Hey Sun runners, you can still do your training when you’re out of town

What do you do when you are on the Sun Run training schedule and you have the good fortune of getting a winter break in the sun?

Do you stay home in the rain because you’re worried you’ll miss your runs?

Not a chance!

I just got away to Palm Springs for a few days and made sure I got at least one run in.

Because I had never been there before, I went to mapmydistance.com and plotted a route of about six kilometres. I headed out in the morning since it was considerably warmer than Vancouver this time of year.

I’m not the best at running in hot weather, but it was perfect at about 25 C. I ran through the streets in the Palm Desert neighbourhood where I was staying past beautiful homes and gardens and a living desert park.

It’s always a bit disconcerting when you’re running in an unfamiliar place. But it is a great way to see communities up close. Everyone I passed said hello. My only complaint was a lack of sidewalks – but the roads were so wide that there was plenty of space for runners, cyclists and vehicles too.

I didn’t get a second run in between my group run because I was away. But I did do four hikes with friends – two of them with relatively steep climbs.

We walked up to The Cross the first day we were in California – not very pretty on the way up, but a nice view from the top. The day two hike was my favourite – along the Indian Canyon.

The scenery was spectacular as we walked along a path that followed huge California palm trees and a small stream that wound through incredible rock formations. It ended at a beautiful waterfall.

We also checked out the amazing Thousand Palms Oasis trail in the Coachella Valley reserve and finally another incredible hike on the Art Smith trail with an elevation increase of about 400 metres – just under half the Grouse Grind. We didn’t see the Big Horn sheep that live on the mountains in the area, but the trail was greener than some of the other desert ones we hiked.

I appreciated having the winter break in the sun. But I also appreciated staying active while away from Vancouver and my normal routine.

Wednesday night I was back here pounding the pavement in torrential rain with my running group. The desert sun seemed a lot more than 30 hours ago. We got soaked. But we all made it! And missing one of my training runs to do spectacular desert hikes didn’t seem to slow me down.

On to week three!

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