Friday, Dec 19:
Flew out to DEN
(HeroClip for the win)
(Carolers at the intra-airport train station)
Saturday, Dec 20:
Ways I spend my time in Denver...
(drinking tea)
(sleeping with the Denver-specific stuffed animals)
Making use of a nice gym...
4 mi at a 2 degree incline on the treadmill in 35:30, 8:55 ave, with a progression run that started from 6mph and went up 0.5mph every mile. I nose breathed only for the first two miles. I was feeling the oatmeal breakfast and didn't push it to a fifth mile. Higher speeds almost felt easier at times due to the different mechanics. Having the sun shine on my face got a little bothersome after a while.
Next, I found a nice bar for doing seated L-sit pull-ups... sets of 3-5.
I finished with 18A "Dynamic Warmup" in 22:26 to loosen up my back after the run, since my quads were tight. This was nose breathed.
We went to the Denver Christmas Market afterwards. It was in a new [smaller] location this year, which made it feel even more packed with people? We went during the daytime this time, though, since it was chilly out. It was a different experience in the light... more focus on the vendors.
Made gingerbread houses...
Went out to dinner at a new Thai place...
Sunday, Dec 21:
Glute and pec PT v1 in 29:07, then HDT-KB "Kettledoom" 20 min AMRAP with 6 rounds and 10 reps using a 30#KB for everything other than the curls, which needed a 25#KB.
Monday, Dec 22:
Did Day 8 - Snuggle | BREATH & Upper Back and Neck Mobility with Adriene. I needed this today, since my pull-up muscles and legs were sore after the previous 2 days of workouts.
Walked to the REI flagship store with my mom.
Tuesday, Dec 23:
Went out to gold mining country
Found a geocache at the overlook.
Found our 14th troll, Rita the Rock Planter...
“A hundred suns is how long a nap takes for the trolls.
When Rita woke again, her mountainside was full of holes
The humans must have dug them in their search for shiny rock
But someone could fall in, so Rita went to tidy up.”
When Rita woke again, her mountainside was full of holes
The humans must have dug them in their search for shiny rock
But someone could fall in, so Rita went to tidy up.”
There were a couple of geocaches near her, too.
There was also old mining equipment and old mining buildings.
On our way back to Denver, we stopped at Garden of the Gods, which I hadn't seen since 2016. There were record high temps for the area, so lots of people were out enjoying the weather.
("Camel Kissing a Rock")
Saw my sister's BF's cat...
Wednesday, Dec 24:
Saw the cat again...
Got some groceries...
Ran 5 mi on a 2 degree incline treadmill in 43:26 (8:41 ave). I went at 6.5mph for 2 mi, 7mph for 2 mi, and only held 7.5mph for 1 mi. My cardiovascular system and muscles need to get used to not-super-slow-Z2 running again.
Thursday, Dec 25:
Xmas presents...
18A "Upper Body Prep" in 23:23, then "Push-up" in 56:16, plus a 2:30 dead hang finisher on a fatter but grippy metal bar that didn't slip. I could truly test my grip and not have to reset at all.
More cat time...
Made butterscotch and walnut cookies...
Friday, Dec 26:
Day 14 - Space | BREATH & Mental Health Break yoga with Adriene
Went for a little walk at Mount Falcon Park.
More cat time...
Saturday, Dec 27:
18A "Lower Body Prep" in 19:46, "Lower Push BW" in 40:52, 5 min arm strengtheners as a finisher (all I could do today)
Went back out to see 16th street in the daytime...
Sunday, Dec 28:
2x 5 mi run at 6mph... the treadmill has a 60 min time cap in "Quick Start" mode, so I had to break it up and reset it.
Skipped lunch so that I could leave room for a fancy dinner with Waygu Flank Steak, Iberico Pork, and roasted carrots.
Monday, Dec 29:
Finished reading "The Tipping Point" by Malcom Gladwell.
Tuesday, Dec 30:
18A "Upper Body Prep" in 30:15... needed those stretches after the run. Then "Hanging Abs" in 18:19, followed by a finisher of 6 x [1 min max burpees, 1 min rest] with 20-21 reps per set... good to touch on intensity... I don't do enough of it these days.
Went to Wholefoods to get vegan pumpkin pie (it was really good) and free rebate beans.
Wednesday, Dec 31:
Early Morning Yoga and Meditation & Home - Day 21 - BREATH yoga with Adriene
Went to Boulder to do a Celestial Seasonings factory tour... it was nice. You also get unlimited tea tastings, even without doing a tour. They have tons of varieties here that you don't normally find in stores, plus all the seasonal offerings.
They don't allow pictures during the tour since it's inside a production facility, but the most notable portion of the tour is the mint room. The menthol oil is so strong they have to isolate it to avoid contaminating the flavors of other ingredients. It was also cool to experience the "smell pockets". In their ingredient storage, as you walk by different ingredients sourced from around the world, you'll encounter different smells every few meters.
The three steps of the factory are milling (cleaning, then either cutting up or grinding), mixing (either single-ingredient fluffing or multi-ingredient mashups), and packaging (in wax-lined containers that hold many stringless tea bags, to minimize waste).
After the tour, we did a little hike at Flatirons Vista Trail.
Since it was warm out, there were many marmots out and about.
It was super windy that day, and we hiked against the wind for all of the first part. It was warm enough to just wear a t-shirt, but the wind made it a bit chilly.
There were cows in the pastures, too.
For NYE, we had dinner with fam and friends, watched more Great British Baking Show, played video games, played "Ransom Notes", and played with the cat.
Thursday, Jan 1:
Glute and pec pt v1 (would've liked to do v2, but the gym didn't have any ankle weights), since I've been sore since the 10 miler. Then, I did HDT-KB "KB There Is No Spoon" 30 min AMRAP with 2 rounds and 2 reps... a decent one
Friday, Jan 2:
Morning Hip Release & Yoga for Weight Loss - Hips & Hamstrings with Adriene, since my glute was quite sore.
The outing of the day was a short walk to McGregor Square, where there's a small ice skating rink.
After taking a look and stopping by a toy store, we walked around downtown a bit more. It's always fun to explore and stumble upon cool places.
I saved lots of room in my stomach for my first visit to Casa Bonita. I had wanted to go back in 2016 but didn't get to fit it in that trip. They had closed over COVID and had recently reopened. All I knew about it was that they had divers that you could watch, along with dinner, but it had a cult following.
It's hard to mess up Mexican food. That and Indian food are my favorite cuisines, because they are flavorful. It was OK... I see what people mean when they comment on the quality of the food. They are serving a ton of people constantly, though, so it's somewhat understandable.
The star of the restaurant are all the fun things you get to do after your hour of dinner reservation time. This place is big and like a maze with multiple floors. It's remarkable what they managed to build in the middle of what looks like a strip mall.
There's lots of stuff to do and little shows to watch. Not pictured were a magic show and a puppet show. All of it is kid-friendly, but it brings out the kid in you.
Afterwards, my mom and I went to Ross, and she got me tiger slippers for my bday.
Saturday, Jan 3:
Time to go home. It was a nice, long trip. It was a busy first half and a more relaxed second half. Lots of gym time, family time, and cat time. Ready to get back home where I had more stuff to get done!
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