Week in Review (December 16 - December 22)

Tuesday (10,631 steps) - Peloton ride and Olive walk before going to work. Went to the gym at lunch and did strength training and fast hiking on the treadmill with incline. Ben and I (mostly Ben) did the initial cleaning and organization of the basement in prep for my Chrismukkah present to myself. We got some Cupbop delivered in. Absentia, I think.

Wednesday (15,878 steps) - Olive walk before going to work. I think it was busy? I had planned on going to the gym at lunch and then an Outlook reminder told me I had a Qdoba lunch, woo!!! Home to let Olive out and get ready for the annual Runners Edge holiday light run - back after sadly skipping last year. Kristin picked up Tyler, Ben and me for the drive to the new start location of Crazy Mountain. After a week (or longer) of some pretty intense training, this did not feel quite as "easy" as a fun social run should feel! It's been insanely windy all week, but thankfully we only had a few sections that were windy during the run (and those felt like being sandblasted). Overall, a great time! 

We stuck around for a beer and BBQ - plus the mac and cheese was SO good. It was a very late night for us, I don't think we got home until 9:45??

Thursday (10,885 steps) - Work from home. I had the sauna delivery scheduled to be between 8 and 12. I finally got a call around 11 that they would arrive in 10-15. They DID show up, but unfortunately they only had one of the three boxes I was expecting. UGH!!! They seemed to think that the other boxes could be delivered another day without me needing to be home and that dispatch would be contacting me. 

MOM, TIME FOR A WALK, GET YOUR COAT

Took Olive for a long walk to the lake, then did the 45 minute Taylor Swift Eras ride - I haven't done a ride that long in AGES. By 3:45 I still had not heard from the delivery company, so I found all the numbers I could and made a bunch of phone calls and the only person I was able to get a hold of said I had to call my "local" warehouse and then proceeded to give me number with a Dallas prefix, which no one answered. Torchy's! Finished Absentia and then started a new show, Black Rabbit. Not sure if this one will stick or not.

Friday (11,629 steps) - Skipped the morning walk since I thought "just maybe" I would get a call and need to be home in the morning for the delivery. No one called, so when Olive and I got to work I made MORE phone calls and sent an angry email. I FINALLY after almost an hour got someone from the Denver warehouse on the phone and she said the boxes were out for delivery now. Ok, well no one called me, so I am at work. Not kidding that a few minutes into the call, but the guys showed up to bring the boxes. Ben talked to them through the ring and they left the boxes in the yard. Goodness. Took Olive for a walk at lunch. After work, dropped Olive off at home and then went to 4 Noses to meet Ben. Had an NA and tried out the new food truck. The brewery has stopped contracting trucks and have their own now. Food was pretty good - burger, fries and cheese curds. 

Took Olive for a walk when we got back and then an attempt at movie night - the new Knives Out, but we only made it about halfway before going to bed.

Saturday (38,372 steps) - Tyler picked me up just before 7 to go down to Denver for our long run "with" Runners Edge. I use quotes because we were running longer than everyone else and starting early. I had some major GI distress a few miles in, thank goodness for a bathroom (!), but after that I had a pretty great run! It was definitely cooler than I expected it to be and I kept my jacket and gloves on the whole time. 

Honestly, probably the most solid 16 mile run I've had in a VERY long time. Tyler and I had both thought we were going to breakfast, but everyone else had things to do, so we just headed back home. Ben had assembled the sauna while I was running (YAY). 

After a shower I had the inaugural sauna session - I AM SO HAPPY!! 

Olive is unsure what is happening but wanted to be nearby?

Took Olive for a walk. Did some reading and watched Gossip Girl while Ben went shopping. Pizza for dinner and we finished Knives Out - which got more interesting the longer we watched it. 

Sunday (17,825 steps) - Lounged around and did some cleaning before we headed up to Boulder for our activity of the day - a repeat of last week, but going up a bit higher for more elevation gain. 

The weather was nice (not windy, yay!) but I swear I am just colder this winter. We stopped at Rails End on the way home for a snack. 

Did a yoga video and sauna time before dinner/couch time. Watched "Fight or Flight" - which was pretty decent.

Monday (19,958 steps) - Work from home. We decided to not get a Christmas tree this year, so I set up the little one that we used to use before Ben lived with us. I think it's adorable!

Ariel went with me to take Robin and Olive to the vet. Robin needed a follow-up from her eye appointment last week (it's MUCH better) and Olive just had her annual appointment and had to get some shots. 

We stopped at Dutch Bros on the way home. Took Olive for a walk and then went for my run. It was low 70s - VERY warm for December. Unfortunately, it was very windy by the lake. 

Did a delivery after work and then took Olive for a walk, did some stretching and sauna time before dinner and Black Rabbit.

Stats:

• 125,178 steps
• 31.61 miles run
• 11.31 miles walked
• 60 minutes of cardio
• 65 minutes of strength
• 75 minutes of sauna

A Few on Friday

• I got A a "graduation" present.  She wants to go camping/hiking over Memorial Day weekend (back to MOAB!) She will love these. (WITH shipping, I got both of these for about $40. What. (PS - go to campsaver.com - GREAT deals over there!)

• I am undecided about what to do for my "long" run this weekend. 20 alone tomorrow in decent weather, or pay $20 and do a "timed training run" with some other folks in probably rainy/cold. What would you do? Chances of me actually doing 20 miles alone? Slim. I know me, I'll probably quit at half that... Bah. I'm just OVER running right now.
• I HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE the new treadmills at the gym. If I wasn't already struggling with my fatigued legs and general unknown cause of my weakness / being tired / fitness decline, the new treadmills are TERRIBLE. I feel like I am running up Mt. Everest, even on "0%" incline. This week I attempted two runs and both were FAILURES. I am quitting the treadmill. If it means I don't run anymore, so be it. These runs cannot be productive. THE END.
• Related to above two bullets - WHAT IS THE POINT OF RUNNING IF I AM NOT ENJOYING IT???
• Yesterday was my one year work-a-versary. I finally asked about a review/raise. Apparently the shareholders do "reviews & raise analysis" for EVERYONE at the same time. When? Any time now. WTF.
• I am pretty surprised that there hasn't been more action on my latest FLASH GIVEAWAY. So far only one person is entered, so chances are good if you donate now! Remember, no minimum, so even $1 puts you in the running!! (Ends today at 5:00 pm MST)
• Believe it or not, I have finally decided to shed the 10-15 pounds I have gained in the last year. Since nothing else is working, maybe THAT is why I am suddenly a slow and fatigued SLUG. There. I said it. I haven't actually "tried" to lose weight since A was born, so let's see how I do with no cupcakes.

Black Friday - Ultra Training Style

Most people that were up around 3:15 in the morning on Black Friday were out shopping. Me? I was on the treadmill in my basement, getting in the first long run of my new training program. So how far did I have to run?

Did you know that I watched Gone With the Wind all the way through and it STILL didn't last my entire run? That's a LONG time on the treadmill. How did it go?

Basement Treadmill = INFERNO. Never been so hot and sweaty in my life. Had to change clothes halfway through my workout. Went through three towels, 1 32 oz powerade zero (orange), 1 GU (plain, nearing expiration date), 1 pack chomps, 1 pack Honey Stinger chews, 1 small Luna bar (white chocolate macadamia), 2 17 oz bottles of water and a 12 oz diet wild cherry Pepsi.

Goal - 20 miles @ MP+30 (10:54) 

Actual - 24.08 miles @ 10:51

There were some stops in there - bathroom, clothes change, dumping water on my head, feeding A, letting the dog out...

The nice thing was that I finished early and A and I were able to go out and do a little shopping at a reasonable hour. By the time we went out all the crowds were pretty much gone, and everything I had hoped to pick up was still available.

Ridiculous Runs

Hard Core... part 2?
Outdoor Run - Arvada Loop - Sunday, August 29I raced on Saturday afternoon/evening, then I went to a concert, didn't get home until almost 11 pm. And yet... I set my alarm and diligently got up at 3:58 am to go running with L before she had to go to work at 7 am. It's hard to find lighter/brighter colors to wear so I'm at least *slightly* visible in the dark, but I did my best:

I had a busy day planned AND I just loathe running in the HEAT, so this seemed like a better idea. 


We did the same "Arvada Loop" that we have done a few other times, taking out a few miles to be sure we could finish in time. The nice thing about the loop is that it is mostly well lit, there aren't *too* many busy streets to cross, AND we get in a lot of hills... Anyway. My run was great. Fabulous even. I didn't feel fatigued, I didn't feel hot. I didn't even feel like I needed it, but I took one of the GUs that I had won in a giveaway a few weeks back. Strawberry Banana... and it was pretty good! Thanks again, Stephanie!


Anyway, the "long" run was just short of 8.5 miles, and I felt good the whole time - which is a win.


Part Two of today's blog...


I won a contest!! Woo hoo!!!

The Rules:

1. Answer this question: If you had the chance to go back and change one thing in your life, would you and what would it be?

2. The second thing you have to do is, pick 6 people and give them this award. You then have to inform the person that they have gotten this award.

3. The third and final thing is, thank the person who gave you the award.


The Answers:


1. Well... I couldn't really go back and change anything without changing the super awesome person (I'd like to think) I've become. So the "easy" answer is... nothing. I guess the "real" answer is... I'd have been nicer to my family when I was in high school - and I'll leave it at that.


2. 6 people that I would like to give this award to (in random order):

• Silly Girl Running
  
• Wendy @ Adventures in Triathlon
  
• Julie
  
• Abbi @ Higher Miles
  
• Racing With Babes
  
• Shut Up and Run!
  

3. Thanks to Little Fruit Fly in the Rainbow Colored Socks for presenting me with this awesome award. I love reading your blog! (And I really don't know anyone else that actually has "The Goonies R Good Enough" on their iPod, haha).