Flagstaff vs Phoenix

Last Friday I made the move to Flagstaff. For one year JR and I will be traveling back and forth while I go to school up here and he works down south. We both love Flagstaff and just realized over the past 3 days how much we have missed it. Flagstaff is a magical place, clean air, the smell of pines, great people, friendly people and friendly dogs everywhere, great trails for everything from running to biking to hiking to just going for a walk. 

Even Jack thinks this place is fantastic-watching him in Phoenix vs Flagstaff is like watching a Grandpa turn into a 10 year old. Jack is 3.5 years old but due to the heat in Phoenix a doggie cannot do much more then walk in the morning when the pavement is still cool, sleep all day, and then hopefully, if it is cooling down play baseball or play with other doggies. Here is what Jack has been doing lately since we have hit the 90's:

Sleeping on his back.

Sleeping on his side.

Sleeping on the floor.

Sleeping on the couch.

Taking over the couch.

Sleeping in his food dish.

Sleeping in bed.

Well, you get the point. He is pooped all the time, just like me. As soon as we hit the 90's my body says: just sleep...ALL DAY. Phoenix is great for training in the winter, but some people, like me, just can't handle the heat and grumpiness and tiredness take over. 

Since we got here I have done two 8 mile runs: 

I was feeling great on the first one and at mile 3 or so I decided to look what pace I was going...well, for a second I was thinking my Garmin must be broken...but it wasn't. 7000 ft means Angi is running slower. I finished my run at an unusually slow avg, but I was super happy just to be able to be outside and have such clean air and fantastic trails.

The next day I ran the same loop again and I managed to run much faster, most likely because JR ran with me. I am excited to see the progress as my body adjusts to altitude (which by the second run it definitely HAD NOT, but thanks to JR's company I forgot how painful running up here is).

We went up to snowbowl and enjoyed the scenery. Everyone seemed to be in town for graduation so we decided to escape to the mountain. JR, Jack and I loved it and we had coffee and cake at 8000 ft and went for a fantastic little hike and played around in nature.

 When we lived in Flagstaff 3 years ago, we were so close to so many cool places, but like always: while you live there you forget to explore and when you move you say - I wish I would have...

This time around we promised each other we would take our mountain bikes all over the trails, go hiking where we have never hiked before and camp where we have never camped before.

This one year of school is also a great opportunity to focus on running and running specific strength. I can't wait to race in the fall after I (hopefully) get some great training in (if school allows me to have free time :-)

Pat's run Phoenix - a MUST for anyone living in AZ

I found this picture on the azcentral homepage

 Pat's run has been going on for many years now. Why I have never done it before? I have no clue. Pat's run was on the weekend after the Boston bombing, and everyone was wondering what the heck to do...run or not run a race that attracts close to 30.000 people. The Pat Tillman foundation and the Phoenix police department (and the many more departments that are probably super secret and I don't know what exactly they are called) and the volunteers did an amazing job to make this a safe and fun event where NO sign of fear was in the air - they definitely made the right decision. I had the feeling that at this race, so close after the attack, runners stuck together even more then usual. It was a pretty special feeling to be part of the: Don't mess with us feel in the runners faces.

I had heard before that with that many people parking was just out of control - we had absolutely NO problem parking.
I heard the potty line would be HUGE - they had so many potties, there was barely a wait.

This race is phenomenal, and it gives you goosebumps to hear the story of Pat Tillman, his accomplishments as an athlete and his sacrifices for this country. There were so many soldiers on the start line, team RWB, football players, ASU students and...a lot of fast runners.

The course is 4.2 miles with Curry Hill as a little leg-and-lung burner in between. I went out by feel, and just enjoyed the many spectators and runners. It was like running in Germany :-) I went through mile one in 5:45, which I thought I would probably regret later. Up curry hill, down curry hill, I just tried to stay relaxed and focus on breathing. At mile 3 I had the chance to see my competition at a U turn type corner...I took a split and 2nd and 3rd were about 15 sec behind me.

I have to be honest, I felt a little bit like throwing up, but when you have so many people cheering for you, you just have to suck it up and fight for that win. I tried to speed up, not look at my watch and just put my head down and go. Entering the last 100 m into the ASU stadium was crazy. I had never been in there (or in any football stadium). It gave me goosebumps again :-)

We finished at the 42 yard line (his number was 42, therefore the 4.2 mile run) and my time was 24:24 (mhhh, so what does that mean that I ran the same numbers as his jersey number, the race distance and the yard line where we finished, just in opposite order???) I think it is a good sign :-)

This race showed me, even though on a small scale compared to life, that if you want something bad enough - you can have it. At mile 3 I decided that loosing is not an option. I am going to take the W today. I will definitely be back next year. The race and the venue is so crazy it will keep me motivated all year long. And the entry fee is for  a good cause!!!

Time: 24:24
Distance: 4.2 miles
Avg pace: 5:49
Place: 1st overall female

ZOOT 2013

The best athletic weekend of the year, for some people it might be KONA, for some VEGAS, but for us ZOOT peeps it is:

ZOOT CAMP

Zoot camp is fantastic, because the ZOOT ultra team gets together, we have fun, talk, run, learn about new things, and the list goes on and on.

For JR and me it was just a very very short trip. We left Friday evening and got to the hotel at around 11:30 pm. The next day we went running on the beach, and JR and I both got a sunburn. Somehow the 70 degree sunny weather in Cali is much more intense then then 90 degree sun in Phoenix??? We saw dolphins, got some great food and in the afternoon we all met up with the rest of the ZOOT ultra team.

I was so excited to see my friend Amber again. That girls is ... I can't describe it... lets just say one thing: Shananigans. Amber is so much fun!!!

With that girl I can giggle all the time. It was great for JR too, because her husband Danny and JR had a great time as well and JR got to meet the rest of the gang. We all got lots and lots of new ZOOT goodies, our race uniforms look fantastic, ready for fast racing!!!

The next morning consisted of a morning jog along the beach and the winner of Oceanside 70.3 (Alcatraz and many many more races) came out to go with us on the run. Sponsored by ZOOT, this girl  ran a 1:14 Halfmarathon in the KIAWES this year already!!! Heather Jackson is such a great person, instead of sleeping in after her win, she came out to meet us at 7 am - what can I say, ZOOT'ers are AWESOME.

The rest of the day we learned about all the new things that ZOOT is creating. Their custom clothing is fantastic. Any team out there who is looking into creating their own design and unique uniforms that fit perfectly should look into it!!! ZOOT is so nice to work with and the people there always take the time to talk to you on the phone, in person, or you can just shoot them an email!!!

There is a lot going on in shoe development as well and I am so excited about the shoes I will be running in for the rest of the year...and the new new ones, that are still super secret are super super cool...can't tell any more. We all have to wait patiently :-)

Zoot camp always gets everyone fired up to race. So immediately, when JR and I started driving back to PHX we searched for races and made plans for the fall...off course no brainstorming without brain food...and since it was easter sunday, our brain food was the Reester Bunny and some coffee :-) Trust me, that combination gets you going until you crash big time. But I think we got some good ideas.

40 some days

My days as a free spirit, doing nothing but run and play all day are over :-)

In 40 some days I am starting school...so how to prepare for school and racing? Or just school? Or do I even have time to do anything else?

During my quest to find a program in health care I also looked into PT programs in a addition to nursing...but the thought of going to school for 3 years full time, 8-5, summer and winter - that just didn't sound right for me. I think Nursing will be a great fit to combine my love for health care with my love for sports.

I am so so happy that I got into this very fast paced nursing program at NAU. Most accelerated programs are either super expensive or they go for up to 2 years. NAU is a one year program, done in May 2014. And it is affordable (some of the programs I explored at other schools were up to 50.000 $ a year) - no sitting on loans.

Now the only question was: will I have enough time to train? Swim, bike and run? 

Yesterday I signed up for my classes and to my surprise I have a day off every week :-) Classes will be held Mon/Tue/Wed and Fri, with all except for Friday being half days. I really like what I hear so far...I know in any accelerated program there will be lots of "out-of-classroom" work, but I am ready. It might take me a while to get adjusted to the new schedule but I truly believe that I can add a few triathlons for my fall break (August 8th-28th).

Luckily being a student in Flagstaff also means I have access to the track, to a brand new fitness center where I can work on my strength, flexibility or fit in a speed session on the treadmill, and a 50 meter pool that I can go to for free.

So guess what: I bought a hiking backpack that I will go to school with. So I have room for everything from books to swimsuit :-) I thought about using my ZOOT Transition bag...

Maybe I will turn into one of those kids that lives at the library...or I will do all my studying in the gym and just live there...

Anyways as of now, my racing schedule looks like I will be running in races until August and then I will jump into some Olympic and Halfironman races. Thankfully the summer in Flagstaff is beautiful and I can exercise at any time of the day. And hopefully the 7000 ft elevation will give me an extra boost while racing.

News time

Phoenix is getting hotter by the day again. Time to escape. Even the phone has already had enough and showed me this screen:

ZOOT is working on the 2014 collection and they are in full speed fun and fast mode. Here are the future KIAWE's, the best racing flat on the market!!!

The Xterra AZ trail running season has come to an end. Already. Some states probably haven't even started. We finished off the 4th race with a 13 mile run to Rock Springs also known as Pie town...

Post race world famous JACK DANIELS PECAN PIE

After being sick for three weeks it was probably not the smartest idea to race, so instead I just ran for fun, talked to friends and had a fun time on the beautiful trail that included two river crossings. I got away with the age group win and the series win for my age group :-) YAY

The ZOOT trail shoes are the perfect shoe for water crossings, they dried fast and I had NO blisters post race!!!

And now the probably most exciting news:

In May I will have two homes. Phoenix and Flagstaff. Flagstaff because I will once again return to NAU as a student for the accelerated nursing program. I still can't believe I got accepted, I am so super happy. 30 people every year get to start this 1 year BSN program. I am super excited about this :-)

My first Marathon - WINNING

It has been 3 weeks since my first marathon. I was inspired today by my friend Elliot to write a race report since he got his done 1 day after his marathon :-)

Anyways, 26.2 miles is fun. I can't wait to do it again. 

The marathon was on February 17th. That weekend had 2 Marathons in Phoenix, the Lost Dutchman marathon and the IMS marathon. I didn't really care which one I would race because both of them meant a long run :-) One was going east to west, one was going west to east. Tomato Tomato to me. I let my brother choose (his christmas present was an entry into a half marathon in Phoenix of his choice). He chose IMS :-)

Race preparation: 

I had 6 weeks to get ready for a marathon, including one week of taper. YIKES. Not the best idea I have ever had. 5 weeks (not including taper) is just not enough :-)

I did the following:

-increase my mileage from 40 miles a week to 60-70 miles a week (still low for marathon training but I wanted to avoid injury)

-increase my longest long run from 15 miles to 19, 19, 20 and 21 miles (I only had 4 weekends for long runs)

-believe in the power of adrenaline

The race:

Race morning consisted of an early morning wake up, a long drive across the valley and my first time sitting on a school bus!!! Observation of the morning was: there are no seat belts on a school bus. Is that safe?

We got dropped off at Verrado, time flew and we were ready to go. Off course all race plans went out the window once the gun went of. I averaged a fast pace, going through mile 13 in 1:23 hrs. I was shooting for a 1:30. But I kept thinking: this is free speed. I am going to hit the wall eventually so why not get a good cushion. YAY.

It was a lonely race and I luckily got to run with a person from mile 12-mile 16...unfortunately the course was not well marked and we lost a few seconds every time we went through neighborhood (due to people directing us from one side of the road to the other, sometimes to the sidewalk, sometimes through gates), also the turn arounds were not marked very well and we had to ask many times where to go. Trust me, I looked at the course on the map, but it is impossible to know all the turns. There were about 5 occasions where we had to yell an ask where to go...people had no clue...so we wasted seconds each time wondering where to go :-( And we all know that seconds add up to minutes...

Shortly after mile 13 the cones clearly went straight...and then disappeared...so we had no idea where to go until a lady from across a parking lot yelled to come to her. We had to jump a ditch, run through a dirt field and jump another ditch to get back on track. Oh well. Nothing we could do about it at that point, but it was a little disappointing because our finishing time was affected by this.

At mil 19 I started not to feel so hot anymore. Tiredness had taken over...not my body...not my legs...BUT MY ARMS. My explanation: the lack of long runs left my small muscles weaker then the big ones...my deltoids = small muscles, therefore they were hurting like someone punched me with a knife or nails (not sure who that feels actually). I had to do the thing I dislike the most in a race: STOP RUNNING.

I had to stop to stretch my deltoids :-( Not once, not twice, but about 4 times. On a good note: my legs felt fresh and fantastic!!!

Elliot gave me the advice today to shake out your arms regularly...Elliot, next time please bombard me with advice BEFORE the race :-)

I finished in 2:57 or 3:01, depending on what results list you look at :-) I much prefer the 2:57 :-) But I am a big fan of the truth and the truth is my Garmin showed me 3:00:11 for the 26.2 miles. And that is what I go by.

(I am not a big fan of all the athletes who make up times and results that are not accurate ;-)

I was disappointed that there were so many time consuming misguidance problems on the course, but I was the happiest person in the world at that point because I had just WON. In my FIRST ever marathon, after 5 weeks of training. WHOHOOOO. When I registered for the race I didn't even know if I could finish this distance. Now I want to do another one. I licked the Marathon blood :-)

Post race:

Everything below my deltoids felt great and I took one day off and then returned to some light jogging on Tuesday.

I can't wait to do another one of these!!! Next time with at least 10 weeks of training and a BUNCH of long runs :-)

Racing, hiking, racing and hiking = winter in AZ

Winter in AZ is pretty good :-) BUT I MISS SNOW. 

Jr is in Germany for work for 8 weeks while I am in Arizona. But this time it is not bad at all, because my brother is here for 5 weeks and then my other brother and his family are coming for the leftover time :-) YAY.

So what to do in this 70 degree winter weather: TRAINING, RACING, HIKING

First was my first 21 mile run EVER in my life...and in the middle of my long run was the PF Changs 13.1 Rock n Roll. I had to do it :-) It is in town, lots of familiar faces, and the best part was that I could race for free (sub 1:22 last year qualified me for a free entry in Rock n Roll events). But 21 miles is a long day and the legs didn't feel as fresh as I expected as I had done my first ever over 100 km week...so I ended up running a 1:27...then just kept going until I hit 21 miles. And then I felt like this:

 But luckily 2 hrs later I felt great again and Sven, Jack and me went hiking on trail 100. What a great day:

 The next day we went mountain biking in the McDowell Mnt preserve and my legs were just a little tired :-)

 The plan for last weekend was to hike Flat Iron but Phoenix got 4 days of rain and we didn't want to end up like the 40 hikers in Tucson who had to be rescued...when it rains in the valley, everything turns into this:

 Therefore I went swimming, I mean running. 19 miles in the biggest rainfall since 1984 (according to the news). Sven biked with me and we had a blast. We were soaked from head to toe but the run felt fantastic, average pace: 6:54 for 19 miles including puddles, small rivers that appeared in the city and sand that made your shoe disappear :-)

Then we went hiking the next day: Piestewa Peak:

What a great in-the-city-hike!!!

This weekend was supposed to be a double race weekend: ARR half marathon Saturday followed by the Xterra run Sunday. I ended up switching things around because I had to take a first aid class Saturday. Instead I raced the DOUBLE DOWN at the Runner's Den classic. A 5 k at 8 am, a 10 k at 9:15!!! Sven raced his first ever 5 k and he did fantastic - racing in the US is fun :-)

 He is hooked and we are already looking for races for next week :-)

 Checking out the competition at the start:

 Post race with Brandon and Justin:

 The 5 k goal was to even split and the first 2 miles were right at 5:45...for some reason I ended up with a 18:36, but later I found out that people's gamins recorded 3.19 miles. I ll take it. I haven't done anything super speedy in a while. I took 2nd and kept cooling down which was also the warm up for the 10 k: negative splitting, and I ended up winning with a 39:07. Happy - I took the Double Down win and got a great workout in.

But that wasn't the beginning of a lazy day for Sven and me. We were off to Flat Iron for some hiking (yep, my number was still pinned onto me when we started the drive). We met Mindy and Kris and started this beautiful and challenging hike. I thought the hike would be the cool down from the race but it was the other way around.

Flat iron:

 The view from the top:

 Up up up...

 Climb climb climb...

 What a view!!!

 360 degree view from the secret spot that Mindy and Kris showed us!!!

 Saguaro with face, nose and arms :-)

 We were up there!!!

That is it from our corner of the world :-)