It's been a while eh? Here's what's been happening....
Holidays are over, and they passed by like any other day.
I've been laying low during the week and hitting the hill to snowboard on the weekends. Back in the beginning of January I was going to Arapahoe Basin Ski area and found the trees....oh how I love the trees :) I went with my friend Dede who is a phenomenal snowboarder (she can ski and tele too). she can handle just about any terrain which is good for me because she takes me on terrain I wouldn't have been able to find by myself....mainly the trees. Did I mention I love boarding through the trees, so much fun!!! Traffic SUCKS. If you leave at the wrong time you get stuck in the I-70 traffic back to town...... These pics are me waiting to get to the Eisenhower tunnel (I should have taken Loveland Pass instead CRAP!!!)
A few sunday's ago, I went on a hike in Boulder via the Mesa Trail with Patty, Suzy, and all our dogs (2 of mine, and the other's each had one). It took us about 2 and 1/2 hours to do the loop. It wasn't terribly hard but it was a pretty steep up hill on snow/ice for the first couple of miles, then downhill with slippery mud and clay. The dogs were all over the place running ahead of us doubling back, then sprinting ahead again. Each time they came back to make sure we were still there they were covered with a thicker coat of mud and crud. they were having such a good time. I was very excited thinking about the quite night ahead of us as they normally crash pretty hard after a day like that!!! We got home and Olive, the captain of my geriatric team, walked in the house, ate her dinner and sat herself down on her pillow...she didn't move for over 24 hours. I couldn't get her up to outside, and I had to bring her food over to her to eat on her pillow. she was eating so I wasn't too concerned, she was taking the time to heal herself. The next day she started to get up once or twice to go outside then layed back down. Poor thing she gets so sore. I've got her on glucosamine now and she's like a new dog, bouncing around and hyper, she'll have to stay on it the rest of her life, but if it makes her hurt less I'm happy to get it for her.
The next weekend was another trip to A-Basin on Saturday then Keystone on Sunday.
A-basin parking lot.... I went by myself so it had to be a self portrait :)
Keystone was great, my friend Kim and I stayed in the outback and rode all the tree runs and bumps. It was a work out, my legs were stinging by the end of the day. The last run we chose was painful, it was great in the beginning, powdery trails zig zagging through trees, then we hit the moguls... BUICK size moguls. I struggled the entire way down, it felt like it took hours, I finally hit the flat stretch that eventually led me to the lift to meet up with Kim and that was it..I was POOPED! We decided to call it a day since neither of us could feel our legs anymore (not from being cold either). We had two lifts and about 6 miles of trails to get back to the front of the mountain so we could leave. I walked away from keystone that day wobbly and exhausted, it was fantastic!
This last weekend we had a Costa Rica reunion. Most of the group that I was in Costa rica with all meet up at Kay's house in Snowmass, Colorado to laugh and see pictures and video from the trip.
I carpooled with my friend Dede and we headed out on Friday morning. We hit Vail resort to board for the day which was great. I learned two new phrases that day, the first was 'cliffed out'. We took one lift up the hill then traversed what seemed like forever, then we hit a powder filled clearing with a few trees. We got close to the trees and notice there were 3 skiers walking along the ridge carrying their skies. UH OH! so we get to them and Dede turns to me and say "I'm SO sorry, I had no idea'. We were looking over the edge of a cliff and at the bottom of this cliff was a very steep section that lead to a mogul field, VOLKSWAGON sized moguls they were enormous and it was ridiculously steep. No way out except down this section... So I took my board off and got down the cliff to as flat a section as I could (basically I was leaned up again a tree so I wouldn't roll down the hill before I got my board on). When I was walking I learned the second phrase of the day 'post holing'. Every few steps my leg would sink up to my hip in the snow, I'd pull it out walk a few steps and the other leg would sink into the snow. I finally get my board on, and try my best to get down this in one piece. I get to the moguls and I'm already sweating like a pig (It was 8 degrees literally, that tells you how much I had to work to get down that clif). I finally get through the moguls with Dede coaching me the whole way 'you're doing great, take your time, good job, so sorry I sand bagged you with all this'. We tried to stay on groomers the rest of the day but kept ending up on bump runs (moguls). I thought my legs were going to fall off when we finally reach the car. We made it to Kays around 6pm ish, had some dinner and I crashed....hard!!
The next morning Dede, myself, Kay, Rachel, and Daniel all met Kay's friend Skip (world class ski instructor at snowmass) for more boarding.
We had a great day, screaming down the runs! Snowmass mtn is incredible. the views are spectacular, you can see miles and miles of snow covered mountain ranges and the terrain on the runs were rolling hills with trees and powder....I was in heaven! We finished up the day and headed back to greet the rest of the group that came in to town. Patty, Rich, Suzy and Max all arrived late that evening. We had a great dinner that Kay's 15 year old son cooked us and then had cocktails and relived our great time in costa Rica. Sunday we all headed to the hill for more fun in the snow :) We split up into two groups this time, half of us went on the double black diamond runs while I stayed with Patty, kay and skip on the groomers. Patty hasn't skied in 10 years so we were there to keep her company...I wasn't complaining, I'm not sure my legs could take anymore harsh terrain :) We all headed back to town on Monday afternoon. It was a great great weekend, I had so much fun. this group of people is so fun to be around, we all just laugh and laugh. We're planning the next reunion in a few weeks.
As for working out, I've been following the Couch potato to 5 k workout since the first of the year. It's been great so far, I've gotten stuck though because I'm starting to quit smoking again. I know once that is finished I'll have a much easier time. I've been running 4 times a week then boarding for at least 2 days. I take Monday's off to recover. In addition to the running I've started a core exercise routine with the stability ball, sets of ab works outs, the plank, and then i do about 30 mins of yoga 3 times a week. Yoga is great for everything, I just feel so much stronger when I'm done :)
Ok I think that's it. wait.... I went on a date the other week with possibly the biggest dork ever. He's a nice guy and seems interested but not sure he's my type. I have another date this weekend....casual thing. I hate dating :) I have noticed that every person I've met that has their PHD or working towards it is just a little off... I'm not judging...I'm just sayin. I'm weird in my own way too, there's nothing wrong with weird, just an interesting observation.
OK NOW that's it..... I'll give ya some pictures now :) These basically show how I'm only here to feed them, the animals own the house. I was amazed how comfortable Olive looked in these :)
OK seriously make yourself at home guys!!! Notice how Olive had to take the back pillow and lay on that too. DORKS!
Christmas snow... Olive's very own heaven!
Me and Patty on a short flat hike on the Bobo Links trail in Boulder, with the doggies... Flatirons are in the background.
