Walk Across Arizona Update

Thirteen weeks are over in the Walk Across Arizona. Three weeks to go and many of you are putting up some great mileage. I have been slacking lately getting posts up and updating our mileage, so I apoligize. Life got in the way.

Some of you have done a great job keeping me posted. Please check your mileage below and let me know if I have to make corrections or add mileage.

Walk Across Arizona

Congratulations, we are almost to the half way point and everyone is doing great. Amy's team has 880 miles todate. Katie B is leading the way with 160.8 miles and Robbie and Taryn are close behind.
Pat's team has 940.2 miles and Jeff out in Baltimore is leading with 237.4 miles. Katie R. is close behind with 205.8 miles.

You'll notice not everyone has mileage up to week 7, if I missed some of your mileage please let me know. As teams, both groups have made it from the Mexican border to Utah and back already. Some of you that are in the two hundreds, better bundle up. There's snow in northern Arizona.

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend and a Happy Easter!

Walk Across Arizona Week 3

Amy's team won the mileage race this week.

Great week 2 everyone. We are now approaching the Old Pueblo, Tucson. Home of the University of Arizona and Suguaro National Park. It's a beautiful area with lots of great places to hike and run. Everyone on Amy's Team got into double digits with Robbie leading the way with 28 miles. Many of you are dealing with that last winter storm, so keep up the good work. Warmer weather will be with you soon.

Pat's team had a strong week too. Not as strong as week one, but some of us are still recovering from the Rock N' Roll Marathons. Katie out in Baltimore lead the way with 37.8 miles.

I will try to post updates on Tuesday or Wednesday of each week. This week was really hectic, hence the delay.

BlogWalkRun - Pat's Team

Here's our team stats. 209.7 team miles. The leader is Eric with 56.3 unbelievable miles. Way to go. Jeff, Cheryl, Karen, Lisa and Katie R. all posted plus 20 mile weeks.

Follow all the teams at the Walk Across Arizona Leaderboard.

Injury Report: My knee swelling has gone down considerably. Hopefully, I will get a run in this afternoon. It won't be long, but it will be needed.

Walk Across Arizona

Click the photo to enlarge.

Week One is in the books. Here's the results for BlogWalkRun-Amy's Team.

Taryn's miles are still to be added. Katie B & Robbie put up great numbers.

Pat's Team's results are not in yet. We still owe $10, before we can update our miles. As soon as, I get that done I will post week one. Four members of that team are over 20 miles for the week.

Want another challenge? This is the President's Fitness Challenge. You did it in elementary school and now there's an adult version with bling! Bronze, Silver and Gold medals. The miles you do, will count toward both challenges. I'm doing it.

Walk Across Arizona reaches Tubac

About 20 miles north of the border is the town of Tubac.

Many of us are around here in our Walk Across Arizona.

I figure as we head north, I'll give you a tour of our state.

The actual information will be on my sister blog - LivingInTheEastValley.com.

Tubac is an artist colony and one worth visiting

if you are ever in the southern part of Arizona.

Congratulations on reaching Tubac, now on

to Tucson, the home of the University of Arizona.

My Run

Mile 1263, Chandler, AZ - I did another 1 hour run. I got to 4.99 miles. It killed me that I wasn't over 5. Last night I tried the 'downward dog' yoga pose. I thought I could do it forever, but it gets hard to do after awhile too. You can last longer than when you are doing a 'plank', but after a minute you start to feel the burn.

Super Bowl Plans!

Mile 1158, Chandler, AZ - If you live here in the Valley of the Sun, you may have heard about the football game being played this Sunday in Glendale. And you may have heard about the golf tournament in Scottsdale. And you may want to avoid those areas, unless you enjoy sitting in traffic or waiting for hours to get seated at IHOP, let alone any of the in restaurants.

My plans are to stay away from Phoenix, Scottsdale and Glendale. I'll get in a couple 5 mile runs in Chandler on Wednesday and Thursday. Play softball on Thursday and Friday. I'm in two leagues. And do a long run of 11 miles on the weekend. Heck, I might even do a run during the Super Bowl itself. There's a trail/canal on the south side of the UofP Dome, so I could run it and marvel at the crowds in the parking lot. I know, I said I'd stay away from Glendale, but if I park 5 miles from the stadium, there should be no crowds. I think.

Of course, if anyone has any tickets to the game I could have for free, I might be tempted. Ahh, who am I kidding, I'd sell them and go for a run.

Today? I got in 5.25 mile in 1 hour around the neighborhood. It was in the mid 50's and beautiful today. I decided I was going to run for an hour and see how far I could go.

University of Phoenix Stadium is the only football stadium in the world named after a college that doesn't have a football team. Think about that!

UPDATE: Road the exercise bike for 1 hour. That counts for 4 miles for the Walk Across Arizona. Total todate: 11.55 miles

Hey Karen, slow down!

Lisa, Karen & Pat run so much we have our own sign.

Mile 1251, Chandler, AZ - I knew I wasn't ready to race today. I've run less than 5 miles in the past two weeks since the marathon. My heel was feeling better, but my left knee was a bit swollen. I didn't want to spend $20 on a 5k, so I skipped the "Run for the Islands" and met Lisa and Karen at Tumbleweed Park for a long run.


No, I wouldn't have picked a 10 miler. But, that's what we did. Five miles out, five back. The first 6-7 miles were fine. We were doing a 5 minute run/1 minute walk and around an 11 minute running pace. It was a good workout. Until.


The last few miles. Karen ate some shot bloks and took off. It was like jet fuel. She looked really good. Karen was right behind her and both of them were afraid to look back at me. I was trailing. Dragging. No way was I going to keep up with them. I asked for a shot blok from Karen. She said they were a bit hard, since she left the bag open. I think she left it open in the freezer. At the end I was walking and Karen even doubled back to give me a push. She could have run on. I could have layed down on the concrete and taken a nap. Which is what I did when I got back to the hacienda. 3+ hours of sleep for my tired body.

Walk (Run) Across Arizona

It all starts tomorrow. We have two teams and are competing in Maricopa county against 138 other teams. Each of our teams are planning to run or walk over 2000 miles. That's almost 5 times across Arizona.

Here's the teams:

BlogWalkRun - Pat's Team

Pat from Arizona

Cheryl from Maine

Jeff from Maryland

Erick from Arizona

Karen from Arizona

Katie R from Maryland

Joe

Lisa from Arizona.

BlogWalkRun - Amy's Team

Amy from Arizona

Carolyn from Arizona

Robbie from Missouri

Ranae from Virginia

Taryn from Arizona

Katie B from Arizona

Ken from Michigan

Beverly from Texas

Not only will we have a little competition among our two teams, but hopefully we can fair well against the rest of the teams.

Hillary Clinton - I just got a call. The caller ID said Hillary Clinton, so I answered, "Hello Hillary!". There was a pause. Then a lady introduces herself and said she was calling for Hillary. I said, "I thought it was Hillary." She laughed, but I think I threw her for a loop.

Walk Across Arizona

Mile 1194, Chandler, AZ - I got in a nice slow 3 miler today. That's after putting away all the Christmas and Holiday stuff. You could call it a brick, but since I'm not a triathlete, I'll just say it's cross training.

The 3 miler went well. All the splits were below 11 minutes and I ran it all. I bought the new G2 from gatorade. Taste great and less filling. Only half the calories. I like it. Don't forget to read below. It's a great chance to get an Arizona tee.

Happy New Year!

Who wants to walk across Arizona with me? It's about 410 miles from the Mexican border, past the Grand Canyon and onto Utah. The walk or run starts on January 26th and it only cost $10 to participate. The money goes to the University of Arizona Cooperative Extension and you get a T shirt, pedometer and maybe a prize.

I need a team of 5-10 athletes. You can do any amount of mileage over a 16 week period. You can walk or run.

Now, here's the best part. You don't have to come to Arizona. You can do your miles anywhere with anyone or by yourself. And you'll get a cool "Walk Across Arizona" tee. I'm thinking we'll be the BlogWalkRun Team. So, whether you plan to walk, run or treadmill the first part of 2008, this will be a great way to do it.

Sign up by leaving a comment with contact info.

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Running Schedule:

January 13th: Rock N Roll Full Marathon

January 26th: Run for the Islands 5k

February 17: Lost Dutchman Half Marathon

March 1: Ostrich Festival 5k
March 9: Valley of the Sun Half Marathon

March 29: Laughlin Half Marathon

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