The day before I left for California, I had a very sore throat which always means that I am coming down with a cold. Great, right? (I made sure to pack Dayquil and Nyquil.)

After 3 planes and running to catch each connection, I made it to La Quinta, CA late Wednesday afternoon. And I did have the beginnings of a cold…boo hoo!

Mary had just returned from Hawaii. I was tired (and sick) and just glad to have my luggage and have escaped the cold dreary weather of the East coast. So the first day, Mary and I just hung out, catching up since I hadn’t seen her since May.  Dinner was take out – a delicious lobster burrito.

view from Mary’s apartment – she lives on the 12th hole of a golf course

The next morning, I looked outside and it looked like the photo above.  I had to go for a run, right? Even my awful cold couldn’t stop me.

I hadn’t run since Sunday so I took it slow, taking in all my new surroundings. What perfect weather…sunny..warm…dry! Mountains everywhere as well as flowers and fruit trees. (Even my runny nose didn’t get me down.)

After my run, Mary toured me around la Quinta.

love the bridges here

and the mountains

We visited the school where she teaches.

outdoors with no hallways

We shopped and strolled in Rancho Mirage.

“les trois chast” statues

 We bought identical Lululemon racing tops (on sale).  This was my FIRST Lulu purchase ever.

I love the sayings on the inside…and it’s so comfortable…I’m hooked!

Next we headed to Indian Wells Tennis Garden where they were building a new stadium for the March BNP Paribas Tennis Open. I was so excited since I LOVE tennis.

I bought a cap (that I wore for the race) and a shirt for the hubby.

The stadium wasn’t finished and not exactly open for the public but we managed to sneak in and I was able to stand on Centre Court.

so cool to be where the pros will be playing soon..

That night, we also relaxed with take out – this time a salad bowl with beef and shrimp – yummy!

On Friday, I hung out at the pool and hot tub, reading and relaxing in the sun…so perfect. (My cold seemed to be going away… must have been the weather.)

Eleven minutes…loved this book!

In the afternoon, we headed to Palm Springs (about 30 minutes away). First we located the park where the race would start the next day and picked up our race packet.

Wellness Park in Palm Springs

We had time to kill before the Pasta Dinner so we decided to drive the Ten Mile course.

The beginning of the course was a little hilly but had awesome views. Miles 5-8 or so would be flat but monotonous as you ran through town.

mile 3

BIG Marilyn in town

All in all, it looked like it would be a fun race.

The pasta dinner consisted of plain or wheat pasta with either marinara or alfredo sauce, bread, a salad and a protein cookie. You could eat as much as you wanted and we sure did.

When we got home, we laid out all our race stuff and then went for a luxurious soak in the hot tub.

aaah…I could get used to this.

I tried to get a decent night sleep since we would have to wake up early the next day (5:30 am or so.)

To be continued…

Happy Running! Anyone else do this race or any other in Palm Springs?