Two Weeks of Healing

Ok, so maybe I pushed my body a little too much during the Reverse Ring a couple weeks ago. Even though everything felt fine during the run itself, a couple days after I was back dealing with a full-blown case of the shingles again. Clearly my immune system needed more time to recover (and not 15 hours of 35 degree racing conditions). I took the whole week after the race off, and then escaped out to the warm, dry climate of Arizona for some rest and relaxation (and a little fun-running too!). Here's the photo montage!

Lizzy and I flew out to Phoenix last week where my parents met us and drove us up to Sedona. On the way, we stopped at a couple roadside spots...the place next door to this had the BEST pies in the world.

This was the view from the parking lot of our condo. You bet I jumped at the chance to shake off some jet-lag and run out there in the sunny 70 degree temps!

Just a mile up the road led me to what seemed to be 900 unmarked "paths" to choose from while approaching the red rocks.

I ran up this washout for a while...

Then skirted up these rocks...

...and before I knew it, I was on top!

...of course, that only gave me the view of many many many other cool rock formations I wanted to run (and did!). Sedona is definitely a cool place for running!

The only downside to all my trail-blazing were those darn cacti! Not used to dealing with them on my VA trails!

The next day we headed up north to a pretty cool place as well...The Grand Canyon!

Not a bad photo backdrop!

I used the binos to scout out my future Rim-2-Rim-2-Rim run...

Yup, there's the best path, right up the Bright Angel Trail on the North Side...

Awww!

The whole crew, enjoying a perfect day on the south rim!

The next day we headed back to Phoenix, but not before stopping off at the Montezuma Castle dwelling which the Sinagua people dug into the cliffside in 700 A.D.!

...and then we also swung by Taliesn West, Frank Lloyd Wright's western world base of operation for the cold weather months.

One last shot here at the Phoenix Art Museum is notable because it's pretty much the only place in the whole city with both green grass and water! That place is the definition of HOT and SUNNY!

All in all, I've had a nice break from the day-to-day grind of training, and I'm ready to get back on my feet and gear things up for Bull Run. Sure, the fitness I've lost means I won't be mixing it up among the guys with shoe-melting speed in that race, but I'll use it as a nice stepping stone for Massanutten training and enjoy the imminent arrival of spring on the VA trails regardless of how fast my body lets me run!