Thursday, February 26, 2009

A great place to train: Flagstaff, AZ

Flagstaff has everything a runner, cyclist, swimmer and a triathlete needs.

1. Olympic size pool, with open hours and masters practice. PLUS you can go to Masters in the morning and get the workout out of the way or you can go in the evening. NICE. And you NEVER have more then 3 people in one lane, even if the lane lines are set for long course. Love it, no fighting, no passing, you can just focus on swimming.

2. Biking: wide shoulders out on Lake Mary Road where you can do a pit stop at the Mormon Lake Lodge to fill up the water bottles, you can climb up Snowbowl, Wupatki and Sunset crater loop or if the weather is too cold, you just drive the 30 min drive to Sedone where there is very rarely any snow = always ridable:-)

3. Flagstaff Trail System, running trails that will make training interesting, you get to run on soft dirt, or like today soft mud because the snow just melted. There is an outdoor track and also an indoor 300 m track. Plus you always have someone to run with as there are tons of great runners in Flag.

4. THE ALTITUDE!!! 7000 feet, you can get up in the mountains for running, biking or XC skiing at 9000 feet.

5. Phoenix is so close to Flag and the season in Triathlon and Cycling and Running starts in February and ends in December...NICE.

There are group rides, group runs, good massage places (got a 1 hour massage today:-).

This weekend I will be running in Las Vegas, a 5km race to get the legs in race shape. Training has been going well, I got adjusted to the altitude (almost-I have only been here for a week). I have been sleeping a ton, guess that training will get you.

I am excited to built the new bike next week and race and train on it...CAN'T WAIT!!! It is sooo pretty...

...there are probably 100 more reasons why Flag is great for athletes, but they are all floating around in my head, maybe someday I will make a list with 100-why-Flagstaff sentences.

But if you get a chance: come to Flag for training!!!

2 comments:

Beth said...

Okay...so when can I move in with you to train in Flagstaff?! ;) Seriously though, I was to Flagstaff once and thought it was breathtaking! And if it gets too cold you can drive a few hours south to the desert!

Anyway, hope your training is going well and thanks for the comment on my blog!

Anonymous said...

ANGI! I want to live in Flagstaff again!!! All i need is a good job :-)