Hot Chocolate 5K, Grand Canyon and college visit plans

My running events this year are focused more on being a running companion to other friends trying to restart or maintain their own running goals and I since I know how much I appreciated all the help that Renee and Eve gave me in my first year or two, I thought it would be fun this year to pay it forward.

So the first race on the calendar was this past Sunday and we were all mostly doing it for the goodie bag 🙂 A coworker whose very first race ever was the Holiday 1/2 (who *starts* with a half?!) wants to keep up her running at least at the 5k distance, but she was a bit bummed that she was running alone that first time. So even though the rest of us who signed up would normally run faster than her, we all agreed we would run as a group at her pace and keep her going and cross the finish line together.

May I just confess now that I am deeply thankful that I was forced to run that race slow? My gawd it was a massive uphill party! I am not entirely certain how we could have run UP so much and yet somehow not even run downhill the same distance? Ok, I know that is impossible, but what happened was that the uphill portions were mostly these short blocks, then it would level off or *maybe* go down a bit at the next block, and then it was up again. There was, of course, one long downhill, but then there was yet another UP block! Point is, this course was hard and not built for speed in a shape, form or fashion. It was all downtown around Petco Park which was cool, and the staging area was very well done. It was also packed with thousands of runners between the 5k and 15k distances. I am not sure if I would want to do this event again, but it was fun to do once.

Next up is the Foxy Trail 5K at Lake Hodges on April 6th. Looking forward to getting off the road and back out on the dirt!

So – what’s been dominating my brain when I am not working or watching 17 play rugby? Road trip! OK, actually, lots of trips. Potentially 6 in the next 7 months. Three will be to the University of New Mexico (initial visit, orientation, drop off for fall), then a trip to the Rugby Nationals event, and Netroots Nation and August Moms. Yeah, I don’t know how I am pulling all that off either!! Southwest Air FF miles will pile up for sure – along with a heavy reliance on AAA discounts at hotels.

The first is that initial visit to UNM. I’m renting a car to make it a cheaper road trip since we have the luxury of time with 17’s spring break. We will also spend a day at the south rim of the Grand Canyon which will be a first for both of us. I think we are both most excited about that 🙂 Our plan is to spend a day hiking for sure (after sitting the car all day, we will need that!) and hopefully hit some of the major viewpoints either by car or on our hike.

At UNM we have a tour scheduled and then a visit with the rugby coach there. It’s going to be a bit of a whirlwind of course, but it will also make this whole transition to college more of a reality (yikes!)

If anyone has recommendations on how best to spend the daylight hours at the South Rim of the Grand Canyon – please do share!