Long Weekend in (Much) Warmer Weather

I'm back in the cold arctic temperatures that seem so common in Chicago this winter, after having just been in Phoenix, Arizona for the past couple days.  If you recall, I was originally supposed to go to run the Phoenix Rock 'N Roll Half Marathon, but neither Liz nor I had been training, so we decided to opt out in order to save money and have more time to catch up with all the other girls for a vacation weekend.

Even though we didn't race, we did get in a lot of physical activity!  Which balanced out with all the eating at great restaurants and drinking new, fruity cocktails we did.

We hiked up a mountain:

On the hike, Liz conquered her fear of cacti:

OK, maybe she didn't actually touch THAT cactus, but she did touch a little baby one.

We did a lot of chatting, playing "Heads Up" (hilarious game, I highly recommend it), and dancing:

We explored Old Town Scottsdale:

And we took a walk on a beautiful recreation path filled with runners, walkers, and bikers (OK, so they were mostly all retired people).  This is where I want to retire to...like now, only about 30 years early:

Did you know that Scottsdale is one of the most livable cities in America because of the proximity of grocery stores, gas stations, etc. and a recreational path all around?

Liz and I also went for a 5 mile run one morning on the same walking path.  And I have to say that almost the whole time we ran, we TALKED about running-related topics - running form, our training, what races we want to do, and even doing some triathlons.

My legs felt great on the run, but I was winded.  I imagine it was the combo of the weather change, all the talking, and just not being back in super great of shape just yet.  But I'm so glad we got out there and took advantage of the perfect weather!  It felt just like fall cross country season.

It felt amazing to be outside so much in January!  But now it's back to being bundled up and stuck indoors for the majority of the days.  I'm hoping to get in some shorter treadmill runs and weights over the next few days and then another run of 10-12 miles outside if the weather allows this weekend!  It currently says it will be a high of 30 on Saturday so let's all hope it stays that way!

Running in Denver is Hard

Greetings from Denver!  First of all, a few thoughts on flying:

The plane I was on seemed brand new and very futuristic so that was kind of cool.  And then a lot of what the flight attendants used to say was a recording and I didn't like that.  I know a lot of airlines have switched over to safety videos and I've seen those before, but this was even more than that.  I don't think I ever heard them say anything.  Maybe that's a good thing  to cut out the amount of work they need to do so they can focus on customer service, but if I was a flight attendant, I think talking to people via microphone would be the best part of my job.  This is why I need to learn to be a fitness instructor, so I can command a large group of people while talking over a microphone.

When my mom and I went shopping a few weekends ago, we got a free tote bag from Victoria's Secret for spending over $75.  I used the bag for the first time last night as my carry-on.

I really love glitter and this bag really sparkles.  However, as most glitter-haters know, glitter gets EVERYWHERE.  By the end of my journey, I had little sparkles all over me.  As we were waiting to de-plane, the woman behind me said "I really like the sparkles on your jacket" to which I replied, "Thanks, but the sparkles are actually from the bag."  But, it reminded me of one of my favorite quotes I found on Pinterest:

I asked around for some book recommendations and settled on Caught by Harlan Coben.  I'm 33% of the way through it (thanks, Kindle) and I really like it so far!  It's a mystery and I just want to know what happens!

Anne is at work right now so I'm relaxing in a Starbucks for a few hours and going to keep on chugging through it.

This morning I went for a run on a trail near where Anne lives.  I wasn't sure where the trail would lead or how far I would go, but it turned out to be a nice, scenic run.

No views like that in Chicago.  I ran for a total of 24 minutes, not sure on distance but I'll go with about 3 miles.  I think it was hard for a few reasons:

1) Altitude!  It was so hard for my lungs to adjust and to breathe.

2) Hills!  We don't have hills in Chicago and the first half was pretty much just up, so those first 12 minutes were hard between the altitude adjustment and the hills.  But then the 2nd half was downhill and much more relaxed.

3) Tired legs!  All those squats and lunges I've been doing are really fatiguing my legs.  I think I'm going to cut those down and continue to focus more on my arm and core body strength.

 

I thought my shadow looked cool because my legs looked so long.  The weather was perfect too!  Shorts and a long-sleeve top and probably could've easily done a short-sleeve top instead.  Time to get back to my book!  Happy Friday!

Do you like flying?

Any good book recommendations?

How do you feel about high-altitude running?