This was a really great training month for both running and biking. There were many runs up Barr Trail, one in the Pineries, Red and Iron Mountains, Ute Trail, MVP, and High Drive. One of my favorite runs was the first day of the month running up Barr trail and seeing all the purple wild flowers along the trail. It was also this day that I made it to Barr Camp for the first time this season. Mike and I spent a few long biking days up in Denver riding the trails up there as well as taking advantage of Garden of the Gods and Gold Camp Road in preparation for our Triple Bypass ride. We really do live in such a beautiful place for training in the summer. It’s never too hot or too cold. Most days it is absolutely perfect weather! For the past couple of years, we have been slowly adding more miles to our biking during the warmer months in preparation for this monstrous ride. The Triple Bypass is nothing to sneer at and takes a great deal of time to train for. I would say that this ride exceeded all of our expectations and gave us the confidence to climb and ride long. This truly was the most epic ride Mike and I have ever done. It was not only the farthest but the most climbing we have done in one day. We had 3 climbs…Juniper Pass, Loveland Pass and Vail Pass with plenty of other shorter but not insignificant climbing along the way. We even enjoyed a local bag piper on Juniper Pass and at the top of Loveland Pass. We played it smart and took it easy up Juniper Pass. I pushed both of the other climbs. I was able to speed through the Loveland pass in 30 min (3.6 miles), and the Vail Pass in 24 min (4 miles). Other than a few pushes, we rode together the entire day. We stopped at every aid station and took advantage of the great food that was provided as well as refilled our water bottles with water and electrolytes. I even had them adjust my derailer at one of the stops because the gears kept skipping. We couldn't have been luckier with the weather. It was warm and blue skies the entire day. I felt really strong on all the climbs and most of the ride and just when I was ready to be done, Mike pulled us both the last 10 miles. We rode hard from Vail to Avon. I would like to think this was a one and done but I'm sure we will be back to attempt this ride again!
For Mike’s 47th birthday he wanted to celebrate by riding on his first ever summit to the top of Pikes Peak! He did an amazing job and I’m so proud of him. A nice group of visitors even sang to him at the top!!
We started in clouds and fog, and it eventually broke for us around mile 11. We had a beautiful ride to the top. We ate sugar donuts at the top (a Pikes Peak special) and munched on some other snacks. The newer visitor center is just amazing. Before we headed down we put on our new Pactimo lightweight rain jackets for warmth. Those jackets totally delivered. We were plenty warm on the descent. We hit fog again the last 6 miles which was so crazy. At least by that point we were almost finished. After a big day of riding to the top of Pike's Peak, we came home and rested and then let Mike open up his birthday gifts. This year we got him a Rumpl down blanket for camping, a new silicone wedding band, a nice button down from Kuhl, new Hey Dude shoes, and a cozy soft shirt from Vuori. He basically got something from each one of his favorite brands. Madeline also made him a really cool rainbow card. I think he was happy with his gifts and happy that we all got to celebrate him turning 47!
This was a big month of training both on the bike and with running. Mike and I spent most of our time on the bike doing some intense hill training as well as some endurance rides. We started with our typical loop to Garden of the Gods and back home. I got my first flat in a long time and learned how to change it on my own. We attempted the 719 loop again and just did it casually, It was still a beast even though we weren’t biking hard, We also rode up in Denver a few times and did some rides up Cheyenne Canyon. On the running side of things, we spent most of the time at Bear Creek Park doing tempo loops on the “dirt” track, hill repeats, and intervals on the flatter garden side of the park. Dionne and I ventured one day and did Section 16 to the Palmer trail. The short but steep section up Section 16 is never an easy one and I was breathing hard the entire time. However, the effort is worth it after you crest the top and run down the flowy Palmer trail. Overall, training this month was really awesome! BikingRunningMike took a quick trip out to SLC to go and visit with Andrew. The car rental even upgraded his car to a speedy little Dodge Charger. Mike and Andrew ate and talked and even went shooting at the range together. My mom was in town and so they had lunch at Thanksgiving Point during the day and at night Mike hung out with his nephew Josh and his wife Lexie at a baseball game. He even fit in a little hike up to the Living Room lookout behind the University of Utah campus. The trip may have been quick but there was no shortage of fun to be had while visiting Utah!
Mike and I headed up to Denver the day before the race with hope that our race would go well after an extremely stressful week for both of us. We did all the things that would help us have a successful race the next day. When we got to the drop off point and headed on the bus to get to the starting line, we quickly realized that the bus driver didn’t know where he was going. We eventually made it there but not without some anxiety. That should have been a sign to me that the day would not turn out like I had expected. The weather couldn’t have been more perfect for a running race. I started at the front with all of the other fools and when the gun went off I went out at my intended pace and was able to hold that even through the crazy first 2.5 miles of rolling hills. The uphills were not insignificant and by the time I made it to mile 4 I was already a little tired. It was the first time that I had no umph or energy at the beginning of a race. It was all I could do to hold a 7 min pace. As I descended down the course, I noticed how horrible the road was with a bank at every turn. This did not pose well for someone like me who already struggles with a testy SI joint. Despite all of this, I gave it my best and just tried to hold a somewhat decent pace so I could finish. Somehow I still managed to place 2nd in my age group even though I only ran this race in 1:33.37. It would have been easy to be disappointed in my time that was 6 minutes slower than my last revel half marathon, but I knew deep down that my efforts were truly the best I could have done that day. EXPOrace dayExercise this month was almost exclusively in the Garden, at least all of my weekday runs. The weather was warmer and with that were some epic runs with the Striders doing intervals around the dirt track in the Garden, another RRR downhill tempo, another clockwise tempo loop where I PR’d, and a fun run around the trails. Most of my long runs were done running down the Cottonwood Creek Trail and the Santa Fe trail. Mike and I even did one last downhill run down the backside of Woodmen and Blodgett. It was a month of highs and lows as I ran some of my fastest runs only to get sick and have to slow things down. I’m not sure I ever fully recovered physically between getting sick and my body shutting down from stress. However, I tried to just keep going through the end of the month in preparation for my upcoming half marathon.
For my birthday weekend this year Mike took off work on Friday and we spent the morning hiking the Incline and running down Barr trail. Then we headed to Rudy’s for lunch before going home to grab all our stuff for the weekend. We loaded our bags and our bikes onto the Tesla and drove up to Denver where we stayed at the Crawford hotel at Union Station. Mike has been so awesome at finding unique boutique hotels for us to stay in lately. Union Station was redone several years ago, and it looks amazing and so modern. We quickly got on our bike gear and headed out on a quick bike ride before the weather turned nasty. We got halfway through the ride with little wind but when we turned around we almost got blown over by the intense head wind we had the entire ride back to our hotel. Needless to say, we sat in our very nice hot shower for quite some time to warm up after that ride. We headed over to Pacific Mercantile for dinner and had such a good meal together. The dessert, however, was definitely my favorite. The waitress was loving that it was a birthday celebration and even brought us complimentary wine to celebrate. Too bad we don’t drink wine! That night we stayed up late watching movies and just enjoyed being together. It was marvelous to be able to sleep in the next morning. We ate breakfast back at Pacific Mercantile and had the best croissant French toast. It was divine. Then we grabbed our bags and bikes and headed to the Cherry Creek Mall to do a little bit of shopping. It was the perfect birthday weekend!
It was a super fun day skiing with Mike and Madeline. We took Madeline on all 5 peaks at Breckenridge. She tried the blacks off of Peak 10 for the first time and loved them. Her favorite runs of the day were Double Jack off Peak 10 and Bliss off Peak 6. We made our way through all 3 kid fun zones on Peak 9 with Madeline and had lots of fun. She loved skiing under the spider and through the various tunnels. Some of the lift lines were more crowded than the last time we were at Breckenridge, but we never waited more than 8 min for any lift. We did a total of 15 runs, 18,530 vertical ft and 20.24 miles. It was a lot of skiing in one day, especially for Madeline who is only 6 years old. However, we celebrated our victorious ski day by eating dinner at an amazing Mexican restaurant with some old friends who were visiting Colorado during the long weekend.
Sometimes as parents we have to take a step away and focus on each other. Mike and I spent the day skiing just the two of us and we skied all 5 peaks at Breckenridge. It was Mike's first real introduction to the entire mountain at Breckenridge. We started on Peak 8 and made our way over to Peak 9 and 10. We decided to ski the blacks off of Peak 10 while our legs were still fresh. We loved Centennial and Double Jack and the first part of Cimmaron. The last part of that run was a long cat trail which made the entire run not worth it. After getting our fill of Peak 10 we tried some runs off Peak 9 before heading to lunch at Ten Mile Station. After lunch we did a few runs off Peak 8 and Peak 7 and headed straight to Peak 6 so that I could take Mike on Bliss. I had the most amazing flow on that run and was so excited by it. Mike loved it too but we decided that our legs were getting tired so we headed back to 7 and all the way down the mountain. It was a marvelous day of skiing together!
The day after Mike got back from his reserve duty training in DC, we decided to head out on the snowshoes to one of our favorite places. We love snowshoeing and hiking at Spruce Mountain Open Space. There aren’t usually a ton of people there which is nice. The first part of our hike was filled with some sections that were a little barer than others. As we approached the top of the plateau, the view was amazing, and the snow was plentiful. Our hike was serene and peaceful! Along the way we saw a few different groups of people. We saw a few hikers, a couple of people on fat tire bikes and a group cross country skiing. Even with the occasional sighting of people, it still felt very private and quiet. We decided to not trek it all the way to the end but went out 2 miles and then turned around. We were both so happy that we didn’t try and push it too much since we were pretty spent by the time we got back to the car. Snowshoeing with Mike in the winter is one of my favorite things to do.
The last time we were in Oahu together we kayaked to Lanikai beach in a double kayak and had the best time. This time we decided to do single kayaks and I soon realized that was a bad idea. This was the kayak trip that tested my strength and endurance. The headwind was so strong it seemed like I wasn’t moving at all. With my little T-Rex arms it was very hard to steer the single kayak. Mike got to the beach first and eventually I made it there also. Getting there was hard, but the reward was sitting at the most beautiful beach for the rest of the day. It was well worth it. The breeze was a little too strong and chilly for me to want to go snorkeling, so Mike went ahead and did some snorkeling on his own while I sat on the warm sand and enjoyed the warm sun. We relaxed for quite some time and snacked on crackers, cheese, and grapes. It was the perfect beach snack! The kayak trip on the way back was much easier since we were moving with the current and the wind was at our back. Once back at the car we put on some normal clothes and headed to the mall for some shopping. We found the older girls some clothes at Uni Qlo and some treats at the Aloha sugar shop. We aren’t big candy eaters, but it was still fun to browse around this ridiculous store filled with more candy than you think is possible. Since we were getting hungry, we headed back to Waikiki and ate dinner at the Udon restaurant. We waited in line outside for about 30 min before getting our fill of the most wonderful Udon outside of Japan. This famous Udon restaurant is always packed with a line of people anytime of the day. It is that good!
For today’s adventure we decided to head to Kokohead first to do the Hawaiian version of the Incline. It was just like hiking the Incline in Colorado except the views were more spectacular and there was so much oxygen. I kept thinking that it was amazing that I didn’t need to stop. Halfway up to the top there is a little side trail called Murphy's Bypass. We took that instead of continuing on the railroad ties since that little section is sketchy with no ground underneath the ties and there were too many people who didn't know what they were doing. After passing that we got right back onto the main trek. After we made it to the top, we ventured over to the crater rim and hiked along the ridge line. Up at the highest point of the ridge the wind was so strong that my visor blew away. It was so sad, and I felt so dumb for not holding onto it because it was actually Mike’s visor that he let me borrow since I forgot to bring a hat on this trip. We headed down into the brush to try and find it but it was long gone. We headed back along the crater rim and made our way down the railroad ties to the bottom of Kokohead. We were still up for some adventuring, so we drove to the Makapu’u Trail and decided to run/hike the paved trail to see the views and the lighthouse. Our legs were a bit tired from Kokohead hike and it was a bit hotter than earlier in the morning. The views at the top were amazing and well worth the run to get there. We stopped on the way back to Waikiki to get Leonard’s donuts which are some of the best donuts ever. We ate our donuts on the way back to the hotel where we showered and relaxed for a few hours before heading back out to Secret Beach to enjoy the ocean before eating dinner. Mike went snorkeling while I sat on the sand and had fun watching the seals that were sleeping in the cove. We eventually made our way on foot to eat dinner at Monkeypod at the request of some of our friends. The food was pretty good but the dessert not so much. We ate it anyways and then headed back to Secret beach to watch the sunset. It was a pretty perfect day! kokohead and crateR rimmakapu'u trailsecret beach and dinner at monkeypodThis was my comeback month for exercise after spending the last month or so of being sick. Caryn and Dionne ran with me at the beginning of the month and did an easy run with me to help me get back to running. I spent most of the beginning of the month on the Peloton but was able to sneak outside with Mike on a warmer day and ride to Cottonwood Creek Park for an 18-mile ride. During spring break in Maui, I spent almost every day running outside. It was such a great way to get my running back on track. Then when we got back to Colorado, Mike and I were able to go outside on a beautiful Saturday morning and do an awesome 50-mile ride to Garden of the Gods.
When the weather is warm on the weekends during the winter, we try to take advantage of it by being outside doing something fun. Since it was a rather warm Sunday, we got the itch to go hiking. Abby and Madeline didn’t feel like going for a hike, so Mike and I took Emma and headed to Spruce Mountain Open Space for a jolly good time. We hit some snowy sections on the way up which wasn’t all that surprising since it was technically still the winter. We ended up hiking the big loop all the way around the plateau and back. The views were incredible, and it was so enjoyable to be hiking at a rather brisk pace. Sometimes it is fun to have an adventure with one kid at a time. We loved being with Emma and listening to her talk on our hike. She is such a great girl!
It was a rather slow month of exercise for me. With several weeks of feeling under the weather I just had to exercise during the good moments. Most of my workouts this month, though, were on the Peloton doing some easy rides followed by some light strength training. I managed to get a few runs in outside and a bike ride outside through Cordera and along the Cottonwood creek trail with Mike. After our bike ride we came home to some homemade bread and fresh honey from our friends. It was a remarkable treat after our 20 mile bike ride.
Mike and I ran in the Revel Big Bear Half Marathon, and it was quite the adventure. We both PR'd which is amazing. I finished in 1:26.47 (6:37 avg pace), placed 1st in my age division (40-44), 6th female out 690, and 43rd overall out of 1101 runners. Mike finished in 1:48.41 (8:17 avg pace), placed 27th in his age division (45-49), 152nd male out of 411, and 259th overall out of 1101 runners. He only trained for 3 weeks since he had been injured and his longest run was 9 miles. That's incredible. I wasn’t injured so I spent the last few months training hard for this race including many severe downhill fast paced runs to get my legs ready for the pounding. My first 7 miles were between 6:16-6:22 pace and when I hit mile 8, I got the worst side stitch ever. I'm inclined to think I drank too much water when taking my gu at mile 7. It completely threw off my game and I had to really dig deep for that next 2 miles to get my head back in the game and to keep running sub-7. It was a mental suffer fest for the rest of the race, but I knew if I could just hold on I could still PR so that’s what I did. It just goes to show that sometimes even when you train smart you can still hit hurdles along the way. It’s how we face those challenges that determine how strong we really are.
This was an exciting month of training for my upcoming half marathon. The beginning of the month graced us with warmer weather and so I continued to bike outside as often as I could. My running training was solid and focused as I worked on race simulation long runs, hill repeats where I focused not only on running uphill but pushing the downhill sections, track workouts, fartlek runs, and some severe downhill training. I was so lucky that we had such great weather throughout the month. At the end of the month our new Peloton bike came and that was a lot of fun riding on those cooler days. My favorite run of the month was my 6-mile race simulation down Rampart Range Road in Garden of the Gods. My mile splits were spot on for my race and I felt great for most of the run. The most exciting thing I noticed this month was my weight. I finally got down to my lowest weight (108) in 16 years.
We have lived in Colorado Springs for 8 years and this was the first time that Mike and I hiked the famous Crags trail. The 5-mile trail started through a beautiful aspen lined meadow with mountain peaks in the distance. After walking through a forest of aspen trees we came to another clearing with the coolest rock formations in our view. As we rounded the corner from this first rock formation, we began to make the climb to the top of the granite dome. As we made our way to the top we came upon some astonishing gnarled ancient Bristlecone Pines sprinkled throughout the rocks. In every direction we saw the coolest rock formations and were amazed at the beauty of these rock formations and at the view of the Rampart Range, Ute Pass, and the Catamount Creeks drainage. We could've stayed up there all day, but the wind was pretty brutal at the top. After eating a quick snack, taking in the 360-degree view, and playing very quickly with an Australian Shepard, we headed back down the trail. This was a relatively easy hike and one in which we will have to do again with our kids.
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