Spring, Summer, Fall Trips

This summer I think we're going to stick around Colorado, save for a few domestic trips, and take care of some crazy adventures that have been on our list. Notably:

- 4-pass loop hike in the Maroon Bells
- Mountain biking from Aspen to Crested Butte (via Pearl Pass)
- Mountain bike trip to Moab, and to Fruita
- Hiking 3+ TBD 14'ers to keep up with our yearly quota
- Cycle to New Belgium Brewery in Fort Collins
- Backpack in the San Juans (maybe after Tayler's graduation from Fort Lewis in May)
- Backpack the Aldo Leopold Wilderness around the NM/TX border
- Backpack the Picketwire Canyonlands (CO)
- Bike over McClure Pass (outside of Carbondale)
- Backpack Paria Canyon (CO)
- Hike Mt. Sopris (CO)
- Visit the Roan Plateau before it becomes a huge gas station

And more, I'm sure!

We'll take a trip to the farm in Illinois, head to the East Coast for a long weekend, and most likely spend many weekends in Carbondale/Aspen.

Swimming

I have been swimming twice a week, for what I figured has been six weeks. I think I have the perfect schedule - every Wednesday and Friday morning. This way, I don't have to worry about getting up at 5:45 a.m. right after a weekend, but by the time the mid-week rolls around, I don't have too much motivation left on evenings to work out, so getting it done in the morning is great. It took me 2-3 weeks to get back into swimming, so during that time I was mostly just swimming laps without any real thought to it. I've been able to improve my stroke and speed in that short time at least enough to dictate my pace, so I started doing sets, or what a humble beginner might call a set. 300's with 3x25 3 normal; 3x25, 1 fast, 2 normal; 3x25, 2 fast, 1 normal; 3x25, 3 fast. Then ladder down with the same sets in the opposite direction. I'm not that fast, so I can usually do the entire 600 set, a 10 minute warm up, 5 minute cool down, and 10-15 minutes of targeted stuff in 45 minutes. I did do another 300 set and part of a 4th this morning. The 3rd and 4th were with a floatie, which makes it so much fun. My goal is to do 4 sets, so 2 full ladders, or 1200m. Then I can learn a new set and mix it up.

There are some seriously fast and strong swimmers at the South Boulder Rec Center. I try to eyeball them underwater and pick up some tips.

I've been trying to run 2-3 times a week, and ski 1-2 times a week. I'd like to start cycling during the day, if anything just a 30 minute hill climb. It would be nice to be in shape to do some Xterras this summer...

Finally Putting That Fish Tattoo to Good Use

When I lived in California, I used to swim 2-3 times a week. This was in preparation for the imaginary triathlon in my head, which I for the most part never got around to doing. The best possible gym I could find in Fremont was the 24-Hour Fitness (what does this tell you about Fremont - awesome Afghani food, borderline terrible quality of life). Swimming was a quasi-contact sport at the Fremont, CA 24HF, as I would generally refuse to share my lane with more than 2 people (what?! 3 people is A LOT for a shoddy 10 yard pool), and then get yelled at by a random 60 year old Middle Eastern man treading water in the shallow end for being "stupid" and a woman that rhymes with "itch." Basically I would get screamed at by some asshole trying to dictate pool operations. I didn't really like that part. I still got in a good workout, but dropped swimming as soon as I moved back to Boulder. Isn't it usually the other way around? Anyway! I started up again! Liza and I celebrated MLK Jr. Day with a littel dorsal fin action - it felt so good and I could literally feel my muscles stretch out. The South Boulder Rec Center has a 25 yard indoor pool. I'm very happy to add this workout to my imaginary triathlon training regimen. I'm hoping to get over there at least twice a week.

WhiteHouse.gov

Check out the new White House website.They didn't waste any time.

Looking forward to Tuesday

Non Sequiter









15 Time Magazine Obama Covers (Gawker)

Exercise

I didn't really make a new year's resolution, nor do I intend to treat this as one, but I've really been trying to exercise more during the day. I never have trouble exercising on the weekends, since Steve and I spend our free time doing something outside that incidentally includes exercise. But on weekdays, especially in the winter, it's usually difficult to get exercise in, which makes me upset that I don't make more of an effort. By the time 5 p.m. comes, it's dark out, cold, windy and/or snowy, and time to hang out, do homework and/or make dinner. I can't seem to get myself out of my stupid chair during the day to go running or biking at lunch. Scott said that he focused on 8-10 mile bike rides during the day, which got me on to this idea, but I haven't been on my road bike since the Fall. I don't know why. I also don't know why I don't take a lunch break. Some weird psychological issue associated with needing to be by the phone or something. Especially since I'm alone all day. It's not the actual resistance to exercise, because I have a hard time going to the grocery store during the day, too. It's just a challenge to get out of the door! I'm working on it.

Anyway, so who cares what I'm doing wrong, but I'm trying to do something right. I don't care about my weight, I mostly want to stay strong, be able to destress, and do something healthy on days when I would otherwise just stay at home. So, I want to get in at least 30 minutes of exercise on workdays. Liza and I go to the gym sometimes, which helps, but sidewalk running at night is also an option. As is just doing it during the day, but it's more fun with Steve. We went for 35 minute runs on Monday and on Wednesday. I just loved it. Just need to watch for the ice.

I also got free running pants and shoes from Salomon, so I better use them. I would never have paid $120 for them. Someone was thinking!
Salomon XT Wings

There's no team in blog

Blogging is self indulgent. I mostly started this blog with no intended audience but my own piece of mind. I like to write, but never get to write exactly what I want. I'd like to write whatever I want, whenever I want, with no limitations. Like when I hear a funny joke. I just feel the need to get some things off my mind, even if they're inane, selfish, boring, or completely off topic. I also like to write down ideas that I think are good, or things that I would like to remember. Those are the main purposes of this blog. Help me organize my thoughts, share interesting/funny news with people, share items that I think other people might like to know about me, and finally, let friends and family know what's up!

Life

I get really worried that I will wake up in 30 years and not have done the things that I want to do. A lot of what I want to do will come from the things that I actually do, so I need to make sure to stimulate myself enough to make new things happen. Like a domino effect. Travels can accomplish this, the people we spend time with, how we treat people and other things. Also, our career path. Every move we make influences the next. But does it really? What if we're not even thrilled about that part? Can we start from zero? Is it ever too hard to start from zero? You always hear about older people who learn new hobbies, and say 'it's never too late! never think it's too late!' I like to remind myself this. But I don't want that to be a cop out. It's never too late, but it's never too early. To be happy and do old and new things to preserve that happiness. I get so worried about making the right choices, and balancing the pros and the cons, that I find it hard to be completely happy when I actually do those things. I'm always happy, and usually so excited to be doing those things though. Maybe the word is carefree.

Then again, I'm damn lucky to be doing anything. My anxiety would probably be attributed to the desire to do everything I want and hope for and experience as much as I can! Because I do know that I'm lucky to be doing all that, and that I am able to do anything I want. And not do anything that's not worth it. I want every part of my life to build upon the last part, and I want to make sure that every fork in the road leads the right way, and that I learn from it. Maybe I should stick to knives.