All it takes is all you've got

Got home from Cali around 1 p.m. and there were still tarps everywhere and a bunch of workers cleaning up the mess after having our popcorn ceilings scraped and re-textured over the weekend.  I suspected this would happen.  The contractor thought he could have the job done in 2 days.  Sure enough, 3.5 days later he was not done.  Actually I was impressed they had gotten as far as they had.  It was a big job!  

So upon finding ourselves tired and homeless, we called our good friends, the Stouts (family of 7 who stayed with us for 7 weeks last spring while they were finishing construction on their home).  They were happy to have us crash at their home and even fed us delicious food as soon as we walked in the door.  It was fun to catch up with them and the kids felt like it was an extension of our vacation because they LOVE playing with the five Stout kids. We heard all about their plan to move to Costa Rica for a year starting this July.  They are going to rent a small house on a 30 acre farm and learn Spanish, learn how to ride horses, learn to farm, and just experience an entirely different lifestyle.  We told them we'd come visit them in Costa Rica in December.

4 easy miles

Ran with my friend Kristy and her running buddies.  Also did some stretching on her pilates reformer machine.  Came back home after breakfast and the house was actually pretty clean.  Still just a thin layer of white dust on a lot of things.  I vacuumed the entire house and wiped down a lot of nooks and crannies.  Also took a two hour nap while the girls were napping and Abe was at school.  Heavenly.  More cleaning, grocery shopping, and meal planning, family home evening, and then crashed in bed again. 

9 miles in 7:29 pace

7 a.m. run with Running Republic at East Boulder Community park lead by Colleen again.

 20 minute warm up, stretching, strides

1,2,3,4,5,3,2,1 fartlek in 5:48, 6:09, 6:15, 6:04, 6:06, 5:58, 5:55, 5:25 pace respectively

20 minute cool down 

As other random runners passed our group many of them would say "good job, Colleen!"  I guess anyone who runs in Boulder knows who Colleen De Reuck is.  

10 miles in 7:38 pace

Around Standley Lake lots of buds on trees are blooming.  I didn't look but it had to have been 50 degrees on my run this morning.  So nice! 

Push: 3X25

Pull: 3X10

Sit: 3X50 

9 miles in 7:36 pace

6:15 a.m. Big fluffy snowflakes coming down the whole time.  Wore a baseball cap to keep the snow out of my eyes and had a good inch of snow build-up on the brim of my hat when I got home.  Snow was sticking to the grass but not the roads and trails.  By noon all the snow has already melted. 

Wow, I am SO grateful to be feeling so great in my running right now.  My hamstring/adductor/hip problems seem to be pretty much completely gone and I'm keeping other aches and pains at bay with lots of stretching, core work, pilates reformer, and foam roller.  I've also been eating healthier and started taking more supplements after reading Suzy Favor-Hamilton's book "Fast Track."  I now take a handful of vitamins twice a day including Glutamine, MSM, Condroitin, Iron+Vit.C, Omega 3 Fish Oils, and a multi-vitamin.  I'm also eating more protein and less sugar.  I really agree with the logic in Suzy's book where she talks about eating clean, meaning foods that are unprocessed, low in fat/sugar, low GI, good quality protein, have lots of vitamins, ect.  But she urges you to give yourself a free meal every few days or a free day once week so you can keep your sanity and enjoy not so healthy food sometimes too.  She thinks that as long as you are a professional eater 85% of the time, you're doing great.  I really agree with that concept of allowing for some imperfect foods.  I do feel a ton better when I eat clean most of the time.

7 miles in 7:28 pace

Quick 7 around the neighborhood, then off to Pilates Reformer which felt really great as usual.  Didn't get to the pu-pu-su challenge.  I will tomorrow though. 

10 miles in 7:29 ave. pace 

Met my team at Fairview High School track for some track intervals. 

Warmed up 20 minutes, stretching, strides

4X (400 M w/ 1 min. jog, 800 M w/2 min jog, 400 M) 2 min jog between sets

400 M intervals were between 79-87 seconds each

800 M. intervals were between 2:51-2:59 each

20 minute cool down

Took a nap this afternoon and then took the kids hiking in Boulder around 4 p.m.  They LOVED being out in the wilderness exploring.  Afterwards we went to an Ethiopian restaurant for dinner just to try something new and different.  I was pretty impressed with the fact that all three of my kids actually tried and liked some of the food!

Did my pu-pu-su when we got home. 

Push: 4X25

Pull: 4X10

Sit: 4X50