Tag Archives: trail running

This week: 6/23-26/15

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I still have a TON of life things to do (and I’m writing this instead of weed-eating or mowing or cleaning the chicken coop), but I made myself a priority this week. Unpacking and cleaning can wait a couple hours a day. Whew. So. Exhausted.

6/23: back to CrossFit! I hadn’t been in about a month. And what a month it was. I still did things. A lot of things. But they weren’t at the CF gym.
WOD:
(Can’t get the bold off. Stupid formatting. Whatever.)

Four sets of:
Seated Overhead Press with Dumbbells x 10-12 reps
Rest 45-60 seconds
Strict Supinated-Grip Pull-Ups x 8-10 reps
Rest 45-60 seconds
Bent-Over Barbell Rows x 6-8 reps
Rest 45-60 seconds
Band Pull-Aparts x 20 reps
Rest 45-60 seconds


B.
Complete as many reps as possible in 6 minutes of:
Dumbbell Man-Makers
(Push-Up, Power Clean, Push Press)

THEN:

RUN: midday. Ran an errand. Literally. Ran 2mi to the shop, then walk/jog back. Lots of stop signs & several lights. Fun, but hot. I love functional runs.
4mi 40:14
Of course my Garmin died .2mi from my front door, thankfully I had started the stopwatch on my phone.

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Out: 18:13
Back: 22:01

6/24: CrossFit
This one was tough. Don’t feel like writing too much about it
Every 6min, for 30min (5rds)
400m Run
12 OHS (45lbs)
12 Chest to bar pullups
12 box overs.
Pretty much scaled it all except the run and box jumps.

6/25: Attack Pack trail run!
4.85mi: 1:02, 6,xxxft-8,000ish ft. (asked a guy at the turnaround and he said “8”. Don’t know the start exactly)
I found this group on FB. They run 2 days a week, sometimes 3. I’m SO glad one of the members replied to a totally different post about hiking and 50k’s…and I saw it. So, it was my first run with this group and it was TOUGH. I’m definitely the slowest by far (and the biggest, but whatever). I can’t hang with their posted paces, but I emailed with the organizer and since I’m ok being last, he’s ok with me joining. My mentality is that I won’t get better if I don’t go and push myself. And they are officially a no-drop, friendly group, so we’re going to make it work. They’ve had members be the slowest and over time, they become strong enough that they run pack pace.

This run was an “up and down” up a mountain fire road. It used to be a dirt road people could drive on, but the floods last month washed a lot of it out. So now, it’s pedestrian only.
The run was officially 1-on-1-off, up up up the mountain. After a couple minutes I was down to 30-30, then, 30 and walk a lot of minutes. But, I kept going up. The Pack came back a couple times on their “1 off” to check on me, but I told them to keep going up. I wasn’t going to get lost on this road, doing an out-and-back. IT. KICKED. MY. BUTT. Fabulous.

After 40min it was time to go back down, and we bombed down the hill at a pace of 7:30’s-9min/mi. I was able to keep up then! At least I can run safely downhill. Small victories.

So, I am going back on Tuesday. I haven’t been so excited to be the worst at something in a long time. When they run trails (not this kind of out-and-back hill training), they wait at intersections for the stragglers (will be me), and the ones who don’t want to wait run back and run the last people in, adding mileage for themselves. I will feel really bad about that, but I need to get over it. That’s part of running in a group. Hopefully I’ll make some new friends too. Seems promising.

6/26: CrossFit
Backsquat sets, to 1RM!
85,115, 135×3, 145×2, 155, 160, 165, 170!

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Terrible pic and not great form. BUT, it was a max on tired legs. I’ll take it.

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Not sure if this is a max or tie my max (since my last gym didn’t save my data in Wodify…effers), but it’s the top so. Either way…I’m happy with this. Last high weight was 145 in May!

WOD:
21-15-9 front squat + toes to bar
I did: 15-15-9. My legs were fried from the backsquats and the hill work on Thurs.

6/27: rest day. Took the dogs for a long walk.

Since this post is boring and doesn’t have interesting pics, I leave you with this:
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Colorado first “real” week: This and That. And a killer climb.

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Visitor Welcome Center

I’m getting settled in our new home. I love, Love, LOVE it here. Sure, it’s not the big city, but it’s big enough and has everything we need. All the creature comforts: decent restaurants (even Thai and Vietnamese!), Whole Foods, REI, farmers markets, breweries, meat markets, you know, all the things yuppie/hipsters/people without kids need. My mantra all week was, “I can’t believe I live here!”
“Look at the mountains!”
“It’s so pretty, I can’t believe I live here!”
And on, and on, and on…

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The view in The Springs!

I have been here a week and have adjusted well, I think. Way better than when I was here looking for a place to live at the beginning of the month. I only had a headache for one day and I only had one morning where I woke up super-early. Otherwise, I’m sleeping to or past 6am. AWESOME.

Saturday I did my first “real” workout. I’d been here less than a week and K strongly advised against it. He wanted to go to Garden of the Gods for an easy jog/walk on their trails. But, when I found out a friend’s boyfriend was going to the Manitou Incline…I couldn’t resist. I knew it would be bad. Nothing about this was a good idea. I negotiated and told him that I’d only make it to the Bailout point (about 3/4 of the way up, where it crosses a trail). <– Check out that video!! I would go as slow as I needed to to make it safely there. I brought my inhaler and we agreed on that plan. He mostly waited for me, would climb ahead, then wait…I’d catch up and he’d ask if I was ok, then he’d go on and repeat. And repeat. Made it to the Bailout and only used my inhaler once. Felt ok since I was going slooooooow. I knew if I felt ok that I’d never quit at the Bailout. He was going to keep going, so of course I did too. And…I made it! Haha.

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Not dying.

I was one of the last to finish in our group, but I have to say I felt pretty great. Yes it was really hard, but I really took it easy since I didn’t know how my lungs and head would feel. So at the top we waited for almost 45min for the last guy in our group, took pictures, people watched….people do this in jeans and cowboy boots and flip flops….insane! Very much a mix of locals, people really training (like us), tourists, and families just on a stroll….a 1mile very uphill steep stairclimb stroll. Crazy.

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Group photo…Pikes Peak in the background.

The way down the Incline is a 4 mile jaunt down the Barr Trail. This trail goes all the way up to Pikes Peak. It was very groomed (and crowded), but it’s steep enough for an awesome run down. Walking is fine too, but we let it carry us and I ran the whole way down. SUCCESS! Sure, it was high (6500-8500 feet), but I felt great. I’m very pleased that I handled the whole day better than I thought. I’m on the upswing and it’ll only get better!

Sunday I went to the Denver Botanical Garden for the Cactus & Succulent sale with Bridget. It was a really nice break from unpacking and living in amongst boxes. I’m totally into these little plants right now and love that there are so many neat things to do here!

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My new project. Any succulent/cacti ideas?! Yes, that’s a desert alligator.

Back to the climb…since I felt like I handled the climb well, I told K Saturday night, “I think I’ll go back and do the Incline 2 more times this week!” *PAUSE* “Well, maybe I should see if I can walk tomorrow.”
Today is Monday and while I am pretty sore, it’s tolerable. Mostly my hips and lower back (bad form!). I’m really glad my quads and calves don’t have any feelings of soreness. I will probably wait until Tuesday-Thursday to go back. No need to push it.

I’m planning on trying out our CrossFit gym this week, and hopefully do the Incline at least once. Otherwise, I’ve been walking in our neighborhood and doing small active things without pushing too hard. Can’t wait to be 100% acclimated!

Even Whole Foods sells a version of “Bulletproof” coffee! So do the local cafes.
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Now, hopefully back to a regular blog schedule…

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Utah, Part 1. Day 93.

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The start of my back blogging. Is that a thing? This is part 1 of 3 of our April trip to Utah for the Zion 50k.

I arrived in Vegas eaaaarrrrly on Thursday morning. About 45min later, Hollis arrived. I occupied myself by doing laps around the airport, then played some crazy video slot machine by her arrival gate until she landed. I don’t understand those games. It’s like a horrible kids video game. Anyway, $0.25 well spent. (yes, that’s 25 cents)

Why?

We hopped in cab and killed time at the mall, which was supposed to be a close-to-the-highway easy location for our 3rd DB, Teeej, to pick us up. Browsed a little at Nordstrom and Lululemon (great sale rack!), then hung out outside in the fresh air. I’m sure we looked like weirdos stretching near our luggage, having some snacks, and taking short walks near the doorman guarded Nordstrom entrance.

Hollis taking a walk to the street. Umm hummm…

Anyway, Teeej arrived and we hit up a great brunch. EAT got great reviews on a couple foodie sites and it did not disappoint. It was so good we didn’t even take any pictures.
THEN we really hit the road to head to ZION!!

Into Springdale

We checked into our awesome hotel and took a little walk along the Virgin River and low-and-behold…it was only about 300m from the entrance to Zion NP! It was perfect. Words cannot describe and the pictures don’t do it justice.

View from our room. Terrible. Worst place ever. That’s the Virgin river at the trees. And the park on the other side.

In awe.

I don’t know what Hollis was doing, but I was trying to photobomb. It’s just…weird.

Between the laps in the airport, the mall walk, and walking around outside the hotel, I classify “walking” as my activity for the day! It was a long one!

Day 2 tomorrow!