sidebar | life and training 2.14 – 2.20

‘Twas Colorado week! What a full vacation we had – aside from a few hours Tuesday evening, there really was never a dull moment. We always find various new places to explore and eateries to try out despite our multiple visits to Golden.

I love travel, visiting new areas, meandering about territories I haven’t prior seen. Make no mistake, though, some of the newness can be very jarring. Living with anxiety complicates situations others stride through easily, and while I think I’ve made progress tempering my attacks, I certainly was not immune to them on this trip. One of the reasons why I continue with a fitness regimen and vouch for a room with a kitchen is that I find familiarity grounding, and while I’m out of my normal element for the most part, a couple home comforts shuttle me back to my roots.

Thursday we had a skiing excursion on Loveland, a beginner-friendly slope series that J figured would be best for me to learn on. The morning was frigidly cold from the previous evening’s snow storm – the high was 13 but felt like -3, to give you some context. We rolled up around 9 to the snow-laden valley, sunshine streaking down the slopes, got me fitted in my boots, garbed up, and sent me on my way to ski school.

I felt a bit of an outcast from the start, though everyone was totally new to skiing I didn’t seem to have my shit together comparatively. The guy at the rental office told me I didn’t need poles, but that wound up being false. We had some talking time at the beginning where the instructor moved us through some important leg motions, then we shuffled up a small slope and practiced sliding down and braking.

Boy oh boy, was that terrifying.

I’ve mentioned this prior, but back in 2015 while I stayed in the Netherlands I crashed my bike in the middle of the road, resulting in a head wound (not serious, no concussion, but I lost a lot of hair) and a VERY close encounter with a car running over my arm sleeve. The experience traumatized me and sports that might cause me to lose control trigger an intense flight response. Skiing falls under that category. For some reason I couldn’t get my heels to click outwards like they’re supposed to for braking on the boards, so when I rushed downhill my whole body tensed up and I let out many a yelp and wail until I eventually skidded to a halt. Somehow, I never actually crashed.

The instructor noticed my fear and, after I tearily sat out one round, worked with me a couple of runs to encourage me to get my leg motion right. I think my brain automatically reverts to the running style of braking, so I tried to use my quads to slow up when really you need to activate the inner thigh more. It eventually made sense, and I guess you could say I was a halting master after that since I was so nervous constantly that all I did was ride my brakes the whole time!

We climbed up a larger run and wound around together down into the valley. The ski lift horrified me. I’m not particularly afraid of heights, but something about riding with skis attached to my feet really triggered my anxiety and I underwent a brief but intense panic attack. Thankfully, J accompanied me up the mountain and helped calm me down. Getting off the ski lift is also pretty jarring. One of the group members fell backwards and somewhat hurt his back.

Fun fact: I was the only one in our small group that didn’t fall over. Strange, isn’t it?

More than anything, the problem with my experience was poorly insulated gloves. The brand had great reviews online, so I’m not sure if they were already really cold when I put them on or what, but my hands would not warm up regardless of the measures we took. The instructor lent me his gloves and some Hot Hands and J tried some liners as well: nothing helped. When we finished and went inside the pain was so intense I sobbed, J trying to slowly rewarm them in his coat, for 10 minutes. They didn’t feel quite right the rest of the day despite holding the Hot Hands against them constantly. We theorize that I might have gotten frostnip (frostbite’s precussor). The next morning my hands were normal with no lingering signs of the day’s stress.

Otherwise? We took a leisurely approach to most of our days. Visiting old favorites, like Acova and Sherpa House and Laws, finding new spots like Blue Sparrow Coffee, short hikes, feeling like we were tripping balls at Meow Wolf, settling into gentler climes at the Botanic Gardens.

What I’m Up To This Week

Testing… A brownie pie, a ramen dish, shrimp pasta, and a cozy chili!

Restocking…The fridge and the larders. We cleared out quite a lot of shit before the tenting and I cannot wait to have a full fridge again! Even our pantry is pretty barren and needs some culinary love. I made an Amazon Fresh order for when we returned: the whole order was delivered to a wrong address and part of it was missing, and instead of chicken and greens we received a bag with Eggo waffles and Italian ice. Dafuq.

A Few Things I’m Digging

Candied ginger…I love ginger for travel since I get pretty bad motion sickness. We picked up a batch at Whole Foods of a brand I don’t remember – but The Ginger People is pretty popular and found easily.

Almond butter cookies…Obsessed with these easy, more wholesome cookies I shared on Wednesday. The light cinnamon flavor really makes them special, and of course the massive pools of chocolate.

Protein bars…We got a box of Vega Salted Caramel protein bars and I quite like them! They’re a big heavier on calories than my favorite One Bars but a very good snack for on-the-go munchies.

Heavy cream…I’ve been using heavy cream in my coffee lately and I’m loving it. Just a splash – I don’t need much for the effect. It gives my brew an almost ice cream-like quality!

Leggings…The pair I own seem to be off the shelves, but this pair of wool-lined insulated leggings is similar and a must-have if you’re entering colder areas. They’re so thick and cozy you don’t always need another layer beneath it, and if you do, the combination is sure to keep you nice and toasty.

Week in Training

Monday, 2.14: 3.29 miles, 10:38 pace

Yes, I started this run at 2:53 am. I knew I’d feel even tighter from sitting all day if I didn’t move my body in the morning before our 6am flight, so I suited up for a quick treadmill session on a chill incline setting (0-3% grades). Actually ended up being a really good run with a heartrate average of 157!

Tuesday, 2.15: 5 miles, 10:04 pace + 46 minute upper body

Altitude is damn hard, people. I always forget how much strain being so high up (around 5,500 feet or so here in Golden) is on the lungs and heart! Threw down a 5k progression run with 10 minute warmup and cooldowns: started at a 10:45 pace and ended at an 8:00 pace. The faster segments actually felt better than the slower ones. Even lifting was especially tiring! I turned the session into an upper body split since I skipped one of my arm days yesterday. I made sure to drink plenty of water during both sessions and gave myself a lot of mental grace since I’m obviously not acclimated to high altitude training.

Strength:

• 3 x 8 overhead press 25# SS 10 scarecrow row 25#
• 3 x 9 narrow press 25# SS 8 overhead triceps extension 30#
• 3 x 10 curl 20# SS 12 pushup
• 1 x 7/2 x 10 Arnold 20#/15# SS 10 lying extensions 30#
• 3 x 10 reverse fly 25# SS 12 reverse curl 15#
• 3 x 10 shrug 40# SS 10 pulse 30#
• 3 x 10 ea. concentration curl 15# SS 10 push press 40#

Wednesday, 2.16: 6.07 miles, 10:42 pace + 50 minute legs

Surprisingly nice run! My body wasn’t angry with altitude this time, though my watch was angry with something since it locked on my cadence and picked up distance like a moron (detected 6.45 miles which is WAY off). Followed up with a good dumbbells-only strength session.

Strength:

• 4 x 10 deadlift 100#
• 4 x 10 plie squat 100#
• 4 x 12 narrow squat 50-80#
• 4 x 12 single leg calf raise 60#
• 4 x 10 standing OH hydrant 35#
• 4 x 12 ea. hip hinge 50#
• 3 x 10 ea. single leg hip thrust
• 5 minutes core work

Thursday, 2.17: 25 minutes elliptical + 50 minutes shoulders & triceps

We skied this day as well as the listed workouts, but I didn’t do a whole lot of runs so I didn’t quite count it as a session. Kept the morning workout fairly short for time’s sake, but the weightlifting was very effective!

Strength:

• 4 x 10 lateral raise 15#
• 3 x 8/1 x 7 triceps extension 40# SS 10 pushup
• 2 x 10/2 x 8 incline bench press 20/25#
• 3 x 8 narrow press 25# SS 8 skullcrusher 25#
• 3 x 10 ea. balanced shoulder press 20#
• 4 x 10 dip 50#
• 3 x 10 upright row 25#
• 4 x 10 ea. oblique bends 40#
• 50 ea. side crunch

Friday, 2.18: 5.71 miles, 10:31 pace + 46 minute back & biceps

Mini workout wedged into an hourlong run this morning. I was really indecisive about whether I wanted to do any sort of speed or power work today, and I opted sort of last minute to plug in a hill segment at the end of my allotted time. 40 minute easy run, 10 minute Hurricane Point simulation (HP is the big fat 2 mile climb at mile 10 of the marathon) at 5-5.5% grade and 11:02-10:54 pace, 5 minute marathon pace (9:04-8:57), 5 minute cooldown. My legs actually had no problem with the climb but by the end my lungs were done with the uphill.

Strength:

• 4 x 10 underhand row 40#
• 4 x 8 ea. concentration curl 20#
• 4 x 10 bent over front raise 30#
• 4 x 10 ea. single arm row 35#
• 4 x 8 rotating curl 20#
• 4 x 10 press-out 15#
• 1 x 12/3 x 8 wide curl 15/20#
• 5 minutes core work

Saturday, 2.19: 11.32 miles, 10:38 pace + 38 minutes legs & core

Our hotel locked the gym door and sent me to the neighboring hotel’s gym, at which I got in my long run for the week. 2 hours staring at whatever I could find to stare it, checked into my flight midway through, drank water every 10 minutes and changed the speed every so often. I felt really strong and the time moved pretty quickly except the final 10 minutes. Slurped down a Honet Stinger gel at an hour and finished with a short strength session.

Strength:

• 4 x 10 ea. donkey kick 30#
• 4 x 30 weighted Russian Twist 20#
• 4 x 12 alt. OH lunge 40#
• 4 x 20 hover shoulder tap
• 4 x 12 ea. single leg calf raise 60#
• 3 x 12 ea. woodchop 15#
• 4 x 12 ea. weighted knee drive 10#

Sunday, 2.20: 3.03 mile walk

3 am treadwalk before hitting the road for the airport.

Total running mileage: 37.2