Running Down Scottsdale's Shin Dagger Alley

I'm feeling pretty good 2 days post-race. Sunday I just walked around downtown Scottsdale with my parents, we got some food and I found a colorful painted lizard to hang outside the woman cave.

Monday morning I felt like running. I went out on the canal in the direction of Phoenix, ran 5 miles out and then turned around. The short section of the canal near where my parents live goes along the part of the Arizona canal that has been oxymoroned, upscaled and affluenza-ed to the "Scottsdale Waterfront" is enjoyable for me because of the agaves, cacti, and flowering plants along there.

I call this part "shin dagger alley" because it is literally lined with shin daggers...

The tourists in old town Scottsdale are the same as I remember them, old people who weave in and out of overpriced trinket shops and there are just not enough art galleries anymore in this section of town. It's fun to watch the mix of tourists north and south of shin dagger alley.

To the south are the old folks, and to the north are the younger, more cosmopolitan set, wearing outrageous fashions and sitting in sidewalk cafes mesmerized by their mobile devices.

My ten miles went well. It took about 3 miles to warm up and then I felt great. Tomorrow I have to go back to Fort Collins, which I'm not thrilled about only because the weather here is promising to hit the 80s with sunshine. I wish I could stay one more week. But the weather is supposed to improve at home, and this Saturday is the beer tour, and the theme is the 1970s and I can't think of a costume so I am planning to go as Mr. Bill. Ooooooh, Nooooooooo!

I am so ready for spring. I need to keep hitting the hills and add some fartlek to my runs, and a few runs with Wheaties Boy should help me get into the 8 minute pace groove, and I'll be ready when the end of March rolls around and I go to Kansas to outrun the Prairie Chicken.

Gotta go, important business to take care of by the pool again this afternoon...