​After finding out that our XTERRA Beaver Creek race was cancelled, Mike and I decided to keep running and biking but to just have fun doing it. I spent a good deal of this month running and biking on a new trail in our area called the Pineries Open Space. The 8.4-mile loop proved to be a great trail. I also spent some time running with Caryn and Dionne at Ute Valley Park, did speed work on the Santa Fe trail and some climbing on the Ute Pass Trail. I divided my biking between mountain biking and road biking and just had fun with it all. I pushed myself to new PRs which was awesome. I may not have been able to officially race this month, but I still pushed myself to achieve new goals

​Since our race at XTERRA Beaver Creek was still a go in June, Mike and I spent a lot of time working hard and putting in the time to bike, swim and run. We often had to double up 2-3 days a week in order to fit it all in but we both enjoyed being able to bike and swim together. Some of our favorite rides this month were biking at Rampart Reservoir and Staunton State Park. We even fit in some Red Rock rides and some road biking on the Cottonwood Creek trail and up into Cordera and Wolf Ranch. We felt blessed to be able to swim at Flying Horse 2-3 days a week and really enjoyed our mornings swimming together. The only thing we didn’t do together was run. I ran mostly with Dionne and Caryn and we followed many of the Striders workouts. I ran at Garden of the Gods, Barr Trail, Bear Creek Park, High Drive, and Black Forest Section 16. I didn’t get in as many runs as I would have liked since my foot was still healing but I got in enough hard runs keep up my endurance. It was a really great month of training!
 

​With our XTERRA Beaver Creek triathlon only two months away and still scheduled to happen both Mike and I spent a great deal of time this month getting in our biking, swimming, and running. Luckily Flying Horse opened up their swim lanes by reservation only on May 11th. We swam three days, biked twice and ran 3-4 times every week. We had fun swimming together and biking at Red Rocks, Stratton Open Space, Black Forest Section 16 and the occasional road bike on the Cottonwood Creek Trail. It has been nice to have a race to work towards, even though in the back of our minds we know at any time it could be cancelled. What’s even better is that we have been able to train together. I’m so glad Mike and I like doing the same things! 

​This was a great month for biking and running. The weather was warm pretty much most of the month with several days of wearing shorts and short sleeved shirts. I mostly ran with Dionne this month at Black Forest Section 16, Manitou Springs, and along the Santa Fe trail. Peter and Emma continued to run together, mostly at Fox Run Park. There was lots of biking by everyone. Abby and Emma both went out to Wolf Lake with Mike, Peter and Andrew explored mountain biking at Fox Run Park, Mike and I rode Red Rocks, Mike, Peter, Emma and I all rode at Fox Run Park, and Emma did 7.75 miles with me around Black Forest Section 16 where she had her first crash. Luckily it was just scrapes from road rash. She went down one of the hills too fast and hit some gravel and slid out. I told her that I fell many times my first year of riding. I was always sporting cuts and bruises. I was so proud of her for getting the courage to get back on her bike and finish the loop. Being able to be outside exercising has made a world of different in how we have felt about ourselves this month of quarantine. We continue to pray for good weather so we can keep up the exercise!

​After the spring sports season was pretty much shut down, Emma was in a funk about what to do about her running. She had been gearing up with the Kokopelli run club and was going on her way to running a fast track season. It didn’t take too long to come up with a new plan for her to run with her brother and keep up the hard work. Then coach Lisa came out with a plan for all the kids to run two 1K time trials three weeks apart. This would give them the motivation they needed to keep working hard. Emma kept telling me that she didn’t feel very fast but when she knocked out a 3:31 on her first 1K at the CC track I had to disagree with her. One thing is for sure, Emma is hella fast. She was running at a 5:39 pace and that was without her spikes on. Her second 1K was at the Manitou Springs track. This track was 1000ft higher in elevation and there was quite a wind so getting a better time would be tough. Her stomach hurt that morning, but I warmed up with her and tried to give her positive encouragement. This time she kept her long sleeve on since her arms tightened up from the cold during the last time trial. As she ran, she looked strong. She finished in 3:32, only one second off from her last time trial. For the crazy weather conditions, she did remarkably well, pulling in a 5:41 average pace. I just couldn’t be prouder of her for working so hard during such an uncertain time. With a months’ worth of training under her belt running only with Peter, she was excited to finally be able to start running with some other Kokopelli runners. As part of the quarantine was lifted, she would be placed in a smaller group of 7-8 runners and one coach so that she could continue to train with other people all while still following the social distancing guidelines. 

It was a crazy month of exercise. The first half of the month was business and usual and I spent most of my time running with Dionne and Caryn and mountain biking with Mike. When I ran with Dionne and Caryn, we tried to follow social distancing as best we could and there were only air hugs when we greeted each other. Although we had several warm days this month, there were still some cold weather days. On those days, I bundled up ran in the snow. After everything started to shut down from COVID19 I knew how much more important it would be to keep exercising and for my kids to keep exercising. I took Emma and Peter to the running store, before it closed, and grabbed them some new running shoes for the season. Peter switched from swimming to running and started training with Emma. Those two spent many of their runs at Fox Run Park or Section 16 in Black Forest. Mike and I even joined them at Section 16 during one of their runs. Mike and I biked while those two fast knuckle heads ran the loop. Abby spent most of her exercise time either running around the neighborhood loop or doing some strength exercises at home. The only way to get through a crazy time is to stay active and healthy!