On Friday morning I set out on another road trip – the Forester is definitely earning it’s keep! This time Natalie and I were headed west to Park City for Blend, a weekend getaway for a bunch of healthy + active living bloggers. We opted for the scenic route through the Colorado mountains on a mission to find donuts. Because it was National Donut Day, of course, no other reason. I had no idea Idaho Springs had a donut shop…turns out it does, and I will be back!


It’s not a road trip without selfies…and sugar!

We eventually [8.5 hours later] made it into Park City with time to dig through our overflowing swag bags before heading to the reception hour and dinner. FLORUwater and Sizzlefish sponsored the cocktail hour with incredible salmon appetizers and a few interesting drink concoctions and dinner was a pizza buffet. Not going to lie, I was surprised to see pizza at such a foodie-filled event but I was more than happy to partake without complaint. I even managed to kidnap three desserts just so I could try each one! What can I say? I’m a [something elaborate] runner!

After a fairly laid back Friday night we all crashed into bed with alarms set for an early morning. Most people headed to the Onnit bootcamp on Saturday morning. I have this thing against bootcamps – something to do with the counting, repetition, jumping around indoors and burpees – so I convinced Natalie to head outside with me to play on the mountain trails. She’s a mountain girl at heart, it didn’t take much convincing.


We did a little aimless driving before coming upon a pseudo-trailhead that we haphazardly parked in before heading up the hillside on single track. The trails were absolutely gorgeous! They were lined with wildflowers and vibrant green bushes. Natalie took the lead on the ascent and put her flatlander lungs to work. By the end of our run we’d covered about 2 miles over the course of 30 minutes…just enough time to have Natalie falling in love with the trails! #success

We arrived back at the hotel just in time to snag some of Quest’s breakfast buffet then head back to the hotel room to tidy up our room before the group hike that was followed up by GoodPop + Hope Hummus + Fairlife party I was co-hosting with Paige and Marissa.

The Organic Valley hike started with a ride up the Red Pine Gondola at the Canyons resort. Once we all got off the gondola we started the short trek along single track and gravel road that led us to a small, unnamed lake. At this point many people called it a day and started the hike back down the mountain but a few of us weren’t ready to be done yet. Brooke, Alex, Natalie, Marissa and I scoped out some single track and kept on hiking. We wandered along single track and encountered a few bikes [and one ‘uh, does anyone have a map’ moment] before we made it back to the Canyons main base area. At the end of the day we had covered 4 miles, not  bad for a mid day hike filled with conversation.


Those #trailtime stickers?! Kind of my baby at work – check it out: stp.me/trailtime

We made it back to our hotel apartment with time to stop by the Kidz Shake smoothie bar before speed showering. Our sampling party started at 3pm and offered a little something for everyone – about 15 flavors of Hope hummus, 5 flavors of GoodPop popsicles and 2 types of fairlife milk. It was a fun little party with people coming and going…and it gave me great excuses to eat another GoodPop or three!

 

Our Saturday night was finished off with a trip to downtown Park City. It’s a fun little town to explore while getting to know other Blend’ers. As the night progressed I managed to talk Marissa into a trail run in the morning…this crossfitter was going to give my kinda running a try and the single track around Park City would not disappoint.

On our way out the door Sunday morning we coerced Paige into exploring with us. She was hesitant at first but it didn’t take long to have her believing that trail running is far different from road running! I was out on the trails with three trail running newbies – it was the best feeling ever! They were all having fun and before long our chatter turned to making this a regular thing back in Denver…which has already happened in the 3 days since this run! Trails are therapeutic!

 

The weekend ended far too soon – after our trail run we headed to a breakfast by Yoplait then jumped right into the closing ceremony before we all headed home. But Natalie and I didn’t have to say goodbye…yet. We set out on a nice long 8 hour drive back to Denver. That is quality bonding time if you ask us! We even learned a thing or two about each other – like don’t let Natalie navigate, even if it’s only 3 miles off the interstate. Maps, even GPS ones, do not like her! But we eventually made it back to Denver and promptly crashed into bed. Laundry and real life could wait…

Categories: life

14 Comments

Natalie @ Free Range Human · June 12, 2021 at 7:22 pm

I don’t think I’m that bad…..

Miss your face!

    Heidi Nicole · June 13, 2021 at 8:29 pm

    We did eventually find Cafe Rio…so, not *that* bad!

    I miss your face too!

purelytwins · June 13, 2021 at 9:53 am

mmm we want some donuts 😉

    Heidi Nicole · June 13, 2021 at 8:30 pm

    There should probably be a “Donut Day” once a week…

Julie · June 13, 2021 at 11:24 am

Those goodpops were amazing!

I missed National Donut Day! 🙁

    Heidi Nicole · June 13, 2021 at 8:31 pm

    They really are — definitely go get some! So good!

Paige @ Your Trainer Paige · June 13, 2021 at 6:45 pm

That weekend was so much fun. And GO you for organizing a Colorado trail running group already! 🙂

    Heidi Nicole · June 13, 2021 at 8:35 pm

    We’ll have a ton of fun on the trails…pinky promise!

Brooke @ wreckingroutine · June 13, 2021 at 7:06 pm

Thank you for the trail time! It was a blast to get to meet you ladies. Looking forward to exploring some trails with you here in Colorado.

    Heidi Nicole · June 13, 2021 at 8:36 pm

    So glad we met up…and are going to make this trail thing a weekly adventures! 🙂

Brittany @ Delights and Delectables · June 16, 2021 at 7:33 pm

I have got to go trail running sometime! I should have jumped in on your group… it looked GORGEOUS!

    Heidi Nicole · June 17, 2021 at 5:08 pm

    Ooh, boo…yes, you should have come with us! Definitely go play on the trails! They are fun and the scenery distracts you from the fact you’re actually running!

Slowly Becoming a Yes Person - Your Trainer Paige · June 16, 2021 at 3:30 am

[…] Stole this picture from Heidi […]

What I Ate Wednesday - Literally // Heidi Kumm · February 7, 2021 at 10:05 pm

[…] en route to a group run that I was just hungry enough to make running miserable. Luckily my Blend swag bag was in the car with a bunch of granola bars to choose from. I dug out some random bars so […]

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