Cold But Sunny

Today was colder than yesterday, but sunny and no wind. So I went for a little longer today, probably 7 miles or so. It was a hard run but it felt good to get away from it all for a while. I miss running with Elijah though. Oh well, it would be too dark to go with him after work now anyway. We'll always have Saturday I suppose.

Denver Weather

Today I checked the temperature before I went out for my run and it was 63 degrees out. So I went out with just a T-shirt and shorts and I froze due to the 30 mph winds! But after getting my workout going it was not that bad, especially when the wind was with my back. It was good to get out for a run as I was not sure it was going to happen with all that I had to do today. Tomorrow should be a little less hectic.

Snow and Joggy Strollers Do Not Mix

I did go out for my Saturday run today, but met up with a lot of resistance with sidewalks that have not been cleared. It was pretty icy in spots too. So it was short, maybe a mile or two, but I ran a little faster on the dry parts to get a sweat up. That made it 5 days that I ran this week, so my total mileage is right where I want to be. The weather sure was nice, by noon I was walking around Southlands in a T-shirt. Elijah is having a nap now, so I took the opportunity to make peanut brittle. That will be a nice halloween treat for all of us. This afternoon we are carving our pumpkin.

One Gallon!

Well I hit the gallon mark for blood donation today (that's 4 liters for all you Canadians). I got a little pin which was cool. I didn't even know I was that close to the mark.


I did go for about 5 miles today, although it was pretty slow and soupy. I must have been covered with dirt by the time I got back. Hopefully the path will be in good enough shape to go tomorrow with Elijah. No plans for the weekend really, I'm sure we'll come up with something fun to do though. Maybe another trip to Southlands. It's supposed to be really nice this weekend so we'll have to have some outside time as a family.

Snow Day

Today I did not run due to the blizzard outside. I did go yesterday though for 5 miles and tomorrow I will definitely get out as it is supposed to be in the 50s and sunny. The snow won't last long with that kind of weather!


Yesterday and this morning were really busy dealing with a major air compressor problem. We did get it fixed though so tomorrow should be a little more laid back. One more day to the weekend!

Better today

Did another 6 miles or so today, and with it a little cooler and spending most of the time on a gravel path it was a little easier. It was nice to get out though as today was pretty busy. We had a minor issue with a compressor today, so we were fortunate to have a backup compressor on hand. We were able to get the problem fixed with only minor down time.

The Pool

Went for a good 6 miles today at lunch, and went by the Fitzsimmons Pool to see what facilities are there. I'm trying to get a good replacement for my gym membership that isn't going to cost an arm and a leg. Unfortunately the Fitzsimmons pool is not that, as it costs almost as much as my gym membership, but almost nothing there other than a pool. They did say if we wanted to use the shower after a run that we could do that for free though, bonus! Looks like the Trails is the best bet for us as Melissa can get in on the membership for a similar price.


These longer runs at lunchtime are really helping me to get back into it. I'm going to try to get out most weekdays, but probably one day a week I will have to go to Boulder instead, so five or six days a week total. It's a lot easier motivating myself to go when there is someone else going too. All in all it will be great getting back in distance shape and it will help me prepare for the races I'm planning next year.

I love my Saturdays!

Yesterday was another busy day, but I love weekends when I get to do my little fix-it jobs. It did snow Friday night and we awoke to a few inches on the ground, but it was not too cold so Elijah and I went for our run anyway. By the time we got to running the sun had come out and it was gorgeous. After we got home, Elijah went down for a nap and I started on my task for the day which was to fix the garage entry door. After several "quick-fixes" over the past year I wanted to fix it so it would last. A couple of hours and a trip to Home Depot later I had fixed the door and improved things a bit by installing the strike-box with 3-inch screws. Since I was on a roll I took a look at the upstairs bathtub, which had caused a minor flood the night before. It turned out that the genius that had installed the tub had not installed the overflow gasket, allowing water to flow right down into the laundry room below when the tub was filled up to the overflow drain. Melissa and I headed off to Southlands to check out the opening festivities there and have some coffee. On the way back we picked up a gasket at Home Depot. 5 minutes and $2 later the tub was fixed, although we will eventually have to replace a piece of drywall in the laundry room.


Today we will be relaxing at home, and then having a night out for the two of us tonight. We're going to see the Lion King musical at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts. It will be nice to have a date night, we haven't had one since our dinner at PF Chang's in June.

Thar be squalls ahead...

Went for a lunchtime run again today. It was windy but sunny and warm. By the time we had finished though the clouds were starting to move in for our next storm front. We are supposed to get snow tonight, but it won't get as cold as the last front. I still have to get my sprinklers blown out, so I hope we haven't had anything freeze with all this cold weather. We'll see I guess.

Back to work

I went back to running at work now that it is getting cool in the evenings. I'll still take Elijah on the weekends, but it's just easier for me to get out at lunchtime than it is to get home before it gets dark. Anyway I went out for about 50 minutes with a new guy at work who is also a runner. It was nice to have someone to chat with while I was out, and we went further than I would have if it had been just me. Other than that and putting out little spot fires it was a pretty laid back day.

Greatest Sentence Ever!

"The bears bear hard hard yarn yarns."

-- L. Snicket

Make hay while the sun shines

Yesterday was a beautiful day and it was still really warm when I came home from work so I took advantage of the weather while I could. It is supposed to turn nasty today, so I thought I might as well get the runs in while I could when it's not cold and windy. Elijah and I had a good time, and I was trying to make sure that I did not push down too hard on the stroller as I ran. It's probably better for my posture that way, and maybe I'll be less likely to get thorns in my tires. I must have pulled some weird muscle doing that though as my back was in pain all last night. Despite that I still slept well.


Today is a little less hectic at work so that is good, hopefully I'll have time to get some of my little administrative things done. These things always seem to pile up until you make a conscious effort to finish them. I guess it's a part of life though.

All on our own

Elijah and I went out for a run this morning at the Cherry Creek Park, but it was just us today. We went for about 5 miles and kicked it up at the end of the run. It was a beautiful day here and I took advantage of the weather to do all my yard-winter preparations. I raked and mowed the lawn for the last time and in the next couple of weeks we will have the sprinkler system blown out. At some point I will have to do lawn mower maintenance this winter. I also had a chance to fix our toilet, which I think was costing us a fortune in water. It took a bid of fiddling and a couple of trips to Home Depot, but in the end it was worth it to have a working toilet again. Now if only I could do something about our stupid door.

Getting over myself

Elijah and I had a great run today, it was perfect temperature outside and the mountains were misty in the sunset. It was cool. Elijah finally waved at the firefighters, but it looked like they were out fighting a fire. Oh well.


I signed up to audition for our worship team at church next week, so it looks like I'll have to get over myself and just play. I really dig our worship leader's attitude towards worship, so I wanted to chip in to support him. Should be interesting.

Homemade Peas in a Can Pie

We went to Jim and Nick's for dinner tonight, which was excellent! I had the brisket sandwich and cheese biscuits which were both great, but for dessert I had the pecan pie which was transcendental. They make them there fresh and it shows, the crust is flaky and tender, and there were tons of pecans in the filling. The best thing is you can go there and buy the whole pie if you want to! I know what I want for my birthday. Grampy is going to have to make a trip down here just for that.

Afternoon Run

I had to take care of Elijah this afternoon so when we got home we went out for a little run. The rain has stopped and the sun is out so it's quite nice. The temperature is in the low 50s so there is a chill in the air and I needed my jacket, but it felt like a fall run for sure. Elijah was all bundled up and had a blanket so we were both happy. It was just a 3 mile run though, I didn't feel up to going too much farther.

Race for the Cure

Well the race is over and we all had fun. There were a lot of people there! Apparently the Denver race is the largest in the country, although this year apparently St. Louis had topped us. They were hoping the on-site registration would push us over the top again. Our team ended up being the largest team from a College with over 60 members. We raised over $3300! A big thanks to all of you who donated. It was a chilly morning, but not too bad. Elijah wouldn't wear his hood, so we don't know if he was cold or not. That boy seems to be made of different stuff than the rest of us. I was always joking with Melissa when Elijah was first born that we didn't want any loafer babies, I certainly can't claim to have any. They are both having a nap right now after having got up at at 6 am this morning. As for running, this race was very difficult to run and we were basically walking for the first mile or so, but we were able to pick it up in the end for a total time of 31 minutes. Now I have to figure out what my next race will be.

Productive Saturday Morning

It's noon on Saturday and already I have had a nice run in Cherry Creek State park, had a shower and baked banana bread. Elijah and mommy are napping now, so I'll probably just make myself some lunch while I'm waiting for them to get up. We have to do some grocery shopping this afternoon but other than that we have no specific plans. Tomorrow it is an early start for the race and we may see if we can check out the Downtown Peet's location. That or we'll go to the Harvest festival at Four Mile Historic Park, and go to the Cherry Creek Peet's. Next weekend is the grand opening of the Boulder Peet's so we'll have to head up there for that. Man, what did we ever do for that two month period that we had no Peet's in Colorado!?

Ugghh

What a day, this was a long week. I was hoping to get a run in after work but I didn't get home until late. Tomorrow morning will be a nice way to start the weekend!

Puppy Love

A few runs ago Elijah and I were running by a house when we had the bejezes scared out of us when a dog pushed its head through a broken board in the fence right next to the joggy stroller. The whole event made me feel pretty unsettled, but I was happy to see today that the fence has been mended.


My day was really hectic today so it was nice to get out for a run. It felt pretty hard though as it has been a while since I took the stroller. I thought I was going to grind to a halt on the hills. I picked up my race number today though, so I'm all set for Sunday. It's going to be fun to get back into a race setting.

I'll get you a satanic mechanic

Elijah and I went out for our run today and didn't even get out of the garage. Stupid tire on the joggy stroller was flat. After a quick look at the tire I found a giant thorn to be the culprit. So we had to hang out until Melissa got back from the library, and I went out by myself. It felt weird to run without the stroller, but I got into a good pace and had a great workout. Melissa was nice enough to go to Target and pick up a patch kit for me. So we should be back up and running (no pun intended) for our next outing.

Today was a busy day at work, but I got through everything I needed to do. I have some writing left to do though which I always put off. Tomorrow I'll have to take care of that, I'll just blast some tunes and get through it.

Saturday Morning

Elijah, Shaun and I went out for our Saturday morning run yesterday and it was a postcard fall Colorado day. The leaves in the park are all starting to turn and the mountains were capped with snow. Gorgeous. We had a great day yesterday and Elijah napped most of the afternoon. Today we bought a rake and Elijah and I spent an hour and a half raking the lawn. You sure work up an appetite doing yardwork! I was thinking about going for a run again today, but with all the raking I'm pooped now. We'll probably spend the afternoon relaxing or doing work around the house. All in all it's been a great weekend.