Monday, December 7, 2015

Mountain Trip and Fourteeners

Hello everyone. Hope your week is off to a great start.


Yesterday my family and I headed up to the mountains for a winter getaway. It’s been super busy in my world lately so it’s really nice to sleep in, hike, and just relax. 


This morning we went on a hike, we only went for about 5 miles because we didn’t think we would need our snowshoes… but we did. Oh well, it was fun fighting through the snow, and you burn more calories that way too right? Plus Hershey got to run around in the snow like a crazy person so he was super happy. I don’t get to go hike in the mountains with him too often so when I do it’s really special. (Keep reading to hear more about our recent goal that involves fourteeners!) 

Is this a big chair or is Hershey just a small dog?


Hiking in the snow is hard work! I will never get tired of watching him sleep.


So recently I’ve really wanted to get out and hike with Hershey in the mountains more often. I feel really bad coming home from work to a crazy dog that has been stuck in a room most of the day with only a small walk. He deserves more and I need the exercise. I’ve been super lazy with running since my last race and I needed a goal to get me active again. So one day I was looking in a book about dog friendly hikes in Colorado and came across a page about fourteeners. I never really realized that most fourteeners in Colorado are open to dogs. The book listed the fourteeners based on their difficulty and dog accessibility. In total, there is a list of 39 Colorado fourteeners that I think Hershey and I are capable of climbing together. Our goal is to do all 39. We did Quandary Peak a couple years ago so that makes 38 left. As an added incentive I decided we were going to donate $10 to a different dog rescue organization for every fourteener we summit. I’m super excited about this and it has given me renewed motivation to get out and exercise so that we are in the best shape to do the fourteeners. We have at least three planned for this summer and we will see how it goes from there! I’m going to make a recap post for each fourteener but I’ll probably post it on another page in my blog. I haven’t figured it all out yet so I will keep you all updated.  Thanks for listening to that long explanation. I hope it made some sense, my thoughts are kind of jumbled right now because I'm so excited about it. 

Have a great Monday!



Saturday, December 5, 2015

Treadmill Miles and Winter Tupperware

The other day I did about three miles on the treadmill because it was super cold, icy and dark outside and I am super clumsy. That combination would not have made for a successful run in my book. So I decided to use my treadmill. I personally am not a huge fan of the treadmill so to make it easier for me to get up and use it I thought of all the pros of treadmill running:
    
        1.    I don’t have to worry about how I look- I can just get up, throw on my running shoes and I’m good to go. I don’t have to worry about the fact that I look like a half asleep crazy haired girl because no one is watching me. (Except for the cat, but cats are judgmental no matter what.)
       2.    I can run in shorts and a tank top when it is snowing outside- I don’t  like running in with layers because I end up extra sweaty and stinky at the end of my run, super uncomfortable. I also feel lighter and faster when I wear shorts so it helps me get more out of my running. 
       3.   I can watch TV while running- When I’m on the treadmill it sometimes seems like time is standing still. So turning on the TV or watching Netflix on my phone helps the miles pass by more quickly.
         
         That’s about all I got. I really prefer outside running but I am grateful for the treadmill on those days where going outside is not really an option. Something else that helps me while on the treadmill is bringing a towel to cover up the display. If I don’t cover it, I end up watching every .01 mile that passes and time goes even slower. If anyone has any other treadmill running tips I’d love to hear them too. 

Some random happenings in my world recently.
I found winter Tupperware! It’s sad how happy this made me. (you can't really tell from the picture but they have snowflakes on them)

Went on a beautiful snowy walk with the pup. 

The walk was extra awesome because it made Hershey do this when we got home.

Hope you are having a great weekend!