Colorado was Awesome | Weekly Wrap

Our extra long spring trip to the US came to an end and we returned to Hong Kong over the weekend. We spent our last few days in the US enjoying time with middleC and watching him graduate from University of Colorado Boulder. We squeezed in workouts, explored new hiking trails and soaked up as much Boulder springtime as we could. Colorado was awesome to us and it's always hard to say good-bye, even after living out of my suitcase for nearly a month.

I fell off the PPB challenge wagon as of Thursday. Between graduation activities, travel and jet lag, I have not been able to keep up. I have a plan to catch up and I will let you know what happens here.

After only a few hours of sleep on Saturday night, the most adventurous thing I did all Sunday was walk to the grocery. It felt good to be out, even though the heat and humidity arrived in Hong Kong while we were gone.

Weekly Wrap (with links ICYMI):

Monday - Elliptical sprints and a big hike on Boulder's beloved mountain

Tuesday - Run sprints and hike

Wednesday - Easy morning hike

Thursday - middleC graduation day at CU

Friday - travel --->  leave Denver 8:30am

Saturday - arrive in Honk Kong 11pm

Sunday - jet lag induced rest day ;)

To all the mothers out there, Happy Mother's Day!

As usual I’m linking up with Holly and Wendy for the Weekly Wrap!

It's All About the View | Weekly Wrap

Despite more traveling last week, I hit the unofficial goals that I set for myself and kicked off May on a good note. I brought the strength training back and got in two runs.

The highlight of the week was breaking in our stay in Colorado with a nice 5k run with mrC.

We headed back to Coot Lake because we loved it so much last year when we were here. This time we decided to run some of the trails beyond the lake loop to explore a little more. I love that all the trails are soft.

We used the 4:1 intervals and sort of just kept going left on the trails. This took us away from Coot Lake and toward Boulder Reservoir. Everywhere we looked we could see water and mountains, and beautiful sky. It was amazing.

Lots of things made this a tough run ---> feeling a little of that time-zone hangover that you get after a really late arrival, it's later in the day, 72 degrees and sunny, Boulder's mile high elevation, a very painful side stitch.  But, it was all about the views.

Finishing the run was a relief but we also felt pretty good about it. We might have been slower and it might have a little painful (breathing) at times, but we ran a 5k.

What you don't see in the photos is that the place was actually crawling with people walking, running, biking, letting their dogs swim in the lake. It was a very busy Sunday at Coot Lake.

The rest of the week:

Monday - Sprints (elliptical) 20:40 x 12 + dirty dozen arm workout x2

Tuesday - Sprints (run) 20:40 x 10 (slow run for recovery!) then drive from Delaware to Connecticut

Wednesday - Legs (shred) ---> OMGosh! This made me sore!

Thursday - Treadmill walk and arms (dirty dozen) 2x

Friday - Rest day - Yoga with Adriene video: yoga for sore muscles

Saturday - family visits and travel (Boston to Boulder) - postponed my PPB burpees for Sunday

Sunday - Run and 40 burpees - planned to do my 40 burpees during recovery of my interval run but quickly realized on the run that I needed the recovery. Meant to do them when we got back to the hotel, but I was starving. Doubling up tomorrow.


Did you hit any goals last week (official or unofficial)?
Does elevation affect your runs?

As usual, I’m linking up with Holly and Wendy for the Weekly Wrap!

Workout Recap: Two Week Edition

I'm not sure why I skipped a weekly workout recap (traveling through 12 time zones makes my sense of time get out of whack), so this week I'm doing a doubler. Some workouts I've already shared on the blog or Instagram, so I thought I'd include other random tidbits from the past two weeks. This post is sponsored by Naked Nutrition.

Two weeks ago...

Monday - I had an awesome run in Delaware

Tuesday - I did a little multi-tasking on our last day in Delaware. It involved laundry and the elliptical.

Wednesday - We had an early flight to Denver to visit the middle child at college. One thing I miss when we are living out of suitcases is my smoothies. Meanwhile, I try to eat healthy despite being on the road. Check out my breakfast courtesy of United Airlines.

Thursday - We spent the day hiking and then had dinner at the Sink with the college boy. I loved how customers were encouraged to leave their mark on the ceiling! Fun facts ---> Robert Redford worked at the Sink when he was a University of Colorado student and it's been featured on Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives.

Friday - Enjoyed my first run in Boulder. Even though it was cold, I would have loved a post-run smoothie. Naked Nutrition products are available at Vitamin Shoppe stores nationwide, but we did not have a blender in our hotel room.

Saturday - Campus tour. Isn't CU a beautiful campus?

Sunday - I was obsessed with hiking the Flatirons again and these cute tees from Snooze where we had breakfast. Too bad they were sold out in my size.

Last week...

Monday - It's hard to run when you have a cold, but we do it anyway, right? Had to cut mine short, but it was still awesome at this lake.

Tuesday - Another super early flight to start our journey back to Hong Kong.

Wednesday - Completely lost this day to travel, but excited that my iSUP (inflatable stand up paddleboard) made it to Hong Kong unscathed. Can't wait to inflate it and put it in the water.

Thursday - Doctor doctor. Not sure why I thought making appointments the day after getting back was a good idea, especially when I was awake at 3:30AM! Mammogram and a chiro adjustment ---> which do you think was more fun?

Friday - Another jet-lagged-early-morning did not keep me from lacing up my new Wave Horizons from Mizuno (blogger perk) for the first time in Discovery Bay. mrC joined me as I set out to repeat my interval plan: 15 x 1 minute run with 1 minute recovery, but we ended up doing more than that. After one loop around our normal route, we still had a few intervals left so we started another loop. In the end we did 23 intervals, two loops, and my longest run (4.38 miles) since 2015!

Saturday - It was kind of dreary out but we felt like doing the quick Lookout Loop hike in our neighborhood. You can see what it looked like start to finish from our GoPro here. It was really easy using the chest strap to get photos while we hiked.

Sunday - Rest. Sadly we woke to news that our beloved Booney was gone. He blessed us with 14 years of love and smiles. He loved running, so he made many appearances on the blog.

Booney's first 5K in 2011

It was a rainy and gray day in DB, kind of perfect for tending to a sad heart and for baking. I did some food prep for a big hike tomorrow and it was an effective distraction. First I made some egg bites to grab-n-go in the morning and then I baked some protein bars. You can find a lot of good protein recipes on the Naked Nutrition website.

Here's my recipe for banana protein bars:

2 cups quick cooking gluten free oats

1 cup protein powder (I like vanilla less naked whey)

1/4 cup organic buckwheat flour

1 tbsp ground flaxseed

1 tbsp cinnamon

1 cup sunbutter/peanut/almond butter

1/4 cup honey

 2+ mashed ripe bananas 

Mix together. I like to mix dry and wet ingredients separately and then combine into one bowl. Just seems easier to mix it all together if you're doing it by hand (like me).

Spread about 1/2" inch thick onto cookie sheet lined with cooking-sprayed wax paper. 

Bake 350 degrees 15 min. 

Remove from wax paper. Let cool and cut. I put them in to-go baggies and store in the refrigerator.

What's your eating like when you're traveling?

Do you SUP? Ever use an inflatable board?

I'd love a good canine fitness buddy story if you have one.

Hiking: Royal Arch Trail in Boulder, CO

We spent some of our weekend time with our University of Colorado student hiking to one of his recommended places: The Royal Arch

But, let me back up to the beginning. 

The weekend started for mrC on Friday when he went to the Fraternity House Father & Son Poker Game Night (they did not win all the chips but they had fun). Then on Saturday, we were given a personal tour of the CU campus (amazing place), walked around Pearl Street and met the girlfriend and her mom for a lovely dinner at the Walnut Brewery.

On Sunday, after picking up the Frat boy, we had brunch at Snooze (an iconic eatery on Pearl Street). The menu was filled up with so many choices I wanted to try everything, but I finally chose banana pancakes with a side of eggs. 

We took a post-brunch stroll around Pearl Street and then because it was still pretty chilly, we drove up Flagstaff Mountain. We went all the way up to the scenic lookout at Lost Gulch and enjoyed the views of the Continental Divide.

On the way down, we stopped at another viewing area (no name) and did some bouldering because it's fun and we could.

Our younger tour guide did some solo rock climbing. He climbed right up, but then walked down on a path. 

Our hike began at Chautauqua Park. We parked the car on Baseline Road and then cut across the field using the 6th Street Connector.  Our route to the Royal Arch ---> Chatauqua Trail - Flatirons Loop trail - Royal Arch Trail. The first part of the hike was easy walking uphill on a mostly gravel path. It was very much like the start of our first Flatirons hike.

Great hiking capris from Athleta

After following the Chatauqua Trail into the woods, we switched to the Flatirons Loop trail. This part of the hike was bit more challenging. The terrain changed over to rocky and the incline increased slowly. There were plenty of places to stop and take breaks. At one stop we had rock climbers on one side of us and a perfect view of the CU campus on the other.

Finally we made it to the final section of our hike, the Royal Arch Trail. This section was by far the hardest (and rated as difficult) with the steep and steady climb through the pine forest and undulating hills that seemed to go on and on.

Sentinel Pass was a great place for a break and had the option of doing a little bouldering to a viewpoint (which we did) for a quick photo. Then we began a quick and dirty down-climb and resumed pushing upward to the arch.

The Royal Arch was much much bigger than I expected. Sitting at an elevation of 6,915 ft, it was worth the final steep climb to get to it. We walked under the arch to the outcrops and sweeping views on the other side. Looking back through the arch, the blue skies seemed to glow above the Flatirons.

We spent some time enjoying the view and watching the braver hikers climb up, on, and around the arch. To get back to the car ---> Royal Arch Trail - Bluebell Road Trail - Baseline - 6th Street Connector. We hiked 4.5 miles in a little more than 2.5 hours and we felt awesome!

It was a great day with the boys!

Other hiking posts you might like:

First Flatirons Hike in Boulder, Colorado

Kuta, Bali: Mt. Batur Sunrise Trek

Hiking Discovery Bay: Lookout Point Loop

Running in Boulder

With 300 days of sunshine, Boulder is a delicious place to run!  I was lucky enough to have time for two runs while we were there visiting the college boy.

On Friday I used MapMyRun and found a running route at a local park not far from our hotel. I love how easy it is to look up nearby routes logged by other runners. It's so helpful when we are in a new area ---> which we are often thanks to mrC! East Boulder Community Park was a great place for my interval run.

There was a path that looped around the entire complex. It circled the ball fields, the sand volleyball courts, the playground, dog area, the recreation center and a small pond. In some parts, the path was crushed gravel (my favorite) and other parts it was paved sidewalk. The view of the Flatirons was stunning from everywhere.

The temperature was perfect for this long sleeve and these capris.

After doing two loops around the complex, I veered off to the bike route just to see where it went. The Boulder Bikeways cover more than 300 miles in this bike friendly community. I ran down the sidewalk and through part of a neighborhood. When it looked like the bike route was going to become a paved shoulder, I turned around.

Even though my sea-level body could feel the Colorado elevation, this was by far my best interval run. Even after my 15 intervals ended, I continued running until I reached the car.

While I was running, mrC took pictures (he's the best blog helper) and made nice with the locals.

Interval run - 1 minute run:walk 1:1 x 15 plus about .75 mile finish. Longest run this year!

A couple of days later, on our last day in Boulder, I went to Coot Lake on the recommendation of my friend Jill who lived here for a couple of years. The Coot Lake Loop was even better than the park.

One loop around the lake was about 1.2 miles on a crushed gravel path surrounded by prairie and wetland. In the distance the Flatirons make a stunning backdrop.

The Coot Lake Loop is part of a group of trails at the Boulder Reservoir that overlap and connect extending route options. In the mood for a short run or a long run? It can be done on these trails.

The weather was perfect for an interval run, but I had picked up a head cold since arriving in Boulder and in all honesty probably shouldn't have been running. Like most avid runners, I just couldn't resist getting in a second run. I told mrC I would do one lap and see how I felt. I ended up doing two.

While I was running, mrC walked, took awesome photos (as usual) and chatted with the friendly locals. He said this pup had that happy pep in his step that reminded him of Booney.

Interval run - 1 minute run:walk 1:1 x 14 plus about 2 minutes straight finish. 2.44 miles. Better than I expected.

Boulder is definitely an active lifestyle city and I'm looking forward to exploring more when we visit the college boy again.