I’ve been reading through your stuff for trail and hike info also, from your hiking groups ect.. So much to see and do..
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Ooh good question. It kind of depends on what type of place you’re looking for. Since we live here, and everything is a short drive away we haven’t stayed in too many places. But Manitou has a lot of cool B&Bs that are nestled into the sides of mountains.
Cheyanne Mountain Resort will give you a lot of fun things to do plus a mind-blowing mountain view.
The Broadmoor would put you right in the mountains, surrounded by wild animals and cool hiking spots, plus I think they have some horseback riding and zip lining packages. It’s also just a short drive to manitou from there.
Garden of the Gods is in Colorado Springs, and has its own resort, which seems pretty swanky, but we’ve never stayed there.
Downtown Colorado Springs is a relatively short drive to OCC (Old Colorado City) and Manitou and they have a ton of cool hotel options. Kinship Landing is the one my husband and I have talked about staying at simply because we like the modern vibe.
Hope you get some awesome nature-time in!
Night Guard Cult
I’m about to go to a dental appointment where I will be heavily pressured to get fitted for a nighttime mouth guard. Even if it were free, I would still not wear it.
Does anyone else have a dentist’s office that relentlessly pressures people to get orthotic appliances?
If so, what do you say to get them off your back?
OR do you just give in, and suck on plastic for 8 hours a night?
I’ll jump in, too.
Just for reference, downtown Colorado Springs is 2.4 miles from Old Colorado City, and Old Colorado City is just 3.3 miles from Manitou. So, you can pick any of them for a hotel and be able to walk to restaurants, bars, and shops without driving.
If you go downtown, just hit Tejon Street. I call it “fun street.” COATI and The Crooked Cue are fun places to hang out.
Manitou is basically one main street, and so is Old Colorado City. Everyone likes the Cliff House hotel in Manitou. It’s the fancy one. The rest seem budgety and some are a little creepy, more like motels.
Fun fact: Manitou is where you can buy legal weed. I’ve heard rumors that Emerald Fields is the best place…
Hiking ideas: Mt. Cutler (great mountain and city views in one hike), Seven Bridges, and Helen Hunt Falls for a quick early morning walk/hike. All of those are easy, but scenic. And of course everyone has to go Garden of the Gods. Seven Falls you have to pay for and ride a bus to get there, but it’s pretty cool. Take the waterfall stairs all the way to the top. The Mt. Cutler hike looks right down into Seven Falls, BTW.
Visit the Broadmoor for a drink at The Bar (that’s its name) even if you don’t stay there. Very swank, lake in the middle, overpriced shops to browse and never buy anything, etc.
Well, that should keep you busy for a few days.
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Wow, thanks to you both. I appreciate all the info and ideas.
ERIC
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“no thanks”
Or your actual thoughts:
If they continue to pressure after saying the above… its because they’re turning a profit on getting you one. Either you, or your insurance, is going to make them money by getting you a mouth guard.
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I’m reading a book you might be interested in. It’s called “When I Say No, I Feel Guilty”. There is a subsection in one of the chapters titled “Problems in Getting and Giving Professional Medical Treatment”. Seems very applicable.
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This is the smartest simplest response. You and Chris sometimes give the same exact advice. haha
Somehow it feels impossible to say no thanks to them. I don’t know how to explain it but it’s like they never leave an option to say those words! I sound like a crazy person now.
So what ends up happening is that I always just say “okay I’ll think about it” and then I go home. But they’re very convincing. So I do wonder if my back teeth really ARE wearing down faster because of clenching or grinding, and if wearing something would help.
I told them that I probably clench in the daytime when lifting weights, so they gave me an estimate for a “daytime” mouth guard which only covers the bottom teeth. It’s a little over $500. So their full night guard has to be over a grand.
But even if it were beneficial for teeth, do I really want to keep plastic in my mouth? Not unless I’m about to get punched in the face.
These people know about teeth; they do not know about microplastics, nor do they care about the rest of the body. So they focus on solving dental problems… even if the solution could be detrimental to the body in a completely unforeseen way.
It kind of reminds me of this quote:
This is what I suspect. But that’s why I’m wondering if other people are experiencing the same thing at their dentist’s office. If all dentists say that mouth guards are essential, then it’s just a universal belief. But if this is unique to my dentist’s office then it’s a heavy-handed sales tactic.
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I have the audio book thanks to Andrew! I went through the parts that were most applicable (at the time) in Dec/Jan and got a lot out of it.
Okay now I need to find that subsection. Good advice.
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Random Useless Discussion
The cassowary is a wingless “bird” but I think we all know what this thing actually is.
Can we just admit that dinosaurs are everywhere? Crocs, gators, komodo dragons and lizzards of all kinds should just be called modern dinosaurs. Also, I feel like the rhino should be up for consideration on that list too.
If they weren’t around currently, and we saw their skeletons in museums, we’d be like, “Yep, that belongs there.”
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It’s not uncommon for lifters to use a regular cheap, inexpensive mouthgard for maximal effort lifts/events.
A lot of NFL QBs stick one in their mouth pre-snap.
Steph Curry is always chewing on his in games.
The last dentist I went to said I had two (or was it 3?) teeth that were “pre root canal”, and suggested “getting ahead” with some surgical intervention. I said I’d wait for symptoms first thank you very much; that was about 5 years ago, no symptoms still.
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I’m sure there are times I clench my teeth when lifting heavy. But I try to be conscious about it. I cannot say I have ever “caught myself in the act”. Jaw pain can be a sign, and I haven’t had that either.
Even if I did try using a mouthguard, I have seen them for sale for $4 at “Dollarama” (a national chain where things sell for up to five Canadian dollars) or slightly more expensive at sports stores. I don’t want plastic in my mouth. Sometimes anxiety makes people grind their teeth (bruxism), and perhaps better to deal with the anxiety through stress management, yoga, meditation, medicine, etc.
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A bunch of dentists I was calling around to were ruthless. They all “just had an appointment open up! Could I be there at 2:00pm?”
Me, with tooth ache- Yes. Absolutely.
Them, at 1:30 pm.: “oh yes mr. SkyzykS, I’m Soooo sorry, but we ran your insurance and it turns out that while we do accept that plan, we don’t accept your specific plan…”.
Me: “I’ve already left the house, Im almost at your office! Wtf?”
Them: “Well, what you can do is this! We offer a denta-card that will extend $xxxxx to you, so we can get right to work…”.
Me: “No. You’re the 4th office that has done this. Thanks for wasting my time.”.
Now, if this was a one & done, I wouldn’t have thought twice. But every single one did that.
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That sounds pretty reasonable. I actually don’t catch myself clenching during workouts too much anymore, even though that’s what I told them. Maybe that’s a sign I need to lift heavier. 
I inadvertently clench my teeth at random unexpected times of the day – even when I’m not stressed out about anything. But if I tell them that, these weirdo brainwashed dentists would probably have an all-the-time mouth guard to sell me.
That is really awesome. I love hearing stories like that. Good for you!
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Same here.
I used to notice it a lot and I either stopped lifting as heavy, or just trained myself out of the habit.
But part of the reason I told them about potentially clenching while lifting was to get them to stop selling me a “night” guard. Turns out that was a stupid strategy because of course they have a “day” guard.
I’m like, “Bitch, my day guard is a gun. My night guard is a husband.”
(But I did not say that out loud and she was not in fact a bitch. She was quite nice.)
Oh my goodness. So you’re telling me that I can protect my teeth with something that’s .8% of the cost of what they’re trying to sell me?!
That’s what I’ll buy if I ever get worried about my teeth grinding or clenching.
But the bottom line is…
Me neither.
Yeah, also I think if the spine gets out of whack or certain muscles get too tight it can cause it.
It’s a huge racket. Last year I discovered that dental insurance is a waste of money. So I dropped mine after they refused to cover a crown I needed when one of my molars cracked.
So, I went with the thing that the dentist’s office offers. Paying out of pocket with reduced costs is more affordable than paying for a monthly insurance plan that won’t cover anything when you actually need it.
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The mouth guards they sold at Dollarama seemed similar to ones (well under $30) that are used by football and hockey players, and use heated wax to mould to your individual teeth.
I don’t know enough about the dentist ones. They are certainly pricier. But perhaps they contain grillls and gemstones. Are you ready to be ghetto fabulous? Take back the mean streets of Colorado?
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YES!!! But only if you get one too. Let’s be grill twins! 
Today’s Workout
It’s the tail end of shark week and my energy came back full force. So I did a couple things before my training bud got to the gym:
- Dip
- Hip Thrust Machine
Today was a back/shoulder day for us, but my chest felt fresh enough to do dips and I don’t want to get out of the habit. AND the hip thrust is not an exercise I really want to demonstrate with a dude. Also, I don’t feel like that exercise is a priority for a beginner male. So it’s kind of a good thing when he’s running late because then I can squeeze in a couple extra things.
Back & Shoulders
-
Lat Pulldown
-
Seated Cable Row
-
Lateral Raise
-
Overhead Press
Finisher
My friend wants to build arms/forearms, and he was already recovered from what we did on Wednesday. So this combo was perfect:
AMRAP (as many rounds as possible) for 8 Minutes:
- Loaded Trap Bar Carry: out and back
- Hammer Curl: 10-15 each side
He’d carry the trap bar for a fixed distance and then come back, while I did alternating reps of the hammer curl. And then when he got back, we’d immediately switch places until the 8 minute timer was done.
There are a few ways to progress this in the future: more weight on the trap bar, heavier dumbbells, further distance for the carries, more reps for the curl, iso hold before even curling, lengthened AMRAP time, etc.
This didn’t feel challenging in a cardio way, but it definitely was in a muscular way. This was so fun I think it might become a staple.
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Trout Devils 
My friend Jack has been bringing me a lot of trout lately, so I decided to get weird with it. He also cooks amazing meatloaf and stocks me up with those too. Jack is basically our protein-dealer now.
This is a precious man. 
Jack
Trout
So I boiled some eggs last night, baked one of those packages of fish, scraped the skin off, mashed the fish up with the egg yolks, and made deviled eggs with fish in them.
You could do the same idea with a can of tuna. 
Deviled eggs are one of the best on-the-go protein snacks, and adding fish makes you feel like you just ate a whole meal.
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