Several months ago, Karel and I decided that we would take a vacation in February to change up our normal training scenery and to enjoy some warmer weather in a place that we have never visited before. That place.....Scottsdale, Arizona and that time is now!
Although we travel a lot for our races, I can't remember the last time that we traveled somewhere for a train-cation. I think the last time was in 2006 when we were dating! No race, no camp, no athletes to attend to.....A train-cation just for us! While it feels kinda weird to have the focus only on us as we love traveling for races or for our athletes, it is probably a little overdue for us to have the opportunity to spend a few days just to ourselves to do what we love to do - swim, bike, run. Although we can't shut-off our computers during our train-cation (there's always work/coaching to do), it's refreshing to change the scenery to awake the mind and body.
Although we travel a lot for our races, I can't remember the last time that we traveled somewhere for a train-cation. I think the last time was in 2006 when we were dating! No race, no camp, no athletes to attend to.....A train-cation just for us! While it feels kinda weird to have the focus only on us as we love traveling for races or for our athletes, it is probably a little overdue for us to have the opportunity to spend a few days just to ourselves to do what we love to do - swim, bike, run. Although we can't shut-off our computers during our train-cation (there's always work/coaching to do), it's refreshing to change the scenery to awake the mind and body.
With our furry crew enjoying a few days with "Grandma", we left Greenville early on Sunday morning around 5:40am to head to the GSP airport. We had a quick flight to Atlanta and then a 3.5 hour flight to Phoenix. Each flight had a minor delay while we were on board but with all things considered, the travel out west was fairly uneventful.
Although I brought snacks with us, we picked up "brunch" from Nature's Table (terminal E). I got a side of scrambled eggs and a vegetable wrap (tomato, zucchini, lettuce and provolone) and Karel got a tuna sandwich.
It's always hard for me to leave Campy when we travel so I am always on look-out for furry friends to say hi to when we are away from home. Gotta get my animal-fix! Luckily, I had this little friend sitting in front of me. This is 14-year old Lilly and she doesn't have any teeth so her tongue sticks out. She was very well behaved and so cute.
This train-cation all started back in November when I was texting with my friend Emily and mentioned to her about wanting to go somewhere warm to train in Feb. She suggested that we come stay with her at her home in Scottsdale, AZ and we can all do a mini training camp together. Since Emily is coached by Matt Dixon with Purple Patch, we knew we would get some quality workouts for our camp together and we would be in great company from a "local". Plus, Emily is a super strong, fast and resilient triathlete with great results to show for her hard work and we both have had the opportunity to train with at past PPF Greenville camps, so we knew she would make the perfect training partner.
As soon as we arrived to Emily's house, we quickly unpacked and then headed off to the local outdoor pool for a 2200 swim. It felt so nice to swim outside and to feel warm(er) weather on my skin!
As soon as we arrived to Emily's house, we quickly unpacked and then headed off to the local outdoor pool for a 2200 swim. It felt so nice to swim outside and to feel warm(er) weather on my skin!
After the swim, Karel assembled our bikes (all good from the travel!) and I got caught up on emails while we waited for dinner to be delivered. I could not stop yumming over our dinner from True Food Kitchen! What a great way to end a long day of traveling.
We are excited for our first official day of our train-cation tomorrow which includes a ~4 hour ride with some cadence/effort intervals, followed by a 30-minute run and an afternoon splash in the pool.