Earlier this month we went to Arizona for a hiking trip. When the new year rolled around I tried to use the weighted vest and add incline walks on the treadmill for training. I had 9 training sessions in. I wish I had more but remember I got sick.

I didn’t run the week before, during, or after the trip. Before the trip, I simply ran out of time between last minute errands. During the trip, instead of running, we had hiked 59 miles over the Saturday-to-Saturday vacation. On our one “rest” day we walked over 4 miles at the Phoenix Zoo that’s excluded from this total. After the trip, it was a combination of fatigue and jetlag (3-hour time difference) that I took after-work naps 3 days that week. It was also the break-week between Strength & Tone Fitness Class sessions – no class that week.

When I went for my weekly “long run” on Saturday morning, it had been 20 days without formal running. I was OK with that. Just one loop at the park plus a hill climb was my goal. I was pleasantly surprised at how great I felt. It shows in my splits: 10:36, 10:26, 10:08, 9:59, 9:59, and 10:07. The sun was shining and it was lovely.

Immediately after the run, I went home for a quick shower and then off to the charity garden for the first work session of the year. I had gardening tools from my late Aunt Joyce to donate besides a car packed with plastic corrugated boxes from work that could be repurposed as mini green houses for growing the plants. I helped this session by moving cinder blocks to lift the rain barrels back up and turning over the soil in the raised beds that were winterized. It was 80 minutes of hard cardio-exercise! I was tired! Later that evening, we went for a walk in the neighborhood; it was a full day!

Garlic growing from last fall, planted at one of the last work sessions for the season

The next week I was back to my exercise routine. Monday yoga, Tuesday rest, Wednesday Strength and Tone Fitness Class. Thursday and Friday I was back in the yard for the first lawn mowing and raking leaves up from last fall (it snowed before we could get the last pile up). Though our marathon training friend was out of town, we still needed to get a long run complete in order to run the next one with him. We ran 12 miles and again, felt really great (average 10:21 pace)! The morning temp was in the sixties. I was ready to go a little faster in the early miles but I didn’t want to crash given the little mileage I’ve been up to. The rain clouds came in at the half way point. I will admit I got a little anxious because it sure looked dark and I don’t want to run with lightning/thunder. But it was only rain. It cooled down about 10 degrees. The charity garden work session was canceled because of the rain.

This week was another good week of exercise. Monday was book club, no time for yoga, though I did walk when I got home. Tuesday was a long day of work, mostly standing, and a few times it felt like my left hip was going to “give out.” I skipped the run – fatigued anyways – and did some stretches, leg lifts, and balancing. On Wednesday, I went for a short 1 mile “test run.” Fortunately, it felt alright though in the leg lunge strength I could almost replicate the “giving out” feeling. I kept it an easy 11:25 pace. Strength and Tone Fitness class was fun! Today I ran a mini speed session. After a mile warmup, I ran 5x ~0.13-0.14 mi intervals hard, and a nice one mile cool down. Finally, I can say this was the first “hot” run of the year.

I would love to detail all the hikes in Arizona but that’s a story for a different day. I will add that we DID make it to the bottom of the Grand Canyon (and back up)! It was my best hike of the trip and I’m so PROUD of the feat. I went into it treating like it was a race morning. However! For me, that was the EASIEST of the hikes we did (besides the short 1-mile stacked hikes). The hikes weren’t all cake, I had a fall with a cactus, three black toenails, 4 blisters, and at least one anxiety (panic?) attack from hike #1. It wasn’t the cardio and it wasn’t the hiking pack weight. I love transparency; should write about those soon, even though this is a running-orientated blog.

Now to look for a 1-mile and a 5-k race, I think it’s time!