Mon, March 20

Happy first day of spring 🌱!

I began this morning's workout with chin-ups on the yoga trapeze. These felt good. I want to do some regular pull-ups later in the week also, but I started with chin-ups today instead to ease into the body weight work this week.

Then I did some inclined push-ups, which focus more of the upper chest. I do these by engaging my core, not letting any of the stress fall to my lower back. I get a good central core workout as a bonus.

Then, I did 35 minutes on the row machine in the afternoon.

A nice cross-training day, especially after speedwork yesterday.

***

Tue, March 21

13.8 miles total today, in two separate sessions.

5.3 of those miles were with Pippin in the park in our afternoon trail canicross run.

Again, the clouds were fantastic, bursting from behind the mountains.

***

Wed, March 22

A busy day, and a storm began brewing over the mountains, creating occasional HUGE gusts of wind.

Despite the wind, it was mostly sunny at the overlook and we sat for a few minutes and enjoyed the incoming clouds, before turning around on this short run day.

4.6 miles.

***

Thu, March 23

Today it was really nice to meet Dionne at Red Rock Canyon for a short run together!

It was super cool to catch up with her, and I brought Pippin!

Dionne, Pippin and I did a loop of about 5 miles, then Pippin and I did a second, shorter loop, bringing our total to 8.8 miles for the day.

***

Sat, March 25

8 casual slow miles with Pippin in Palmer Park.

Lots of warm yellow-orange formations smiled upon us today. Pippin loved climbing the bluffs and standing on the rocks.

***

Sun, March 26

Speedwork Sunday!!

Today's speedwork Sunday was just Sharon and myself.

We decided to do shorter intervals today. We did 1/4, 1/2, 3/4, 1/4, 1/2.

Doing the last quarter-mile before the last half-mile actually helped my last interval time, and changing things up is good for the body from time to time.

Today's times were 1:42, 4:01, 5:57, 1:45, and 3:48.

A little slower today, as some of the intervals were in the 8-minute-per-mile range. That's fine for a slower week, since I had a great Speedwork Sunday last week. No one can achieve peak performance week after week.

So this was the perfect short workout, 4.5 miles.

Then, I took Pippin out for the second run. I love Sundays, as I always enjoy the social speedwork and then a really casual, laid back run on the bluffs trails with the dog.

Talk about living the good life!

The occasional wind gusts kept the day cool, and it was one of the few days I was comfortable wearing tights and not shorts.

Pippin and I did 7.5 miles, bringing my total to 12 miles for the day.

***

Mon, March 27

A short one with Pippin, 6 miles.

***

Tue, March 28

This morning's weight workout was:

* Barbell overhead presses

* Barbell bicep curls

Followed by 35 minutes on the row machine. A nice cross-training day.

***

Fri, March 31

Pull-ups.

Last time I did a pull exercise it was chin-ups, so I balanced that with the pull-ups this morning.

***

What another fun couple weeks!

It was really nice to catch up with Dionne, and another successful Speedwork Sunday is in the books.

The weather is still very springlike in Colorado, with occasional snow for the mountains interspersed with periods of warming/melting.

I am planning to do the Incline on Sunday, and going for a fast time.

See you all out on the trails soon!