I wrote yesterday about starting a month long challenge to wake up every day at 4:00 AM to run. I am not new to getting up early to run and am familiar with a 4 AM alarm. But whenever I could sleep in I did so this will be the first time doing it every day.

For now this is am morning routine:

At 4 AM my alarm goes off and a slink out of my bedroom as quietly as I can. I immediately start the coffee maker then put my running clothes on. A critical part of the routine is laying out my clothes the night before. If I had to dig around in my room looking for socks or a sports bra things would fall apart.

Once my coffee is prepared I sit down to stretch, roll and do some activation exercises.

For now most runs will be done on the treadmill given that it’s so dark, but I can’t wait for them to look like this:

Most days I try to be running by 4:45 and complete my run by 5:45 so I can cool down and stretch a little. Cannon starts waking up around 6 AM and I like to be there when he gets up on school days. If I want to run longer Cory is happy to get the kids up on weekends.

That is the gist of my early morning routine, the key is having most things ready the night before. Also I used to hit snooze a lot but now I get up with the first alarm. I once heard it makes you more tired to snooze because it disrupts your sleep patterns plus I try not to disrupt Cory and sometimes Cannon who are asleep next to me.

after that the day moves quickly with breakfast, getting dressed, school prep etc.

I was so excited that it was warm enough to walk the kids to school, so much nicer than driving.

After dropping Cannon off at school Emmy and I met some friends at a playground for a little while. The cold kept us away for way too long and we missed our friends.

Emmy and I got a few things done before it was time to go back and get Cannon from school. I love how much he loves school. Then we went to our second playground of the day to play some more with some friends.

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Later we had the BEST time riding scooters and cooking dinner together.

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We are still striving for our 1000 hours outside so I thought this might be a good place to keep track of our progress towards our goal. The time will be highly estimated: 45 minutes will be rounded to an hour, 80 minutes will be rounded to an hour….trying to keep it simple while also be inspired to spend more time outside. Now I need to go back and estimate our time from the begining of the year and start a spread sheet.

Outside Time: 4 hours

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Are you enjoying more time outside lately?

Today was a good day but also a bit of a comedy of errors.

We woke up wanting to get outside for some movement. We are trying to get the kids out walking more to get them ready for our big Utah trip in March (more details coming soon!). The weather last week kept us inside but this week is supposed to be must better.

We went to a local trail to get some miles in.

It was pretty muddy and icy.

Unfortunately Emmy slipped on some ice and dunked her foot in cold water. We cut it short because she was pretty sad, I am very ready for spring!

We made personal pizzas for lunch, Emmy has been very creative with how she has been eating.

How cute are these bunny plates?!? The kids love them, I picked them up at Target.

Cory napped with Emmy and Cannon hung out with me while I worked on some athlete schedules.

When Emmy was up we decided to all go out for a family run.

The kiddos have been loving getting out to run with us. It’s a fun fartlek run because they sprint ahead then stop to play with something.

We stopped at a playground for a bit but Cannon accidentally went down a slide into an icy deep puddle. Poor thing was completely soaked. We didn’t have a spare set of clothes for him but we did have the stroller and a big blanket. It was too cold for wet clothes so we stripped him and he hung in stroller in a blanket. He was sad that he didn’t get to run home but at least he wasn’t hurt.

We spent the rest of the night just goofing around.

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I was very excited to play an entire game of Candy Land, following all the rules. This was a first for us. Very excited for more family game nights.

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I decided to take on a new (to me) challenge. Last year back in May/June when people were wanting to break their quarantine funk there was the idea of getting up early every day to run or workout circulating. I didn’t do it then but I am going to attempt it now.

My goal is to get up every single morning at 4:00 AM and run at least 3 miles every day. The idea is that it will be easier if it becomes a habit doing it every day.

I started this on the 19th when we were exactly a month out from our trip to Utah. I won’t be getting up to run in the dark by myself in Utah but if it works out then I will resume when I get home. I am sure the first few mornings will be rough but I am hoping it gets easier with time. Wish me luck!

Tried any fun challenges lately?

We started the day the best way possible with hot chocolate and snuggles.

Then the kids helped make breakfast, Kodiak Cakes for the win!

Then Emmy and I got ready to go for a run together. Cannon went with Cory to get some supplies and work on our car.

Emmy loved hanging in the Bob and I LOVE pushing it. I talk a lot about how much I love our double Thule Chariot but my first love is the Bob Revolution, it is amazing.

Emmy loves the Bob too.

Emmy has been loving running lately and it makes me so happy.

I ran outside, pushing a stroller with no knee pain so it is a day to celebrate. I am so so happy that I seem to finally be on the mend!

After lunch and Emmy rejecting her nap we headed out to a playground.

It was pretty cold but worth it for some time playing outside.

Then we started hearing from friends that there was literally metal raining down on our city.

Cannon’s soccer club was holding practices for older kids, luckily Cannon doesn’t start soccer until March. During practice metal debris was falling from the sky forcing the coaches to scramble and get the kids to safety. These photos were posted by the soccer club.

An engine from a commercial airplane exploded over our city and there was a large debris field.

PHOTOS: Broomfield, Colorado, Rattled by Airplane Explosion, Dropping Parts

We were lucky that our house was north of where the debris landed and that there has been no reports of injury.

I feel so sorry for the people on the flight, it had to be a terrifying ordeal!

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Are you afraid to fly? I am not normally nervous at all but THAT would freak me out!

Happy Saturday, I hope you have something really fun planned. We don’t have anything planned yet, but I might try to talk Cory into going snow shoeing in the mountains.

The day started off with a run on the treadmill as usual:

It was nice to not have to get up early because Cory had the day off and took Cannon to school while I got my run in.

My knee has been feeling better lately so I might try a few miles outside to see if it can handle it without pain. Please send me good vibes I really really want to be running outside again!

We walked to pick Cannon up after he was done with school and I underestimated the snow. Should have put Emmy in boots!

Do you and your kids ski? I have been wanting to get the kids started since it seems like a crime not teaching the kiddos to ski while living in Colorado!

I didn’t grow up skiing, I went a couple times and it seems a bit overwhelming. We did want to start them at an indoor ski school then take them up to the actual ski resorts but with Covid we put that off this year. I think next year we will have to give it a try because I am really disliking winter and having a winter sport would likely help us all enjoy it more.

Source

We have lots of friends that ski with their kids and it seems that there are lots of family friendly resorts so we will have to get it figured out.

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Do you ski? Any suggestions for a newbie getting started?

I, like many, have been following Tommy Rivs as he fights for his life. If you aren’t I encourage you to. He is so inspirational and his wife’s words are beautiful.

In his latest post Tommy talks about how his life now is so different while fighting Cancer but that the steps are not much different. In his post he talks about how every heart beat is precious.

His dedication to his recovery and passion for life makes me also want to get after it.

So lets all go fight like hell for our dreams!

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Our day was a lot of wash. rinse. repeat.

Humphry is over the cold and snow.

Emmy went with me on some errands.

We were most excited to pick up Cannon after school.

Cannon and I got quality time together while Emmy napped. I don’t know how but this kid is just the sweetest, most helpful boy ever. He has such a good heart, we really won the lottery with this one!

Then we went outside to play in the snow.

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And the kids helped me clear the snow off the sidewalk and driveway.

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What are you going to fight like hell for?

My day started bright and early with a 4:30 AM wakeup call and a 5:00 AM date with the treadmill.

The kids woke up excited that it was Wednesday, our adventure day.

Emmy was trying to show me a peace sign.

Cannon and Emmy were having fun scooting around while I was getting ready.

Cory has to work but Cannon, Emerald and I have the day off and we often try to seek out some kind of adventure.

Cannon really wanted to take their new cameras into the mountains to take photos. Our mountains were getting 6-9 inches of snow so I didn’t think we should be heading up there so we compromised and went to the base of the front range in Lyons.

It was cold and snowy but it was worth it to get out of the house, sometimes the idea of the adventure is more important than the actual adventure.

There was a playground there and the kids enjoyed some time there.

We explored and took lots of pictures.

After we got home the kids were excited to wear their matching shirts.

We had a good time but I can’t wait until spring/summer when we can do more epic all day adventures. I feel urgency to make the most of this time before August when Cannon will start school full time and we won’t have these precious Wednesdays together.

In the evening I had a work training about updates to our teaching platform and new portals.

Any other teachers out there teaching online? Do you like it?

I hope you can all start your day as happy as Emmy

She was just super excited about everything this morning.

There was a lot of energy and shenanigans before school as well.

Cannon has been doing really well in school, I am so grateful that he gets to go in person.

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After such a long stretch of extreme cold it felt amazing to be outside in 38 degree weather.

Afternoon coffee and dreaming of the places we can go when things are more normal.

Humphry’s ears have been bothering him so he had an afternoon visit with the vet.

Me: Gets up at 4am to run for 90 minutes.

Also Me: Cannon, please get me the remote, I don’t want to get up….

Yes, my four year old is SO sweet and will basically jump up and get me anything anytime. I love hime so much.

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Are you a morning person? I am, Cory is NOT

Cannon had the day off of school and we were supposed to have a little Valentine’s party (outside) with friends. It was 5 degrees this morning so we agreed to cancel and try again when we all thaw out.

Emmy was excited to have Cannon home to play with but it’s feeling a bit like last years quarantine where we don’t go anywhere. I am SO looking forward to warmer weather.

I am also boring because I could eat the same things for lunch every day.

The kids did love walking on the celling

While singing Spider Pig

If you want to see something amazing please check out Billy Yang’s Post

His post about Justin Grunewald and his performance at the Black Canyon 100k. I teared up watching the video. Justin is so inspiring and Billy is just such an amazing story teller!

I recently read an awesome article by David Roche and wanted to share:

https://trailrunnermag.com/training/how-to-go-all-in-on-winter-training.html

It’s all about how to go all in and build a great base during the winter. I have been feeling down this week about being stuck inside so much, dealing with an injury and the pandemic. This was just what I needed to refocus on what I can do now to set up for a stellar spring and summer.

My goal now is to get healthy and strong so I can come out of this winter/social distancing strong and healthy, ready to hit the trails.

Davis and Megan Roche are very inspiring people, offer coaching and have an awesome podcast.

I can’t wait to listen to this podcast about Chasing big dreams and being unapologetically yourself!

Megan and David seem like amazing people and live right here in Boulder! I hope to meet them in person some day soon.

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Have you read or met anyone amazing lately?

We had a very cold, very Covid Valentine’s Day. Cory and I have never been big ones to go out and make a big deal about Valentine’s day but we also like to celebrate it. Now that we have the kids to shower with love it is even more fun.

We made them baskets of little gifts and Cory made them home made cake pops because cake pops from Starbucks are their favorite treat.

I don’t think it got above five degrees today so we mostly hung out at home.

We also worked on gifts for our family and friends.

The kids are getting more and more into crafts and that has been really fun.

We drove around dropping gifts on people’s porches.

Both Cannon and Emmy have been really interested in taking photos lately and begging to use our phones. They also drop their devises a lot so I don’t like handing them my phone. We got them both cameras and they are super excited to take photos of everything.

We had a special dinner planned and decided to take the kids to Cold Stone for the first time. Dinner did not turn out as we planned so we scrapped that and decided to grab Thai food before going to Cold Stone but then found out that the location near us closed. It became a comedy of errors but we still ended up enjoying dinner but got the kids to bed about an hour late.

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How was your Valentine’s Day, did you do anything special?