3 posts in one

For the sake of time, I am going to condense my last 3 running days in one concise post.

Salt Lake City, Utah

Tuesday- 6.5 miles
I am staying at a nice hotel in the downtown area. The workout room is 3 steps from my door. But on Tuesday the sun was shining so I decided to go outside for an adventure. At first I thought I would run around the nice grassy park outside my window. Just as I was leaving the hotel, I asked the desk clerk if he thought that was a good idea. He shook his head NO. This city is pretty decent and clean, but there are homeless people everywhere!
I was advised to go down a mile or so to the high school track. I took his advice and did just that. I ran past some tall buildings (Delta Center?) and of course some Mormon churches
At the track I ran 3.5 miles and then back to the hotel. I saw some other interesting things...a big temple in the distance that is under construction...and a bunch of buses. When I got back to the hotel, I was still curious about the workout room so I stepped inside to check it out. In a word...small. I guess they don't have to many guests that want to work out. They have 2 treadmills, one bike and one stairmaster. No free weights at all. That's it.
I hoped on the BIG treadmill and ran for another mile...just for the heck of it.

Thursday- 5 miles
Again it was sunny. No point in running on a treadmill when the sun is shining outside. Now you have to keep in mind...I'm dead tired when I go out to run. I haven't been sleeping well (or at all) and most of my classmates are taking this time to sleep. Yet, I want to run. I like to run. It feels good and wakes me up.
BTW- ALL my classmates are AWESOME people. I am blessed to have such a great group of ladies to train with.
Okay- so I ran to the same place as before because I'm in a city I've never been before...don't want to get lost! However this time I saw a few things that I didn't before. I saw two big eyes painted on the road at both ends of each sidewalk. In front of left eye was the letter 'L'. After the right eye was the letter 'K'. It spelled the word 'LOOK'. It made me smile...I've never seen that in a crosswalk before, but it does make sense.
On the way back, I was stopped at a crosswalk waiting for the light to change when I saw a truck drive by with 2 big black and white dalmations hanging their heads out the passenger window. Not unusual....but then I saw a car turn the corner right in front of me that had a bird for a driver. On the steering wheel sat a big white parakeet bird which appeared to be attempting to steer the vehicle. It was very entertaining.
Once again I noticed the buses. One, two, three, four, five...all lined up. They come and go all the time. Maybe that explains the lack of traffic. The streets here are wide. It makes the city feel spacious and not really like a city.

Friday (today)- 3 miles
After a long day (which turned out good) I ate some cereal, did my homework and headed up to the third floor to study with my class. After that (and talking with MB) a few of us went to the workout room. Andrea, Savanna & I wanted a little exercise. Me and Andrea took the treadmills. Savanna took the bike. Savanna got bored after 5 minutes and left. I stopped after 3 miles...that hot tub outside was calling me. I could see it from my treadmill and knew it would only be available for another hour. I got off and went to my room to get my suit on. When I came back, Andrea was still going.
"Way to go!" I said. "You're past 4 miles!" She smiled. Andrea has the prettiest smile. She will be a wonderful flight attendant. I spent the next 30 minutes relaxing in the outdoor tub while the rain lightly fell on my already wet head. I practiced an announcement. Then Andrea came out and we talked, because that is just what girls do.