Week in Review (December 5 - December 11)

Tuesday (15,383 steps) - Peloton before work. Picked what I thought was going to be a total body workout at lunch and it ended up being mostly upper body again. Walked quite a bit on the treadmill desk. 

Wednesday (19,361 steps) - Work in the office. Treadmill desk, read at lunch. A vendor delivered Crumbl cookies, and I thoroughly enjoyed half of each of these:

Headed home after work, took Olive for a quick walk. Kristin picked me and Ariel up so we could go BACK downtown for the annual holiday light run with Runners Edge! For the second year we were going to be starting closer to Ball Arena and would have a lot to park in - which is so nice! It was once again a really nice night!

I loved that the horse had painted hooves!!

A pretty great picture -- and can't believe no one ruined our shot!

Alex had gotten a photo booth again, and as always, it's so fun to do those!

We had the ramen truck again - it is soooo good, and part of the event is that the food is free! We stuck around for a bit socializing, but it was getting pretty late so we were some of the first to head out. 

Thursday (18,739 steps) - Work from home. Ariel and I went to get Dutch (I'm pretty obsessed with the candy cane cold brew right now) and then I had to go for my run. I had 14x70 "sprints" to do. Still being sore from the race, I wasn't super psyched about this one, PLUS, it was really windy. It went better than expected (and I appreciated I had a wide pace range).

Took Olive for a walk at lunch.

We had an exciting mail day! Ariel finally got her "hard copy" acceptance from Mines in the mail - which she said finally makes it official!

Friday (24,774 steps) - I was on the fence about going to walk in the morning since it was supposed to be cold, but since I woke up with time, I drove down. It ended up actually being quite a nice morning! Also, really enjoying the holiday menu at Stella's.

No recollection of the day, other than doing a lot of walking on the treadmill desk. Did a short core video and read my book at lunch. After work, we went to 4 Noses for one (seriously) beer - my first one in two weeks! Went to Costco to pick up a pizza for dinner and get groceries.

Saturday (25,956 steps) - We woke up to 5" of fresh snow and a planned long run that we were NOT looking forward to. We were to be meeting Tyler, Larry and Terri at Teller Farms for a run of undetermined distance. Terri claimed it shouldn't be "that bad."

So running in fresh snow sucks. It is chunky and slippery and about 10 times the effort of whatever the terrain would normally be. There were not a lot of people out (which was not a surprise) and we were some of the first people out. Thankfully, it was not windy and actually not as cold as I thought it might be.

Greg had given me a progression run of 3.5 hours. Ben stopped at 8 miles, saying that was plenty, but I continued on to get 10, because I agreed with Terri that driving that far deserved at least double digits. With the conditions, it took us a LONG time. We decided to get brunch. I had to add this picture of Tyler eating bacon - he used to be vegetarian!

Ben and I stopped at 4 Noses on the way home, then made Teriyaki for dinner since A was working. We watched random stuff. At some point I must have stubbed my toe because it hurt so bad by the time I went to bed.

Sunday (12,201 steps) - Up early to go to the Runners Roost team party. I offered to drive and picked Tyler up at 8:20 to get to the Denver store. Ben had taped my toes (apparently the only thing you CAN do if you break a toe?) and I was going to try to run. Unfortunately, I had to stop and turn around after about 10 minutes because it hurt. Ugh. This is annoying. Didn't take any pictures at the "party" and we got back home in time to take Olive for a lunch walk. Went to Torchy's for lunch. No idea what else.

Monday (12,264 steps) - Work from home. I didn't have any run on schedule since I had told Greg what happened with my toe, and we agreed walking and recovering was for the best. I took Olive for a three mile walk at lunch. Watched Get Out! while working. Glad I did the long walk earlier, as it was pretty cold by the time I took Olive for the second walk after I was off work. Dinner at home and Fargo.

Stats:

• 128,678 steps
• 21.68 miles run
• 30 minutes of cardio
• 35 minutes of strength

Colorado Cold Rush Half Marathon (Race Recap)

Colorado Springs, CO

Saturday, December 2

Half Marathon #194

Weather - Chilly, but sunny

If you have been reading a while, you know this blog started because I was racing half marathons in every state. It has/had always been my "favorite" race distance. No matter the level of training I am at, it's always "doable." With that said, I have hardly done ANY in the last 4-5 years as I've graduated into the 200 mile distance (which typically requires my long runs to be even longer than 13 miles). I've only done NINE since the start of 2019. So while I run 13.1+ regular, this would be my 10th "official" half in 5 years! While I have no real goals, I do eventually want to hit 200 lifetime half marathons.

Race Morning

I planned to wake up at 6:15. Christina and Lisa both woke up well before then, and with paper thin walls, I woke up as well, but I was able to go back to sleep. I had re-packed my bag the night before, so really all I had to do was get dressed and braid my hair. It looked like it was going to be a nice day from our hotel room:

We stopped in the lobby to get breakfast on our way out. I grabbed a small, crustless spinach and cheese quiche and a sausage/cheese breakfast sandwich, as well as a few slices of bacon and more coffee. I didn't eat all the food, but I figured I needed decent calories before running. It was about a 15 minute drive to the start. We arrived at the park but didn't really see the race start until we got out and walked over. We hit the bathrooms first and then huddled around the one heater under the pavilion until it was time to start. It was pretty darn cold. I had opted to wear my Rabbit holiday shirt under my Roost team tee, with CVG 5" shorts. I wore my Patagonia R1 over my back so it would be easier to take off when/if I got warm.

We started right at 8, and I was in the back with everyone else. I took the early lead, as it was a fairly runnable start at the beginning. Paved to get out of the park area, and then a wide, non-technical trail. Lisa and Janet passed me somewhere in the first mile. 

I had hoped to run more of the climbs but I knew that it was going to tire my legs out, so I just worked on power hiking. I was leap frogging with a couple of guys and ended up passing them for good when we got to the first area of more single track. Of course in that same section, we all got passed by a half dozen girls that were clearly just out for a leisurely Saturday long run. I finally passed Lisa when we were on the technical single track section, and passed Janet not too long after.

The first aid station was around 3 miles up - I did not stop. We started the big climb up High Drive. I was a bit surprised about the amount of snow on the trail, but it made sense with all the trees that lined the road/trail. While it is called a road, there was a gate that kept it closed for cars.

Somewhere around mile 4 was when I saw Ross - he must have started early. Getting close to the "top" and I was finally starting to get a bit warm, and decided I would probably take my jacket off by the time I got there on the way back. The next mile was a  nice downhill going to the aid station (although of course we would have to go back up on the way back). THANKFULLY, at the turn around aid station there were some bathrooms, but I had to go all the way across the lot to get to them. WORTH IT. 

I got back to the aid station just in time for Janet to head out. I grabbed a small piece of chocolate chip pumpkin bread and a swig of coke (plus an applesauce for later) and headed out. 

The climb back didn't seem as long, and I warmed up quickly in the sun. I passed Janet towards the top and took my jacket off as planned right before hitting the summit. I absolutely BOMBED the downhills. There weren't a ton of people in this pace group, but I passed probably a half dozen people. I was REALLY shocked to see some miles starting with an 8. Yes, it was icy and some technical spots, but I felt good and I pushed. It was relatively shocking how fast I got back to the other aid station (which again, I did not stop at).

Then I arrived at the single track section - my legs were a bit toast from bombing the downhills. I still did a pretty steady run/walk on the climbs.

Not shown - my amazing shorts :( 

The last few miles were definitely warm and I ran everything I could. I was grouped with a few other people and am happy to say that I managed to stay ahead of all of them!

I crossed the line and got my medal (no pic, but if I remember, I'll add later).

Official time - 2:58:07

Overall Place - 64/106 (plus, "beat" everyone in our group!)

Division Place - 27/51

Elevation Gain - 2,582'

Garmin Time - 2:57:56

Garmin Distance - 13.31 miles

Garmin Pace - 13:22

Mile 1 - 14:27

Mile 2 - 15:21

Mile 3 - 13:56

Mile 4 - 17:18

Mile 5 - 18:22

Mile 6 - 15:12 (bathroom)

Mile 7 - 14:06

Mile 8 - 14:14

Mile 9 - 8:39 (wooo)

Mile 10 - 8:42 (wooo)

Mile 11 - 13:21

Mile 12 - 10:49

Mile 13 - 11:26

Mile 13.31 9:05 pace

This was exciting to see! (Probably just the PR for this watch, which I haven't had all that long)

This 2 mile, PR, however, is probably legit since I started Strava, which I *think* was 2014??
I haven't been running fast since probably 2010-2012, so this was fun to see

As soon as I crossed the line I sat down at one of the picnic tables and immediately started to get cold. I saw Janet coming up a few minutes later. We had a decently long time of waiting for Lisa and were sitting in the grass in the sun. It was NOT warm, and the wind had definitely picked up. I put my jacket back on, as well as my "emergency" North Face pants I had been carrying in my pack and I was still freezing. 

Christina crossed a few minutes after Lisa, and we had a good amount of time to wait for Susan and Alison. While we were waiting for them, Christina had to head out to relieve her husband of childcare duties.

We got a group picture after they crossed and basically disbanded right after. Coldest I have been in a long time!

Thoughts:

• Semi-expensive event. I paid $100 back in September.
• Swag is good - poly/cotton blend shirt, boco fleece-lined hat (I will actually wear again), wooden medal and a HUGE bag of protein powder.
• Course was very well marked. The lower trails had quite a bit of flagging at turns, and "wrong way" signs. 
• Aid stations seemed fine, although I only stopped at the one at the turnaround. I used my Salomon vest, and with it being colder, my two flasks were plenty to hydrate.

Probably would not run this again due to the cost and distance from home, but in my quest to get to 200 half marathons, it was fun to run something different and challenging. 

Week in Review (November 28 - December 4)

Tuesday (14,729 steps) - Peloton rides before work. Had another glitchy where I couldn't get the video I wanted to do to play. I don't have any updates so not sure what the issue is. Walked quite a bit on the treadmill during the day and did an upper body video at lunch. I definitely will be sore from this one. It was also... Spotify unwrapped day!

Definitely surprised that all my top songs were country!

Not as surprised about the top artists, except for Pink Floyd, which I didn't think I listened to nearly as much this year. ALSO exciting is there is finally info on Candice's new 300+ mile race. This is gonna be "fun"

AND, I got a cute new nameplate at work, haha

Took Olive for a walk before Ariel and I headed to the school for a meeting about her upcoming trip to France. We met Ben at Buffalo Wild Wings to celebrate A getting into the Colorado School of Mines. 

Wednesday (21,626 steps) - Work in the office. More treadmill desk while working, read my book at lunch. Headed up to Louisville to get my speed work done. Workout wasn't nearly as bad as I feared, although I ended up running longer than planned because I misjudged the distance of the area I was running. 

Nice night and I stayed at the store for a bit socializing. 

Thursday (20,571 steps) - Work from home. Went for an easy 45 minute run at lunch (which actually felt pretty easy). Took Olive for a walk. And in OTHER running excitement, Summit 200 finally (publicly) release a screenshot of the course. Wooo! 

Convinced Ariel to join me in Belmar for run club. Not a lot of people there, unfortunately, and it was chilly walking with Mo and Colfax. 

Friday (14,656 steps) - Wash Park - with special guest, Olive! New holiday drink menu at Stella's. Yum!

Joyce was going to be on vacation and Nicole thought it would be fun to bring her into the office, so she got a long walk before we went in. Olive enjoyed walking around and saying hi to everyone. She was so well-behaved! 

And I finally got my yoga ball to put on my treadmill so I don't have to keep moving it. I still have my regular chair, but this is going to be a game changer. 

We went for a walk with Nicole late morning. Headed home to work the rest of the day remote. Lisa came to pick me up to go to Colorado Springs. A group of us signed up to run a Saturday morning race and decided to get a hotel the night before. We got to packet pick up in the Springs around 4:30. Everyone else arrived shortly thereafter. We were all hungry and decided to go to BJ's for dinner since it was close. I got my trusty jalapeno cheeseburger. Delicious!

Alison and Janet were sharing a birthday weekend, and Janet had made delicious cupcakes for us to have after dinner. Yum!

No picture of all of us, which is a shame. By this time it was "late" so we went to the hotel. Lisa had booked a suite for me, her and Christina to share. I got my own room (yay!!!). We stayed up chatting until maybe 9:30. I had a bit of trouble falling asleep - I blame that on the room being much warmer than I normally sleep in.

Saturday (29,146 steps) - Colorado Cold Rush half marathon - recap separate.

We decided we would just head right back to Denver after everyone had finished. Once I got home I took a quick shower and then we went to Torchy's so I could finally get something to eat. Instead of starting with Fargo, we rented a movie - "The Fall" - WAY different than I expected, and it was pretty good! 

Sunday (18,918 steps) - I had an hour recovery run on schedule, which I was dreading. I had actually "raced" (versus just running like I normally do) and I was pretty sore. We did a loop that was semi dirt and paved. The paved was actually worse since it hadn't been plowed yet.

I was definitely tired during this and it felt like a massive effort. Really happy to be done with it. Took Olive for a walk. We then had a busy afternoon - first we had to go to Costco for groceries. We then went to 4 Noses so Ben could get a beer (I'm still not drinking for a bit, so I just had a Topo) before going to Target. So many errands, but we needed our sport laundry detergent and of course ended up with a bunch of other stuff we didn't need. Fargo.

Monday (20,343 steps) - Work from home. Olive spent a lot of time with me in the office, which she has been doing more and more lately.

Went out for my run and it was unfortunately really windy. I didn't feel horrible, but still pretty sore and tired from Saturday's race. In addition to the windy, the mud was actually pretty bad since it has warmed up since we got snow. 

Then I took Olive for a walk. Because of the mud I had encountered during my run, we did the "mud" route, which took us by this house that I normally only see on our really short night walks.

And another fun thing from Cocodona, they used me and Ben running through Buffalo Park in the start of their newest reel. 

Short dog walk with Ariel and more Fargo.

Stats:

• 139,989 steps
• 33.21 miles run
• 30 minutes of cardio
• 30 minutes of strength