Blame it on the Weather

Wednesday was a blame it on the weather day.  Worked late, had so much computer work to do, and just plain ole tired that I didn't get a workout done.  Those days happen!

Major Abs in Pilates

Did a lot of core/ab work in my hour Pilates session with Erin today.  I'm going to be sore tomorrow!  Love doing full body movements that engage multiple muscles with primary focus on the abs.  Looking forward to Kinesis and Pilates session on Thursday!

Easy Hike On Lily Pad Trail

It was a beautiful chilly Labor Day morning with temperatures around 31 degrees in Keystone.  After it warmed up a little, my cousin Susan and I took our dogs to hike Lily Pad Trail in Silverthorne before heading back to Denver.  It's a great trail for kids and dogs.  It's easy with plenty of forest cover for most of the hike.  There are three small ponds, each getting bigger than the last.  The Lower Lily Pad Lake has a ton of lily pads and the Upper Lily Pad lake is bigger with a great view of Buffalo Mountain.  It's 3.2 miles round trip.

Nice Jog on the Rio Grande Trail

It was a chilly Sunday morning in Aspen.  I headed out on the Rio Grande Trail with temperatures in the upper 30s.  After my mega hike day, I just wanted an easy out and back to get in a couple of miles.  So off I went on the trail, through the John Denver Sanctuary, and along the trail then back.  Got in about 3-3.5 miles before heading off the Main Street Bakery to warm up with coffee and an oatmeal raisin scone post-workout treat.

Mega Hike Day In Aspen

Saturday was a mega hike day in Aspen for me.  I did two hikes.  The first one was the Ute Trail.  It's dubbed nature's stairmaster.  It's a short and steep trail with an elevation gain of 1,165 feet.  It's .9 miles each way.  It's a tight trail of switchbacks and steep inclines.  But the view from Ute Rock is worth it!

My second hike of the day was the Hunter Creek Trail to an abandoned settlement.  Several structures are still standing including the saloon, outhouse, what looks like a barn or lodging building, and a house.  One house has collapsed.  It's a great trail that has some good climbs through rocks in the beginning then the train widens out to a more dirt and small rock trail then eventually to the Hunter Valley meadow.  Round trip it was about 5-6 miles.

Travel Day

Friday was a travel day.  After driving to Aspen I did get in about 2 miles of casual walking around town.

Power Pilates & Work Those Hammies

Thursday was power pilates for me in my session with Erin at Pura Vida Club.  We did jump board series, which is a series of pushing off a board on reformer with different feet positioning and leg movements.  It really gets your heart rate up quickly.  We also did some new moves for me like one called the snake - guess that means I'm getting stronger!  Since I hike, walk, and run a lot we also did some moves for hamstrings.  I call this move the hammies killer!  It's a good one.  As Erin says, if you don't have gliders you can easily use hand towels on a hard wood floor to do move.  Do the move to fatigue....it won't take long!