Dates: 12/15/22 – 12/17/22
Training Day: Week 6, Day 4 – 6
Miles: 8-ish miles (hiking)
Activity: Strength Training
Mobility/Stretching: Of course not
Ate Well: Kind of? More sweets than needed, but not as bad as the rest of the week

Commentary: Thursday morning we made our way to my family’s hotel so I could hit up the gym. Let me tell you what. The hotel gym was horribly hot. Like 77°F! I thought I was going to die in there during both workouts. Thankfully, I made it out alive. After my workout, I hit up the hotel breakfast because why not. The family met me down there while I was finishing up my coffee.

We said our goodbyes and the fam left for the airport around noon. I promptly plopped my ass in the coffee shop to put some work hours in. Time crept by as I went through hideous PowerPoints trying to determine how on earth to make them look better. I eventually resigned myself to updating the theme on the dozen or more I had to work on and fixing the easy stuff. While I was working, the husband took our cat to a little spot where you could explore and roam around.

On Friday the idea was to hike the Fiery Furnace in Arches. It’s a permit-required hike, and I heard it’s amazing. When I went to pick up the permit at the visitors center, the kind lady regretfully informed me that Fiery Furnace was closed because of snow and ice. She it would likely be closed on Saturday as well because there was no telling when the area would thaw.

Not to let a nice day go to waste, my husband and I did a short hike in Arches, then an even shorter one outside the park to some petroglyphs. Eventually, we made our way to scenic Highway 128, and stopped for a bit for the cat to explore. Saturday we were supposed to hike to Fisher Towers before heading home, but since our Friday plans were foiled, we moved the hike up a day.

Fisher Towers was so beautiful, just like everything else in the greater Moab area. The temps were in the mid-30s and the big, burning ball in the sky made it feel a bit warmer, especially with the elevation gain of the hike. By the time we got back, I was famished, so my dear, sweet husband made dinner. It was about that time we realized our diesel heater for the van wasn’t working.

The idea was to stay at the campground by the trailhead, but we were almost out of propane for our Mr. Buddy emergency heater. Since we were headed back to town anyway, I stopped at the co-op to pick up more of my new favorite cheese – habanero garlic jack! After getting more propane, we went to our usual home for the night.

It’s been a bit, so I feel like I should update everyone on my toenail situation. First of all, I think the urgent care doc was off her rocker. My old toenail is supposed to help guide my new one in? Well, how is that going to happen when the old one is about to fall off?! The wiggly jigglies have gotten increasingly worse. The only part still attached to anything is the lower right corner. I can pivot the rest of the toenail on that corner, and when I do, the bottom edge of the toenail peeks out from under my cuticle. I use two bandaids to keep the damn thing in place so it won’t rip off while I walk!

Anyway, it’s Saturday, and we sadly bid Moab a reluctant farewell. Not going to lie, I would live in Moab over the winter. On the drive home I looked at homes for sale in nearby Monticello. It’s fun to fantasize. But reality also punched me in the face when I looked at my training plan. My lack of running these past two weeks means I probably need to revise my training plan. Sigh.

Training Journal cross training exercise fitness hiking journal running strength trail running training volt athletics