Finally. I get to tell you a little bit more about my St. George weekend in January. I will stick to the high-/lowlights.

First time driving from Flagstaff, AZ to St. George, UT. Definitely not as bad as I thought it would be. 5 hours. I can handle 5 hours. Especially when I don’t have kids to entertain in the back seat. The route is very scenic and I get excited that I get to live in this beautiful part of the country.

But, as usual, a long drive the afternoon before a race messes up my nutrition. I tried to be careful with snacks but I don’t think I drank enough. I got into town around 5 pm and went to packet pick-up. Considering that it was a running race and not a triathlon, I ran into quite a few friends and enjoyed catching up with them. That’s what races are (almost) all about.

Skipping dinner was probably a mistake but

a) I just was not hungry because all I had done since lunch was sit in the car and eat (healthy) snacks

b) We had a swim workout with Coach Heath at 7 pm. I am not a fan of swimming with a full belly.

Swimming with so many friends was great. We had about 6 people of all levels in our (25 yard) lane, so it was a party with more than a few traffic jams. I am not a fan of parties in my swim lane … unless I have a race the next morning. I was really enjoying the craziness for about 50 yards until Coach M informed us that we are now going to swim a timed mile. Oh, and I was going to lead the lane. Gulp! So much for a nice, fun swim! I quickly turned the pleasure of leading our troop over to Devan Tandy because there is not much that I hate more than swimming a straight mile. Talk about being bored out of my mind! I also happen to be the worst lap counter ever. Long story short: I was not feeling it. We ended the workout with a super fun relay which was just what I had hoped for.

Of course by the time we got back to our condo, I was starving! But by now it was about 9 pm and really too late to have a decent dinner. Not sure what I ate but it was apparently not the right thing. As I said before, I was also starting to not feel so well and cough a lot.

The highlight of the trip: staying in a condo with Jen, Anne, and Missy! I was really ready to hag out with some of my girlfriends! (I also really enjoyed getting to know Steve, Tony, and Robert but … you know … they’re guys.) Jen, Anne, and I shared a king-size bed and definitely stayed up past our bedtime. But if I had to choose between a PR and great girl-talk, I would choose the girls any day.

That is how Day 1 went. Now, excuse me. I need to go on a date with my husband. I will tell you about The Aftermath in the next post. And let you know who was right about the bike ride.