Sunday, March 19, 2017

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.







Saturday, March 18, 2017

Discovery Bay Hike in Pictures

We're back in Hong Kong and slowly getting over our jet lag. It had been awhile since we hiked here in Discovery Bay and since mrC is joining me on a big SWIC hike on Monday, we decided to do the Lookout Loop today. The whole loop takes around an hour and is a about two miles start to finish from our apartment building. 

For fun I wore our GoPro on the chest strap and took random pictures as we hiked. 


For details on my hiking-wear ---> here


























And one from mrC...


Hope your Saturday was awesome!



This post contains affiliate links and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on my links. Thanks!






Thursday, March 16, 2017

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



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