didn't realize how many water crossings there would be even lower. About 3/4 of a mile up was the first crossing. There was a "bridge" of logs that Olive didn't seem to want to cross. At this point we were still trying to keep our feet dry, so Ben was going to carry her over, but she was flailing, so he tossed her to the shore. That made her panic and then she turned around and went back into the water and we ended up having to leash her and walk through the water (which wasn't even that big a deal).

Did I mention there were REALLY pretty views?

The lower snow fields were nothing compared to what we found when we got up higher. We were thankfully not post holing, but it wasn't the easiest to walk across.

Finally, we were almost there!!

We saw a couple with a dog that told us the lake was right over the ridge. There was NO ONE ELSE THERE, which was quite lovely.

Olive and I investigated a bit, but she seemed wary about getting in the water. Crazy to still see so much ice and snow in mid June.

We didn't stick around too long, and thankfully it took a lot less time to go down the mountain than up.

My knee was bothering me a bit on the way down, hope it's nothing I have to worry about. By the time we got back to the truck, Olive was mostly dry, but still muddy. We gave her some food and water and then loaded up to go into town to get some food. We finally saw some sheep on the drive down the pass.

We are not super fans of Cabin Creek, but we wanted a beer and we hadn't eaten anything all day (other than a waffle and an applesauce). Their food is good, the beer is marginal and the service is pretty terrible.

We made a second stop at Parry's on the way home for some better, less expensive beer. Goodbye, weekend.

Monday (21,511 steps) - Ben's first day at his new job. I got up early so I could run before work since a). it was supposed to be hot and b). because I had lunch plans. Work from home and Ariel and I got coffee before she went to work. Took Olive for a walk. Went to Torchy's for lunch so I could be there when Ariel did her dorm room selection. Did laundry and finished up the work day before going out to drive, but didn't stay out too long because it was slow and hot. Ben picked up pizza for dinner and we took Olive for a walk. 4 Noses for a beer and then home to watch TV. Power went out about 15 minutes before we would normally go to bed. Unfortunately, it didn't come back on until after midnight, so I spent a lot of time flopping around because I was hot. Ugh.

Stats:

• 135,127 steps
• 22.65 miles run
• 24.77 miles walked
• 0 minutes of cardio
• 15 minutes of strength

Week in Review (June 13 - June 19)

Tuesday (15,200 steps) - Did my Peloton rides before going to work in the office. Did the rest of my cross training at lunch. Right after work I had to rush to get to Mt. Falcon for another evening of trail work! I was mildly surprised it didn't get cancelled since it has been raining for(seemingly)ever. 

I did something I've never done when doing trail maintenance - planted something. Look at the adorable sage bush I dug a hole for and planted. 

We even got some visitors:

It doesn't seem like a lot, but the dark dirt section me and two other people dug up, relocated some grass, planted a few bushes, and also laid some prairie seed. Trail widening is a huge problem - especially this year with how much rain we've had. At the top of the below picture others are building a new drain.

I have a great time volunteering on my local trails! I usually volunteer with TRV and Jefferson County Open Space - you can sign up here. A *very* long day, I didn't get home for dinner/relaxing until after 8:30!

Wednesday (20,137 steps) - Work in the office. Had another workout to do that was supposed to be done on a "hilly" area, so I opted to not run on my lunch hour when the weather was nice. I decided I'd rush home and run to the lake (to see the goats!) instead. Started to drizzle on me almost immediately, and then POURED, but thankfully it didn't last more than maybe 10 minutes. It was, unfortunately, humid for the rest of the run. Also, the goats are normally by the entrance, and this time they were way down by the water, so run was longer than expected.

Thursday (17,218 steps) - Work from home! I had speed work to do and the forecast was not looking great, so I went much earlier than usual in hopes of not getting rained on. It worked! I ended up doing out and backs on the bike path since I was supposed to run somewhere flat. Faster paces felt easy, worst part was the hilly run home.

Took A to get her nose pierced (nostril this time, she already has a septum piercing) at lunch since she walked Olive while I did my workout. We went to Belmar after work. Even though Maya was there, we opted to just walk - and it was lovely! We picked up Mac & Cheezy for dinner. Also - when I got home - my new watch had arrived! I sold my old Garmin on FB marketplace, and ordered a "custom" 7s. Isn't it pretty?!

Olive likes to get REALLY close when Batman comes to sit on my lap. She thinks it's amusing. He does not. 

Friday (14,589 steps) - Even A joined (with Olive!) for Wash Park! With the weather FINALLY "nice," Pete spread some of Rocket's ashes at his favorite spot. 

Kathy hosted everyone at her house for brunch and it was delicious! No recollection of the rest of the day, but I'm pretty sure I met up with Ben for a beer. Later we had a watch party and watched "Dog" which was a surprisingly good movie.

Saturday (36,726 steps) - Headed to Waterton with Ben for the long run of the weekend - 15 miles. Saw Jennifer at the trailhead! The clouds looked scary and we just hoped we wouldn't get rained on (for the umpteenth weekend in a row). On the way up, everything felt mostly fine. We were keeping a relaxed pace. FINALLY saw some sheep about 5 miles up the trail. The baby was definitely the smallest sheep I've ever seen. These two (and two additional sheep) ran up the trail in front of us for a good half mile. So adorable. 

The water in the dam was definitely raging! I've never seen it like that.

We had to head up the trail a bit and I was surprised it was in such good condition, especially considering the amount of rain we have had recently. 

We got about near the lower dam and ran into Mo!

I wish I could say that the run down was nice, but it wasn't. The dirt road felt very hard and I was soooo tired and just not into it. We got about a mile from the car when it started to rain. At least it didn't rain the whole time? Stopped at Lariat Lodge for lunch and a beer. Beer was not good, don't need to rush back to this one.

I think we had a watch party? 

Sunday (21,371 steps) - Ben picked me up at 8 for our morning trip to Summit County for a recovery run. Neither of us felt super great, but honestly, it was one of the better and more consistent runs we have had on these trails, so it was productive. 

We headed to Outer Range for a beer. Tyler met us for one! Headed back down so I could take Olive for a walk. 

We went to check out the new brewery in Superior, Bambei, and we weren't super impressed. The space is nice and they have a big food menu, but the beer was not great.

Had another watch party - some movie with Jason Statham that didn't really hold my interest. 

Monday (32,461 steps) - Since I didn't have work for Juneteenth, I headed up to Evergreen to do Bergen Peak for the first time this year. I picked a good day to get out of Denver, as even in the "mountains" it was REALLY warm and sunny.

No matter how many times I come to these trails, I always seem to get confused and nothing ever looks familiar. I was "sure" that I went up the way I normally come down. Nope, when I finally got to the junction to head to the summit I was where I always am. The hiking up felt hard, but then again, it always does.

I had expected this to take me about three hours based on historical efforts, yet managed to get to the top in just over 90 minutes, so I knew I would be done sooner.

Beautiful day!

I was home in time for me and A to get Dunkin and then take Olive for a walk. Even though it was a zillion degrees, we got motivated and decided to tackle the disaster that is the backyard. We spent over an hour pulling weeds. They haven't been great, since the first year we were in the house, but the constant rain definitely allowed them to get out of control.

THEN, I had to get my mammogram. I hoped to do some deliveries but nothing was happening, so I went to Costco to pick up a few things and then met Ben at 4 Noses. A had to work, so I vegged out watching Nip/Tuck. Finally had to turn on the AC. Summer is officially here.

Stats:

• 157,702 steps
• 42.73 miles run
• 35 minutes of cardio
• 40 minutes of strength training