Monday: 5.5m easy 8:34/pace
Tuesday: 6.2m tempo (2m warm up, 3m @ 7:08/pace, 1m cool down)
I’m dividing the Colorado post into 2 parts, the outdoorsy dude ranch part & the Denver city part. This trip was a gift from my favorite family. They truly consider me their adopted daughter and I will always think of them as family. The more families I have the better! More trips, more Thanksgiving’s & Christmases, more love and support!
I was beyond excited for a week away from the east coast and ready to embrace ranch life in the Rockies.
Coulter Lake Guest Ranch sits near Rifle, CO and about 40 minutes of dirt road up in the mountains at 8,400ft elevation. Yes, we all felt the altitude. No one was sick from it, just a lot of people feeling out of shape when we climbed anything with an incline.
The gorgeous drive up ❤
The ranch was beautiful! There are 3 guest cabins which were very simple with beds, a couch, fireplace and bathroom. They can have up to 30 guests at a time, but we lucked out and were the only family staying that week!
The main lodge had huge tables where we spent most of the time when the rain came. The first few days entailed a lot of off and on rain and it was pretty cold. It even hailed a couple times. I wished I packed a few more sweatshirts by the 2nd day. If it looks like I’m wearing the same clothes over and over it’s because I am.
The entrance to Coulter Lake- the horse barn!
Cloudy day – no filter and still beautiful!
The ranch is known for the horseback riding. We rode three times, and with each ride our horses got to know us better and the weather continually improved. I don’t think any of us had ridden horses since we were kids, so this was a learning experience all over again. My horse was Jake. He was pretty cool. 
This is all of us on the 2nd ride of the week:
giving the horses a break
We got on the lake a few times for canoeing and spotted a bald eagle on several occasions!
eagle is flying in the center of this pic!
It felt great to be away from home and out of the gym. I need more of these trips in my life.
Once it stopped raining and warmed up we were able to hike on trails right behind our cabins and I actually fit in a quick run. This vacation was a great time to ease off running a bit and enjoy time with friends.
This might be my favorite picture of the trail…so perfect, so Disney-esque
On the last day we finished a 1,000 piece puzzle we started because of the rain…Also we used it as a sort of punishment when you lost a card or dice game. When you were “out” you had to go puzzle. 🙂
We were taught how to throw a lasso. I wasn’t very good at it, but it was so much fun trying!
The first part of our trip went by way too fast with the canoeing, fishing, the horses, the trails, shooting rifles, white water rafting, campfires, the puzzling!!!
From my Insta
Classy with our red wine in mason jars
OH and a very important part of our trip… The cooler!
Colorado Part 2 will be up by the end of the week so stay tuned for more pictures~!
THANK YOU PAT & KATHY!
Last Week
Monday: 10.3m easy 8:45/pace
Tuesday: 7m easy 6 x 800s 7:00/pace
Wednesday: 45min total body
Thursday: 6.2 hill sprints 8:24/pace
Friday: 5m easy 9:35/pace
Saturday: 12.4m long 8:54/pace
Sunday: Rest
Total Miles: 40.9
Where’s the last place you vacationed?
Do you ever use vacation as a time to take a break from working out?
shesgoingthedistance.com 
06/06/2016 at 10:05 AM
Wow! That all looks so amazing! I have never vacationed in Colorado, but Lisa has before we were together and loved it … I got a week in Park City Utah (at 8500 ft) and absolutely loved all of those gorgeous hills and views!
Looks like you guys had an amazing trip and I can’t wait to read about the rest of it! (yes, way behind catching up on blogs!)
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