Day #2 in AZ w/ 15 pictures + My Training Log for Last Week!

That sunshine felt so so good on my Saturday morning run.  Arizona in March is perfection.

I really love running in Arizona for many reasons but mostly because you can find so many dirt paths (the ones by the canals are my favorite) that go on forever.  I used to come down and stay with my brother and his family all of the time a few years ago so I’ve got a lot of good/hard/fast/slow/frustrating/confidence boosting memories on these dirt trails.

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Skye is getting to know some of her cousins!  Doesn’t this niece of mine look just like Brooke?  This niece and Brooke are only a few months apart and I keep calling her Brooke ha.

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So Friday night sleeping did not go so well;)  Skye slept great but I made the worst decision and had a diet coke Friday night while we were all chatting.  I haven’t had caffeine for about a year and decided it was a good idea to try some at night.  I COULD NOT SLEEP so I learned my lesson the hard way with that one.

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Then we were off for brunch and the game!

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Joy recommended going to Henhouse Cafe and once again, you guys have the best recommendations.

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We ordered a short stack of pancakes to come with our meals and they were huge!  They offer a pancake at this restaurant for $11 that are the size of some of their tables.  Our waiter said he had a group of 10 come in and they couldn’t even finish off the pancakes.  This place was amazing.

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From there we went straight to see the Angels play.  It was like Christmas morning for Andrew.

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We made sure to bring some high quality things to enjoy while we watched… Brooke and Knox are going to be jealous.

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Skye ate, napped, hung out in the shade with me, blew bubbles and people watched.

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The Angels lost but we are hoping that today they do a bit better.  After the game we went back to my brother’s house and he picked up this goodness for our dinner from Buddyz!  This pizza made me love deep dish pizza.  PS My brother and I are going on our first run ever together tomorrow.

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Skye really found her voice last night.

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And then I got to work on stretching every muscle in my body because two speedish workouts this last week = I need to be getting in some good stretching sessions!

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Brooke is having a good time and we are going to work on spelling Skye’s name this week;)

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Here’s how training looked last week:

Monday: 8 miles @ 8:50 average pace.

Tuesday:  6 miles @ 8:33 average pace.

Wednesday:  Cooper Test!  2 mile w/up, 12 minutes as fast as I could go, 2 mile c/d.  I averaged a 6:25 pace for those 12 minutes and it was incredibly hard but it is a good measure for my coach to see where I am at right now to continue building workouts for me.  5.87 miles total.

Thursday:  40 minute easy run!  4.78 miles @ 8:22 average pace.

Friday:  Long run! 10 miles total with the last 3 @ 7:07 average for a fast finish.

Saturday:  6 miles @ 8:29 average pace in Arizona.  I could definitely feel the lower elevation on this run and the sunshine felt so good.

Sunday:  OFF!

40.65 miles for the week!

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What was your best run last week?  Hardest run?

Favorite sporting event to go and watch?

Yes or no to deep dish pizza?

What are you up to today?

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16 comments

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I understand the diet coke thing. I can’t have caffeine after 2 unless I’m planning to stay up late.
Looks like AS is the place to be. It looks warm. It’s still quite chilly in MD. Enjoy the rest of your trip!

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I don’t have caffeine much…like never. So I had some caffeine one time in the middle of the day and I still felt wired by night. It was bad. So I haven’t had it since haha.

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ENJOY your first run with your brother!! That sounds so exciting!!

Ran the new NYC Half course this am! Back when I was planning on training for Boston, I wanted a half for training and the NYC Half was the only one local..so I took the plunge on the cost, and now that I’m not training for Boston, well, … since I paid so much I figured I wouldn’t do it again and so why not just run it! I hate that the times are publicly available, but I swallowed my pride and I’m glad I did!

It was amazing! The new course is so pretty, and I FINALLY can say I went to Chinatown in NYC! HA! I could smell it from the bridge xD!!

Also I brought an apple to eat along the way but saw a fellow student and talked the whole way to Prospect Park, so.. I ran the whole race with it EXCEPT IT FELL IN THE LAST 100M WHAT! :p It was a good exercise. Once I heard a coach say he had runners run with eggs– if the eggs broke, the runners would KNOW they were squeezing their hands too hard together :p. Talk about lesson learned!

p.s. Try a cup of Joe in the AM! It’s magical :).

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I actually had some deep dish pizza yesterday and it was better than I remembered. I’m looking forward to the leftovers later today!

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Your meal at Henhouse looks amazing! Time to make breakfast for the family!

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I hope you and your brother had fun on your run! This morning I ran a 5K–not a PR, and a little bit slower than last month’s PR, but my arthritic knee kept on acting up. And somehow all morning long I had zero desire to be out there on that run–so it was a huge act of mental game, from the moment I shut off my alarm until the literal moment I crossed my finish line and stopped my Garmin. STILL, considering knee-care, and a lack of desire to run, just by putting one foot in front of the other it was neither my fastest…nor my slowest…5K. I was just in the middle. And, given all of that, I just felt really good about myself. On my way home–first taking MARTA (subway system in Atlanta) and then driving home from the MARtA station by me–I was proud of myself. And I was proud of my mental game.

And deep dish pizza–I LOVE DEEP DISH PIZZA! I mean, I love ALL pizza, but I really do love deep dish pizza so much. It’s delicious. When I am really focused on keeping my carb consumption in check (I can super easily get off track when bready things are included in my food plan), but the pizza cravings JUST WILL NOT QUIT, I turn to a recipe like this one: http://www.whatigather.com/pizza-stuffed-bell-peppers/. Added benefit: it makes AMAZING leftovers to just heat up in the microwave for days to come! For me, this makes it a perfect inclusion in weekly meal prep.

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What are Andrew’s thoughts on Ohtani? Does he think he will be able to pull off being a everyday player and a pitcher?

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Best run last week was speedwork run. It was easy so I wondered if I pushed hard enough… ? But the time looked like I pushed. Hardest run last week was yesterday’s easy run just to get the legs used to spinning. It was short and slow compared to what I’ve been doing and it was so difficult…had a bit of a panic. Thankfully everything worked out today.

Favorite sporting event to go and watch – they are all pretty good. I’ve seen baseball, basketball, ice hockey and tennis. They’re all amazing to watch when the game is good.

Yes to deep dish pizza! (And every pizza…)

today ran the NYC half! Here to report that it was indeed super cold. Saw lots of people with hand warmers, tossing them on the hills. I doubled my gloves up to keep it warm. Next time I need to wear a garbage bag at the start. So many smart runners who did that. After 1.5 hour of waiting in the corrals it was time, donated my clothing and we were off. It was incredible. The course was so so cool. What a rush and an experience. Best sign I saw was “you’re running better than the government!” And “Run fast now because I’ve been standing here for hours freezing” – got some high fives from several folks and someone who said “who wants free energy?” So of course I gave him a high five. So many DJs and bands but a lot of the course was silent like going over the top of the Manhattan bridge , sections of the FDR, and sections of Central Park. Got several cars honking to support us going the other way on the FDR.

I totally loved each part. Grand army plaza, Flatbush Ave, Manhattan bridge, Chinatown, FDR, climb up 42nd st to 7th Ave, Times Square and the hills of Central Park. So much support at cat hill and the three sisters. Some held a sign with a big cats face on it and they were chanting at us, so I yelled a loud “meow!” And they got a good laugh. And of course the NYRR director giving us high fives at the finish line.

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I ran really well on Wednesday. but I’m proud of myself for getting in my workout at my sisters while we’re here visiting!
We love going to watch our cubbies!
Yes to deep dish but only from Chicago! Pizza anywhere else is not as good.
It’s our last full day in Michigan with my sister. We’ll leave for home tomorrow morning.

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I had some really fun, long runs this week! I have to say reading your blog and following you on Instagram is one of my favorite things! I found you about four years ago when I was training for and ran my first full marathon! Since then, I had my third baby, and have taken it kinda easy. But I finally decided to sign up for another full this fall! I’m really excited! I’m actually looking forward to my really long runs this summer! Last time around, I tore my hamstring about 3 weeks out from my full. I was devastated and could only run about a mile without pain. I ended up getting a Cortizone shot and was able to finish my race pain-free! But I did take it easy for a long time after that and for the first time in years I am running now without feeling tightness in my right hamstring. This time around I am totally committed to running injury free and doing everything I can to prevent injuries while training. What would be your best advice for me to prevent injury?

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Wow, I wonder if that group of ten was a business group, or maybe a group of Runners!?

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That Cooper test is interesting sounding. But of course I don’t understand that formula you shared. Did you know about this run test or done it before? I’ve never heard of it.

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Yay, I’m so glad you liked Henhouse Cafe! I’ve heard good things about Buddyz but haven’t been there yet. Any type of pizza (thing or deep dish) is a good pizza in my book haha. I feel like you are really close to where my parents live which is AWESOME :). I love running by the canals too, I sure miss it.

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Best run last week – was tempo intervals (strange I know) but I hit paces I haven’t hit in about a year so I guess training is paying off. And I felt like I was flying. Worst – when I woke up with serious spring allergies and my planned tempo had to turn into an easy run haha.

I have only seen hockey and figure skating live – but I like watching snowboarding (half pipe) on tv.

Yes to deep dish pizza – don’t have it often at all though.

Today – ran my long run solo – all 21 miles (not as much fun running alone!) . Had a movie date afternoon with a girl friend and chilling at home now with the other half.

Hope you have a great Sunday!

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Yes to deep dish pizza but definitely in small quantities hah!

Best run last week – Did a 6 mile tempo run on Wednesday and averaged out at 8:04. Felt great! Only issue is that I’ve had terrible knee pain the last couple days. Calves were super sore and tight on Friday … I did some back to back long runs (probably not a great idea) and my knee hates me today. Swam today and will probably stick to the pool the next few days!

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my sister used to live in arizona (tucson) and i was able to visit her a few times – i miss it! hope it was a fun trip.

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