momma sends me on a birthday adventure..

I got my birthday package from my mom in the mail, and in it there is a beautifully wrapped box, a funny birthday card about being "old enough now to know better than to cut my own bangs" and then a tiny envelope that says,

"Go to the address inside this envelope to get your stunning running gift, just ask for the birthday present for Courtney at the register."

My momma is a little silly, she likes to "scare" me when she gives me presents.  It's not that she scares me, just that once when she got me those grandma sweatpants in jr high... funny part is that's the kind of sweatpants I wear now at 33, yikes!  I unwrapped the gift in the box and she got me a very beautiful cast iron tea pot set complete with saucers and a tray - I can't wait to play Cinderella (anyone want to be the wicked step sisters? or have any bonnets I can put on Ben?)!

So I'm off to the running store... of course when I get there and tell the guy at the register that I'm there to "pick up a birthday present for Courtney that my mom said would be at the register", I somehow manage to get the attention of everyone in the store.  He say's "Oh yeah!" really loud, and hands me a gift card.  I have quite a clever little momma, and it definitely was a fun little birthday adventure. 

Little did my momma know, but the store she chose is the running store that Runners Edge paired up with, Runners Roost, so I get a pretty good discount there!  I ended up getting a brand new pair of Saucony Rides, and a pretty sweet asics jacket.  Very exciting!  Thank you momma!

skiing is a dance, and the mountain always leads

check out the icicle on the roof!

We rented a condo up in Keystone for my birthday and a weekend of skiing and snowboarding maddness!  The condo was absolutely gorgeous!  We ate some tacos, and played Apples to Apples while we waited for Cory and Dad to get there.  We broke out the tequilia but we didn't have any ice in the fridge (or a blender)... so we improvised and made some yummy 'snowgaritas'. Dad and Cory finally made it up, and when we unloaded everything they brought we had enough food to feed an army!!! Played a few more games and then headed to bed. 

 

Saturday morning we woke up to some big snowflakes coming down pretty good, so we filled our bellies with delicious spicy breakfast burritos tossed on a bunch of layers, and called the ski shuttle to come pick us up.  Dad and Cory were already at the slopes (because they were up WELL before the sun!). 

 

After a quick shuttle ride we met up with them at the gondola to hitch a ride to the top of the mountain! As soon as we got in the gondola line the sun came out and it was obvious that we had all overdressed!  It was pretty warm. =) The ride to the top was gorgeous as the sky was now bright blue and you could see for miles. 

It was Cory's first time skiing, so Dad was teaching him and it was Owen's first time snowboarding, so Lynds was teaching him.  Cory picked it up right away and was heading down the slopes in no time.  Owen was a little more stubborn and wanted to do it himself, so there was a bit of a struggle there in the beginning, but eventually he figured it out.  And in a day he is better than Lynds and me... guess that's the difference between being 8 and being 33.

All in all it was a great day of skiing.  We finished it off with some hot chocolate and then back to the condo for lasagna and birthday brownies, hot tub and playing some pool.  It was a great 33rd birthday!

Training is coming along!

Just finished the first 10 mile long run of our training with my Dad and RER in the Ken Caryl Valley.  It was absolutely gorgeous, and I felt great!  It was my Dad's first 10 mile run in quite some time, and the longest run of our training so far.  Our coach described it as having some hills and being a bit "challenging"... that it was.

The first several miles were "ever so slightly uphill", and the 4:45 pace group maintained a steady pace. Mile 5 was a little easier as it was mostly downhill, and kind of a steep downhill in some areas. So we made it to the 5 mile turn around fairly easily, but 'what goes up must come down'... or rather what goes down must go up!  Mile 6 was a bit of a challenge, slowly but surely we made it to the top and I have to say I was glad that there was a water station there!!!  Took a little breather, got some water, and ran our little hearts back to the start.  While the last several miles were downhill, they still weren't "easy" miles.  Just like running uphill there is definitely an art to running downhill.  In fact, in terms of technique running uphill is easy than running downhill.  Maintain control with short quick steps, be light on your feet, keep your shoulders slightly in front of you, your hips and feet below you, don't "brake" with your quads and let gravity help you glide down the hill... easy right?  Well my Dad and I did our best, and finished the 10 mile run strong.

Afterwards we went to Village Inn to celebrate our accomplishment by refueling our bodies in preparation for this weeks running to come! 

No group long run next Saturday cuz we are going snowboarding for my birthday weekend!!! 33!  My cousin Cory is going to be in town and it will be his first time skiing (hopefully he won't be too sore to do a little "Stahl Shufflin")... my Dad is coming up, so is my sister and her entourage - Lyndsay, Dustin and Owen, and my sweetheart Benny! Should be a lot of fun.  My stepmom Jackie can't come but she's sending up some breakfast burritos and lasagna - yummmmmm!  And my brother-in-law-to-be is being such a trooper and watching the monster (Olive).