Week in Review (March 4 - March 10)

Tuesday (15,531 steps) - Peloton and Olive walk before going to work in the office. Gym at lunch, and once again, someone was on the StairMaster. I opted to walk at 15% incline until the guy finished, which thankfully was only about 10 minutes. After my stair workout did some strength training.

Ben was making dinner and I tried to check in for my flight. We had booked on Volaris, which is owned by Frontier (I think) - so a cheap airline. Even scanning my passport I wasn't able to check in because it kept telling me I had to provide documentation of living in Mexico - which I obviously don't - or pay a fee, which was FINE, but it never directed me anywhere to do it. After many hours of trying to reach customer service through various social media, I was able to get them to add the fee to my account and I finally was able to get checked in. Lisa had the same issue and checked in at her airport and was told it was a tourist tax that JUST went into effect after Trump's stupid tariffs. THANKS TRUMP. Handmaid's Tale!

Wednesday (11,835 steps) - Got up at roughly the same time I normally do, even though I wasn't going  to work. Finished packing and took Olive for a longer walk. On the way downtown I stopped at both REI and Patagonia to do some returns I've been putting off. Left my car at my office and took the train to the airport. Security took two seconds and I had a beer while waiting for boarding. Everything went pretty seamlessly, and we actually left right on time. Watched Yellowjackets (ooooh is this show good!) and landed about a half hour early. Texted Lisa to let her know since her and Rosemarie were going to Uber to "pick me up" at the airport. Unfortunately, they hit some horrible traffic and it was probably 90 minutes before they got there. Also traffic to our hotel in Polanco. We were all hungry, so we went to a Peruvian restaurant right across the street. Mmmmm margaritas and random food that I'm not sure what I ordered...

Thursday (13,541 steps) - Woke up early so that I could go for a run before we started the day. I had mapped to a local park and it seemed relatively easy to get to. I had been a bit worried about safety in Mexico City, but the neighborhood we were staying in was very safe. I saw hundreds of people out running and exercising in the park. Navigating street crossings was a bit scary, but I managed to get in a decent run in Lincoln Park.

Even *I* had to duck under this one

When I got back to the hotel the other girls were just finishing getting ready. I quickly got dressed for the day and we went to a restaurant about a block away. Got a delicious protein shake:

And a VERY gigantic and delicious croissant sandiwch:

Lisa's big activity for the day was to go to the Basilica. I guess this is one of the most famous ones in the world. She neglected to mention that in addition to looking around we would be sitting through a mass. Happy birthday, Lisa, you are lucky I love you!!

After looking around inside, we toured the grounds outside. 

We attempted to find a market that Lisa remembered from her last visit, but we couldn't seem to find what we were looking for. We took an Uber back to the hotel and decided to get lunch. We couldn't decide on anything and last minute chose sushi (and margaritas).

And of course what is vacation if you don't get a dessert? Mine is of course the chocolate truffle, it was delicious!

We planned to have a movie night, but Lisa picked Zero Day and I think Rosemarie wasn't into it because she went to bed early.

Friday (15,489 steps) - Woke up early without setting an alarm and went for another run. This time I headed in a different direction and found a different park area to run in. This one was a little better for me as it was less street crossings and dirt instead of pavement. Hot and once again a lot of people out.

Got back and took a shower. Rosemarie wasn't feeling well so Lisa and I went to breakfast solo. Went to the same place, got another smoothie.

And this time, French toast! It wasn't quite as good as the sandwich, and I didn't finish ALL of it.

Went back to the hotel to finish getting ready and check on Rosemarie, who decided she was going to stay at the hotel while we went out. We took an Uber into "the city" and ended up in the middle of a parade/protest? 

The good/helpful thing was that following the crowd took us to the Grand Hotel, which is where we wanted to go. 

Lisa says the ceiling is the biggest Tiffany stained glass in the world - it looked very fancy!

Neither of us was especially hungry, but we still ordered margaritas (these came in huge fishbowls)

and some guacamole:

And we might as well get dessert while are here! I got some coffee flavored thing that I don't necessarily remember and Lisa got some ice cream that was wrapped fancy and the waiter lit the paper on fire. Dessert and a show!

There was another church nearby that Lisa wanted to visit that had been closed to visitors on her last trip. Thankfully, no mass this time. 

We took an Uber back to the hotel and relaxed for a bit. We went to a michelin star restaurant for dinner, but I have no idea what the name of the place was. Got a jalepeno margarita.

Dinner was skirt steak and it was pretty delcious!

We had another movie night, this time we watched Late Night with the Devil and started Smile 2, although I fell asleep before it was over.

Saturday (14,538 steps) - Slept in a bit and then went to get breakfast at our same place. We all got smoothies and no big elaborate food, just a croissant. Our plan for the day was to go to the Chapultepec Castle. I didn't realize that one of the runs I went on was very close to where we would be. Lisa was able to skip the half mile walk to the castle because of her cane, but Rosemarie and I walked up. It was REALLY hot and we took a billion pictures. We also had a decently hard time finding Lisa.

Really liked the tile and turret here

Cool wall of stained glass

We were all tired from walking around in the heat and planned on calling an Uber as soon as we got to a street.

It ended up being easier said than done! We exited on a different side and managed to end up in yet another protest/parade. This one also had the street completely closed down and it took forever to get an Uber to pick us up. We headed back to the hotel for a few minutes and then went to Siembra (I think this was also a michelin star?) for some tacos. The al pastor was amazing!

Apparently, in Mexico, you have to order a quesadilla con queso or it doesn't come with cheese? Like isn't that what a quesadilla is?

After we ate we took another Uber to some square to look for art for Lisa. This was basically like an "indoor" flea market. We walked up and down every aisle and did not see any art, but Rosemarie and Lisa both found several souvenirs. Finally, on the way out we found a guy that had some small paintings and Lisa and I both bought one, plus I got Olive a silly fringed bandana. Back to the hotel for more rest. Rosemarie picked Italian for dinner, so we walked over. The salad was good and so was our entree.

The lasagna LOOKED good, but it was sadly a little bland. Lisa and I shared this and did not finish.

Dessert of the day was a Red Velvet cake with buttercream frosting and fruit for a topping. Delicious!!

Rosemarie didn't join us for movie night, but Lisa and I watched Heretic with Hugh Grant. A very different type of movie. I had picked up two beers earlier in the evening, the Mexican IPA was garbage, but the stout was decent. Did some quick packing since we had an early flight.

Sunday (12,936 steps) - Thankfully we had both set alarms, because Lisa's didn't go off! We had scheduled our Uber for 5:30 to go to the airport and we both used the 30 minutes to finish packing and make sure we had everything. The drive only took about 25 minutes, goes to show how awful traffic was when I got in! It took about two seconds to get inside and we headed toward the gate Lisa and Rosemarie were departing out of. We stopped to get a coffee before we parted ways. The two things I will say about the Mexico City airport - there are NO bathrooms. Like I seriously only found ONE and there were only 4 total stalls?? So crazy. Also, I tried to buy a bottle of water before boarding and the lady told me "cash only" - like at an airport?? Thankfully another vendor sold one to me because I had spent all my cash at the Italian restaurant. We boarded on time and I was a little closer to the front of the plane for this flight. Thankfully I had downloaded three more episodes of Yellowjackets - made the flight go by pretty fast! Customs took about a half a second and it wasn't long before Ben picked me up. He had unfortunately spent the whole time I was gone being sick!! He dropped me off at my work so I could pick up my car and then we stopped at Parry's on the way home since I hadn't eaten. Ben went to Golden to deliver coffee to Ariel and I went home to take Olive for a long walk. Doesn't she look adorable in her new bandana??

We went to 4 Noses for happy hour and then finally got to catch up a bit more on Handmaid's Tale. Bed early because we were both exhausted. 

Monday (24,457 steps) - Thankfully I didn't have much work to get caught up on. Took Olive for a long walk and then went for my run, which was surprisingly really good! The weather was so nice compared to the excessive heat (and poor air quality) we had in Mexico.

Met Ben at Costco so we could pick up some groceries and a pizza for dinner. Took Olive for another walk before Handmaid's Tale binging. 

Stats:

• 108,327 steps
• 14.32 miles run
• 13.16 miles walked
• 28 minutes of cardio
• 20 minutes of strength

Sierra Vista 50K (Race Recap)

Las Cruces, NM

Saturday, March 1

Weather - Sunny and warm

A later addition to my race schedule, this race was selected because it was a good time of year for a last "big mileage" weekend before Arizona Monster, the race itself was inexpensive, and flights/travel was going to be very minimal.

The race began at 7 and it was suggested that we arrive early as we would have to park on the road to walk in. We got up at 5 and got ready. It was nice that we didn't also have to pack up all our stuff since we were staying at the same place after the race. 

We left on time, around 5:45 with the plan of arriving just after 6:00. When we first arrived there were only a half dozen cars parked along the road. The parking lot volunteers said that we did, in fact, need to walk to the trail head to get our bibs. It was a bit of a longer walk than expected, probably close to 10 minutes? I used the bathroom and we got our bibs/race shirts. It was going to be a beautiful (sunny and hot) day:

When we got back closer to the car the volunteers told us that we could actually move our car and drive in to get a closer spot, so we did. Got everything ready to go and then I headed to the start area because I wanted to use the bathroom one more time before we started. 

I had initially thought I would bring my smaller UltrAspire vest as the Zygos seemed like it would be overkill, but last minute I figured I would bring my bigger pack since I would be using it for all my races over the summer anyway.

The race began right on time, and with less than 40 of us, Ben and I started towards the back. I hadn't done any real research on this one, and figured that with "only" a couple thousand feet of gain it would be a nice day in warmer weather and nothing crazy would happen.

Well, the race started with an out and back from the trailhead to the road that we had driven in on. This was designed to prevent bottlenecking as almost the entire course was on single track. We were definitely going to be in the back for the whole race. Once we turned around to head back to the trail head there were only a couple of people behind us. We ran through the start/finish and headed up the first climb of the day. I think we both realized pretty quick that this race was going to be more difficult than we thought. I managed to pick an Arizona (rocky) trail in New Mexico! 

We had both started out with gloves on, and I believe I actually kept them on for at least the first few miles, as is evidenced by one of our early race photos. 

Photo: Amanda Babicke / Lobo Photo

Photo: Amanda Babicke / Lobo Photo

I had also decided that I would start with arm sleeves since it had been a little chilly when we started, and since it was also supposed to be full sun, to help prevent getting burned. The terrain made running more challenging than we expected it would be and it was disheartening to see such a slow pace.

It warmed up pretty quick and we hit the first aid station. I don't remember much other than there was a dog that didn't want to be pet and I grabbed some watermelon. Temperature was starting to heat up and we were basically alone! We could see a couple people in front of us, but once I stopped to for a minute to pee, we didn't see them again.

I can't remember how far into the race we were, but at some point I caught my toe on a rock and went flying. I was surprised I didn't actually hurt myself or scrape myself up more because all the weight was on my hands. That jarred me into running a lot more cautiously as well. 

We were expecting a second aid station, but it turned out to just be a jug in the middle of nowhere - good to know for the way back so we could plan. The next actual aid station was maybe 10 miles in. We were told there would only be a water drop after that before the turn around. The water drop seemed to come up pretty fast, and we were optimist when we hit a salt flats area that was really pretty runnable. It took almost until we turned around that I realized we would have to overshoot the halfway distance because of the out/back we had done at the start. We both forgot to put on sunscreen and there was not a lot of food options, nor ice, which was disappointing. I think we grabbed some gummies and cold water, but that was it. We headed out for the back half, and when I realized I had forgotten the sunscreen I pulled out my Patagonia Airshed so at least my arms and neck would be covered and protected. It was not as hot as I expected and every once in a while we got a breeze that was quite nice! At the first water stop I remembered to ask for sunscreen, and thankfully they had some. I put it on my legs and face but opted to keep my long sleeve and hood on.

We passed one guy in this section, and never did see him again.

Somehow, the entire way back felt like one big climb. We were both hot and tired and we had headphones in to try and motivate us. While it didn't seem to take too long to get to the water drop, it seemed like an eternity before we got to the aid station. Miles 20-27 seemed like they were never going to end. We grabbed water from the unmanned water station and it was surprisingly not that warm - even though it was nearly 80 degrees and the jugs had been in the sun all day. At some point my right hand snagged one of the bazillion stabby things on the side of the trail and it cut my hand open pretty good. Once it stopped bleeding I just put some water on it. (I'm writing this race report almost 2 weeks later and it took about 10 days before it stopped cracking open and bleeding!!)

Things were going very very very very slow. Ben and I made the decision that I would go on ahead and we would just see each other at the finish. He caught up briefly at the last aid station. I was feeling pretty good, so I took off. I have to say that I didn't recognize any of the section after the last aid station - were we even here?? Approaching a very steep climb (that I didn't recall) and I saw someone ahead of me that looked to be in pretty bad shape. I was able to pass him and asked him if he needed anything, and his answer was "just for this to be done." Same... Thankfully it was almost all downhill to the finish and I was able to run pretty well in. So happy to be done!!

Photo: Amanda Babicke / Lobo Photo

Photo: Amanda Babicke / Lobo Photo

It was an absolute ghost town at the finish. Considering I was about 90 minutes under cutoff, there were about 2 other runners, the timing guy, the photographer and her dog, and two volunteers. That's it. I got some coke and sat down in a chair under the tent to wait for Ben. He also managed to pass the guy that I had and was only about 8-9 minutes behind me.

Photo: Amanda Babicke / Lobo Photo

Our finisher award was a wooden(ish) cutout - no ribbon or anything, kind of like a small plaque? This was a very small, grassroots event, so it was fine.

Official Time - 8:35:48

Overall Place - 30/37

Gender Place - 12/13 (OA winner was female, and was 45 minutes ahead of second place?!)

Thoughts

• Very inexpensive! I signed up mid December and it was $88 after taxes/fees. They also "require" a pair of shoes for a donation. I saw that on UltraSignup, but then it was never mentioned in any of the pre-race emails and we had to ask about it at packet pick up.
• Definitely plan on being self sufficient for food! I am not that picky, but honestly all they had was snacky type stuff (chips & sugar) - nothing of real caloric density. I had some of my own food but I didn't eat much as I lose my appetite when it's hot.
• Aid stations had cold water, but no ice, which was disappointing since it was really warm and exposed.
• I didn't have cell service for most of this course. 
• The race had a gpx available and it was nice to have, although honestly not necessary. Even being alone out there we didn't have to question where the course went.
• Got a few free on course and finish line pictures, which is always nice!
• Did not see any "native" wildlife, but saw dogs at every aid station, which was lovely. As for vegetation, holy cow, so many cacti and stabby bushes. Really had to be careful on this course.
• If you are looking for a hot, rocky and exposed course, this is for you!!

Week in Review (February 25 - March 3)

Tuesday (15,764 steps) - Peloton and walked Olive before going to work in the office. StairMaster and a strength training at lunch.

Took Olive for a walk when I got home. Handmaid's Tale.

Wednesday (15,433 steps) - I actually got up early to do my run before work. I hate having to do this, but I had a specific workout to do, did NOT want to do the treadmill again, and I really can't do stuff after work AND eat at a reasonable time. So. Up at 5 or something to do this. It wasn't a horrible workout, just a warm up and 10 x 30 second hill sprints. I guess it was pretty out and I didn't have to stress about it all day.

Olive walk when I got home and Handmaid's Tale.

Thursday (11,036 steps) - Work from home! Did a very easy Peloton ride before logging in for the day. Went to Costco to pick up my new reading/computer classes (not bad that I didn't need any vision correction for 9 years post Lasik). 

Didn't have a run on schedule, so I took Olive for a long walk, thankfully the weather has been very nice this week! Did a quick row session, some pilates, and finally started packing for our next race!! 

Friday (14,717 steps) - Tried to sleep in, but we are just old people and can't, apparently. Lounged around a bit, finished packing. Had breakfast, Ben went to pick up Dutch Bros. Took Olive for a short walk and then we had to tag team down to Golden to drop Ariel's car off so she would be able to come home for the weekend and hang out with Olive. We had planned on parking about 2 hours before our flight. Which we did. Then the problems started. First, it took over 20 minutes to get picked up by the bus at the lot to get taken to the airport. By the time we got dropped off, it was another 25 minutes! Our flight was at 5, and now it was already 3:45 (the lot is only about a 5 minute drive). The security lines had consistently said 5-9 minutes waiting. Well the new security took us over 30 minutes. All the general boarding was down to ONE line with TSA. And THEN my bag got flagged! I told Ben to run for the gate since we were well past the boarding time. When I got to the gate we were on the very last boarding call - 5 minutes until the doors closed. WTF... and we don't even check bags?? It was a headache. At least the flight was very quick - a little over an hour, and I watched Yellowjackets.

Thankfully we landed a few minutes early and getting the rental car was quick and easy. It was about a 45 minute drive from the El Paso airport to Las Cruces area, and I spent a lot of the drive looking for a brewery with food. We picked a place called Little Toad in the downtown area. It was... ok. There was a live band and the patio was full, but it also smelled of cigarette smoke, was loud and the beer was pretty terrible.

The food was decent though, which helped.

Made a quick stop at Walmart to get breakfast for the morning. We had planned on watching tv before bed but we couldn't get any channels to come in (we would find out in the morning that "due to construction" they only get 4-5 local channels.

Saturday (72,669 steps) - Sierra Vista 50k!

We talked to a guy at the finish line and asked about "better" breweries. He recommended Ice Box, so that's where we headed for a late lunch/early dinner. 

The beer was halfway decent and the pizza was absolutely incredible!

We also sat next to a couple older guys who were super chatty and told us all sorts of fun facts about Las Cruces. We were both exhausted, and went to bed pretty early.

Sunday (11,451 steps) - We had an afternoon flight, but we still woke up relatively early. Got breakfast in the lobby before packing and heading out. We found a "trail" outside of town where we went for a walk before we started the drive back towards El Paso.

I picked another "trail" (solely because of the name "Lost Cow") for a second walk. It was hot and windy and we didn't go too far because it was sandy/rocky and we were both wearing our crocs.

We went to DeadBeach Brewery for lunch. It was a really cute spot, decent beer and the food was delicious.

One of the employees recommended that we check out Dead Perezidents for their award-winning IPA on the way out of town. It was pretty good also.

We got to the airport crazy early, but we had also wanted to be at our final destination in plenty of time. Security was a breeze, but our flight was delayed, then we had the same issue of waiting for almost a half hour for a shuttle back to the car. It was just before midnight before we got home. 

Monday (19,085 steps) - Work from home, thankfully. 

I went for a run that wasn't horrible and took Olive for a long walk at lunch.

Handmaid's Tale!

Stats:

• 160,155 steps
• 39.41 miles run
• 14.34 miles walked
• 75 minutes of cardio
• 10 minutes of strength