Chasing My Joy

My journey to becoming an Ultra Runner and Ironman

Archives for February 2022

A Winter Hike – Barr Lake

During the winter I always miss our sunny mountain hikes. We tried out a new to us hike around Barr Lake to see if it would fill the space missing during these winter days.

We visited Barr Lake Nature Center and trails. We were hoping to walk all the way around the lake but they had a section closed off for nesting Bald Eagles.

Trail snacks are key to happiness!

The Nature Center had lots of fun things to explore and the kids really enjoyed spending some time there.

There are some beautiful boardwalks around the lake.

The friendship these two share is one of the best things in my life. It’s nice to always have your best friend with you.

The area was beautiful and we enjoyed our visit but it didn’t really scratch the itch for mountain hikes. We will continue to seek out adventure.

Not A Lot + Does Running Help Your Vaccine?

We don’t have a lot going on in our life…..the dead of winter is always slow for me. I did some PT in the morning and ran on the treadmill.

The kids got their exercise on scooter/bike.

Any time outside is good. Still working on our 1000 hours outside but February is usually a very low month.

The kids decided to dress up like Daddy, Cory had terrible eyes so we hope that they get my vision. At least if the do need glasses we do know that they will be cute!

https://www.trailrunnermag.com/training/how-going-for-a-run-may-improve-your-response-to-vaccines/

And, I found this article so interesting about how running can impact how your body responds to vaccines.

Cozy Days + Snow Beast

We had another very cold snowy day so we mainly stayed home (which is not our usual).

These kiddos didn’t mind a slow day reading books.

And watching a movie. At home days call for matching sweat suits.

Cannon didn’t have school so we spent the afternoon playing in the snow.

Humphry doesn’t much like getting cold but he is a snow beast when you throw snow for him.

What are your favorite things to do on cold snowy days? Un-pictured here include hot chocolate, stories and preschool work.

Book Nook – St. Patricks Day

Now that Valentines Day is over we put up our St. Patrick’s Day shelves. We added some spring and rainbow books to fill out our shelves.

This banner was from the Halloween collection at Target but I knew I wanted it for St. Patricks Day so I stored it away.

These pillows are some of my favorites for our play room as well.

**I own some of these books but also check many out from our local library, it would be very expensive to add all of these titles to your collection in one year. We are building ours with a few new favorites each year.

Shelves – Banners – Shelfie Sign – Kids Custom Chairs – Wire Basket 

Monthly Book Nooks:

January – Arctic Animals/Snow

February – Love/Valentines Day

March – St. Patricks Day/Rainbow

April – Easter

May – Spring

June – Mexico/Beach/Ocean

July – Camping/summer

August – Back to School

September – Fall/Harvest

October – Halloween

November- Thanksgiving

December – Christmas

Less than 1% + Dragging Our Wagon

I had a morning PT appointment to start a very cold day. My car said -2 when I arrived!

I am really hoping this PT works and that I can start running again. I asked my PT if I would ever be back to running long distances again and she was hopeful but I will always have to do these exercises to stay healthy.

The cold stayed with us all day, I think the high was around 6 degrees. We were all tired and graggin’ our wagon, Emmy fell asleep in the car while Cannon was at school and no amount of coffee could save me.

The rest of our day was pretty boring and standard, school pickup, dinner, errands, etc.

I found these statistics from run4prs really interesting! Really, only 1% of runners have ran a marathon and only .1% of the USA runs races?!? Sometimes it feels like everyone is off running ultras. Let’s all take some time to celebrate our successes today!

Finally……France!

I am so excited, we finally committed to a trip to France this summer.

[Source]

I can not wait to explore all these areas with the kiddos. We are planning about two and a half weeks to explore mostly France with a little dip into Italy and Switzerland. Or that could all change.

Anyone been to France? What should we do? What should I pack?!? LOL

Pinterest research……..

Back to Reality

After getting home from our weekend trip we were back to reality.

I have been having black coffee in the morning and while I am getting used to it, it kind of steals all my joy…..when I get back to more morning milage I will add my favorite creamer back in. A little sugar isn’t bad when you are going for a run!

The kids got to work coloring and playing with every toy they own. It’s like we had been gone from our home for months.

Cannon was very proud of the music he wrote.

Cannon had school in the afternoon and even brought back homework.

I wonder how much we will have next year in kinder. I love his little hands!

How much homework do your kids have each night?

A Visit to Pueblo

On Sunday we played at our campsite on scooters and visited the lake a bit.

I don’t think it’s the most picturesque place in Colorado but I am glad we visited!

Our campsite had a good view of the lake.

On our way home we stopped in Pueblo to visit the river walk.

*source*

Normally this area is full of water and boats but it was empty when we visited. I would love to come back and see it like above.

We did find a fun little playground and a cute patio to have lunch that allowed us to have our three dogs with us!

It was fun visiting Pueblo and I would love to go back!

Weekend Trip – Lake Pueblo State Park

We are loving winter camping, getting out in nature makes everything better. We tend to camp in very different locations in the winter than the summer since the high country is way too snowy and cold for us this time of year. I do prefer summer camping in the mountains, but it is fun to see parts of the state we wouldn’t visit in the summer.

Like Lake Pueblo State Park! We joined my parents for a little weekend camping.

The drive is only a little over two hours and very easy.

We did some hiking and playing, the weather was cool but comfortable.

After our hike we went to Pueblo to visit the zoo.

It was tiny but perfect for an afternoon and the kids liked it.

Then it was back to our campsite for dinner and stargazing.

Do you ever go camping in the winter?

Chores + Some Good Things

Not very much exciting to report from today, I got up early to do PT…again.

Then we worked on chores in our travel trailer. It’s not surprising how many things break in an RV given that it’s driven 70 mph on the highway, off road and left outside when it’s freezing and 100+ degrees.

Maintenance is needed….I do also think we use our trailer more than the average owner.

I did want to share this super cute instagram account:

https://www.instagram.com/biglittlefeelings/

And this amazing podcast, love them so much! I do wish they wouldn’t cuss so I didn’t have to worry about the kids listening but it’s their podcast. But be aware it’s NSFK (not safe for kids).

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/88-training-intensity-lactate-double-workouts-and/id1521532868?i=1000550462817

Please share with me something you love!

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