My last day in the mountains was two weeks ago, although it doesn't seem like it's been that long.

I just enjoyed that last mountain run so much, it was such a treasured day for me, that it's carried me for a long time.

I ended up running a 60-mile week that week, which is a higher volume than I expected this close to the end of the year.

After that 60-mile week, I ended up taking 3 days off from running in a row. I didn't mean to do that, but things at home were busy and I also felt the cumulative fatigue. I realize now while writing this, 3 days isn't that much. It felt like 5 days, and until I went back and checked my exercise log, I thought I had taken 5 days off.

When I finally set out again after those 3 days off, I overcompensated a little - and did a 24.5 mile run in town. That felt tougher to me than the 24 miles in the mountains. Maybe all the cement was the cause?

After that run, I switched out my shoes to a new pair and my legs, feet, and especially ankles felt instantly better. I must say, I truly love these shoes I'm currently running in - the Brooks Revel 4. They're the only shoes I've ever had that needed no breaking in whatsoever. Perfect fit straight out of the box. And I wore my last pair for way longer than I should have, but I probably wore them for well over 1000 miles. Now I just need to stock up on them, since I have no more backup pairs!

Anyhow, here's the summary of the last couple weeks:

***

Thursday, December 2nd, 2021:

12 miles in-town, up through Pulpit Rock Park. 1300 feet. Felt good doing 12 miles considering I'd just done 24 two days prior. Flexing my endurance muscle.

***

Friday, December 3rd, 2021:

9 miles, 1000 feet elevation. 

***

Saturday, December 4th, 2021:

7 miles, 850 feet.

***

Sunday, December 5th, 2021:

8 miles, 500 feet. (A flat one today - not my usual hills.)

***

Thursday, December 9th, 2021:

24.5 miles, 2600 feet. I went up past Pulpit Rock, and the clouds in the background with the light on the rock in the foreground made a really neat photo. 

Then I connected to Woodmen Rd, and ran all the way up to Blodgett Peak Open Space. It was getting dark already even though it wasn't 5pm yet. I ran up to the water tower, which would be the high point of my run tonight. I descended the trail to the south, connecting to the long, open trail that descends all the way down to the South Blodgett parking area.

The South Blodgett trail is on this exposed mesa that had an excellent view of the whole city.

After I got back to the road, I ran past Ute Valley Park on my way back home. My legs hurt for the last few miles, but I tried to draw inspiration from a podcast I'd recently listened to where Courtney Dauwalter explains how she pictures her pain cave. For her, she is digging her cave out every time she gets into it, making it larger. I like this imagery. I'd like to add a hearth and some cave paintings in my pain cave.

***

Saturday, December 11th, 2021:

9 miles, 1000 feet, and another lovely sunset. I think the clouds make the sunsets so cool.

***

Sunday, December 12th, 2021:

Unrelated to running - tonight we took the kids up to Highlands Ranch for the big Christmas light show at the Cherry Hills Church. It was really neat!

***

Monday, December 13th, 2021:

9 miles, 1000 feet. 

***

Tuesday, December 14th, 2021:

A flat one, 8 miles, 500 ft.

***

I've also done some weight lifting over the last two weeks, but mostly limited to two exercises a day. I haven't been lifting really heavy either, and I've kind of neglected to keep track of exactly what exercises I'm doing. Essentially, I am just doing a few little things each day so that I'm not doing nothing. Running has taken the front seat while the weather is still nice. But I'm sure there will be a time this winter when I'll be indoors more.