Saguaro Lake

I wanted to see some wildflowers and get out of the city for the afternoon. Keeper was happy to oblige. We decided to take Chloe with us and hoped to find a not-too-crowded trail to hike on. So we went up the Bee Line Highway and found the Saguaro Lake Marina in the Tonto National Forest. We needed a day pass (which are not sold at the Marina). Nearest place to buy a day pass? 14 miles back (yep, a gas station we already passed). So we turned around, bought one, filled up on expensive gas, and drove back towards the lake. Since we had no use for the marina we tried parking at a different recreation area designated for non-boaters. It must have been sketchy family picnic day and no one told us. The place was absolutely PACKED with drunk white trash and their broods of nasty children. No dogs allowed on the one trail we found. Out we drove again and back to the marina. So we finally parked and realized there were still white trash families getting drunk at most every picnic ramada we passed. Oh well. The weather was absolutely beautiful and breezy and the views were breathtaking. We found a little trail that took us up to a good vista with which to view the lake. Our dog (practicing her new training skills) was an angel while walking around. We didn't encounter too many people hiking but she was happy to be outside and moving around. The car ride home was another story...."I have trouble riding in cars, Lois"...

Family Visit

We had our first visitors in our new apartment this past weekend. J & A and the little BB arrived very late Friday night. I felt bad that their flights were so delayed and they had to spend so much time in airports/on planes with the little guy but they finally made it! I can't believe how much he's changed since I last saw him. He is so much bigger and so active! He's talking all the time and laughs at just about everything. Saturday morning I had to get up early and help out for a few hours at a track meet but came home in time for lunch. We took the little BB out to the pool for a quick swim and then had some Pei Wei takeout. Yum. Then we headed up to Anthem for a much needed shopping trip for J. The little guy was so good all day long! Keeper made us some margaritas and then pasta for a late dinner and we called it a night.

Sunday morning was spent relaxing and J and I escaped for a short trail run in the desert behind my school. We got back, showered, and headed out to Scottsdale to see a Giants-Royals spring training game. The little guy needed to be constantly on the move so J and I kept him entertained by people watching/walking around the whole ball park. He finally fell asleep from all the excitement. We stopped in Old Town, Scottsdale for a quick shopping trip and then had delicious fajitas for dinner.

Monday morning, A and I did a 9-mile run along the canal in Scottsdale (my longest post-injury run to date). Then we headed to the Biltmore to shop a little and enjoy the sunshine. We made an awesome dinner last night and spent some time playing wii.

We had a very relaxing few days and Keeper and I were so glad they came out! I will totally miss them but am already looking forward to a few weeks on the east coast when my school lets out this summer!

Update

I have apologized time and time again for not blogging very frequently, and yet again, life gets in the way. My soccer season ended on January 29th and on January 30th I began officially coaching track. The head coach is a friend of mine (who coincidentally also went on the AVID trip last summer in Dallas) who teaches math at my school. I've talked to him numerous times about running and come to him with training questions, as he was a collegiate runner and just recently started running half marathons (to the tune of breaking 1:20!!!). He approached me about coming on board the track coaching staff in mid-January and I told him I'd have to think about it. I was concerned about not having enough to time to train for a spring marathon (which I usually buckle down and do this time of year). He assured me I would get in quality workouts with the distance runners (he wanted me to coach girls' distance) and it would be easy to just tack on a few extra mile here and there if needed to. So I hopped on board and have been insanely busy (and in shape!) ever since.

Training-wise, track is a whole different ball game. I was not used to the intensity of 3 hard workouts per week. The mileage is much, much less than I'm used to with marathon training, but it's so intense! We started our season with pretty much 4 weeks of hill training. We did long hills on Mondays, short hills on Tuesdays, interval workouts on Saturdays (yes, Saturday morning practices every weekend!) and longer, easier days on Tuesdays and Thursdays, with Fridays being completely slow easy days. I had just come back from my hamstring injury when track started. I jumped right in and pounded it hard for the first 3 weeks. Insanity! I was so proud of how quickly I got back into shape. (I should also mention we lift weights as a team Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays and do 30 minutes of core strengthening on Tuesdays and Thursdays BEFORE practice starts). But my body was like, "um hang on a minute...not used to this...." I started having aches and pains that wouldn't go away and last week I got sick.

So after reevaluating the situation (with the help of my sports counselor, Joy) I decided that a) I am not 16 anymore and b) I need to take it easier or I would get REALLY injured and be out of commission for more than a day or two. So last week I took off a few days, went easy on the days I did run, and got over my sickness and felt pretty good this week. We have moved out of our "hill training" phase since meets have started and I am able to run the most of the workouts with the kids. In fact, this morning we had an interval session at the park and I felt pretty good the whole time. I love running on the trails in the desert (which we do most days) and it's especially nice with my new Garmin training watch (thanks JDawg!). My girls (many of whom are new to running) are doing great. We placed 2nd in our first tri-school meet on Wednesday. I am looking forward to seeing the kids progress throughout the season. My training, on the other hand, has turned into "just keep up with these kids!" and I am not planning another marathon anytime soon. I'm thinking long-term, maybe Vegas in December if things work out this summer and fall but for now, nothing on the books for me.

In other news, Keeper cooked me an awesome lobster dinner last week for my 29th birthday (see pic below) and I used Mom & Dad's present to get my first-ever real massage (amazing) last Sunday. Keeper is in the swing of Quarter 7 and is spending this weekend at his fourth (and final) business training seminar. We are eagerly awaiting a string of spring visitors!!! First up, the Tillinghammers next Friday-Tuesday. We can't wait!!!