At the beginning of each week during a training cycle, I share my weekly training recap to provide you a glimpse of the workouts I do. You might have noticed there was no recap this week. That’s because I completely swapped my training and workouts for mountains, hiking, hot springs and *sigh* burgers. Yes, I know … it was only my second week back into a new triathlon training cycle, but sometimes life gives you other opportunities and you have to seize them.

The opportunity I seized last week was the chance to go to Utah and Colorado with Mr. rUnladylike for 5 glorious days in my favorite part of the country before starting a new job this week. Although we were active, the notion that I did any “training” or adhered to my weekly training schedule is laughable. There wasn’t a swim or bike to be found. Sure, I could dwell on the things I “could-have, should-have” done, but sometimes you just have to take in the moment and do what you can when you can do it. Although my training was pretty much non-existent last week, my 5 days out west were truly epic. I know that is a word that is overused a lot, but there is honestly no other way to describe it.

Without further ado, here is my training week that wasn’t:

Monday
Rest (I had worked out 13 days in a row and my body really needed a break, even if I was about to go on vacation.)

Tuesday
5-mile run

Wednesday
Travel day and brewery hopping in Durango, Colorado (Does this count as exercise?)

We went to Ska Brewing and Carver Brewing Company. We also tasted balsamic vinegars and olive oils at Durango Olive Oil Company and came home with a few bottles. This was my first time in Durango and it is such a cute little downtown.

Thursday
4-mile hike through Mesa Verde National Park
Mesa Verde (Spanish for green table) is a national park in Colorado (not far from Durango) where you can see cliff dwellings where the Ancestral Pueblo people lived for 700 years, from A.D. 600 to 1300. The park protects nearly 5,000 known archeological sites, including 600 cliff dwellings. According to the park, these sites are some of the most notable and best preserved in the United States.

We climbed up ladders into Balcony House and even crawled through a tunnel. We also took a hike out to see some petroglyphs, which were drawings that the ancient people engraved into the rock. Super cool.

After our day at Mesa Verde, we drove to Moab, Utah, which may or may not have included a big juicy burger and fries from Moab Brewing Company. The brewery was crawling with triathletes who were there for a camp. IRONMAN hats and “Runners Heart Boston” shirts were everywhere. Moab is truly a running and cycling dream destination. Maybe I should have run or biked, huh?

Friday
8.8-mile hike through Arches National Park
I have been to some amazing places, but Arches National Park may be my favorite national park to date, even better than Zion. We started the day hiking the 3-mile round trip journey to see Delicate Arch (the landmark that’s on the Utah license plate and has been on a US Postal Service stamp.)

Next, we did a more technical hike to see the Double 0 Arches. As we were walking, we tried to describe what we thought of our surroundings in just a word. Here is what we came up with: majestic, epic, breathtaking, grand, indescribable. There is absolutely no way my words or pictures could do this incredible place justice. You need to get out to Arches National Park ASAP. Trust me.

We left Utah and headed back to Colorado after our day of hiking. We spent our remaining 3 days at one of our favorite places on the planet: Dunton Hot Springs. This is a very remote “resort” that was an old mining town and is located more than 25 miles from civilization. No cell service. No TVs. No treadmills.

Saturday
4-mile run at 9,000 feet + 15 minutes of abdominal work (See pictures and find out more about running at high altitude here.)

We finally got a legitimate workout in.

We spent the rest of the day in the hot springs that Dunton is famous for. When we arrived, there was no snow on the ground. By the time we got out of the hot springs, it had snowed 7 inches. We sat in the springs as the snow fell and I can’t even describe how incredible it was. I may also have been using the snow to keep my Wasatch apricot beers cold. *wink*

Sunday
More relaxing at Dunton Hot Springs
Activity level = zip

So there you have it. My training week that wasn’t. But it was a pretty incredible week and I wouldn’t change a thing.

What is the best national park you have ever been to? Do you enjoy hiking? Where should Mr. rUnladylike and I go next?