Pumped Up Kicks

Quynh and I had quite the mini day trip planned in Boulder, CO (home of our CU Buffs)! Our main objectives were to 1) get me properly fitted for running shoes at the Boulder Running Company and 2) get in some hiking in the flatirons at Chautauqua Park.

Before I headed out for my leisurely day, I made sure to get in a good morning workout at BodyPump. This new release is really kicking my butt! All those pulsing squats and lunges are giving me serious muscle burn, but the results are worth it Quynh arrived shortly after I got home, and we got ourselves put together and took off.

The drive in to Boulder is always so beautiful, and my cheap, taped-together point and shoot camera does not do it justice.

Go ahead, be jealous.

Our first stop was the Boulder Running Company. All of my friends told me to go there because they record you running in order to analyze your gait before recommending several pairs of shoes. Then, you can try out each pair on their treadmill or outside. I opted to do laps in the parking lot. It’s so weird watching a close-up of just your feet while you run. They said that I had a fairly neutral stride, but I slightly overpronated.

Too many shoes!

It just so happened that 4 of the 5 pairs that they recommended felt almost exactly the same to me. I’m guessing it has something to do with the fact that I haven’t bought running shoes in over 5 years, so everything feels nice and comfy. In the end, it came down to aesthetics. I never realized how ugly a lot of running shoes are. I know that looks don’t make a good shoe, but looks were all I had to go by since they all felt the same. I opted for the obnoxiously loud Nike Zoom Structure Triax+ 14.

My new kicks

After all of those laps around the parking lot (such a difficult run, I know), I was STARVING. We decided to head to Modmarket for some good eats. They make everything fresh to order using whole ingredients…yum! I opted for the half-size pizza with basil pesto, arugula, cherry tomatoes, and goat cheese.

I <3 carbs.

We did some light shopping at Nordstrom Rack and got dirty chais at Starbucks to “digest” before our hike. Shopping counts as exercise, right?

Chautauqua Park was completely packed today, go figure. We were in Boulder (one of the fittest cities in the country), in the middle of October, during an unusually warm 85 degree day. What did we expect? We brought Mochi along for the fun, and he was really happy I had to pick him up when the path required us to navigate through rocks (for obvious reasons–Mochi has very stumpy legs lol).