Cookies and workouts

Christmas came and went too quickly.  I had all these plans of things I was going to bake but only ended up making 2 batches of gluten free thumbprint cookies.  The first batch didn't turn out so well--lesson learned that if I am not using a mix, I need to put Xanthan gum.  Adam still devoured most of the crumbs from the first batch and I was successful in my second attempt.

Adam really wanted Italian rainbow cookies and I was going to make them for him, but then I saw how involved it was, so Friday afternoon we drove all the way to Wheatridge (not that close) to an authentic Italian bakery (not many of those around here unlike NJ and Long Island) and got him more than a pound of cookies.

We got enough exercise to feel like all this cookie eating was justified.  On Friday, I did my first ride up Lookout Mountain.  Adam and I rode from town in Golden and then quickly began climbing.  The actual climb as we measured it is around 4.5 miles, though the climbing begins before that.  It took me a little while to get warmed up, but once I did, I was moving pretty well.  I ended up finishing the climb in 28:07 with a 173 norm power, which I am happy with since I have barely ridden my bike for the past few months.  It is a starting point at least and I'd like to do the climb every few weeks to see how my cycling is progressing.  It was an amazing view--the climb winds it's way around the mountain and there are amazing views of Golden, snow covered peaks and of people hang gliding and paragliding.  Before we started the climb I made a comment that it didn't look like it was that high up, but early on into the climb the views were amazing and I quickly realized just how far we were going up.  Part way up and towards the top there was ice and snow on the road.  My tire slipped on the climb up which made me super cautious on the decent.  I froze on the way down, even after adding an extra layer wind jacket.

I rode on my own yesterday, 2 hours+ riding up Deer Creek Canyon road. I didn't go up to the really steep part on High Grade, but it was a good enough workout for me at this point.  Adam rode it later in the day and a guy that was riding near him on the decent crashed badly and the ambulance and fire trucks had to come and close the road.  It  reminded me of how important it is to be alert when descending and not to take stupid risks to try to be faster than someone else.

I ran 90 mins Saturday and felt great, definitely getting into the groove of things with running.  Swimming, I actually feel pretty good considering the sizable breaks in swimming I have taken, and while my times are not where I would like, I know that with consistency, they will get down where they need to be.

Speaking of swimming, Adam got me a new swimsuit and goggles for Christmas among other things.  Getting a new suit is always good motivation for me to swim.  He also got me some egg beater mountain bike pedals--now I just need the mountain bike!  My favorite gift that he gave me was a homemade calender with pictures of the dogs and us and with little captions. 

There is a blizzard in NJ yesterday and today.  Glad I am not there for that! I was really enjoying the 50-55 degree weather this weekend and today.  I know it will get cold again, but it sure has been nice and it seems like the sun is always shining and even when it gets cold it seems like it is only for a few days and then it gets "warm" again.  I feel so lucky to be here and while I miss many things about NJ, I am so glad that I made the change to move out here.  If someone had told me I would be moving to CO, or anywhere really, this time last year I would have thought they were crazy.