Days 213-216: Someday

Day 213:  Friday morning I went to Pura Vida for a 6 a.m. Anusara Yoga class for an event called, Pur-a-thon.  It was an all day fundraising event that benefit Brent’s Place, http://brentsplace.org/    The instructor, Roger Martin-Pressman, talked a lot about the people who have supported us throughout our lives and asked us to dedicate our practice to them.

My mind immediately went to a fellow life coach friend of mine, Rebecca, who has helped, inspired and led me through the last two years of my life.  Her love kept me strong when I felt weak and her words guided me through a new career and lots of uncertainty.   I sent her all the energy that I could in every pose and my body felt spent after the 60 minute practice.  The next day my body was sore, but I felt like I had tapped into strength.   The strength that had guided me through the past few years and had given me a voice to lead myself without doubt.

Day 214:  One hour walk around my neighborhood.  I am officially taking a break from running and tough workouts to let my body recuperate before my half-marathon on Sunday.

Day 215:  Yesterday I went to Edwards, CO with my friend Jenny for some quality girl time.  We walked out her back door and into some of the most beautiful landscape that I have seen in a longtime; snow-capped mountains, thousands of rows of bright green Aspen trees and more Pine trees than the eye could take in.  It took my breath away.

We hiked for almost an hour and as we were headed home we hit a steep downward hill.  I turned to Jenny and said, “make sure to dig into the hill with the side of your shoe, it will keep you from falling.”  Not even one second after that awesome tip, I fell hard and ungracefully on the side of my body.   We laughed for a few minutes and then I collected my pride up off the side of the mountain and called it a day.

Day 216:  This morning Jenny and I went for another hike around Edwards while we sipped our hot coffees.  I made the promise to myself that some day Mike and I will live in the mountains again.  They are too beautiful not to live in, retire in and play in every single day.  Someday…I promise.

Days 135-138: Making It Through

Although you have not heard from me as regularly lately, rest assured that I am in a happy, live-living, joy seeking and sweating-finding place. Also, I have taken a small step back from the blog in order to make more space in my life for my coaching clients, fiance, needy cat and myself.  As always, I am thankful for your continued support and encouragement as I shift my way through life!

Days 135-137:  I am still (seriously, I am in the running for the world record’s longest cold to inhabit a healthy body) fighting the funk and thought my body could use a few days of walking to recover.

On day 135 it was almost sixty degrees and I walked for over an hour from my neighborhood to Cherry Creek.  I even ditched all of my outer layers a few minutes into the walk so that I could soak up the sun and sweat freely.

Heading into Friday a.m. Denver got about three inches of snow, but I decided to brave the cold and head out for a walk.  Despite the strong winds, I have found that a great pair of Sorel boots will help out a walker in any temperature.

On Friday evening Mike and I went to the Colorado Mammoth lacrosse game with some friends.  It ended up being the most fun night we have had in Denver and we did not get home until a little after 1 a.m.  If you know me at all, that’s like saying we got home at 5 a.m. to a normal person.  Needless to say, it threw off my workout schedule and left me with walking to work on Saturday as my only workout option.  It takes me about an hour to get there, so I was ok with that being my daily sweat.

Day 138:  Today Mike and I decided to try out the local 24 hour fitness to see if we might want to join.  It was really nice to be back in a gym after over a month of just hitting up the outdoors and yoga studios.  I ran on a treadmill for 25 minutes and then did the elliptical for 15, followed by a hefty amount of abdominal work.  It was a nice refresher of what it feels like to have a gym routine- maybe some day too my gym commitment phobia will go away and I will actually join one!

Day 116: Snowed In

It’s been snowing in Denver for over 24 hours and it’s still coming down like crazy!  I don’t think I have ever been in a snowstorm like this before and the excitement that I was feeling reminded me of being a little kid.  Obviously my workout for the day was going to be playing in the snow for as long as I could.

Mike and I walked around the neighborhood, had a snowball fight, kicked snow at the other person, pushed each other into large banks and raced along the snow packed streets.  Before we became adults, this is how we sweat when we were kids- we played.  Today, we played.   I highly encourage you to play the way that you used to before we forgot how.  Playing is the original working out.  Go back to your roots, get outside, run, laugh, smile, play and love.

Day 63: Home Again

Everyone has a place where they go to get recharged.  My place is in the heart of the mountains, primarily Keystone.  I lived there for two years out of college and it was a good experience, but not great.  I still cannot pinpoint why this is my place of peace, yet I am drawn there when my soul needs some extra happiness.

You can get to Keystone two ways;  by taking 70 West to Silverthorne and then cutting through Dillon or by taking Loveland Pass.  When I lived there four years ago I was terrified of taking Loveland Pass.  It’s huge, cliff like, icy and filled with  hitch-hikers wanting a ride to the top of the Pass (to ski/board down).  Today, I chose fear and took the high road because I was in need of having my breath taken away from me because of something so naturally beautiful.

I skied Keystone’s barely there snow for two and a half hours today.  I even made it a point not to wear my headphones while taking the chairs/gondola and strike up conversations with my fellows skiers.  Lately I have noticed that the more chatty I am with strangers, the happier I feel, even if the talk is minimal

Here is a list of what I learned from my fellow ski-goers:

• I learned that when Polish men say “bear” it sounds like “beer” and that makes for an awkward conversation.
• Two bro-brahs that smell like weed will in fact light up a joint every time they ride up with me (without fail).
•  That when you love your high school sweetheart you should marry them.  This came from a man who never stopped loving his and reunited with her at their 40th high school reunion.  Thanks for the tip, don’t mind if I do!
• The same bro’s judge whether you’re cool (aka they can smoke next to you on a lift) based off of what your goggles look like.  Note to self: buy the world’s dorkiest goggles
• Lots of Hoosiers fans live in the high country.  By the way, who isn’t a Hoosier fan right now!?
•  The Continental Divide (that’s located close to the mountain) brings in a lot of wind which unfortunately makes a lot of snowstorms miss Keystone Mountain (I don’t know if this is true, but the man seemed smart so I thought I should pass this along).

After my soul was drenched in mountain love I met up with an old friend who reminded me simply that, “as long as you’re having fun in life, then you’re winning.”  Continuing on my high from my friendly meetup and my day of winning, I headed to my favorite bakery in Silverthorne, Blue Moon.  I ordered my old favorite belly-busting jalapeno bagel with jalapeno cream cheese and happily ate while driving back down to Denver and into my improved and lovely life.

Day 55 & 56: The Weather Outside is Frightful

Denver is typically known for its mild climate and clear bluebird skies.  The  super snowy cold weather is usually reserved for the nearby mountains.   This week Mother Nature really changed things up!  We have had three snowstorms in the past six days and today it is only 14 degrees outside.  I decided not to take these freezing temperatures lightly and stick to indoor workouts.

Yesterday and today I spent my time sweating inside the luxurious gym Pura Vida in Cherry Creek.  I woke up yesterday feeling like a cold was knocking on my front door wanting in to warm-up (I don’t blame the guy, it’s COLD OUT!), but I do not have time to get sick while I am working out everyday.  Since the cold guy was really banging, I decided to take it easy at the gym: 30 minutes on the elliptical, light lifting, ab work, followed-up by a few minutes in the steam room.  Have you ever tried a steam room?  It was my first experience and I am still at a loss for how that makes people feel better, it just made me feel slightly blind and like I was going to pass out.

Today was a different story.  I woke up feeling 100% better and ran a mile to warm up, then took a thirty minute “mad abs” class and followed that up with 45 minutes on the elliptical.  The ab class was awesome and I realized I would like to add that into my regular workout routine to amp up my core.  The guy next to me told me the same thing…four times.

Not every workout has to come with an inspirational message and that nice reminder gave my mind a rest while I moved my body.  However I did realize that when the temperatures are barely in the double digits and the last thing that I want to do is workout, it really does make a difference to have a beautiful gym to call “home sweat home.”

Day 44: Loving Monotony

In the last ten years I have lived in fifteen different places (please excuse me if I have already mentioned that in a previous blog-it blows my mind)!   Out of all of the places I have lived, Denver is the place that feels the most like home.  The day I moved back here I felt the roots starting to grow out of my feet and into the earth.   Once Michael comes home, I know those roots will just go deeper and deeper into the ground until our roots are completely tangled in the Colorado soil.

Today I ran the six-mile path from my house to Washington Park and home.  During my run I realized how familiar the streets, houses, paths, geese, sunshine and snow-capped mountains are becoming to me.  It’s a feeling that I have longed to recreate for the past two and a half years since I have been gone from Denver. It’s the feeling of knowing you are home.  Today’s run is the same run I will be doing in ten months and that’s one of the most beautiful things I could ask for.  Monotony can be boring to some, but at this moment in my life, I have never craved anything more.

Day Seventeen: First Snow

Today was the first snow in Colorado for the season.  Denver was not messing around either.  We are up to 8″ and it’s still coming down.

The general thoughts on the early snowstorm have the majority of Coloradans split down the center, they are either a. stoked because the gnar is coming early  and it’s a sign of some serious shredding to come* or b. annoyed that winter is starting in October.  I’m of the first variety.  So much so, that I awoke with little tears in my eyes and ran to my rooftop to take pictures to send to my fiance that is in a place that never gets below 90 degrees.

So what would my workout be on a day that I’m so over-filled with gratitude?  You probably guessed it.  I decided to have my cup completely overflow and go to Core Power Yoga for a class.  I honestly think it was the best practice I have ever had.  This got me thinking, was my practice so great because my mind was so clear and happy or was my practice great because my body was warm again and moving?  Either way, I was a happy girl with a crow pose that stayed strong for 30 seconds.

I feel compelled to end this entry with the words love and gratitude.  How are you loving your world today?  What fills you with gratitude?  How can you make your cup overflow everyday?   The answers to those questions continually change.  I have got mine answered, at least for now.

*I should not be able to use the words shred or gnar.  Those words are reserved for bros.  A more acceptable sentence for a blonde blogging skier would be, “excited because the snow is coming early and it’s a sign of some amazing skiing to come.”