All it takes is all you've got

Very cold and a little windy.  I was going to go 9 but was having a hard time finding paths to run on that I wasn't slipping around or just running deathly slow through the unplowed few days worth of snow.  Then my hands started to freeze because apparently it was laundry day and all I could find to put on my hands was one thin pair of gloves and a pair of socks.  So I cut my run short and resolved to go to the gym later for a few more miles on the TM where at least I can run a decent pace.  The morning consumed me with laundry, the afternoon isn't an option since child care is not open from 1-4 p.m., so I was going to go after the kids gymnastics class got out at 5 p.m. but then my car battery was dead and it took me an extra 10 minutes to jump my car at the gymnastics place and in those 10 minutes of cold and waiting, the kids all literally melted down and began complaining loudly of hunger, cold, and fatigue.  So I took them home and made them dinner.  Abe really was hungry 'cause he ate A TON.  And then of course the evening progressed into family home evening and ton-o-laundry folding, so I did not get out to the gym to run.  Such is life.

More cold and light snow.  The gym visit that was supposed to happen yesterday afternoon happened this morning instead.  Easy 3.5 miles and some lifting.  

I'm still planning on going to Boulder for our group workout at 4:30 today.  Its only 8 degrees and snowing lightly with a little wind.  We'll be freezing but at least there will be a group of us and we can laugh about our insanity together. 

PM Update: Ran with my group in Boulder.  It was only 4 degrees but calm.  Quite pleasant actually.  I dressed warmly and the only part of my body that ever got cold was my face.  I love how well they plow the paths in Boulder.  You may not get the road in front of your house plowed but you can count on the Boulder Creek Path being clear.  Wouldn't want to prevent anyone from being able to run or bike to work or anything.  

20 minute warm-up, stretching, strides.

4X45 seconds steady with 1 minute jog

10 minutes steady with 2 minute jog

4X2:30 steady with 90 second jog

10 minute cool-down

I forgot my Garmin as I left the house to go to the workout but didn't mind because that just meant I didn't have to push any buttons.  Asked Bean how far we went after the workout and she said 8.8.  Close enough, I'm rounding to 9.  Temp was down to 3 when I got back in my car.  It's chilly out there, folks!

Okay, this cold spell is getting old.  I saw on the news that we had near record low temps this morning across the State with the lowest spot being -17 F.  It was 4 F when I woke up and I just wasn't in the mood to get all bundled up and skate around again.  The paths and sidewalks here in Westminster are not plowed like they are in Boulder, so its quite lumpy and icy around here.  May we please just have a day or two of warmth that will melt the snow and ice off the sidewalks?  That would be nice.  Forecast says we'll be getting into the 40s on Sunday and Monday, that should do it.  I may be getting in some more treadmill mileage until then.  Especially since Aaron and I are headed to Steamboat Springs tomorrow for a little company retreat.  We got ourselves and our Executive Assistant and her boyfriend a couple of rooms as part of the early season ski promotion where if you stay for 3 nights, they give you 4 free ski tickets per room.  So we'll be snowboarding Friday and Saturday in Steamboat!  And of course a lot of hot-tubbing and eating at yummy restaurants.  Ahhh vacation is good.  Our kids are being cared for by some friends in our ward.  We watched their son in September so they could go backpacking and now they're paying us back.

SO today I ran on the treadmill at the gym.  Aaron and I went together at 4:30 p.m. and took the kids to play in child care.  I warmed up for 20 minutes in my VFFs, then started to feel a hot spot on my toe, so I changed to my shoes.  Aaron and I ran on treadmills next to each other for about 5 miles and then Aaron got sick of it and went to the track for another mile and swam some laps while I finished my other 5 miles.  My left leg is a little tight, starting at the hip and going down my IT band so Aaron offered to work on it for a bit tonight.  What a guy.

Aaron worked on my legs for about 45 minutes last night doing some PUSH Therapy that his massage therapist does.  I have these golf ball sized knots on both sides of my glutes that shoot sensation down my hamstrings and through my hips when he pushes on them.  PUSH Therapy is not just finding knots and trigger pointing them but rather pushing gently on them while I move the muscles extending out from them.  For instance, as I'm laying on my side, Aaron finds the adhesion in my glute.  He gently pushes on it as I extend my leg down, drop it to relaxed, move my leg forward, drop it to relaxed, move my leg back as far as I can, and drop it to relaxed again.  The idea is that the movement aides in breaking up the adhesions and also works the pressure Aaron is putting on me across the muscle instead of just up and down the muscle.   It starts to fatigue my hip muscles after a while so it also becomes a hip strengthening exercise.  My left leg did not feel the same tension today as it did yesterday, so all that therapy he did must have helped.

I went to the gym this morning since I had to drop Abe off at school early for a class field trip and the girls were ready to go for the day anyway.  Ran 10 miles on the treadmill.  Started out around 8:15 pace, stopped and stretched after 20 minutes and then bumped the pace up to 7:45 pace.  Watched CNN with Abe's MP3 player since it gets FM reception.  Saw Obama getting the Nobel Peace Prize which apparently is given based on peoples promises and good intentions now.  Also saw lots of debate on the Health Care Reform which is moving right along....as slow as molasses in January.  Saw images of all the hundreds of other U.S. Cities that are freezing their bums off this week too.  Then I saw a story about a guy on trial for murder with swastika and other offensive tattoos all over his face and neck and the public is criticizing the Judge's decision to pay $150/day from State funds for a makeup artist to cover up his tattoos during the trial so as to avoid offending people.  Gimme a break!  If the guy got the tattoos to express himself and represent what he stands for then that ought to be in full disclosure to the Jury and anyone else who cares to watch his Trial.  Seems silly to me that they would consider covering them.  These kind of stories are why I RARELY watch the News.  They just irritate me.  Finally after this story, I just stuck my Ipod back on my earphones and listened to music.  It was much more uplifting.

Steamboat Springs!  

I thought it was cold in Denver.  Its even colder here!  We arrived last night around 11:00 p.m. after getting our kids situated and packing the car and then driving the 3 hour trip and the temperature was -9 F as we got into our hotel room.  This morning, wanting to find a fitness center and some hot springs to soak in we asked the front desk manager and she recommended the hot springs up the road that has a fitness center too and gave us some discount passes.  

I did my long run for the week, 12 miles.  Started out at 8:20 pace and slowly progressed to 7:30 for the last 4-5 miles.  Treadmill shut down on me after an hour so I had to restart it.  In my final half mile Aaron had finished his 9 miles and was just waiting for me so I decided to finish it quickly and bumped up the pace to 5:30.  The run felt great and we stretched, rolled out on foam rollers, and soaked in the hot springs for a while afterwards. 

After showering, eating, and getting our gear, we hit the slopes for a few hours.  My legs were not used to using those snowboarding muscles in the isolated anaerobic way snowboarding requires so I had to keep stretching but finally after a couple of runs they got warmed up and felt better.  The weather was beautiful and sunny, but stayed in the low 20s F.  

For dinner we ate at Giovanni's, the same place we ate at on our Honeymoon 7.5 years ago.  Their ownership and menu had changed a little but it was still VERY delicious.  Then we went to see the movie, Everybody's Fine and I cried through a lot of it.  Its a pretty sad movie.  I don't want to spoil it or anything, but I don't know why they called the movie Everybody's Fine because everybody is definitely NOT fine.  As Aaron and I discussed it afterwards we felt inspired to be better parents though so I guess there was a good take-away message. 

Ahh vacation.   Gotta love it.  No rush to be anywhere at any time, no messes to clean up, no whiney kids (although I do love having kids on vacation and I actually miss them right now), no cooking, and freedom to do whatever you want, when you want. 

This morning we slept in until 8 a.m. again and went to get some complimentary breakfast.  Ate something light, and saved more in our room for later.  Then we went to the hot springs fitness center and ran on treadmills.  I did the workout my Coach gave me:

20 minute warmup, stretching, 4X25 second strides.

5 minutes at half marathon pace (I locked it in at 5:49 pace)

2 minutes easy

3 minutes at 10k pace (I did 5:36 pace)

2 minutes easy

and repeat that 5X2X3X2 interval 2 more times.

10 minute cool down

I actually really enjoyed doing this on the treadmill because I could just lock in the pace and keep it going.  It was pretty mindless.  I didn't even wear my ipod, I just stared out the window at the snow falling on the cars driving by and people walking around.  I got pretty sweaty though doing it inside.  But no one complained.  

After running Aaron and I went to the stretching area and rolled out for a good 20 minutes then went to soak in the hot springs for another 30 minutes.  Now we're going to go snowboarding, I guess.   As you can see we're really committed to getting our money's worth on the ski slopes.  Actually we didn't pay for our passes, we just got them free for paying for our hotel as part of the early season ski promotion.  I think we'll go back to the hot springs after dinner tonight for some more soaking.  It just feels so good!