Fit After Little Bits

eat right..work hard..play harder

Trainings and We Did a Thing

Well, winter finally feels like it is making its way out! We have pavement back and most of the snow in our neighborhood is gone…if only the trails would follow suit!

Running has been going pretty well. And I am excited that weather has allowed for cycling to return as well. I have never been great with high mileage running, so cross training is my best friend.

Brooke is also pretty excited about the bike. She has come on a few runs with me and it is just the best. Unfortunately, she is much faster now so she gets a little bored waiting for me 😉

The gravel roads are also melting off pretty quick, so I had the chance to get out on those while Brooke was at soccer practice!

And then we did something that I am not sure was a good idea or not. Ha. We welcomed a little pupster into our lives. The loss of Jasper absolutely broke me last year and it took a long time for me to even consider a puppy. Let alone in a season where I am tired all the time and Brooke has so many activities…but we did it. Meet Banner. The first week and a half has been a little rough, but he was only 7 weeks when we brought him home-so very much a baby. Thankfully, it is getting better day by day.

Training has been a little tougher trying to balance timing and such, but I am sure we will figure it out. He sure is cute.

Brooke is still loving soccer. We also like getting to see green grass once in a while 😉 Maybe they will be able to practice outdoors up here sometime soon!

She is also getting used to her sidekick. He is pretty obsessed with her.

They have come to work with us a few time doing tire changes. Nailing it!

And now this will be a puppy-spam blog. Ha.

Have I mentioned that he is cute?

A girl and her puppy.

As with training, it feels like everyday life is a little bit in shambles as well. Balancing Brooke’s schoolwork, finishing up teaching four course, keeping the house at least someone presentable and a puppy happy, while throwing in side work with tire swaps and starting to put the yard together after a very snowy winter….woof. I need a vacation 😉 haha.

Another Saturday of soccer means I will be getting creative with mileage again! This time, Ken and the puppy are joining. Should be a ball 😉

Anyway, a look at the last couple of weeks!

Week of 5/1
M: Rest
T: 6 miles, easy
W: 10 mile cycle. Strength class
H: Rest
F: 10 mile run
S: 20 mile run, rainy.
S: 6 mile run, easy

Week of 4/24
M: 13.4 mile indoor cycle, easy
T: 7 mile, easy-outside!
W: 6 miles easy. Strengthening class
H: 14 mile gravel bike ride, easy. ~1 hour
F: 3.2 miles, easy
S: 14 miles (fitting in around soccer)-with climb to Brundage ski area
S: 33 mile cycle with Ken-hard!

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Rapid River and Soccer

Another month is flying by! Only a week-ish left in April. Hopefully April takes winter with it when it leaves 😉

We have had all sorts of weather around here the last few weeks. From super dark, dreary days (check the cloud line against the mountains on the pic below. Kinda crazy!) to gorgeous, sunny days…it has been all over the place.

I did manage to get my first outdoor, McCall dirt road run in a couple weeks ago. It was glorious. There is just something about running on dirt with snow on the sides of the road still.

You can peep Tamarack resort in the distance here. It was a lovely 5 mile run while Brooke had soccer practice.

Since we are (im)patiently awaiting the return of dirt in our neck of the woods, we have taken two trips down to Riggins to find some! While it is only about 45 minutes away from us, it drops down to around 2300 feet of elevation-making it a lot less snowy. Heaven.

Three weekends ago, I did a pretty big run. We were lucky enough to meet some friends down there, so Ken hiked with them (and Brooke) while I got in just under 26 miles (18 on the trails) of running. Felt so good!

Part of the run is right next to the river and the other portion that I did was kind of along the mountainside and more exposed. Just a few major drop offs. I preferred the river section 😉

Once I made it back to the trailhead, I ran the rest of the way on the road to meet everyone at the beach (on the Salmon River-I think!). It felt pretty nice to just melt into the sand. And eat!

Then, Ken and our friend Mark headed out for a bike ride and the rest of us (they have two boys around Brooke’s age) enjoyed hanging for a bit longer before loading up and driving home-to the snow. Meh.

No pictures, but the next day I went cycling with Ken and Mark. After nearly a marathon in my legs the previous day, it was all I could do to hang onto their wheels! But a SOLID weekend of workouts.

In other news, Brooke has fully embraced the soccer life. She and I were in Boise for back to back Friday/Saturday games (3 of them). Talk about a new level of exhaustion for her! But she let me do her hair 😉

We enjoyed the few hours we had at our hotel for our girls night 😉 This is her watching HGTV. Far better than the cartoon life of old.

And the girl played her heart out! So fun seeing her improve and enjoy the sport.

Then we came back to winter, again. *Rolls eyes*

This past week was a rest week, so I enjoyed cleaning the house and some shorter workouts. We did go back to Riggins where I got in a 10 mile trail run (LOVED) and Ken got to do a big gravel ride while Brooke and I played at the beach. Some friends of Brooke’s happened to also show up at the beach so she was psyched! Also, small town living 😉

*Random note: I used to not be bougie about running shoes AT ALL. Like, cool, here are some shoes. Go for a run. Great.
But now that I am older (wiser?-nah), my body/feet are far more picky about what I wear. I battle some tendon issues in my ankle/foot so I have been on a quest to find the right ones! Currently, I have 3 different brands in rotation and I will give more details on my thoughts once I have more miles on them. BUT I have to say, after my first trail run in these Nike Zegamas, I was pleasantly surprised. While they didn’t impress me on the slippery rocks/damp ground, the comfort level was high. More to come on that front! The fact that they are really pretty is just a bonus 😉

Week of 4/17
M: 2.3 mile walk
T: Rest
W: 5 mile treadmill, easy
H: 8 miles easy (4 treadmill, 4 outside)
F: Rest
S: 10 mile trail run
S: Rest

Week of 4/10
M: 1 mile walk
T: 10 miles, treadmill
W: 5 miles, treadmill
H: Rest
F: 20 miles, trainer
S: 21 miles, trainer-harder
S: 30 mile hard ride with Ken, 5 mile run

Week of 4/4
M: Rest
T: 7 miles, treadmill. 6×5 min efforts.
W: 6.3 mile skate ski
H: 5 mile progression run-dirt!
F: 20 mile ride, trainer
S: 25.7 mile mostly trail run
S: 23 mile ride with Ken and Mark

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Trip to Oregon and the Endless Winter

Pretty sure we are going to be in winter mode forever 😉 It is April 5th and we saw 4.7 degrees overnight and there is plenty of snow in the forecast. Not going to lie, while I love the snow, I am definitely ready for a change. Bring on the dirt.

There have been a solid amount of gloomy snowy days in the last few weeks, but thankfully we have had pops of sunshine. I believe that I am solar powered and days that are sunny bring me so much happiness! Have gotten out a couple of times on the skate skis-the snow conditions range from ice to slushy concrete to not-too-terrible. You just never know what you are going to get in a day!

I love this before and after look. All sunshine and rainbows until you are done and exhausted. Or maybe it is just me? The hair says it all!

Last week, I convinced Brooke to join me for the last half mile of my run. It was the best! Need to do much more of this-because we both loved it. Now that she has soccer twice a week and ballet, somehow she is tired all the time 😉

Brooke and I were able to sneak to Portland for a few days to meet my new little niece, Joey. She is just utterly precious and we soaked up the newborn cuddles. She was a solid 3 weeks old when we got there. Brooke’s first time with a baby. She was a little unsure of all the noises and crying. Haha.

I definitely ate her up. Adorable sleepy!

It was super fun to get in a couple of runs without snow! It did rain quite a bit, but there were windows to head out on pavement! The forests there never cease to amaze me. So much green and moss everywhere!

You can tell that I am not the one with the newborn-my sleep there was out of this world! Part of it is that there was a time change and we got some extra hours in bed. It was incredible!!

Brooke was pretty excited when we ventured to the Zoo. Joey slept the entire time-what a champ. There were some animals that we didn’t have at the Denver Zoo, so Brooke was in Heaven. She LOVES the cheetah and was thrilled to be up close and personal.

She also has a current fascination with the sturgeon.

Another of the animal favorites was right at home in the barn. Brooke adores kitties and gave lots of love to Monica the barn cat. Such a sweetie.

Really hoping that we will start to see some spring weather soon! Then maybe it will be interesting to talk about my workouts, etc. Currently the treadmill is not exciting-ha. Maybe I need to do a post on all of the shows I have worked my way through on that thing this winter?! So many shows. Currently watching the Night Agent. Exciting enough to keep moving through. Any good recommendations? Something obscure that maybe didn’t pop up on my list?

Have a great rest of your week-hoping that you are enjoying some much warmer weather than we are here! 🙂

Week of 3/27
M: 9 miles with hill efforts
T: RES (travel)
W: 6 miles easy, treadmill. 1 hour weight lifting class
H: 3 miles easy, treadmill. 4.5 miles bike trainers. (Sore!)
F: 10 miles easy, treadmill
S: 13 miles, treadmill. 12 miles, treadmill=25 total miles
S: Ski at Tamarack! (Ran out of time and tired)

Week of 3/20
M: REST
T: 3.2 miles easy, treadmill
W: 5 mile skate ski, 3 miles easy, treadmill
H: REST
F: 5.4 miles easy, treadmill
S: 8 miles-hills in Oregon. Mostly easy, but solid 2.6 miles in the middle
S: REST

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