enjoy your stay.

I'm on vacation!  Well, not really vacation- more like the boys and I tagging along to Thai Guy's work conference in St. George.  But we get to stay in a hotel!  And I really *heart* hotels because I don't have to clean! No dishes, no vacuuming, no laundry. So, yes, this is a vacation- for me. Right now, Thai Guy is off listening to some boring keynote speaker and I'm lounging by the (indoor) pool with the laptop while the boys swim their little hearts out.  Life is good.  (I'll bet housekeeping is making my bed right now.  Bless them!)

My absolute favorite thing about vacation?!  Running, of course!  There is nothing more fun to me than to find a new trail or a new route and to discover a town the way I like to- in my trusty running shoes!  After a less than stellar Saturday (low BP issues, more on that later), I was determined to be rested and well so that I could get a couple good runs in while here.  St. George is at least 10-20 degrees warmer than my hometown so I was looking forward to some warm-ish runs.  Sunday night, after a little Googling, I found that there is a trail head just about 1.5 miles from the hotel so Monday morning I got up, got dressed and headed to the trail.  I had 10 miles on tap but wasn't really sure how much trail I had to work with. I had to quickly decide whether to go left or right on the trail and after studying the trail map for a couple minutes, well, I realized that I couldn't really read the map so I went right.  My first thought, "Isn't it supposed to be warm in St. George?!"  I was freezing my fingers off!  I had gloves on but still my fingers were so cold that they hurt.  Like, really hurt.  Like, maybe-I-should-turn-around-and-go-back kind of hurting.  And the handheld I took with me was definitely not helping.  But, against my better judgment (of course), I trekked on.  I dumped out 2/3 of my drink out in order to save my fingers since just switching the bottle back and forth from hand to hand wasn't helping.  And neither was holding the bottle strap by one finger. Oh, and holding the bottle in one hand while warming the other one in my pants pocket was becoming potentially dangerous.  So, I dumped the drink. I had to. So much for staying hydrated on this run.

Soon after dumping my drink, my fingers started feeling happy and I came across this cute bridge about 2 miles into the trail.  I stopped to take a quick pic and quickly continued on.  Not even 1/2 a mile later I was starting to feel a little secluded.  No one on the trail.  And every pile of rocks cave I saw on the trail made me feel like a wolf was going to pop out at me and bite me.  (Are there even wolves down here?)  So, I made the executive decision to turn around and head back.

I got back to my car with only about 5 miles under my belt so I decided to try going the other way on the trail.  "Hmmm, maybe I should've gone left?" After a quick drink from my water bottle in the car, I headed out in the other direction.  Sadly, same story.  This time I got a little over a mile in before feeling "spooked" and heading back to the car.  So, my 10 mile run turned into 7.6 miles but I was okay with that.  Beats getting eaten by a wild animal, I suppose.  So, what did I learn about myself on that run?  That I'm way too neurotic to be a true trail runner.  I love trails but just the trails that are planked by neighborhoods and parks and civilization.  You know, where people will hear my screams for help.

All things considered, though, I still had a great time enjoying the St. George scenery.  The red rock is really beautiful in it's own right.  And if all goes as planned, meaning I get chosen out of the lottery, I'll be running in this gorgeous scenery at the St. George Marathon in October.  *fingers crossed*

Well, off to enjoy what I have left of my "vacation."  I'll be home soon and making the rounds to everyone's blogs.  I leave you with this question-

Are you a neurotic runner?   

(Please don't tell me I'm the only one or I'll feel like a total nerd.)