you get out of it what you put into it

I've made some goals for myself both personally and professionally in 2013.  One of them is to hold myself more accountable in many aspects of my life; running being one of them.  I ran off and on in most of 2011 and 2012 (didn't blog about it much), but am hoping to get into a more consistent routine for 2013.  I'd like to get into more "distance" running rather than the measly 5k's I've done the past two years.

For those of you that I haven't talked to in a while, I made a big change in July 2012; moving from my beloved Alabama to the middle of the desert.  The change has been overwhelming at times, but for now, I'm here.

Cheers to a successful 2013 for all of us, both in our running and other goals!

On Wednesday after my run, I went to Dick's (no comments, Burt) and bought a headlamp since I managed to misplace all of the ones that I owned prior to moving to Arizona.  Lack of a headlamp was definitely an excuse I used for not running in late 2012.

2 miles on the Target loop.  Headlamp gave me a horrible headache...  But, I was dressed in head-to-toe pink (Even the shoes!  Even the headlamp!), so who cares!

Hope to manage a run tomorrow.  I fly out Sunday for a ridiculously busy work trip.  I hope to squeeze in one or two runs, but kinda doubt that will happen.  On Tuesday night, everyone cheer for the Crimson Tide in the BCS game!  Wahoo!

Last night I got home around 8:30 from dinner with some girlfriends.  The tiny gym at my apartment was PACKED.  Like 20 people in a gym that should really only hold about 8 at the most.  Pretty comical!  Love the resolutioners!  (Yes, I ran last year.  No, I did not blog about it.)

River Path at 2PM.  Had on shorts and a tshirt.  Felt great outside!  There are people laying out at my apartment pool.  Note:  "feeling great" is about 58*.

Never seen so many people out on my little path I run.  I said hi to everyone.  Most definitely did not get a hi back from the majority.

Right hip was bothering me a lot.  What's new?  I don't think I'll ever run pain free.  Did the foam roller when I got home for the first time in a very long time.  It hurt SO bad.  There were tears.

Spent the week in Vegas for work and walked approximately 497.3 million miles.  Wore heels all week.  Feet hurt.  Had blisters on both of my pinky toes.  Fun times... gotta love Vegas!  I had set my alarm to get up and run several mornings.  When it went off far too early, I turned it off and went back to sleep.  I didn't think it would be wise to waste what teeny bit of rest my feet got from sleeping on running a few miles in the morning.  Not worth the extra pain.

Got an early flight back to AZ and the first thing I did was put on my running shoes when I got home.  Did the Target Loop and all was well.  My feet hurt, but it was worth it.  Colder in AZ than my beloved AL for this run.  So crazy!

When I was sitting in church this morning, I decided that today was the day I would hike Picacho Peak.  It's about an hour away from Tucson and I've been wanting to do it since I came out here and interviewed (June 2012).  I've read about what a difficult hike it is online, and boy... it did not disappoint.  I'm fairly certain I will not be able to get out of bed tomorrow.  It was very steep.  At some points, I was traversing sections requiring hand-over-hand climbing aided by steal cables and handrails.  I realized why the few people I passed early on coming down the trail were all concerned when I told them I was going alone.  It's something I do quite often now.  That's what happens when you move 1,700 miles away from home.  It still doesn't make my mother any happier!  I've definitely done trails with cables before, but never this steep.  The view from the top was breathtaking, and made the difficult trek to the top worthwhile.  From the summit, I was rewarded with 360 degrees of breathtaking views of the surrounding Sonoran desert.  Going down was a piece of cake.  I was even able to jog about half of it.  Slow, yes, but still a bit quicker pace.  I never really picked up speed as this trail had a lot of loose rock and I wasn't totally comfortable with my footing.  At one point, my left foot slipped way off the edge and I literally slid down the rocks to the next switchback about twenty feet below.  Don't tell my mother... she will flip.  That was pretty scary, but I was okay.  Just got up and kept jogging along.

Overall, it was a great day!  My calves were incredibly tight the first half of the hike.  Never had tightness like that before.  About the time they eased up (I stopped to stretch a lot), I rolled my left ankle.  Yay!  I literally went less than 1 MPH climbing to the top.  Garmin said it was 1.35 miles in 1:36.  Seriously?  WOW.  Downhill was much quicker... about 35 minutes.  When I was halfway down on the return, I stopped at this bench to take a few pictures and a couple passed me heading up.  The lady looked to be about 8 months pregnant.  I'm quite concerned about how they did.  At that point, they hadn't hit anything strenuous yet.  I hope she's okay... and didn't go into labor!

On my way home, I stopped at the Dairy Queen like 1/2 mile from the base of the trail.  First of all, I was scared for my life.  Rough crowd.  Secondly, I totally reversed the exercise I had just done by getting onion rings and a blizzard.  YUM!

Elevation gain:  1780 feet

I would rather be ashes than dust!

I would rather that my spark should burn out in a brilliant blaze than it should be stifled by dry-rot.

I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me in magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet.

The function of man is to live, not to exist.

I shall not waste my days trying to prolong them.

I shall use my time.

-Jack London

Started off as a trail run.  Then I tripped and fell into a cactus that promptly went right through my shorts and, well, hurt.  A lot.  So this turned into a leisurely hike.  It was a lovely day.  Other than the cactus.  

Was this my official initiation to the desert?  I've only been here seven months. 

Sports bra was seriously cutting off my circulation.  Interesting problem.