Tue, Jan 10

Ran with Pippin for our second run together today! We did a shorter and quicker run along the Rock Island trail, adding 5.2 miles to the books.

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Wed, Jan 11

50 minutes rowing. Haven't done this in a little while, so I didn't go too fast.

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Thurs, Jan 12

10.5 miles today, mostly flat.

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Fri, Jan 13

8.6 miles today, on the bluffs. 1200 feet elevation.

I got to see a lovely sunset with shades of golden yellow and sky blue.

Unbeatable!

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Sat, Jan 14

Pippin was just begging for a run, so we went to the trails in Palmer Park.

Some of the trails were sloppy with ice, snow, and mud. The perfect test of a true trail dog! Pippin did just great.

7.3 miles today.

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Sun, Jan 15

Finally, today it was time to start on my goal of twice-monthly speedwork!

Sharon met me at the track. It was nice to have her with me, as it's easier to do hard workouts with friends.

This was my first track session in over three years, so I was glad to start with a simple ladder.

We did 400 (once around), followed by 800, then 1200, 800, 400.

I was around 1:45, 3:45, 6:00, 3:45, 1:45. So, I'm around an 8 minute mile race pace. I need to work on retaining focus on the second lap especially, as it seems consistently slower than the first lap.

For the first session in so long, I would not say it was fast but I would say it was successful. I'll be happy to gradually improve upon my times as we continue to train!

My total distance for today, including warm-up, workout, and cool-down, was 6 miles.

Then, we took the afternoon to go to the Wings Over the Rockies Air & Space Museum in Denver.

This was a cool museum to check out, and especially neat for anyone who is interested in aviation.

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Mon, Jan 16

8 miles today on the eastern Rock Island Trail.

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Tue, Jan 17

Today we took the kids for a mini hiking adventure in the lower part of Section 16 (the upper trail portion is still closed due to a rock slide). We climbed up the ridgeline and made it to the top of the first major rock outcropping. What a beautiful view and the kids had a nice nature experience, too!

Husband and kids and jagged red rocks, part of the Fountain Formation, at Section 16.

Later, at home, I did 35 minutes on the row machine, followed by triangle pushups.

I haven't done the triangle pushups in a while, and they seemed to help focus on stability muscles in the core. I'll have to try to incorporate these into my workout routine more often.

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Overall, I feel good about my workouts this last week. The first speedwork session of the year was a success, and I'm looking forward to more soon!