February & March 2021 Update

Hello friends,

The last two months I've gotten outside for a couple runs. My treadmill mileage is still over 50% of my total mileage these last two months, but that's better than the 100% of total mileage in January. 

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02/08/2021

I did a birthday run at Greenland Open Space!

I originally set out to do an out-and-back, but revisited my decision and ended up doing Kipps Loop. This little 8-mile loop was beautiful in the bright Colorado sun, despite biting cold wind and areas of deep snowdrifts that accumulated from a prior snowstorm. I finished up just before sundown. At a couple points my fingers began to freeze even with gloves on, but it was totally worthwhile.

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02/19/2021

This time, we went to Spruce Meadows Open Space and brought the family. I did some sledding with the kids and then did a short 6-mile out-and-back run. I ran from the meadows to the junction with the mountaintop loop. I didn't have time to do the loop, so I turned around. I was sloshing through deep snow at points, but it was a warm day and that buoyed my spirits. It reminded me of all the warm days after snowstorms that I tackled Barr trail. I hope that I'll be able to go back on Barr someday soon (it's too popular for social distancing standards, so I haven't been there in over a year.)

When I returned from my run, I found that Alex and the kids had built a huge snowman ⛄ out in the field! (It was close enough to the train tracks that it could be seen from there.) Neat!

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03/03/2021

I ran an 8-mile loop at Homestead Ranch near sunset. It was a lovely day, although my legs felt somewhat heavy and I felt like I just couldn't pick up the pace. Maybe a result of trying to fit too much mileage in near the end of February, which is always a challenging month for mileage goals.

Honestly, by the end of February, I was behind on overall mileage yet again and I was beginning to doubt my ability to accumulate even 1700 miles this calendar year. Since I'd already reduced my original goal, and I didn't want to drop it down again if I didn't have to, I decided not to post a blog update for February by itself. I thought maybe I'd be in a better position by the end of March.

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Throughout March, I did a couple nighttime and moonlight runs, but still supplemented with plenty of treadmill time.

I did a couple tough weightlifting sessions in my garage gym and rode the exercise bike as cross-training when I felt the mileage beginning to wear my legs down. 

And we finally got our yoga trapeze set up! 

I love this thing!! I use it daily now, at least a little bit. Mainly I've used it for bodyweight strength work so far. I've already noticed a difference from just regular weights (although those still have their place too.) I feel like it helps strengthen all those little balancing muscles that I am lacking. It's great, it's like having gymnastics rings on high/medium/low settings. Doing dips and pullups are my favorite so far. The dips especially require extra balance that isn't required on a static dip station. And I know I've only begun to explore all the possible uses for my yoga trapeze. 

So, now that March is wrapping up, I have totalled just over 422 miles for the year thus far. This breaks down to between 140 and 141 miles per month, or about 1690 if I keep this monthly pace up for the remainder of the year. While that's still about 10 total miles behind goal, I feel like it's totally possible to make that distance up.

1700 miles is still a goal that will challenge me, and not allow me to get too complacent on taking a lot of rest days in a row. However, I'm much more confident today, on this last day of March, that I'll be able to achieve this goal. Certainly more confident than I was at the end of February, when I was so discouraged that I didn't even dare write about it!

I hope everyone is staying healthy. We are almost out of this pandemic. I'm trying to just hold out a little longer, and maybe this summer I'll be able to go back to my favorite trails and back to the mountains!!