Weekend in Denver-- Sunday 4/10

On Sunday, we all woke up pretty sore. We finally go our acts together and had brunch at Mercury Cafe. It was all organic and delicious! I had a pretty amazing omelet there with mushrooms, peas, Camembert cheese and a creamy champagne sauce. After brunch we went to Seven Cups, a Chinese tea house in Denver. We had a pot of Puer tea (a kind of black tea) and a pot of green tea. Both were delicious!

Tea and sugar

Tea and mochi (apricot, brown sugar, peanut and sesame flavors)

Sugar rocks up close!

Pretty tea pot!

After tea, a little work, and some dinner at Root Down (I wish I took some pictures of the amazing food!!!), Sarah and Vanessa brought me to the airport. SAD!!! I miss them already, but it was a good weekend overall, and my legs are finally recovering from the hike Saturday. 

Weekend in Denver-- Saturday 4/9

Saturday, we woke up late-ish and decided to go on a hike near Boulder. We got bagels for breakfast at Moe's Bagels. I had a pesto bagel with veggie cream cheese- delish! Then, we drove out towards Boulder, turned left towards Eldorado Springs and parked at the South Mesa Trailhead.

The hike we did was called Bear Peak. We started out around 12 or 12:30, made it to the top in around 2.5 hours, and started to head down around 3 PM. We walked down the trail for a while until we realized that it didn't seem so familiar.... but we weren't really sure. We probably walked down for about an hour until we decided to turn around. We asked a few people which trail we were on, and realized for sure that we were LOST! I'm still not really sure how we missed the turn, but we did. So, we turned back around and headed up the mountain again. By this time we were pretty darn exhausted but still had to trek back to where the trails diverged. Once we got back to the top we were relieved, but still had to make the 2 hour trek down the mountain.

On the way down, it started to get a little colder but we kept moving. Unfortunately, I wasn't being too careful and I sprained my ankle. After a few minutes of sitting and crying on the rocks, I decided it was OK to continue... just very slowly. Anyways, after a long, long, long day of hiking, we finally got back to the car.

Here are some highlights from the hike:

"Flat Irons" near Boulder

Sarah and Vanessa holding up the rock!

View from the top of Bear Peak!

Vanessa and Sarah at the top of the mountain

Another view from the top

Sitting on a rock

Sipping on the Camelbak

Sarah-- Vanessa in the background

Vanessa, Sarah and I at the top

View of the plateau

More awesome rocks

Once the hike was finally over, we ran to Argonaut for some beer, the grocery store for some snacks, and headed back to Vanessa's apartment. She had already told some people to come over that night, so we quickly showered. Our legs were hurting pretty badly, but we made it through the night. After 3 or so beers, I passed out on the couch. 

Weekend in Denver-- Friday 4/8

On Friday, Vanessa went off to work once again. Sarah and I decided to make a trip to the mall since neither of us has a Nordstrom nearby. I love Nordstrom! We both went a little crazy and spent way too much time at the makeup counters. The Dior ladies basically gave us makeovers. I also bought a really great spring jacket that I'm super excited to wear.

Anyway, enough about shopping... following our mall trip, we went to see Vanessa at her school and gave a brief lesson to her kids. They all speak Spanish and are English Language Learners. They taught us a few words in Spanish, I taught them the same words in French, and Sarah taught them in Arabic. It was a pretty cool little lesson and Vanessa's kids seemed excited about it!

After work, we went running of course. Thanks V for making us run even though we didn't want to! We also had a little "wine and cheese" party (just the 3 of us) with some awesome cheese from Whole Foods. A little manchego, goat cheese, another raw cheese made with goat, sheep, and cow's milk, membrillo (quince paste that is common in Spain), delicious crackers and wine of course. Following the wine and cheese we headed to Sushi Sasa for some sushi in celebration of Sarah's birthday (not until next weekend, but we hardly ever get together!). We even ordered Sake bombs to celebrate! The sushi was delish.

Sarah, Vanessa and  I preparing to Sake Bomb

Sarah's birthday Sake Bomb

PINK seaweed in the miso?

SUSH!

Afterwards, Sarah wanted to hit up a hookah bar. We found a place called Oasis and went with it. We had fun there, but eventually we had enough and needed some fresh air.

Vanessa and Sarah trying the Mango flavor

Trying the hookah

Sarah and I

Lots of smoke!

And more smoke

So much smoke you can't see my face (just thumbs up!)

Weekend in Denver-- Thursday 4/7

This weekend, I went to Denver with my best friends Vanessa and Sarah! Vanessa still lives in Denver doing Teach for America, and Sarah flew in from Jacksonville, North Carolina where she currently lives with her boyfriend and works from home (lucky!). We had a really fun and exciting weekend!

I got there Thursday morning and Sarah came to get me from the airport, since Vanessa had to work. We had lunch at Parsley, a great healthy sandwich/soup/salad place that also has amazing smoothies. I had the caprese salad and blueberry bliss smoothie-- made with yogurt, soymilk, chai tea, blueberries, mint, and agave syrup, this smoothie is to die for!

Later that night when Vanessa got back from work, we did something called the Snug Run. We ran from Vanessa's apartment to The Irish Snug, a local Irish pub. Once we got there, the Snug Run took us for a 3.something mile run around the park and back to the bar. After the run, there was a free pasta dinner, although the line was pretty long so we decided to order some nachos instead. The nachos were made with waffle fries and all the standard nacho toppings-- guacamole, salsa, beans, cheese, sour cream, jalapenos. So yummy! We also had a few beers, and then walked back to Vanessa's apartment.

We were still hungry, so we decided to make "penis pasta". Yes, pasta shaped like penises-- my gift to Vanessa from my visit to Amsterdam last summer. We cooked the pasta, mixed in some pesto, toasted pine nuts, and mozzarella cheese. YUM!

Penis Pesto Pasta with Pine Nuts

Dam to Dam training schedule

This is my Dam to Dam training schedule, adapted from the half-marathon training schedule on Runner's World. It was supposed to be 9 weeks long, but since we are still finishing up P90X, we changed it to 8 weeks instead. Cole and I will be starting our official running workouts next Monday, April 11th! Hopefully, we can keep up with the schedule with finals coming up.


Here is the updated schedule. Sunday and Thursday (not shown on the table) are both rest days. Wish us luck!

	MON	TUES	WED	FRI	SAT
Wk1 4/10- 4/16	1x1200 PI (400) 2x800 CI (200) 4x200 SI (200)	3-4 miles, or rest	2x2 miles PI (800) + 4x100 S	4 miles + 4x100 S	8-9 miles
Wk2 4/17- 4/23	1x1200 PI (400) 2x800 CI (200) 4x200 SI (200)	2 miles	3 miles PI (800) + 4x100 S	5K race pace	6 miles
Wk3 4/24- 4/30	2x1-mile CI (800) 6x200 SI (200)	3-4 miles, or rest	4 miles PI (800) 1 mile CI + 6x100 S	5 miles + 6x100 S	10 miles
Wk4 5/1- 5/7	2x1-mile CI (800) 6x200 SI (200)	3-4 miles, or rest	4 miles PI (800) 1 mile CI + 6x100 S	5 miles + 6x100 S	11 miles
Wk5 5/8- 5/14	2x [800 SI (400), 400 SI (200) 200 SI (200) 1200 PI]	2 miles	4 miles (incl. 6x1:00 SI) + 4x100 S	10K race pace	8 miles
Wk6 5/15- 5/21	2x1200 CI (600) 4x400 SI (200) 4x200 SI (100)	3-4 miles, or rest	4 miles PI (800) 1x800 CI (400) 2 miles PI	6 miles + 6x100 S	11-12 miles
Wk7 5/22- 5/28	2x1200 CI (600) 4x400 SI (200) 4x200 SI (100)	3-4 miles, or rest	4 miles PI (800) 1x800 CI (400) 2 miles PI	6 miles + 6x100 S	6 miles
Wk8 5/29- 6/4	4x400 CI (200) 2x200 SI (100)	2 miles PI + 4x100 S	2x400 CI (200) 1x 200 SI	3 miles easy	RACE

First (outdoor) run of the year

Friday was my first outdoor run of the year. The weather was beautiful, right around 50 degrees and sunny. Cole and I decided to start out easy by running just 3 miles. Cole wore his Vibram Bikila shoes, and I wore my new Nike Free running shoes. Both of us felt light on our feet, but towards the end my ankles started to hurt-- I think the new shoes are working all sorts of muscles in my lower legs than I'm not used to. Hopefully that gets better. Other than that, the shoes were very comfortable though!

Cole lounging on the deck post-run

Our SHOES!

Post-run victory sip

Since we also did Kenpo today (the P90X version of kickboxing) I was pretty exhausted. I'm going to try running again soon-- maybe Sunday or some time next week. Our official half-marathon running plan starts next Monday!

Summer running

Running counts as travel, right? Well, Cole and I decided to sign up for 2 running races this summer: Dam to Dam and Warrior Dash. Dam to Dam is 20K race (12.4 miles) in Des Moines on June 4th-- I've done it several times before, although not in the past couple years, so I'm excited to do it again! It's a pretty long race, but lots of fun and very rewarding when you finish. There is also tons of food and beer at the end of the race, plus the Des Moines Farmer's Market is right there too! Anyways, we have a 9-week running plan from Runner's World to prepare us for the almost half-marathon distance. More on that later! 


We also signed up for the Warrior Dash, a 3.28 mile race with some crazy obstacles along the way, such as jumping over fire, climbing a cargo net, scrambling through mud under barbed wire, and more. Check out the link above for more info on that race. That one takes place in Channahon, Illinois on June 19th. That's about a 2 1/2 hour drive from Iowa City. After Dam to Dam, hopefully Warrior Dash won't seem too bad!


In other exciting workout-related news, I have 2 pairs of new shoes for working out and running. I plan on continuing to do P90X in my Vibram FiveFingers Bikila LS shoes. The LS just means they have laces, as opposed to the regular Bikila which just have a velcro strap. I have narrow feet so they fit well. They are great for working out! It really feels like you are barefoot, but with a little extra support. I haven't run outside in them yet, but I'd like to start soon. 

My Vibram Bikila LS shoes

I also have a new pair of Nike Free Run shoes. These are great too-- not exactly like running barefoot, but very light as well! I ran in these the other day for the first time, and they were extremely comfortable. My ankles hurt a little afterwards, but I think the shoes are just working different muscles than I'm used to. 

My custom Nike Free shoes

Between the two races and continuing P90X, it looks like I have my work cut out for me this spring/summer!