Weekend of September 6-8 I had originally planned to be in downtown Denver for some meetings Friday afternoon, after which my friend Sara and I were going to meet for happy hour. However, the meetings got canceled, and we decided to bail on the happy hour as well. While I had been looking forward to it all week, I was kind of relieved for the opportunity to not drink, eat well, and head to bed early. I wanted to be rested {Read More}
Weekend Recap: Pitkin Lake, Plane Pull, and Two Peak Traverse
September 5, 2019 by Leave a Comment
Weekend of August 17-18 My Friday kicked off with a reverse commute, as I drove from Vail to Superior. I had gone up to the mountains on Wednesday, so I could hike in a new location Thursday before work and then meet my boss in Vail for dinner while he was passing through. Both were amazing! I hiked up to Pitkin Lake, a 10 mile round trip, and found the trail to be moderately undulating – which meant I got {Read More}
Bitten by the Running Bug: Upcoming Races and Summer Events
June 18, 2019 by 2 Comments
I’ve been bit by the running bug. Last month, I was shocked when I ran the Colorado Classic 10 Miler and ran a 7:30 pace (at altitude). In spite of that big win, I was surprised again when I ran the Bolder Boulder and PRed by 90 seconds, over a time I already thought was really fast last year. And two weeks ago at Orangetheory, on a run for distance, I hit 5K in just 18:54… two whole minutes under {Read More}
Treadmill Workout: Base-Building Endurance Run
March 30, 2019 by 4 Comments
Oh my goodness, I can’t believe it’s almost April! Last weekend I finally noticed the snow becoming crusty in the morning and slushy in the afternoon… telltale signs that spring is here. In years past, I didn’t mind too much, because I loved not being freezing and didn’t care as much about the snow. But this year, I’ve got heated boots that have totally eliminated my need to stop for toe-warming breaks, and a lot more vert I’d like to {Read More}
Weekend Recaps: Slowing Things Down
November 24, 2018 by 1 Comment
Combined recap of November 10-11 and 17-18. Thanks for putting up with my tardiness as I catch up on my diary ;) With the election behind me, I’ve finally had a little bit of time to come up for air. These past few months have been jam-packed with events and obligations, so these last two weekends, even though I still had a lot of plans, it felt like I had so much free time. Friday after the election kicked off {Read More}
1-Mile Benchmark Run and Upcoming Races
August 15, 2018 by 2 Comments
Yesterday, Orangetheory Fitness had one of their benchmark workouts. These are mini-challenges that we repeat a few times a year, to see what kind of progress we’re making. I never get too excited about the rowing benchmarks, but I am all over the running benchmarks, and yesterday was my favorite one: the one mile run. A mile is kind of a scary distance to race. As Adam told me years ago, you basically have to go out as fast as {Read More}
National Running Day: Why I Love Our Sport
June 6, 2018 by 2 Comments
This morning, in honor of it being National Running Day, Orangetheory had a special workout for us: an uncoached 23 minute run for distance. I love when we do these runs for distance, because it’s always a huge mental challenge. In a regular race, you get to stop when you’re done, which is great motivation to get done faster (like how I ran the end of my hike Saturday so I could get home to my couch sooner). But when {Read More}
The No-Decision Workout
April 17, 2018 by 2 Comments
I had a rough night of travel last night. I accidentally left my driver’s license at home (I had stashed it in a pocket of my ski jacket this weekend and forgotten to retrieve it), which meant some hassle trying to get through TSA security without an ID. It was surprisingly easier than I expected – I showed them a credit card with my name on it and a prescription in my bag with my name and address, and then {Read More}
Running for Consistency Over Speed
February 13, 2018 by 2 Comments
Over the weekend, I loved reading this article about focusing on processes rather than outcomes. It made me think of what I’ve been doing with running lately. On January 1st, I started trying to maintain a running streak. Unlike my successful streak last summer, this time, the stakes were a little higher – I had to run two miles in a day for it to count. That ended up being a lot harder than just one mile! With one mile, {Read More}
Weekend Recap: Getting Hygge with Winter Cocktails
December 11, 2017 by 2 Comments
I just wrote my recap of the November books I enjoyed, but on Friday, I finished a really fabulous book that also set the tone for this weekend. Amber raved about The Year of Living Danishly, and it didn’t disappoint. It’s a memoir about a writer who has to move to Denmark for her husband’s job, and she decides to spend the year researching why Danes are the happiest people on earth. The research is woven into the narrative seamlessly, {Read More}
