Enough pictures were taken on this short 40 hour trip, that I’m going to let them do MOST of the talking. As some of you may remember, I did this same race last year at the Flagstaff Nordic Center. It held true to its name again and I was indeed gaspin’ in the aspens.

A baggie full of goodies greeted me at Run Flagstaff off Route 66 by the ever sweet FancyRunningGirl. <3 Awesome.

Packet pick-up at Kickstand Kafe. Loved the number, and the shirts this year.

We rode our bikes to get around, since the RV was hooked up to the campsite.

“Holy. Hills. I might regret these tomorrow.”

But it was so gorgeous.

And the weather was amazing. I’m wearing a SWEATSHIRT. (Meanwhile, back in Phoenix, it’s still 105ºF.)

This is what you see in a mountain town, at 7,000 ft elevation. Green mountains!

Oh, and I maaaaaay have bought some cool new trail running shoes since I HAD to go to Run Flagstaff to get my goodie bag.

Pre-race fuel the night before. Perks of having an RV. 😉

Some chillin’ under the stars with the boy Rocco.

Selfie #215 because taking selfies in the dark is WAY harder than you think…

It was COLD at the start line. I just left 100 degree weather, remember? It was 55ºF at the start, not to mention nice and damp… so no dust this year! Yay!

Amidst the gasping, I would stop to take some pics along the way. I just HAD to capture some of these moments with something other than my memory.

This is Stephanie of Now I Run, she is super cool. You can read her race recap on her blog. 🙂

I didn’t catch her name, but I told her I’d post her pic to the blog! Hopefully she will comment below and I can update this. 🙂

No words.

Stormy skies.

Absolutely breathtaking Aspens.

Proof that I was still running… 😉

Oh look at that! Mr. Zucchini Runner showed up on the course to take some pics! Woo hoo! 🙂

Giving it my all at the finish line.

 

I finished 2 minutes and 45 seconds slower than last year… and I am OK with that. Spending time with Mr. Zucchini Runner on the bikes the day before, and burning out my hammy’s was worth it. It was also worth it taking the summer months off from any hard training this year. This was the perfect intro into my racing season.

 

Lyndsay Hupp, of Huppybar was providing little samples of her whole food energy bars. I snagged two flavors to try. Needless to say, I just placed an order for a dozen of the orange spice ones. 😉 You should go check out her site too! These suckers are loaded with the good stuff.

Soaking up the last bit of the cold, beautiful weather while we could.

Purple wild flowers, I couldn’t resist!

Not sure why we don’t live here yet.

Post race recovery cookie? Sure… I did balance it out with some antioxidant dense Rooibos tea though. 😉

Instead of medals at the finish line, we got these bad boys.

Old vs. new – What do you think?

I told Vince at Run Flagstaff that my old shoes felt like bricks on my feet… you can see why here…

Look at the difference in tread?!

All in all, this was an amazing weekend. We both love Flagstaff, and I’m not even exaggerating when I tell you I was looking at homes for about an hour online today. That happens pretty much after every visit. Maybe someday we will call Flagstaff home… 🙂