All Good Things Come to an End

Well after living my dream life for nearly the last 4 weeks, good things must come to an end. I am finishing my final day of paradise here in Flagstaff Arizona. Not a bad way to end it either. The morning started off at the Bagel Run with locals from town (including NAZ Elite and Team Run Flagstaff Pro members) followed by a few errands around town then dinner with Amy Van Alstine, Matt Llano and Andrew Benford (Eric Fernandez and Danny Mercado showed up too) at the famous Diablo Burger. Yum!

Bagel Run

 

Dinner (Andrew, myself, Matt and Amy)

Training has been going well up here at 7000ft. There are good days and then there are some not so good days. There are days when I feel like I am flying and then there are days where I am dreaming of sea level air. But as with general training, you have ups and downs. The week started off with me wanting that sea level air, but the last few days I have felt fantastic and wanting to stay a little longer. 

I have spent plenty of time on the FUTS (Flagtaff Urban Trail System), Woody Mountain Road, Walnut Canyon, A1 Mountain Road, Buffalo Park and numerous endless dirt roads including the dreaded 532 hill (evil evil hill). I am going to miss having trails so close to "home." At home I am not a huge fan of driving to find trails each day, so I will leave the endless dirt here and Flag and return to the pavement of home.   

Lake Mary Rd after my final workout

For most of my trip I simply concentrated on training and recovery. Lots of time lying horizontal with the feet up (my favorite time). This last week (as with most of my final weeks in Flag) I ventured out a bit more. I went back and visited Sedona. I may have been there at least 3 times, but I cannot get enough of the Sedona views. I had some fun taking some nice running photos so I could have updated versions in Asics gear. Last year when I went, I got caught in a few monsoon rain storms. This year, not a drop. Sedona is much nicer to see when it is sunny. 

I also visited the Petrified Forest National Park. At first I wasn't impressed, but then there were a few good views. It was definitely nice to see once, but not something I would go back to again. 

This trip has simply been amazing, whether it included a few run ins with Shalane Flanagan or I even saw Julia Bleasdale on Walnut Canyon (2014 Carlsbad 5000 winner). While here I have once again been taken care of by Dr. AJ. Gregg from Hypo2 High Performance Sport Center. Back home I am a regular with chiro and massage, so to go without it here can be tough. Thankfully Dr. Gregg is able to keep me rolling in my home away from home.  

At this point I will leave the post with a few pictures as my brain is starting to go to sleep and the rambling nonsense (even more so) will begin to occur. 

Sedona

 

 

 

Now onwards to Montreal and the Banque Scotia 21k de Montreal.