Just Another Manic Monday
Well, we’re back! Our weekend adventure in Glenwood Springs was so refreshing and I certainly wished I was still there when my alarm went off at 6:45. Back to reality, and running.
- Mile 1 – 9:43
- Mile 2 – 9:25
- Mile 3 – 9:15
- Mile 3-3.5 – 4:30 (9:02 pace)
Booya! The best part about runs like this is that I don’t even know I’m getting faster and faster because Joey wears the Garmin. I guess that vacation really helped 🙂
Let’s rewind now, shall we?
I can barely remember Friday it seems so long ago but looking back through my pictures I DO remember Friday’s dinner!
Kale Chips + Sweet Potato with Honey
Do you see that shiny gleam on the potato? That would be Honeyville Whipped Wildflower Honey. This particular jar, which I may or may not have stolen borrowed from my sister, is cinnamon and OH.SO.GOOD! It’s made in Durango, Colorado — cool huh?
Saturday morning I got in a quick lifting/stretching session, chowed down on a giant bowl of Peace Cereal + fruit (banana, blueberry, peach to be exact) and climbed into the car for a 3 hour 40 minute drive to Rifle Gap. Check-in for our hotel in Glenwood wasn’t until 4 so we had time to kill and decided to spend it with Joey’s family who was camping in Rifle, which is only 20ish minutes from Glenwood.
A surprise birthday celebration ensued for yours truly. Due to the short notice that we would be coming to the campsite everyone had to improvise with homemade cards that turned out to be so so cute 🙂 Cake and ice cream was consumed and Puppy was a big hit with everyone.
We took a ride out to see “The Falls” — there’s probably a technical name for these but I have no idea what it is.
It was so much cooler here than at the campsite and it felt so nice! We walked around and ended up above the falls and found a way to walk behind them too. Good thing I forgot my camera and only have this phone picture to share…
There was a huge wildfire not too far from the campsite. It may look like a huge cloud but that’s really a cloud of smoke. It was huge!
We finally got into Glenwood around 5 PM and took a few minutes to relax in our room with my family and discuss where to go to dinner.
The Hotel Colorado is an old hotel with a neat history — Teddy Roosevelt used to stay there frequently and now you can even stay in his old room, BUT we all found the hotel to be outdated and a little rundown. Time for a mini rant: No air conditioning = miserable, the tub wouldn’t drain, the wireless connection barely worked and don’t even bother trying the hotel restaurant. The service is slow and the food is OUTRAGEOUSLY overpriced considering it’s not great. Pros: it’s pet friendly and RIGHT across the street from the hot springs pool.
We took a peek at the pool as we walked over to the Glenwood Canyon Brewing Company for dinner.
The legal drinkers shared a taster plate that came with 8 4-oz. servings of beer. Myfavorites were the Hanging Lake Honey Ale and the Grizzly Creek Raspberry Wheat, mmm!
We thought it was funny how small the glass looked in Joey’s hand
Don’t I look angelic, ha ha
Beanie’s pizza was rather small
But it turned out to be tasty nevertheless
I got a portabello sandwich that came with red bell peppers and provolone on a kaiser roll. For my side I chose the black bean and corn salad — it was yummy!
BEAUTIFUL sunset over the bridge 🙂
We walked over to the Daily Bread for breakfast where I proceeded to stuff my face with eggs, home fries and toast. They had homemade salsa and homemade plum jam and both were so good! I think we went through 2 jars of the salsa.
The ENTIRE day was spent floating around in the pool. It was thee PERFECT temperature and it was so easy to spend hours in there! I particularly enjoyed floating on my back while my dad massaged my feet and my mom massaged my neck/shoulders. What can I say, having to massage therapist parents is AWESOME!
We ate lunch at the pool grill, which I DO NOT recommend! Beanie and I got veggie wraps and numerous ingredients were missing and Beanie found a piece of bacon in hers!
Joey and I reluctantly headed back to the hotel around 5 to shower, pack up and head home 😦
We picked up Qdoba for dinner. I got a salad with black beans, veggies, corn and mango salsa. I ordered the dressing on the side but ended up not using it.
And now here I am back home with my trusty oatmeal in hand
I mixed in a few frozen strawberries and let them heat up then topped with whipped honey (duh), PB and Just Bunches
Ahhh, swimming in honey
I have a list of things to do before we leave for Vegas/California on Thursday so I’m off!
Happy Manic Marvelous Monday!
Spontaneity
I’ve been making some very spontaneous decisions lately. Like postponing my Thursday run to make it a night run! And moving my 5-mile run to today. But why? So I can go on a weekend vacation!!
I must be pretty fun because my family decided they couldn’t bear to go on vacation without me and decided to invite Joey, Puppy and I up to Glenwood for a couple days. I couldn’t think of any reason why not so I said SURE!
I celebrated my spontaneous decision with a egg & kale wrap
And a side of blueberries, of course. All I did to make this was beat two eggs, seasoned with s & p, poured into a pan, added some kale pieces, covered with foil and cooked for ~7 minutes. Then you just slide it out onto a tortilla and roll it up! No flipping necessary.
More spontaneity occurred during dinner when Joey and I decided to whip up a quick stir-fry. There’s really no rules for stir-fry, toss in anything and everything and it usually comes out pretty good! We had broccoli, carrots, bell pepper, garlic scapes and tempeh on hand. I soaked the tempeh in soy sauce + hoisin + sesame seed oil for ~30 minutes then chopped and cooked the veggies. When they were about done I added the tempeh to the pan plus more soy and hoisin.
I had pre-cooked organic polenta so we sliced it and let it brown and heat up in a pan. It was sliightly lack luster but I still gobbled up my fair share.
I noticed some daffodils growing in the courtyard
Oh summer, you are so beautiful 🙂
And now for the moment you’ve all been waiting for… disaster breakfast!!
I attempted to make Kath’s Cheese Danish Pancakes and I have no idea what happened but the pancakes NEVER set so when I went to flip them they broke all over the place and I ended up with a HUGE mess!
That I still ate, of course!!
Ha ha, at least they still tasted good! I topped them with a spoonful each of mixed berry compote and peach jam, plus a few bluebs. I was STUFFED after eating these — we’ll see how long they hold me over for.
I ALMOST FORGOT, MY RUN(S)!
After eating dinner and laughing maybe a little too hard at the ESPYS Joey and I headed out for a run. We decided to take it REAL SLOW since we didn’t think we’d digested long enough. It felt SO nice to run at a slower pace than usual so I decided I’d do the same this morning during my 5-miler.
I tried to at least stay above a 10 minute mile and it worked PERFECTLY!
- Mile 1 – 9:51
- Mile 2 – 9:42
- Mile 3 – 9:33
- Mile 4 – 9:31
- Mile 5 – 9:38
- Total = 48:18
Why yes, that is a negative split and it was unintentional mind you! Running slower in the beginning really helps so you can speed up towards the end and make the second half of your run faster than your first half. I felt so so good after this run — not fizzling out and panting for air like usual. Run success 😀
Now my weekend is cleared up for relaxing and Joey and I could not be more excited to soak our tired bones in the hot springs.
Wishing you a Happy Friday!
Take the Good with the Bad
Yesterday actually would have been a great day — I spent a few hours at the pool with my sister, Beanie, my roommate Hannah and our friend Fletcher then had dinner at the Boulder Farmer’s Market with Joey, Beanie and a couple of her friends — if it hadn’t been for the bad news looming in the back of my mind.
While at a recent check-up it was discovered that Puppy has a heart murmur. At an intensity of 4 out of 6. The vet set up an appointment to do a cardioscope and as it turns out Puppy has heart disease. This means he has a year, maybe a little more, to live. I am devastated 😦 He’s only 6.
My family left this morning for a week in Santa Fe/Glenwood Springs so we’ll have Pup all week and I get all choked up just looking at him 😦 The poor little guy has fluid in his lungs so his breathing sounds labored and it kills me to hear him struggling.
On that note, today’s post will be short and sweet, hope you don’t mind.
Two breakfasts for the price of one:
Yesterday (taken near some flowers on campus before I realized I probably looked crazy taking pictures of VOOs in public, oops)
I actually made two batches of these so Hannah could have her first VOO experience!! She was really interested in how I make them and the difference between all the different types of oats and I was more than happy to share my oat knowledge. VERDICT: She thought they were really good (phew, I was nervous) and is anxious to try hot oats with PB — ahh, a girl after my own heart!
Loved the patriotic windmill on the back of this bike — so summery! AND I saw this same bike later at the Farmer’s Market, how weird right?
Today’s VOOs: oats, almond milk, chia seeds, peach pieces & Just Bunches
I’ve never been to the Farmer’s Market on a Wednesday — it’s open from 3-8 PM — and was surprised that it was so PACKED! We wandered around looking for the best dinner options and stumbled across a Tandoori Wraps tent. One look at the sign and I knew it was the place for me — organic produce and exotic sauces made from scratch, yes please!
They give you a order sheet and a pen to mark your wrap choices (P.S. you have to give them your name and we all felt like being a little silly)
- Jo: Naan (white), Chicken, Spinach, Onions, Tomatoes, Cucumbers, Olives, Bell Peppers, Hot Sauce
- Lo: Roti (whole wheat), Veggie Fritters (not sure what these were made of but they looked/tasted like falafel and were delicious!), Spinach, Onions, Tomatoes, Olives, Bell Peppers, Curry, Masala (which I’d never had before but was so impressed by)
- Coco (okay, she didn’t give them that name, but she totally should have — get it? Her real name is Colleen): Same as mine + cucumbers – tomatoes because they were out – masala because it’s made with cream and she doesn’t do dairy
Joey is a master burrito wrapper. He credits Chipotle he he
I tried the iced chai but was not impressed — there was hardly any spice!
After the FM, I picked Puppy up from my parents house and cuddled up with him in bed 🙂
Talk to you all tomorrow.
Lauren Loves Good Food 
