Monday, April 14, 2008

Hot and Dry in Phoenix

Friday 6.0 miles/54:03/9:01 average pace

Immediately upon arrival in Phoenix on Thursday morning, I was warm and toasty and my nasal passages and throat were bone freaking dry. April in Arizona is lovely- probably the best time of year to visit! But coming from the moist, cool Bay Area was rough on my little membranes. I had a wonderful time though, I just had to remember to drink water every 30 seconds.
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Friday morning I ran at the Reach 11 Recreation Area which I found out about on Arizona Phil's blog. Besides the aforementioned heat/dryness it was great.





Later that day I made a somewhat-spontaneous decision to chop all my hair off! It was getting to be a pain in the ass, it got so snarly when I ran, I had to braid it before bed, etc.. plus I was getting bored of it.

before (sorry, weird self-portrait)
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bye-bye hair!


after!

I love it! It will take some getting used to as far as styling it, and it makes for a pretty short little ponytail, but it's fun. I'm ready for summer :)

Friday night Zach arrived, and I surprised him at the airport with my new hairstyle and a taco pizza. He was a happy man. We were staying at my friend's house so we spent the evening visiting and catching up and then crashed into bed. We were going to get up early and drive to Scottsdale to run with the Scottsdale Running Company, but alas we did not rise in time. So at 7:45 we drove to Central Parkway in Phoenix and found a nice shaded stretch to run along.


Saturday 12.0 miles/1:47:35/8:58 average pace

Zach ran 8 miles with me, then I did 4 more on my own. I ran a few miles along the canal as well which was nice. There were tons of runners out enjoying the day. The Ironman was taking place the next day and I was thinking of those triathletes as the temperatures rose throughout the day. I hope they all had a good race! Maybe someday I'll be there. The rest of our trip was really nice- we spent some more time with our friends and a day with Zach's aunt, uncle, cousins, and grandparents who live there. It was so nice to see everyone.
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TOTAL miles for the week: 32
Plus just 750 m swim. Lame.
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Here's my schedule for this week- ONE WEEK TO BOSTON
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Monday: 6 miles easy
Tuesday: xt
Wednesday: 7 miles (2 miles at Goal Pace)
Thursday: xt
Friday: 4 miles easy
Saturday: LEAVE FOR BOSTON!! EEEEE!

21 comments:

Arcane said...

Nice do! Good luck with Boston!

Aron said...

your hair is SOOO cute!!!

good job on the runs - one week from now you will be done with boston!!!

Petraruns said...

Love the hair - and it's an improvement - you look very happy with it yourself.

You're nearly there - are you going from Phoenix to Boston or coming home in between? Now just stay healthy and don't drop a painting on your foot like Liz Yelling did last week... She still made it into the Olympic team on Sunday though and I have high expectations of you!

Paul said...

nice pictures.. An cool hair! Much better for summer and running fast!

21stCenturyMom said...

I love the haircut - very chic!

I can't believe you didn't spend some time spectating at Ironman. That was a tough day. 4 people from FMRC finished, though including Dean Harper who came in 2nd in his age group (55-59)!

Ewen said...

I like the 'fast' hair. Looks good. You should have taken more off!

I hope the last week goes well - get plenty of rest. Make Zach wait on you hand and foot :)

Kelly said...

Good luck in Boston!

KK said...

Hey Jen,

LOVE the hair. Think of all the time you'll shave off in Boston with a lot less drag :).

Glad you had fun in Arizona...Doing an Ironman there has crossed my mind too (or FLA or Wisconsin). Maybe one day we will both be Ironwomen!

Perhaps I'll see ya next Monday, too-I'm in corral 15, where are you starting?

Good luck-less than a week now, yowzahs!

Anonymous said...

Longest I've ever seen your hair but love the new cut.
Have a great run & time in Boston.
See ya soon.

Dragonfly on the Water

Marathon Maritza said...

I agree, much more aero-dynamic for Boston and cute!

Can't wait to cut my hair...Saturday can't come fast enough...

ShirleyPerly said...

I have a hard time adjusting to the dry desert conditions too. I'm so used to high humidity that I seem to wilt.

Love the new haircut!

Mir said...

Your new 'do is SUPER CUTE. I love it. :)

Good luck at Boston!!!!

GB said...

LOVE LOVE LOVE the new 'do, Jen! Wow!!! You look awesome. Not that you didn't before. But you look chic, hip, confident, cool. Love it!

I got your email. :) Hope to run into you in Boston. I'll keep your # on hand!

Unknown said...

Love the new hair.

It is very dry here and this is the worst alergy season in the 11 years since I moved here. Pretty tough. You are right to drink a lot.

Reach 11 is a great place to run in peace and quiet. Our running club has a couple of races there every year.

Best of luck in Boston. You will do awesome!

Tomas said...

Boston coming!!!
Nice and easy run... awsome hairstyle I bet Zach liked it more than the pizza :)

Zach said...

Had a great time w/ you in PHX - thanks again for picking up the pizza - it was sooooooooooo good!

I know I've told you many times but I love the new cut :)

SavvyFitChica said...

YOUR HAIR LOOKS FABULOUS!! I love it!

Next time you're in Phoenix, let me know and we could meet up!

Kelsalynn

Donald said...

The haircut looks good. You're much more aero now!

Phil said...

Happy to see that you enjoyed Reach 11 ... it has to be one of the least visted parks in Phoenix. I was out there again on Sunday (way early in the morning though).

Great hear cut ... a must when you're running on the desert.

Bob - BlogMYruns.com said...

Jen your new Cut looks Awesome & has to knock off MORE then a few seconds off ur time :-)

ENJOY ur Taperrrrrrrrrrrr WEEEEEEK ...
I just left this on GB's blog

On TV
woooooo hoooooooooo Hope I seee you running past the cameras:-)

I hope you guys get a chance to meet also.

Judi said...

You should have gone to watch IM. I heard the wind was awful, and 17% of the racers dropped out. :(