New Girl

This southern lady has been officially displaced! And my, what a journey. Seven days, 3 time zones, and over 2000 miles later, my husband and I are officially in California. 

I would have loved to make this a post about all the delightful pizzas I ate and exciting workouts I did along the way, but that simply did not happen. Between being on the road, visiting friends along the way, seeing the sights in cool cities, eating the other good foods those cities had to offer, and having to crash in hotels after hours of driving only to pick back up and do it again the next day, I was lucky to work out at all during the journey. 

I mean, let's be real here; the first stop was in New Orleans. For mealtime I was more in the mood for seafood than pizza; for cardio I was willing to count the couple of hours spent wandering around the French Quarter that evening as my workout. Sure, it's a little unconventional, but life on the road is not a typical thing for me, so as long as I promised myself to hit it hard in the gym once we got to the destination I knew that everything would be just fine. Without regular workouts I just don't feel like me.

So we've arrived and it's time to begin!

But first, I thought I'd just share with you a little of what I did manage to do while on the road. That's right - no gyms, no equipment, and at the mercy of mother nature. Spoiler alert: I did a whole lot of running.

New Orleans: I think we've covered that one thoroughly enough already.

Houston: 30 minute run around a golf course near a friend's apartment. What drew me to that run was a combination of things. First, the friend we stayed with is a real runner and hardcore athlete. Yes, she's one of those athletes that has medals hanging on her wall from all the races she's completed, most of them being half marathons, duatholons, or some other crazy long distance. Second, the trail around the golf course was a closed loop. Translation: I will not get lost! That's pretty key when going out for a run in a strange new place. It was hot and humid there, but nothing I haven't experienced in the south before. 

El Paso: 30 minute run around Fort Bliss. Unlike in Houston, I did not have a tour guide telling me where the best place was to go run. However, since this was an Army Post, I felt pretty sure that I would not run to the "bad part" of town by accident, and also, that I would be able to find my way back to the hotel afterwards. Success and success. It was a chilly morning run (got out before the sun came up!) and the climate was rather dry, but it felt refreshing to do that before hitting the road.

Las Vegas: 30 minute run around a friend's neighborhood. What's up with all these 30 minute runs? I don't know. But in this case, our friends lived in a small gated neighborhood in which the longest route was a loop that took me 6 and a half minutes to run. I ran the hell out of that loop until I reached 30 minutes and nearly complete boredom from literally running in circles. Afterwards I did about 10 minutes of core work inside (just some crunches, planks, and push-ups), and about 10 minutes of stretching. More cool, dry weather and it is drying out my sinuses and making me so thirsty for water! Adapting to the dryness is definitely the most noticeable adjustment I'll have to make being out west.

Alas, we have arrived in the high desert of California and perhaps more interesting than my first run were the gorgeous sights I witnessed while out on foot. Behold…

…and not a single filter was used on those photos! I don't need a hashtag to tell you that, and besides, filtering those natural sky blues would do them no justice!

Now let's be clear about these mountains. They are real mountains. Compared to my well-known rolling hills (which I'll admit, are by no means easy), when running in this area you're either going up a long hill for a long time or down a long hill for a long time. There is no in-between. Oh, and did I mention I am now at an elevation of nearly 2500 feet? It's no mile-high city, but I'll definitely need to acclimate. 

So run number one of many more to come went a little like this…

• I had no idea where I was going. I just followed the sidewalk and main roads.
• My it's windy here! Thank God I didn't get caught in a dust storm.
• 42 minutes total (longer than I originally thought I'd be running), and about a 9:11 pace (slower than I thought too, but hey, whatever).
• Totally exhausted and thirsty when I was done. The combination of a higher elevation and drier climate caught up with me later that night, but I slept like a log. That was lovely. Tomorrow: another mountain!