Cue the Stripper Music

It was so hot for my run today that I actually took my shirt off for part of it. That does not happen very often. I took it pretty easy after yesterday and only did 4.5 miles around Bluff Lake. It was a good break in the day and nice to take advantage of the great weather we have right now. I think a front is supposed to move in tomorrow night so it may not be as nice for the weekend as this, but for November I can't really complain.


Tonight I am going to make enchiladas for dinner (thanks Cate and Kaisara!) which I love so I'm looking forward to that. That's assuming I can start the car to get home. Yesterday the battery light came on while I was driving home, which usually indicates that there is something wrong with the alternator. It started fine this morning so I suspect that the alternator is just on its last legs and not completely dead. So tomorrow Melissa will have to take it in to Sears to get that replaced. I really can't complain when anything goes wrong with Gary, he has been such a reliable car and with more than 120k miles to his credit it's not so surprising when a part wears out.


[UPDATE]: Well the alternator is dead, I barely made it into a shop before the car conked out on my way home. They sold me a new battery to get me home and I'll head back there in the morning to get the alternator replaced. Hopefully it won't take too long as Melissa has a doctor appointment to get to. Oh well, there's nothing we can do about it now.

Oops

You'd think I would know my body better by now. Today I didn't leave Boulder until quarter to one so I ate an apple before the drive home so that I would have some energy for a run. I ended up crashing pretty hard towards the end and regretted not eating more. When I got back I downed my sandwich and felt much better afterwards. It seems like I really need a pretty good energy store to do my runs and breakfast just doesn't hold on that late.


I got home early enough to take Elijah swimming at the pool. He had fun I think but was still pretty cold as he doesn't like to move around much in the water. We swam for about 20 minutes then had a nice warm shower. Since I had such a late lunch we just had dinner after we got back. Spaghetti, tasty!

Getting away from it all

I did a nice 6 miles today which was a great break from work. The only problem was that we've had some water quality issues at work and I had to walk to a whole other building to fill up my bottle. It was great weather, and I almost had to go shirtless I was so hot. No deer today, I must have gone too early.


I watched the highlights of the NYC marathon yesterday and was pretty surprised by the outcome. I ended up feeling pretty unhappy about the coverage that such an event received from the media, and I boycotted football for the rest of the day. It's not like there was anything on that early on a Sunday morning that couldn't have been preempted for live coverage.

All on our own!

It was just Elijah and I for our run this morning. It was warm, even though it was still fairly early. We went for 3 miles as I didn't want to push too hard having run 34 miles this week total. That brings my total mileage right around where I want it to be. Tomorrow will be a nice day off to recover. Today we went to Cherry Creek to get the oil changed. Melissa and I were lamenting the fact that Cherry Creek just doesn't offer what it used to. There's no real bookstore there now and Harry and David is gone too. The only reason we go is to go to Sears usually as we can always go to Peet's in better locations. Southlands is so much better for our shopping needs now.

Gotta love Denver

Today it is beautiful outside. Perfect temperature in the mid 60s and sun, sun, sun! I went out for 5 miles around Bluff Lake and saw the deer again. This time I caught sight of the buck too, just a young-un, only a few points. I think I'm pretty well recovered from my blood donation now, so I'm thinking about signing up for the Denver Turkey Trot at Washington Park. It might be nice to kick off the T-Day with a little run. I can't believe that thanksgiving is so close, Christmas is just around the corner. I'm surprised Melissa hasn't started playing Christmas music already, usually she breaks it out Nov. 1. I bet it will be playing this weekend for sure.

Warmer weather

Today was quite a bit nicer than yesterday and I went out running in my shorts. I still had my jacket on, but I could have almost taken that off towards the end. Did a nice 7 miles or so at a good pace. It was tiring but rewarding. So far I have run everyday this week to a total of 24 miles, I can feel the cumulative mileage in my legs, but other than that I feel pretty good. I think I'll do a shorter run tomorrow and then Saturday will be a pretty easy run. I don't know when it happened, but at some point I transitioned from "someone who occasionally runs to keep fit" to a full on "runner." Some people may see me as a nut for that, but I think Melissa understands. I'm lucky to have such a caring and understanding family!

Deer!

Today I was solo for my run, but I got to see some deer up close as I was running through Bluff Lake. I think I surprised one deer as I didn't even see her until I was right next to her. She couldn't have been more than 6 feet away, I was actually a little scared. It was nice to see them again. Bluff Lake is looking pretty good too, there is actually water in the lake for the first time that I have ever seen. According to the Bluff Lake guy I spoke to there is 4.5 feet of water! Hopefully that will bring some waterfowl to the area. I just went for 4.5 miles or so due to my long run yesterday. I'm on my own for the next couple of days too, but I think the kick start I've had will give me enough momentum to get out. The only problem is that we have to do laundry every two days since I only have two sets of running clothes. I should get another set from Target now that I am running more often. That and a new set of running shoes. I can't complain about that I suppose, they have carried me over 600 miles this year.

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.