Hiking To Glenwood Springs Fish Hatchery

Last Sunday was a great easy hike with my cousins.  We did a great hike that took us through ranch land that is close to Storm King Mountain, where there was a huge wildfire in 1994.  As we walked on a very warm sunny morning, it was so fun to watch the kids kick around a soccer ball, check out the scenery, feed horses then feed the fish at the Glenwood Springs fish hatchery.

It was about 2 miles to the hatchery so we did a nice outing of about 4 miles.

Walking Course To CrossFit

Saturday turned into a little bit of an all morning workout.  I started out with two friends walking the course at Oak Hills Country Club.  We got out there about 7:15am to beat the golfers.  It was a beautiful cool morning in San Antonio.  With the peacefulness and serenity of the course, it was definitely a great way to start the weekend.  We walked about 3 miles.

Then I headed over to meet my friend Christy.  We power walked for 1.5-2 miles since we had about 20-25 minutes to kill before heading over to our first CrossFit class.  She'd signed up for it and since I was in town I tagged along.  There were a few others from her office participating in this intro class at River City CrossFit as part of their corporate membership program.  Eric and Erica were our coaches.

Here's the breakdown of our CrossFit class:

Warm up:
Frog jumps up and back
Shoulder rotations with PVC pipe
Lateral shuffle
Karaoke shuffle then sprint 2X


High Hang Cleans - I did my first round with just the 45 lbs bar, second round at 50 lbs, ad third round at 55mph.  These are starting in jump position hold bar at waist, jump up while simultaneously bring bar up to collar bone height to rest with elbows out front as you land back in in a squat then stand up. Lower bar and repeat. We did 3 at each weight.

Next some cardio.  Our series was 400 meter run, 25 squats, 25 burpees.  I completed in time of 4 minutes 47 seconds.  We had 9 minutes to fix series.

The we went in to Tabata style intervals.  These are 4 minute workouts that consist of 20 seconds of going as hard as you can then 10 rest, repeat for the 4 minute duration or 8 cycles.  


First 8 cycles of exercise were abs on the domed ab mat.  We started laying on floor back on mat, feet close to butt, and arms extend out over head. You sit up bring arms overhead and reaching beyond toes on floor.  I did a total of 89 of these sit ups.


Next cycle was squats.  These were butt below knee level squats then back up.  If you hit a number in a round then that was your number or less for the remaining rounds.  I hit 16 squats in first round, 15 in second, 14 in third, then held at 13 squats for each of the last 5 rounds.


After that I rolled a little on the foam roller and called it an awesome workout morning!

Windy Walk

Yesterday was another travel day and as soon as I got home I put on my workout clothes with a goal to get in at least a nice power walk.  But I wasn't feeling 100% and decided to head out for a dog walk.  Peeka and I didn't get very far because of the wind gusts going over 40 mph.  I'm sure we looked like Dorothy and Toto from the Wizard of Oz.

Since I was feeling like I was coming down with something or just extremely exhausted probably better I just did a short windy walk with my dog.

Why I Love Walks in the Park

It's windy, but sunny and warm in Denver today.  So the perfect day to head to my favorite park, Wash Park.  I got in a 2.5 mile run then my friend Natalie Tysdal, who works with me at Fox 31/CW 2 joined me.  We walked for about 3 miles and just had the best time.  When you walk and talk with friends, the time just flies.

I use my runs to clear my head, brainstorm ideas, and work through projects.  Usually my run time is just me and my iPod pounding the pavement one step at a time.  It's my check-out time.

Yes I'm a runner, but I'm also a walker.  My mom has always been a big walker.  One of my favorite things to with her is a post dinner walk around the neighborhood.  So walking with friends is a shear delight for me.  Just like today, some of my best conversations have happened on walks.  Here's why - when you are walking and chatting you lose the distractions of everything else.  It's truly one-on-one time.  That is precious time to me spent with friends.

So my advice - give a gift to a friend and yourself.  Make a walk date instead of happy hour, lunch, or dinner.  It's a gift because you're doing something good for yourself and giving the precious gift of time together.

Later this afternoon, when I should have been working on taxes, I couldn't pass up taking my dog for a walk in the park.  It was windy but with temperatures in the low 70s for the first time since October 31st, I just couldn't pass up getting in another mile in the park.  

Windy Workout At The Park

Today I headed over to my favorite park in Denver, Wash Park.  I didn't get there until mid-afternoon because I'd dived into some projects I needed to work out.

By the time I got there the winds had already started picking up so it turned into a warm, windy workout for me.  The park was absolutely packed!  I loved seeing so many walkers, runners, cyclists, and even in line skaters and tennis players.  It's just fun to people watch as you go around the park loop.  The most unusual thing I saw was a group jousting with metal helmets on but no body armor.  The cutest was a spotted puppy that was trying to figure out how to walk on leash but got completely tangled up in it's owners feet.

I ran the first lap, getting in the 2.6 mile loop.  My knees were a little achy today and my left toes were really hurting but I still made it around.  Decided to power walk a second loop so I could just enjoy the 65 degree weather, the wind, the park, and the people.

A Funny Walk

Saturday was a gorgeous day in San Antonio so I headed out with a couple of friends to walk on the Salado Creek Greenway, the portion of it from Huebner to Blanco Road.  Normally when I'm in San Antonio, I workout on this greenway with my friend Christy.  We almost always get in at least one walk, run or walk/run combo while I'm there.  On Saturday we were joined about another friend Kris and Christy's daughter Courtnie.

The 4.5 miles that we did turned in not just a power walk session but an absolute laugh session.  I got an abs workout just from laughing so hard at reminiscing about the night before and telling stories.  It also helped that Courtnie was pure entertainment doing some of her old cheerleading moves.

This was truly a fun workout and funny walk!

Taking A Long Walk

One of my favorite things to do is head out on a long walk.  So on a beautiful afternoon with highs in the low 50s I took my pooch and headed out for an hour.  I just wanted to spend some time soak up the great weather.  It was wonderful to see so many folks taking advantage of a cool park day and walking, running, and playing with their dogs.  So it's an easy cardio day for me with some stretches afterward, but it's pretty hard to beat a nice long walk.