The Colorado Fit Life

It’s Saturday morning, the clock blinks 4:55 and though you don’t need to get up yet, you can’t stay in bed.

There’s a sky filled with pink swirls coming soon, a burst of sunshine after that and a day of sweating with friends…why stay in bed?! Don’t get me wrong, I’m fully passed out by 9PM from these days of fun and enjoy every second of sleep. But what a treasure to wake up filled with that kid at Disney excitement every weekend.

It’s been a bit since I’ve shared a Colorado update, so here’s a little flash of life in the last month!

Sweatworking

Moving to Denver, I realized there were a substantial number of other bloggers here and I set about getting us together.

Sometimes 4 of us, sometimes more, sometimes a complete no go. But earlier this month Tara and I managed to get a great crew together for her to lead us through a workout at Fitness in the City, while my friends at Under Armour Women outfitted some ladies last minute! Left to right: Ivanna, Lisa, Chloe, Bre, Jessica, Kait, Tricia, Lacey, Me, Tara, Laura, Monica, Amber, Chris.

I totally credit Tara with making me want to do more group classes. She made me realize that maybe I don’t hate lifting or group workouts. I’ve been taking advantage of ClassPass to do some other circuit classes and the Pilates Reformer.

Which also pushed me to sign up for a strength program that it completely out of my comfort zone, but more on that another day.
Here’s a great shot of my bad ass friend Laura from our workout. (Thanks to Teddy for more great photos you’ll see on IG!)

Shared suffering really is the greatest way to make friends. :) One of the things I love about Denver is everyone’s desire to be active and that not every get together needs to involve food or all night drinks. I expect more of these blogger get-togethers to come!!

Recovery

Yes I think recovery stuff is also fun. You know I geek out on all the science and figuring out what truly works.

Just before heading to the half marathon in Phoenix, I tested out Cryotherapy at Denver Sports Recovery in hopes of helping my knee start to feel better. I did it a few hours after my 15 mile run and that was the best recovery I’ve ever had. Not a bit of soreness that day or the next and it definitely dropped the swelling in my knee.It’s not painful, but it’s not pleasant. However, about a week later I’d forgotten the unpleasantness and just remembered feeling good, so I started plotting a return.

You strip down to your sports bra, shorts, socks and gloves, then the ice cold air starts to pour in til it drops to -256F. HOLY MOLY!!

While you slowly turn yourself in a circle, I presume to prevent forming ice crystals, the technician is talking with you and determining if you need to stop or get out. The max is 4 minutes and they like you to do at least 2 minutes. Why do this at all?

• pain relief
• reduced inflammation (like a better version of a long ice bath)
• improved circulation
• better sleep
• energy boost
• endorphin release which causes a mood boost

Is one session going to magically fix you? NO. But I can see how this would be a beneficial part of a recovery plan.

How is the knee doing?

It looks worse than it is thanks to some Graston and other muscle work. Right now, I simply don’t have full extension of the leg. Which means I can run pain free, but a big step down or a long down hill is unpleasant. Overall it still seems to be an issue with a tight muscle. We finally got my quad firing again, so I think it will all come around soon…I hope. If not, I’ll continue to count my blessings that I can run!

MuscleSound

Next up I tested out a new technology called MuscleSound.

Right now it’s largely found in the locker room of major league sports teams, but it’s slowly going to start rolling out to gyms as well thanks to some new features. It answers two primary questions: are you ready to workout and what’s your body fat?It’s a super simple test which takes just minutes.

Using an ultrasound wand, attached to a tablet running their software they can look at a variety of muscles and then it’s show time. Data analysis!!

• Pending injuries? You can tell from frequent scans if certain muscles are chronically depleted of fuel
• Could indicate under fueling or an injury, which then prevents the muscle from taking in nutrients
• Helps you know if a day off is needed
• Discover if you have muscle asymmetry

Definitely a great tool for athletes and I think anyone doing intense ongoing training to stop injuries before they start.

The second piece is body composition, which they do through the same proprietary ultrasound method. Unlike other measurements which require you not to eat, drink or workout prior to the measurement this can happen anytime. It also eliminates method changes from someone who does calibers. It’s considering equally as accurate as the BodPod, but so much easier.

Group Fun

One of my goals in moving to Denver was creating friendships that were more than mere acquaintances. 100% we’ve met more people and done more in the year here than in many years living in Florida…in fact oddly the friends I made in Florida were mostly from Denver originally!

Recently a few more friends have moved out here and our circle continues to expand. As much as I’m an introvert who loves my alone time working from home, it’s a total soul refresher to meet up at the trails with friends each weekend.It’s also just darn nice to have people who INVITE you to things instead of always being the one organizing!

I get that I’m kind of an uber planner and I get things done way in advance, but still…it’s a warm fuzzy to get invites and not just send them out. I’m hoping the weather stays so fantastic because David and I are back in the grove of hitting the trails every weekend and it’s so fun to share that with other people.And oh man so much more crazy good stuff coming out here!

Yoga on the rocks, a snowshoe trip, the Colorado half marathon, my parents visiting, a photo shoot, more group workouts…do you see why I’m eager to get out of bed?! It might be a good thing my health slows me down or I’d like run myself in to the ground with sweaty activities.

Are you the organizer or the invitee?

What fun fitness things have you done lately?

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This is not a sponsored post though I have tried many of these things for free, opinions are still my own.