Arizona ... the run-down

Good food was eaten, strong drinks were drank, a mountain was climbed, shopping was done, and we took in the the warmth and sunshine every moment we could. Here is a run-down of our wonderful long-weekend in Arizona.

Friday:
After our 7am flight being cancelled, we got reservations for the 11am flight. We woke friday morning to find that our 11am flight was delayed, but were able to catch the 12:00pm flight. Phew. We arrived in AZ around 1:30 their time. Pam, Steph's friend that we were staying with, took us to Tempe and we walked up and down Mill Avenue for a bit and then grabbed a snack and drink at La Bocca. We headed to Mesa, dropped off our bags and got ready for a fun night of food and dancing. We might have "pre-gramed" it a bit.

We joined a few of Pam's friends for dinner and drinks at the Cadillac Ranch. It was pretty good. We were planning on sticking around to ride the mechanical bull and do some line dancing, but it was still too early for that and headed acroos the street to a different location for some drinks and a lot of dancing. Good times were had by all!

Saturday:
After a late night of drinking and dancing, we slept in a bit and then headed to the pool to catch some sun. Steph and I enjoyed our books while Pam was studying her flashcards for her Boards exam. The pool was freakin' freezin. I put my feet in a few times to cool off, and then out of no where, Steph dove in. I thought she had lost her mind. Before I knew it, all three of us were in it cussing like crazy for how cold it was.

After a while in the sun, we made a nice lunch of shrimp and pasta. It was delish. We spent the rest of the afternoon getting ready and headed to Scottsdale. We did a bit of shopping in Old Town, and then headed to the Roaring Fork Restaurant for dinner. I give it two thumbs up. We enjoyed dinner on the open patio. It had been a while since I had had a burger so I just HAD to order the "Big Ass Burger" ... just so I could say that! Ha!

After dinner we did a bit of shopping and then headed to Suede for a drink or two. I loved the atmosphere, the drinks were awesome, and the music was fun. We didn't stay out too late or drink too much because we had to get up early to go hiking.






Sunday:
We woke up, had a breakfast of raspberry-chocolate-chip pancakes with fresh strawberries on the side. Mmmm. We made cold meat sandwiches and packed them with the rest of the strawberries, some chips, and bottled water.

We were ready to attempt the Superstion Mountain. It's so hard to explain what it was like to hike this Mountain, but I will try my best.









We started at the foothills and even though it appeared to be flat, there was a gradual incline for what seemed like a very long time. Then, before we knew it we were on all four climbing or trying to catch ourselves from falling.









It was invigorating.

We stopped to eat our lunch in the shade and enjoyed this view....We only went a bit further up, and after about 1.5 hours of hiking, we turned around as it was starting to get hot. We probably only made it 3/4 of the way up, probably not even that much. There were times where we were climbing up that I wonderful how in the world I was going to get myself back down. Sure enough, on the way down, I found myself sitting my butt down on a boulder and using my arms to get myself down. It was such a great experience.

... Coming back down ...

After hiking we were all very thirsty, thinking we should have brought more water. We stopped on our way back through Apache Junction and I picked up a powerade while they grabbed a couple slushies... I had to admit, I enjoyed the frozen coke/cherry much more than the powerade.

When we returned to Mesa, we headed over to Pam's boyfriend's place. We wanted to take a dip in a pool that was probably a bit warmer. It felt so good, but didn't last long. We were hungry and headed back to shower before dinner. We ended up eating dinner at a nice sports bar and grill, BJ's Restaurant and Brewhouse. Steph and I each got a calzone and shared them. Very good. The four of us shared the cookies and cream pazookie afterwards. I will have to admit, it was the best desert I had all weekend!

We toured Mesa a bit more that night, and in the process of deciding what to do, we headed to RA Sushi in Dana Park for a cocktail. Before we knew it, Pam ordered sushi, as it was reverse happy hour and we all were eating ... again. But, this was the second time I have ever had sushi and kind of enjoyed it!

Monday:
I woke up and was very sore from hiking. Not like the sore you get from running or biking, a competely different kind of sore. But, I was cool with it because I knew I had worked muscles I haven't probably worked in a long time.

Pam had school today but left her car with us. It's amazing how easy it is to navigate in AZ with their grid system and what not. Steph and I went back to Dana Park, enjoyed a cool coffee drink, some shopping in the morning, lunch with Pam and her boyfriend, some more shopping (mostly window), and headed to Tempe and walked up and down Mill Ave. .... doing a bit more shopping. Once Pam was home from school we headed out to do some serious purse shopping in Chandler (no luck for me). Afterwards, we grabbed a late dinner at Kona Grill. This was a fusion restaurant, american and japanese. I liked it a lot and would highly recommend it!


We finished off the night with desert at RA Sushi back in Mesa. We shared the cinnamon tempura ice cream. It was so delish!


Tuesday:
Our last morning in AZ. Steph's friend had school and was gone in the morning before we woke up. We were up at about 7am and took advantage of the nice weather before it was time to leave. We grabbed the tennis rackets and a couple balls and headed to the court. The weather was gorgeous, probably about 75 degrees. I forgot to bring my camera out with us and thought I would come back to take some pics. There were a few lemon trees next to the court. I had almost mistaken the lemons on the ground for tennis balls.

It wasn't too long after our short "volleying" of the tennis ball that we were packed and heading to the airport. The trip came and went all so fast. We were truly fortunate to have such a wonderful friend to stay with and show us a good time.

I can't wait to head back! Next time I plan to stay longer, and I WILL conquer the Superstition Mountain!

Back to Reality

I made it to Arizona, loved it, and now am back in North Dakota. The weather was beautiful, we had plenty of fun, and now it's time to get back to reality. I will post more later about my trip!

You can take this weather and shove it ... UPDATED

I am still in the process of packing for my trip. It's been almost 2 years since my last flight anywhere, and I feel like I don't know how to pack or what to pack. Who knew it could be so much work!

I will be leaving tomorrow for the cities. But, like every time I travel, the weather takes a turn for the worst. We are under yet another winter storm watch. Damn! 6 more freakin' inches of snowy slushy crap!?! I am about to blow my top! For reals. I have to get to the cities tomorrow, as we fly out of MSP at 7am Friday morning!

Let's all pray for good weather! I am not letting this crap get in my way of sunny ArIzOnA!


*******UPDATE************

The 3 hour drive from Fargo to the cities yesterday afternoon/evening was horrible. I drove through almost every kind of weather; snow, sleet, ice pellets, rain, horizontal rain/snow, 30-60 mph wind gusts, slush, ice, etc. And, once I got to my sister's place, it was raining and we heard thunder. geez.

Our 7am flight departure out of MSP to PHX was CANCELED! We are pissed! We luckily were able to snag a later flight, departing at 11am. But, that has been delayed until noon. This is so frustrating.

I am just thinking of the nice weather I will be flying into ... ahhh..

David, bottled water only? Are you crazy?!? I will need a stiff drink once I get into Phoenix!

Expect lots of pictures when I return next wednesday!

Today's Tidbits

I think my fifth graders are feeling too comfortable around me. I have one calling me Dawg. One calls me Dude, especially when he has something really important to say. I have one showing me how he dances to hip hop, trying to get me to join him, hahaha! I have one asking me to give her some skin followed by "Yeah, Homegirl". I think we are all ready for this so-called-spring-break this coming weekend. Yep, fo sho!

So, I am totally taking an unplanned day off from training today. I could have biked. I could have swam. I don't think I could have ran. My legs are still a bit sore and the lifting did a doozy on my body (especially my legs).

So, what am I doing instead? Well, I did some shopping for clothes for my trip, since the weather will be 30-40 degrees warmer. Now I am doing some laundry, catching up on y'alls blogs, and watching a little American Idol. I would really like to see Christy Lee Cook head home this week. Most Definitely. Either that or Syesha.

Peace, y'all!

How about a good, solid workout!?!

As fast and hard as the snow fell yesterday, all 4.7 inches of it, it is pretty much gone today. The roads were horrible this morning since it was such heavy wet snow and froze quickly over night. The sun was shining most of the day and with temps in the 40's, most of the snow was gone by the time I left work ... most of it, except for those 7 foot snow piles on corners and in parking lots.

I hit the gym for a super duper workout tonight. My goal was 30 minutes on the treadmill, 30 minutes strength, and then 30 minutes in the pool. Check, check, and check. We all know how much I love running on the thrillmill, especially when limited to 30 minutes, which turned out to be only 28 minutes. grr. but I worked my ass of on the thrillmill and in the pool. I noticed while running that my calves are still kind of sore from my 9 miler last thursday. I know I haven't drank enough water in the past 4 days. I need to work on that.

ORN: 2.68 miles
28:00
10:26 min/mile (booyah!)
on the thrillmill

Strength:
30:00
arms and legs

OSN: 1200M
30:00
2:30 min/100M

4 more days until I am in Arizona!!

Like Riding a Rollercoaster

For those of you who have followed my posts regularly, you may have somewhat of an idea as to what the weather has been like here in the past 3 weeks or so. Let's just recap a bit.

March 17: Gloomy and rainy. The temp was barely in the 30's.

March 18: The temp was 44 when I got home from work. The sun was shining and almost all of the snow was gone. I was able to take advantage of the nicer weather and run outside.

March 21: 3 days later and this is what we got. 7+ inches of snow and I was afraid I wasn't going to make it home for Easter.

March 28-30: In the cities and the temps were in the 40's... nice enough for jeans and sweatshirts. Ditch the winter jacket, right?

April 2: 47 degrees and a nice 3 mile run outdoors. yep. getting warmer. Spring is here?!

April 3: 56 degrees and a 9 miler ... tank top and pants. 'nuff said.

Today ... April 6th: We're under a Winter Weather Advisory. Blech. It's 30 degrees, and this is what it looks like right now ...I am so stinkin' sick of this rollercoaster ride of weather! But that didn't stop me from getting to the gym. It just took me longer to get there. I hit up the pool, shooting for a nice 45 minutes and was able to pull off a swim better and longer then evah before!! It felt soooo good!

OSN: 1800M
45:00
(2:30min./100M)
wu - 4x50M, 1 min/RI
2x100M, 1 min/RI
400M, 1 min/RI
1000M
no cool down

Afterwards, I was planning on getting on the bike for a half hour. But all the good bikes were taken. I didn't want to wait 20 minutes for a good bike, so instead I got on the thrillmill and walked a good 20 minutes ... with some hills.

OWN: 1.2 miles
20 minutes

Now, it's time to clean my apartment. I have some errands to run and I am starting to think that I should have done that yesterday.

Mid-week LONG run

Well that was interesting.

I came home from work. The temperature was 56 degrees with only a slight breeze. I changed into my running clothes, which was quite a difficult decision. Shorts and long sleeve shirt? Shorts and t-shirt? pants and t-shirt? pants and tank top? I ended up going with pants and a tank top. I don't like the feeling of the sleeves of t's on my shoulders, and I wasn't going to wear shorts because, well, it is only April and you can only imagine what true North Dakotan's look like this time of year (asside from those that tan year 'round).

I didn't have a plan in mind. I really didn't know what kind of distance I was going to do. I didn't even know where I was going to run. I didn't want to ruin my good run yesterday. I just left my apartment and started running, making turns and u-turns where necessary. A part of me knew that the weather this afternoon was about 15 degrees warmer than it is going to be this weekend. And we all know what this weekend consisted of.... a 9-10 mile run.

So, I ran. And I ran. I stopped for a powerade at about the 1 hour mark. The first hour felt good. I actually enjoyed it. I couldn't get over the fact of how nice it was and that I was wearing a tank top. The last half hour of the run wasn't so much fun. My right knee was starting to bother me, but I know that has something to do with how fatigue my quads were starting to feel. Time to hit the weights again, on a regular basis. I actually ended up walking most of the last mile. I just wanted to get it done. But I am glad to have it done with for the week. Now I can do some swimming and biking this weekend..... I think I may do that Tri in June... it should be good times.

ORN: 9.82 miles
2:10:00
13:14 min/mile

If anyone is looking for some positivity, head over to Danielle's blog. She has been adding positive quotes to each of her posts this week. My favorite so far is the one she posted yesterday, "Positive Hump Day".

I look forward to the change in colors here in ND. Soon. Soon it will be green, with blue skies and beautiful sunsets. I will wait. Patiently.

The state flower ... Wild Prairie Rose

April brings temps above freezing, sun shining, and good training

First of all, I want to thank all of you for the congrats and well wishes for my first triathlon. I spent a lot of the 3 hour car ride home Sunday replaying the events of that morning in my head; thinking of how I could train differently, more efficiently, and when I will participate in the next one! There is a triathlon in my hometown the 8th of June that I am seriously thinking about doing. It would be all outdoors. But, I am afraid the water might be a little chilly still...

With the start of April, it's time to look back on March's numbers. I thought all looked good, despite the fact that I was sick twice during the month.

MARCH OVERALL:
OSN: 5150M (last month was 6300M... this will increase in April)
OCN: 58.76 miles (last month was 42 miles... better, but not super)
ORN: 38.84 miles (compared to last month's 39.45 miles.... not too peachy but will do)

Something new......
GOALS FOR APRIL:
OSN: 8000M
OCN: 65 miles
ORN: 50 miles


I hate spending the first day of the month resting, just as much as I hate spending the last day of the month resting. I feel like they are opportune days to either finish the month strong or start a month off on the right foot. What did I do? I took a rest day, both on the last day of March and first day of April. I had a terrible migraine and just wanted to lounge. I can do that the 2nd day after a triathlon, right?

So, today I had no excuse. The temperature was near 50, the sun was shining and there was a little bit of wind but it didn't bother me! It felt like one of those runs that was over before it ever started. I probably could have gone longer, but my goal was at least 3 miles and I was starvin'. No more 2 mile runs for me. I am going to try and keep all runs above 3 miles. The weather is getting nicer and I just can't resist getting out there!

ORN: 3.59 miles
42:13 minutes
11:45 min/mile
47 degrees, sunny, 10-20 mph wind gusts

9 more days and I will be in sunny ArIzOnA!!