Arizona running, what the rest of the crew is up to and YOUR running accomplishments!

Arizona running (other than during the summer months) is one of my favorites.

Near where we are staying they have miles and miles of canals with dirt and paved paths right next to them.  They are flat as can be, carless and make it easy to avoid getting lost because you just follow the canal.  It’s really nice to not have to think much about traffic/directions/etc at all along the way.

I didn’t run with any sort of GPS or with headphones yesterday but was out for about 65 minutes of running.   It’s kind of fun not knowing your distance once in a while.

This picture made it appear like I have a calf muscle which I was pretty excited about.

Got back to Megan’s sister’s house to the pebble ice maker.

Andrew, we really need to install one of these at our house.

We then hit up our favorite store Last Chance and I bought a pair of $8 sneakers which was exciting.  The girls also introduced me to a new even more comfortable/cute pair of moto leggings that I will be sporting for the rest of forever.  So crazy soft and I got the maroon ones.

We grabbed lunch from Sauce and along with my turkey salad I had the tomato soup which is one of my all-time favorites.  One of my brothers told me the other day that he doesn’t like soup and I am still confused by how one could not like soup.  He needs to try this soup.

For dinner we went to Oregano’s (a must if you are ever in Arizona) and then we saw Miss Peregrine’s!

Best part of Oregano’s:

I’ll be coming home to the crew today but since I’ve been gone they’ve done a lot of cuddling with Beretta.

Andrew and Brooke had a date Tuesday night (before Knox came home on Wednesday) and they went to a play place, bought a craft for her to paint and made cookies together.  She was in heaven.

PS the recipe for these cookies:

1 cup sugar

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup butter melted

Mix

2 eggs

Mix

2 tsp vanilla

2 tsp water mixed with one tsp baking soda

3 cups flour (I usually mixa one cup at a time)

3/4 bag of chocolate chips (ghirardelli)

Bake at 350 for exactly ten minutes.  Take them out and let them finish cooking on the pan.   I like the dough chilled for at least an hour but they are still good when you don’t.

And most importantly, Andrew and the kids went camping!

Thank you for all the awesome comments on my sister’s post yesterday.  She is pretty amazing.

We’ve been pretty close from the very beginning.

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LOVING all of your race accomplishments!! Thank you for sharing and if you want to share yours then send it in to [email protected]

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HONOR!!!  “I’m proud I place first in my age group in the Twin Cities Marathon last Sunday and with a PR! I learned there were 51 women over 70 registered for the race, including an 88-year-old.  However, the results show only 4 finished in the female 70-74 age group, and only one, ME, in the 74-79 age group!!  My time was a 5:37:31.  There was a 6-hour course cutoff which had me a bit worried as last year in the NYC Marathon I had a desperate potty stop in mile 8 that had me standing in a line of about 12 people.  My time for that mile ended up being about 23 minutes.  After that, I threw my pace band away and just focused on enjoying the race and finishing.  My time was 6:09.  But this year I’ve been running strong and shaved nearly 2 minutes off my Dallas Marathon time of Dec. 2014, my previous PR.  As I didn’t start running until I was 72, I’m very pleased that I am continuing to improve my speed.  I’ve done 13 half marathons and now 4 marathons since 2012.  I posted on FB that the NYC was to be my last marathon… until I signed up for the Twin Cities Marathon.  Someone asked me yesterday, “When is your last marathon?”:)

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ALYSSA!!!  “This past weekend I completed my first FULL marathon!!! Because of little injuries here and there, my longest training run was only 5 miles, so I was really worried if I could even make it or not… but I did it! It was the Portland Marathon and it rained every single step of the way.  I had the BEST support crew out there! My mom, dad, and boyfriend were able to find me SIX different times along the course! Since I wasn’t going for any kind of speed record, I was able to stop and take pictures/give hugs to them along the way.  They really are the sweetest and I had an amazing time, despite not being able to walk the next few days! This picture is from meeting up with my mom around mile 11.:)”

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STEPHANIE!!!  “After evacuating my home for Matthew, I needed some motivation.  So I skipped my long run scheduled for that weekend and signed up for a random local 5k.  I hadn’t been training for speed and it had been two years since I had raced a 5k.  I’ve also had two major injuries since then and was nervous about old pain flaring up.  On top of that, this was only my second attempt at racing since I lost the best running partner/big brother in the world.  But I wanted to… actually, I NEEDED to try, so I went out there and just decided to give it my all.  I couldn’t believe the results! The whole time I was like “how in the world is my body going this fast!”  I felt so strong and free and was shocked that on a hilly course, this FL girl was flying (or what felt like it haha).  I ended up getting 2nd overall female and finishing in 23:10.  I wondered the whole time “what am I actually capable of? I haven’t even been training.  What gifts has the LORD given me that I’m not even using?”  The whole experience was amazing and reminded me how much I love racing.  I have new goals now and can’t wait to see what happens next on my crazy, running journey.  #allJESUS

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ARTHI!!!  “I ran the Chicago Marathon recently and crushed it way beyond what I ever thought was possible! It was my 8th marathon and my second time running Chicago.  MY PR a couple years ago was 3:52 and my first 5 or so marathons were in the 4:15-4:25 range.

This year… I ran a 3:40:32!!!  I never in a million years thought I would run that kind of race! I trained hard… Put in the work all summer… And am so happy about my results.  There is nothing sweeter than running faster, stronger, and better than your younger/skinnier/unhealthier self:)  Goal for next year:  BQ! I’m so close!!”

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KIM!!!  “Ok so today I completed my first ever 1/2 marathon at the Melbourne Marathon in Australia.  This time last year I was starting a C25K program with my local new running club; ha and now I coordinate the start to run program!  So the run was really windy, but to finish on the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) had me tearing up.  Not many people get to go onto the ground so it was pretty special.  I finished 11 mins faster than I expected as I’d been sick with vertigo leading up to the run so I’m extremely happy with that result.”

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JILL!!! “I competed in my first ever trail event! I’m based in Hong Kong now and it’s called the moontrekker!  I did the 30km, was more like 35, as a pair with my buddy, Caroline.  She was injured, but pushed through.  We came in as first female pair :)  in just over 6 hours.  This photo is from the top of Lantau Peak, second highest peak on our island.  A 1000 meter straight up!  Myself, Caroline and our friend, Phil.”

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INES!!!  “I have been an avid runner for a few years now but for some reason never signed up for any races until last year.  My previous 5 half marathons I usually finished in about 2:08.  After having a really tough and painfully slow race back in May I was very nervous about the Winnipeg Fire and Paramedic Services Half Marathon.  But all my worries were for no reason:  I set a good pace in the beginning and kept it up throughout the whole race.  In the end I finished in 1:55:05! Not only did I set a PR but I never hit the wall and finished strong with a sprint.  At the finish line I was greeted by my soon-to-be husband who also PRed in the 10k.  Clearly we both had the best run ever.  It must be the excitement building up for our run through wedding at the Rock ’n’ Roll Las Vegas half marathon next month.”

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Any Arizonians reading?  Do you run along the canals?  Favorite months of running here?

What is the age difference between you and your siblings?

Ever done a race in a different country?

What’s the running weather in your area right now?