Adventures of Flagstaff!

Over the past few months, planning went into motion for a altitude training session with Marilyn Arsenault. I was awarded the time off from work, flights were booked and before I knew it, it was time to leave. To say I was excited is an understatement, but at the same time I was also partially nervous. Having grown up at sea level and never really going far from that, going up to 7000ft was a bit nerve racking. I had never attempted running at altitude so I didn't know what to expect. 

We left Victoria at 7am on Wednesday August 1st, which meant I headed to Victoria on Tuesday evening and spent the night. We flew from Victoria to Calgary, barely got through customs and even had our names called over the loud speakers before boarding the plane last (I am pretty sure anyways). We were supposed to fly out at 10:25 local time and at first that is what happened. We got all the way to the end of the runway before our plan pulled off to the side, 2 planes passed us and then we pulled a U Turn and headed back to the gate. Announcement came on stating that some light came on just before the end of the runway and that maintenance said we had to come back. 

Nearly an hour later we were off on our way. We arrived to Phoenix around 1:40, got our luggage and picked up our rental car and headed off towards Flagstaff. Our lovely navigator (Garmin) was sending us on a wild goose chase so we had a few adventures before we decided to stop listening to it and to just stay on the highway. No clue why it kept saying to get off and on. Nevertheless, we got hungry so we detoured into Sedona. 

OMG, is the scenery in Sedona ever gorgeous! We had another adventure in Sedona trying to find a certain strip that Marilyn remembered, but eventually we had some help and got our delicious sandwich from the Wildflower Bread Company. Then back onto the road, finally arriving around 6pm at Alicia's house. 

A quick meet and greet, plus tour then a quick change and out for an easy shake out run. Legs were a bit stiff from the travel but overall not so bad. 

Since then its been running, eating, sleeping and just hanging out. Oh and running errands for groceries too. We have a good group staying here, including OTC's Andrew Bumbalough, Tim  Nelson, German Fernandez, Brent and Sara Vaughn along with Alicia Shay and some of her family members. Needless to say, pretty darn sure I am the slowest one here! 

We just finished watching the mens 1500m rounds and will shortly watch the womens 10,000. Not the same without having CTV coverage, but we are making do. Congrats to Nate Brannen for making it through to the semi's. 

I will include a post with travel photos later. I have yet to take them off my camera. Stay tuned!