I blog to you from beautiful (and I mean beauuuuutiful) Boise, Idaho. No potato jokes, please. Boise is ranked as one of the most active cities in America by Men’s health and already I can see why! Yesterday I ran through Ann Morrison park which was full of people playing disk golf, walking their dogs, swimming and tubing in the Boise River. In the heart of downtown, roads were closed off for the Twilight Criterium bike races, which brought thousands of spectators. But let’s back up a bit….

Just like any work day, Saturday morning began at 4:30am. Three hours later we were a mile above Southern California, coffee included.

We sat behind the cutest little boy in a superman cape and baby-sized Vans, who was thrilled when he got to check out the pilot’s cabin. Adorable! Look at the vending machine inside Boise’s airport….I knew I was going to like this city. :)

We wanted to be outside exploring right away. I think I packed more running clothes than normal clothes, so I was ready to get sweaty! A block from our hotel is Ann Morrison Park which sits right next to the Boise River. First run of vacation completed within three hours of arriving. It’s so nice running somewhere new and following an unknown trail, especially after weeks of the same route at my house. No treadmills this week!

Running, working out and being healthy is still a priority for my family on vacation. Of course we treat ourselves to great restaurants and dessert, but we booked all hotels with kitchens so we can still cook our own food too and work running/biking/hiking into daily plans. I don’t think running in Boise will be a “chore” at all; it’s scenic views every where you look with tons of people out biking and jogging.

After showering and getting ready to go out for the night, we drove to Les Bois Park for my first time watching Horse Racing! You only have to be 18 to bet on the races so it was my first gambling experience too. Getting craaaazy with the $2 wagers ;) I have no clue how to pick which horse to bet on, so I went strictly off of name. “Eyema Loven You” sounded pretty cute so I put $2 on him/her to “show”. Guess what?! SHE WON! I was so excited :) I grabbed my ticket and went to collect my winnings. I wondered how much I won! You can imagine my facial expression when the teller handed me my prize……a whopping TEN CENTS. I never have super high expectations but a dime? I had to laugh.

Downtown Boise was hoppin’ on Saturday afternoon! We headed downtown after the races,  which was packed with people watching the Twilight Criterium bike road races. The athletes were riding at such incredible speeds, dozens of bikes whizzing past, it’s amazing they weren’t just a tangle of tires and legs.

Every restaurant was loud, crowded and lively and it was so bizarre to be eating dinner at 9 o’ clock at night with the sun still up! We noticed the friendliness of the people right away! Everyone we’ve seen looks so fit, dresses so cute, and just seems overall more personable and polite than what we’re used to. I could 100% get used to this place and since Boise State University is literally across the street from our hotel we are going to do a walking tour later today. Just for kicks ;)

This week’s training schedule doesn’t exactly look like the past four spreadsheets because each days’ run will be on a new trail we find through out our road trip with strength workouts in hotel gyms. Needless to say this will be a very active vacation and I’m excited to see different parts of the country on foot, doing what I love most: running.

I will have a complete “Hotel Room Workout” up tomorrow because this is turning into a pretty long post.  Off to explore :)