Last we chatted, I was in Colorado for a family Christmas break ski trip! We flew in on Dec 26th. Had a bit of frustration when our rental SUV was not available and we had to cram all of our stuff (suitcases, 4 sets of skis, helmets, people) into a tiny SUV. Pretty much every place was out of rental cars! The weather ended up being a bit colder than our regular trips out here in March, but it was still a good time.
I got to run on Sunday. It was freeeeeeezing. No, it was super freezing! After 4 miles I called it “good enough” and went back to my warm condo.
I had one minor ski injury. I went over a box in the terrain park at an odd angle, fell off of it, and landed on my face. My goggles crammed into my face and scrapped my nose. I also had a bit of a bruise. Luckily nothing was broken, as far as I know, and I didn’t have a bloody nose, so it’s all good! Scrape is seen in this picture…
Monday – Skiing at Vail. Even a really cold day is great at Vail. The weather app said the “feels like” temp was -14 and real temp was -4. Luckily the sun made it so much better. Always a good time here.
Tuesday – Skiing at Keystone – 27 miles!! According to Garmin, this was our longest skiing day in terms of miles! It was a sunny day, and we got to enjoy lots of trees, bumps and bowls. We hiked to the South Bowl, which we have never done. Lots of good skiing.
My happy place… skiing in the trees! Sooooooo beautiful out there.
Wednesday – 3.5 miles, HAPPY NEW YEAR! To start the year out right, I got some miles in before the craziness of our day began. I caught the sun rising over the mountains.
The weather was noticeably warmer and snow was moving in. In fact, by the time we got on the expressway to head back to the airport, the weather was downright awful. Remember that “lesser” rental car we ended up getting? Turns out it was only FWD, not 4WD or AWD. Our car was slipping ALL over the highway. It was a nightmare. At times we thought we were going to have to get out and push the car!!
Eventually we got past all the really bad stuff, and by the time we were about 1 hr to Denver, the roads were clear and dry. Go figure. However, due to all of that crap, we missed our flights. Good news, we got a non-stop flight later that day. Bad news, we had to pay $400 to rebook the flights. Cha-ching! 🙁 Great news? We got to sleep in our own beds that night (at 2:30am). Ahhhhhh!! Nothing better than coming home to your own comfy beds!! We had 4 hours to kill at the airport. At least that was relaxing!
Thursday – 5 miles. Neighborhood run. I kept my eye on my HR for this whole run. It’s frustrating that after 3 miles my HR is so much harder to keep low. I’m guessing that’s a common thing? I was also fueled by knowing I had some coffee cake waiting for me. yum.
Friday – 3 miles. Ran around my neighborhood. Once again, dabbling in the idea of trying to keep my HR low. I was happy to be in zone 3, although I know I should probably be even lower!
Saturday – 3 miles, treadmill. I woke up feeling a bit sick, so I decided to stay inside and run on the treadmill. I could tell things were a bit off because I was sweating more than usual on this run. Still, it felt good to move. [woman sniffing lumber. haha!!!]
Sunday – 8 miles, “long run”, treadmill. Since I didn’t get to run long on Saturday, I figured today was the day. However, I still woke up feeling wonky in my nose, so I opted for the treadmill, and kept a tissue handy. I also woke up late (am I getting sick?), so this run seemed to take forever. Early morning running really is my thing! This run went OK, other than dragging on forever.
Looking back, it’s been an interesting week! Skiing and vacation was great. Being home was great. My nose is not being great. Getting back into a schedule will be great too…. Glass City Marathon training starts on Monday!! Hopefully I can get out of bed when that 5:30am alarm goes off. Eeek.
Need some more inspiration? I’m linking up with Deborah at Confessions of a Mother Runner and Kim from Running on the Fly for their Weekly Run Down. Check out all of the fun blogs there!
Q: Did you make resolutions for the new year?
Nope, not me. But I need to get back on the PT plan. Didn’t do any exercises this past week. sigh.
Q: Have you ever missed a flight??
It really pisses me off that these rental car companies do not understand the meaning of the word RESERVATION. Last couple of times I have flown, the vehicle I specifically requested was not available. What is the point of making a reservation if they won’t honor it? Glad you enjoyed the rest of your trip to my new home state. I am going to take ski lessons at Eldora which is not far from my condo. I have only done cross country so downhill will definitely be a new experience. Any pointers for a newbie?
My only advice is to listen to your instructor! All of the instructors we’ve worked with have been very helpful and enjoyed their jobs. They did a great job. I’ve never been to Eldora, but the trail map looks like a good place. Hope it goes well!!
That’s really crappy that the rental company didn’t have your selected car in stock – that’s super frustrating! Sorry about the crazy ride to the airport and then missing the flights – such a bummer! But that’s great that the re-booked flights were direct flights back home!
The new flights did cut our flight time from 6 hours down to 2.5, but waiting around the airport made it a little longer until we got home. But still… waiting in the airport is always more enjoyable than a cramped airplane seat!!
There must have been some out-of-ordinary precip happening in the mountains last week! We got forced off the road (en route to San Diego, via Phoenix) due to excess overnight snow. And, a friend of ours, flew into Denver, got delayed for several hours, arriving in Las Vegas later than planned. Then, HE got forced off the road as well and had to sleep in his rental while waiting for the roads to re-open. It was crazy! Anyways, I’m glad to hear you had a great family trip…for the most part! I have never downhilled, and don’t plan to ever try. I’m too much of a klutz; I’d have more than a skinned nose LOL
We really should not have been on that road. Our car was not good enough for it. We did have a conversation about what our other options were, but sleeping in the rental car was not one of them. I can see how it really could have been an option!
Oh no, hopefully you’re not getting sick. It sounds like you had a wonderful vacation, except for the car and flight drama. The only time I missed a flight I was traveling alone and got to have a few extra hours in NYC and the airline didn’t charge me anything extra. Happy start of marathon training!
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I still have some nasal issues, but at least the soreness on my nose it getting better! I guess the rebook fee depends on the airline. With Spirit you get no free deals of course 🙂
We’ve had that issue with rental cars many times. Sounds like you had such a good time in Colorado in spite of the glitches. We’ve never missed a flight, but we’ve had flights be cancelled. So annoying. Hope your nose heals up quickly!
This was our first time getting a different class car. Ugh, how annoying! Other than an issues with a connecting flight, I think this is the first time we’ve actually missed a flight. We are usually running through the airport due to our own time issues, but never a weather thing like this. Hopefully it’s the only time because that car ride was scary!
Sounds like you had a great trip minus the rental car and the face plant! Colorado travel is hard in the winter time!
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It was a great trip outside of those hiccups 🙂 The mountains are beautiful there, but I would not want to deal with the mountain travel OR Denver traffic on a regular basis. I’m used to my small town traffic here in Toledo!
Caramba, so sorry about the car inconvenience and then the travel back to the airport. That sucks you had to pay extra for the trip home. I hope you don’t get sick. I think I’ve missed my flight only twice. The last time I paid extra to get on the next flight only to find out that my original flight was delayed. Since then I always like to get to the airport with plenty of time so as not to miss it. I do know some factors are out of our control, like weather and traffic.
I was already cringing at the high prices we had to pay to travel there and back, and to get hit with that extra amount was a real bummer for sure!! It’s outrageous how much prices get inflated for holiday travel time. At least I wasn’t stressing about making the flight because I was 99% sure it wasn’t going to happen!
Amazing pictures! I’ve never missed a flight but have spent hours being early at airports! Hope you’re not sickening for something and are back to full power now.
What is this “being hours early” thing you speak of? I am not familiar with it. hahaha!! I’m still sneezing and have a runny nose, so I think it’s something besides the smashed nose, but the nose it improving a lot!
What a fun vacay! I haven’t gone skiing in so many years. My younger daughter just told me last night she wants to go on the class ski trip. We’ll see about that. What a bummer about the car rental. I’ve been jacked around with the “wrong” car too many times. It is exasperating. We shipped our college daughter back to Atlanta last night and she came this close to missing her flight for no good reason other than insane lines, her luggage being pulled out for search, etc. It drives me crazy. Hope you feel better!
Travel is stressful at times for sure. For once the airline check in queue was actually non-existent, and the security line was short… but I guess that’s because everyone was already on the airplane. haha! My daughter wants to go on the class ski trip too. I told her we could go to the same resort as a family, and she could meet her friends, but you know, the best part of the trip is the bus ride there. So that might not be happening. A lot of extra money to pay when we could just drive there cheaper! Where do they ski at for your school?
Either Wilmot Mountain or Alpine Valley.
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We have missed several flights, had to stay overnight by airports multiple times — always a pain. Luckily, knock on wood, it’s been ones we didn’t have to pay extra — unless you count the pet sitting. 🙁
Hope you’re feeling better! I sweat heavily all the time so that would not be I’m getting sick indicator for me (although your RHR is actually a clue — it’ll start to climb if you’re getting sick).
Zone 3 for easy runs is good. But I’m definitely no expert. And yes, as you fatigue, it’ll get higher. I do a lot of positive split runs “training” by HR — but I do think it’s also helped me get a smidgeon faster, even while not training for anything.
I have a group of friends who are using a HR plan and their goal is HR around 135. They do have to run 3 or 4 mins slower to get that at first. I seem to spike higher than that just walking up stairs!! Not sure if I’m ready to commit to that yet.
Interesting. I basically keep an eye on my HR while I run (and mostly not pace). For me 140ish to 150ish keeps me in an aerobic zone. So most of my runs are split between zones 2 & 3, except speed work. That keeps my VO2 Max good, although I know my Garmin’s measurements of both HR & VO2 Max aren’t completely accurate. It’s good enough for me.
I’m not working with a coach or following a plan, though. And i’m 57.
Fingers crossed you’re not getting sick! Beautiful photos from your vacation. But that drive back to the airport sounds tough 🙁
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It was scary! We did hear a lot of “&**%$^” from my husband and he tried to avoid cars sliding into us. I don’t blame him 🙂 Besides that craziness, it was an amazing trip. Colorado is sooooooo beautiful.
Holy moly what a terrifying adventure on your return trip! That would have freaked me right out. Yes, I have missed a flight before – I don’t remember having to pay to rebook but it was a while ago.
No resolutions over here. Just going to see where the year takes me, I guess.
Hope you’re feeling better!
I did really stink that we had to pay for the rebook. Not surprising because we flew Spirit on the way home. The journey out there was Delta and we felt like royalty!! I told them we were a $9 Fare Club member, but that didn’t get me a deal. haha!!!
wow, that’s nuts about the car rental reservation. I can’t believe it was that cold in Colorado, but glad you still had some fun skiing!
I know – I would expect those cold temps in Michigan! But still, with that great skiing I can’t complain 🙂
Happy New Year! Your skiing vacation sounds AMAZING! Well. Except for the car. And the fall. And the FWD (geeeez!) and missing the flight. Still I’m so in awe of people who can ski! I tried it once and am pretty much put off it forever haha!
No resolutions here. Nope. Just want to low-key stay healthy and get a tiny bit fitter.
I have missed a flight 🙂 But I didn’t realise it! When we came back from Boston 2018, after the marathon we went down to see my cousin for a few days. I had it in my head that we flew back to Amsterdam on the Friday. So Thursday we were just chilling out, went to the movies, had a great Mexican meal (we are both from New Mexico). Do you see where this is going? 😀 She picked us up on Friday morning and took us to the airport. We tried to check in and got the message to see a ticketing agent. Turns out our flight was on Thursday *arriving* on Friday. OMG I was so freaked out. They boarded us for $75 extra each on the same flight so we got to go home pretty much unscathed (financially).
I hope you’re feeling better and that your cold didn’t develop into anything worse.
To answer your questions, I’ve never missed a flight that I can remember, but I have had some canceled and had to reschedule for the following day. I don’t usually set New Year’s resolutions, but I do sometimes set goals for the year.
Happy New Year!
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