Days 290-292: Happy Trails

Day 290:  On Thursday afternoon Mike and I went hiking at Mt. Sanitas in Boulder.   The trailhead is just a short distance from the popular flatirons trail and I think it’s a much more difficult hike….which is always more fun when it’s over 🙂  It took us about two hours to scramble up and down the mountain and take lots of scenic pictures.  We even took a break to gobble down peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.  I am not sure what it is about hikes, even short hikes, but I have to eat a PBJ or it is not complete.  I absolutely believe this to be a true statement.

Day 291:  Yesterday my stomach was pretty upset all day, so I decided to get my workout out of the way as early as possible.  I ran a quick three miles to and from Washington Park and said quiet prayers that my stomach pain would not act up.  Luckily, the pain held off until the run was over.  I came home and made my new favorite (pre-wedding breakfast):

-3 egg whites, chopped mushrooms, green onions, spinach, bell peppers and asparagus with an apple

I have been eating the breakfast for the last week and it’s kept me satisfied until lunch.  Give er’ a try!

Day 292:  I just got back from a six-mile run at Washington Park. Feeling excited before about the run, I decided to take a different path the whole time and run in the opposite direction at the park.  I know, I know, getting CRAZY!    I just felt like I had to switch up my pattern to get out of my brain a little bit and let my body take over some more.  It worked.  I ran 6 miles at a 9.40 pace, which is a little faster than I normally run and I felt great.  If you’ve been running the same path for years, I recommend switching it up, no matter how odd it feels.  I promise your bod’ will thank you for it.

Days 163-166: Yellow Deli Adventure w/ Friends

Day 163:  In the last five years I could probably count how many times I have been sick on one hand.  Unfortunately, that is not true of the past six months.  My body has become more of a petri dish for bacteria and I have had to try to fight off one bug after another.  On Wednesday night I either had my first round of food poisoning in my life or a 48 hour flu.  My Dr. brother said it could have been either and it doesn’t really matter what it was.  It exited my body as quickly as it came and luckily, it did the same to Mike.

Considering the fact that a walk from the couch to the bathroom had me in sweats, I had no clue how I was going to manage a real workout today.  I had to work at my part-time job and sticking through my shift was how I worked out.  Standing, walking, talking and being social while my insides felt like they were slowly dying was harder than any workout I have done in the past 166 days.  I counted it, I had no other choice!

Day 164:  On Thursday my ragged body was sporting a 101 degree fever.  Although I loved how the extra heat my face light up, I was praying with everything in me that this was going to break before my brother and sister-in-law came to town from Boston.   I slept all day and managed to get out for a 25 minute walk…..an….incredibly….slow….walk.   It hurt and I had to rest afterwards, but I did it.  As I was laying on the couch feeling bad about my lack of hard workouts I had to think about how I would tell my clients to treat themselves on their off days, “with nothing but love and gentleness.  Listen to what your body needs and do just that.”  So I did and I healed.

Day 165:  My oldest brother Matt and his wife, Erika have made it to Denver!   The four of us went over to Wash Park for an early morning run.  I am by far the slowest runner of the bunch, so I trucked along beside them and made barely audible noises whenever I was asked a question.  Mike and I barely made it three miles before we both needed to rest our freshly recovered flu poisoned bodies.  Then we walked together around the lake, while petting every dog that came near us* until the other two finished their run for the day.   *We really are crazy animal people.  I apologize if I have ever chased after you and your dog to give your pup some love.

Day 166:  Today one of my favorite friends, Katie, wanted to go hiking in Boulder.  What a wonderful way to show my out of town guests how beautiful Colorado can be!  Matt, Erika, Katie and I hiked the Royal Arch at Chautauqua Park and then walked around Pearl Street for a dose of small town glory.

We went to Yellow Deli for lunch and were immediately at a loss of words when we saw the group of people behind the counter.  I actually can’t describe to you what this was like (without fear of offending someone), so please checkout their website for yourself http://yellowdeli.com/our-history-vista   When we walked out of the restaurant someone on a nearby patio said, “what happened in there?”  I could barely answer his question, because I still had no idea.   The sandwiches were good though and at least we didn’t ask about the “spirit of the fruit.”  Confused yet?   We were too.

Day 50: A Walk in the Woods

Today I went hiking in Boulder with my friend Devon.  She was one of those people that I instantly connected with the first time that I met her a few months ago.  Her love for life is overwhelming contagious and she has a sense of adventure that is so much fun to be around.  Finding friends like her make moving seem like an easy thing to do!

Before we started off on the trail we walked into the information station at the bottom of Chataqua Park for guidance.  My Indiana University sweatshirt was greeted with a cheerful, “hello, fellow Hoosier!” and a story about the cheery parks’ man living in a teepee outside of IU for his senior year in college.  I bet he has crazier stories than Harry Caray!   Since the winds in Boulder were ridiculous today he showed us a trail that might block some of the wind and also be scenic.  We ended up hiking a little over three miles and took lots of fun pictures along the way.    I am still baffled by the lack of snow in the foothills and the exceptionally warm days as we head into December.

I am definitely not complaining, I am just hoping this is not going to affect the ski days that will (hopefully) take up lots of my workout days!  Bring on the snow dance….