​March is the month with some of the most diverse weather in Colorado. We had it all…sun, snow, blizzards, extreme cold and then warm enough to wear shorts. I ran with the Striders all month doing tempo runs at Bear Creek Park, track workouts at the CC track, and intervals at Prospect Lake and on the Santa Fe trail. I managed to get in a long run with Caryn and Emma one weekend and a snowy fun run after the big blizzard. The weather was warm enough at times to go outside and get in a ride on the bike. I tried coupling my temple days with bike rides after up in Denver as the weather was a tad warmer up there. I rode the Bear Lake loop a few times as I started to prepare for Duathlon Nationals in June. Of course, I kept lifting this month as much as I could, so I didn’t lost progress after finishing Mike’s 45-day weight lifting program. It was a solid month of training.

​I love running with the Striders in the winter months because it gives me a reason to keep running when it is cold outside. We did several standard winter runs this month including hill repeats and tempo runs at Bear Creek Park, intervals on the CC track, tempo runs and mile repeats on the Santa Fe trail, and some fartlek’s around Prospect Lake. I even managed to sneak in a longer run on the Santa Fe trail from Woodmen with the Kokopelli run club while Emma did her long run with her clubmates. While I ran mostly outside with maybe one run on the treadmill, I managed to keep up with my 45-day weight lifting program and biking on the Peloton. Mike and I managed to sneak way up to Denver to bike during a warmer day on the Bear Creek Trail loop, which is a 30-mile loop.  

​We started the New Year with a 24-mile ride down the Cottonwood and Santa Fe trail. It was a relatively warmer day for the winter and so we put on our layers and headed out. The good weather didn’t stick around for very long. Most of my runs this month were on snow covered trails or really cold mornings. We did hill repeats at Bear Creek Park, hill repeats and tempo runs along the Santa Fe trail, a hill endurance run up Rampart Range Road, and a tempo loop at Bear Creek Park. I was extremely proud of myself for staying on task with the 45-day weight program that Mike and I started last month. I was consistent and started to see real results by the end of this month.

​Most of this month found us with relatively decent weather which made running in the cold not so bad. I ran plenty of times with the Striders and was even able to go outside for a ride at Garden of the Gods. One of the biggest changes this month was working in more cross fit workouts into my routine. For most of the month Mike worked on developing a lifting program for us to do in the new year. We actually decided to start our 45-day program on Christmas day. It was fun to start something new and to be able to do it together.  

This month started out with some last preparatory runs before R2R2R followed by a taper week, our big adventure in the Grand Canyon (see post HERE), and finally some recovery time. One of our last big runs was running some downhill trail miles on Rampart Range Road. Dionne and I had her brother drive us 6 miles up so we could run down to simulate the first part of R2R2R. I was also able to do some hill repeats with the Striders at Red Rocks. By the time I hit my taper week I was so relieved! After we got back from the Grand Canyon we took some time off and then got back out there slowly by riding bikes with Madeline. We took her to ride both on the Santa Fe gravel trail and the paved section up by Costco. She had more fun on the paved section and enjoyed playing at the park at MVP. After 10 days of resting and riding bikes or the peloton, I decided to jump back into the Striders run. I did some intervals at the CC track and felt surprisingly good. 

I found myself doing a good mix of biking and running this month. This month started out with a quick two loops around the Black Forest Section 16 loop, a fun ride with Madeline on her new bike, and a family bike ride up to Denver. The rest of the month was focused mostly on running and preparing for and recovering from the Ascent. Mike and I headed to the top of Pikes Peak to do the 3,2,1 run which was absolutely brutal. I ended up only doing the 3,2 which is 3 miles down, 3 miles up, 2 miles down, 2 miles up. Mike ended up doing 4 down, 4 up and broke a rib along the way when he fell. Another fun workout was cruise intervals on the track in Manitou with the Striders. This was intended to be a race tune up for the Ascent. After I recovered from the Ascent I jumped back in with Striders and did short fartleks at Prospect Lake and the Cheyenne Canyon climb where I got a PR (43:29). The run down on the Cheyenne Canyon climb was the most beautiful I had ever seen the canyon. The fall colors were still out and I kept wanting to turn around just to see the beautiful colors against the backdrop of the mountains. 

​We headed up to Denver to ride the Cherry Creek Trail with the girls. We somehow made it to 7 miles before we stopped the first time for Madeline. Then we rode another few miles to the lake and played for a while. We knew the way back would be a little harder for Madeline, so we made sure to take lots of breaks. She really got the hang of her new shifters which was a game changer for her. We stopped at Kneaders on our way back to break up the ride and to eat lunch. The éclair was just the energy boost that Madeline needed to finish the last few miles of the ride to the park. It really was a fun day with the girls and an impressive long ride for Madeline.

This was an exciting month of training for the Ascent and getting ready to go hike in Switzerland. I spent the first part of the month training on Barr Trail, Red Mountain, and Iron Mountain to help my body get accustomed to running up for an extended period of time. I was able to sneak in some mountain bike days at Section 16 in Black Forest and Red Rocks. On one particular run coming down the backside of Red Mountain I slipped and cut up my leg pretty bad. It didn't hurt all that much but startled me more than anything. My pride was a little hurt after that though. So glad Caryn was with me and had a wipe in her water bottle holder so I could clean myself up a bit. Other than that, I had no falls coming down Barr Trail during the many extended runs I did on that trail. By the end of the month, I made it all the way to Barr Camp on one of my runs and did it in record time.

Grindelwald - Grosse Scheidegg Summit - First - Grindelwald

​Breakfast! Every morning it’s so exciting to get up and have a crazy awesome breakfast. Today was no different and Mike has now eaten his weight in croissants and jam. After breakfast, we headed out on an e-bike adventure! It was a beautiful day, so we headed back up to the pass and then over to First. We absolutely loved the e-bikes, until Mike’s ran out of power. Then it wasn’t so much love as it was suffering, but it was worth it. The views were grand and the suffering worth it. We ate lunch at First after unsuccessfully trying to find some way to charge Mike’s bike. The hotel was gracious when we called to tell us they wouldn’t charge us, so that was nice. The people at the bike shop at First were super nice, but in the end unsuccessful. We ate lunch, Mike hit his head on a ski rack and made a nice bruise, and then decided to go even further up the mountain to the lake. From there, we would take the downhill trail back to town. Little did we know that the downhill trail was this psycho double black mountain bike course with death looming at every turn. Sara, of course, rode it to show up the Swiss people watching, but it was pretty crazy. Fortunately, that turned into a road later on and most of the trip down was super flowy and fun. It would have been a quick trip down, but we had two cow related delays. The cows were on the move and being taken back to the barn, so the whole village showed up to move them. It was quite fun to see and probably the first time we have ever had to wait for cows when we were biking. All in all, it was a wonderfully fun day, with crazy views, fun adventures, and it all ended with a delightful dinner back at the Belvedere. The evening weather was wonderful and the views of the Eiger just staggering. Truly, this is a beautiful place. 
 

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!

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!

Madeline has been learning how to ride her bike slowly over the past year. When we were at the bike store she saw a bigger bike that interested her that had hand brakes and such. Her eyes got really big when I told her that if she learned to ride her current bike really well that this could be her next bike. Up until this point I had been struggling to get her to want to ride her bike outside. She was so afraid of falling. With her new sense of desire to be better at riding her bike, she and I headed outside to learn the last piece of being a good bike rider - starting by herself. Today was the first day that she figured out how to get going on the bike all by herself.  It took her several times and a solid 30 minutes to get her feet positioned just right to get going. I loved watching her determination to figure out this last piece of riding a bike all on her own. There were times when she would get frustrated, but I just kept encouraging her and eventually she found her grove.

​It snowed a ton in April which made it hard to train for my half marathon. I did, however, love running up Rampart Range Road twice, working on pushing the downhill sections. Emma joined one of our Striders runs and enjoyed running with the faster guys and leaving the rest of us girls in the dust. We did have some nice days mid-April and Mike and I took advantage of that and headed on a longer bike ride to Criterium and back. I also took my mountain bike and headed to Pineries to do the loop there. I spent one morning by myself and ran an easy loop in the Garden after the kids were in school and that was so rejuvenating. Some of the hardest runs this month were in the Garden running the clockwise trail tempo loop, hill repeats up the Strausenback hill, hill repeats on Ridge Road, and the road tempo to balanced rock. This month ended with a beautiful, snowy climb up the Incline with Dionne. You never know what you are going to get in April, but one thing is for sure, you are bound to get both snow and at least a few short-sleeved running days. 
 

Like most Februarys it was fairly cold the entire month. I had some amazing workouts this month with the Striders and also a few strong runs on the treadmill when the roads were not feasible to run on. My favorite runs were intervals at Monument Lake, the Bear Creek tempo loop, the Cheyenne Canyon Climb, a fun run in the Gardens with Dionne where we saw big horned sheep, and some long runs with Caryn. Any work on the bike was mostly  spent inside on the Peloton but I did brave the colder weather and went outside only once with Mike and was miserable the entire ride. Aside from running and biking I did spend some time skiing at Breckenridge. I hit the slopes twice this month and really had a blast! 

​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.

This month started out so well with my running, biking, and swimming. I was determined to make this my best year ever and be more consistent not only with my cardio but also with strength training and core exercises. I ran on the Santa Fe trail with the Striders and then another day with Dionne and Caryn, I ran the loop at the Pineries, I did a track workout at the CC track, a bike ride up and around Garden of the Gods, a swim at Flying Horse and ran in the 2nd race during the Winter Series. Then I started getting signs of passing a kidney stone. The next week I took it easy and didn’t run much. The following weekend I thought I was better so I did High Drive with Caryn and although I had such a good time, this run was almost more than my body could handle. I got sick after that and couldn’t exercise at all. 

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.