I like to hike though it ranks 3rd behind running and tennis as my favorite outdoor physical activities. When I was training for the Phoenix Summit Challenge in 2009, I hiked almost every day when I was in town; I was away for 6 weeks between July-November. After PSC, I stopped hiking to train for the RNR AZ in January 2010 and GAR-Honolulu in February 2010. I returned to Phoenix in mid-February and started hiking again, 3-4 times a week. I kept running as well as I was training for a half marathon in June and hoped that the climbing would help with the hills during the race. Amazingly, hiking helped my running and running helped my hiking!
Fast forward to early August when I returned to work full time. Hiking hit the brakes as I had to start work at 7:00 A.M., I dislike hiking in the dark (mornings) and hiking in Phoenix in the afternoon during August and September is pure stupidity IMO. I hiked 2 times in August, 2 times during Fall Break in October, a few times during Winter Break in late December, MLK holiday in January, Presidents' Day holiday in February, and 3 times during Spring Break in mid-March. Anyone notice a pattern yet?!
During Spring Break 2011, I hiked at one of my favorite local mountains, Piestewa Peak FKA Squaw Peak in the Phoenix Mountain Preserve. I like this spot because it is only 10 minutes from home, still relatively easy to park, the other morning hikers are incredibly caring and friendly, and the trek is often a quick up&down. I met Lisa and Sean (super fast!) on Tuesday morning and hiked solo on Wednesday and Friday morning. I was able to catch up with Barbara, Brad, Dan, David, Dennis, Derrick, Henry, Janet, John, John G., Kelly, Lisa, Mark, Murphy and Nick and Pam.
An extra hike with my mom, Bonnie, in late January...a nice surprise!
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