Two days before my birthday, my brother texted me asking, “so how do you feel about being robbed of an hour of your birthday?”

Yes, that’s right. This year, I had the unfortunate luck of having my birthday on the start of Daylight Savings Time…also known as “springing forward” or losing an hour.

Can you believe this shit?!? My birthday is ONE DAY out of the entire year and the world wants to short change me.

But no stress, I can out hack the system with the best of them. My official life hack to avoiding daylights saving when it falls on your birthday: take a trip to Arizona where they don’t partake in daylights savings (which also, I didn’t know that was a thing?!? Virginia legislature, where you at?!)

Julia: 1 The World: 0

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Although the race was in Tucson, Andy and I flew into Phoenix for two reasons: (1) we could take a non-stop flight which I always try to book after the catastrophe that was Race #8 – Mississippi and (2) my friend, Andrew, (remember him from Race #19 – New Jersey) moved to Scottsdale.

We headed to Andrew’s after getting our rental car (which side note…OMG PHX IS A MESS to rent a car…buyers beware). We dropped off our stuff and immediately headed our for our first hike: Tom’s Thumb.

Andy and I were BOOKING it on this trail. We passed a sign that said the park is only open until sunset (6:30 PM) and we mutually decided that getting stuck in the open Arizona trail was not on our to do list.

It was a great hike and would definitely recommend if you want a quick hike near Scottsdale with good views. That being said – things that we were not prepared for as East Coasters: ALL THE WIND. Hiking in Arizona is weird because everything is just open space the entire time. On the east coast, we hike with trees and shade and forests. In Arizona that is not a thing and it definitely takes some getting used to. Next time, we will definitely be more prepared and have actual stuff for our heads instead of Andy’s makeshift hat. 😂😂

That night, we went out to dinner with Andrew in the Kierland/Scottsdale Quarter and ate at Culinary Dropout. We had to wait one million years for food (and I probably drank way to much wine in the meantime) but the food was fantastic. Would absolutely recommend…except get a reservation.

In another first, on our way to and from dinner, we took a Waymo. WOW. Just wow. Self-driving cars are insane. (Also, probably best for my nerves that my first time in one was when I was slightly tipsy because it would have definitely stressed me out otherwise).

The next morning, we had another stellar culinary experience. Andrew took us out to brunch at a restaurant called Bubbles. 10/10 recommend. Service was amazing – literally they stopped by our table every 3 minutes to ask if we needed anything or wanted coffee refills.

Yall. This place was popping. When we left (around 9:30 AM) there was a line out the door! On a Friday! In the rain! Don’t people have to work or something?!?

Even though it was only a short overnight stop, it was good to see Andrew again. He hasn’t lived in Scottsdale that long and moved into his new house in January. Also, we weirdly have jobs that are very closely related and could nerd out on healthcare topics – like what type of insurance requires the largest number of prior authorizations (and yes, I was on point for the response #yourwelcomeAndrew).

We then headed to the Tucson for the real reason for our trip…ANDY GRAMMER.

(Okay yeah my life hack is still a thing but let’s be real…it was totally unintentional. Honestly, I’m impressed if you think I have my life together enough to even know when daylights savings time is that far in advance.)

Look, I just love Andy Grammer (and yes we have to say his full name since I’m casually married to a different Andy…). I have seen him on tour countless times and when he announced he was going on tour again but not stopping in DC, I instantly started researching to see where it would make sense to meet him while on tour. I saw he was playing a show in Tucson the same weekend there was a half-marathon – aka it was fate.

When we arrived to the show on Friday evening, we found out that Andy Grammer had an opening band, but after reading the name we had no clue who they were. They came onstage and just played upbeat, pop music and the entire time Andy and I were like we really need to look these guys up – they’re good.

As they got ready to play their last song they said, “we’re not going to introduce this song since we’re sure a lot of you already know it.”

AND THEN THEY PROCEEDED TO PLAY GERONIMO. Andy and I were flabbergasted. Everyone in the theater stood up and was singing – it was amazing.

We couldn’t believe that we did know who they were all along! Interestingly, Sheppard is a sibling band – one brother and two sisters. They are originally from Australia and they moved to America (with their spouses) last year to give the whole making it in music a shot.

And then Andy Grammer came out and there are no words to explain how amazing he was. Every time I leave one of his concerts I just feel happy. His music is so inspiring and uplifting and REAL.

This concert was a bit different from some of his others because he spent less time talking and more time performing. I think I would have enjoyed it more in a different venue – we had assigned seats and there was zero space so when you were standing you were basically on top of the person next to you.

But the best part of the concert? After several songs, Andy Grammer threw his pick into the crowd. A few seconds later Andy goes, “something hit me!! I think what he threw hit me!”

Of course I don’t believe him at all and in my head I’m like okay damn time to cut Andy off from those drinks. But Andy was insistent that he was hit and immediately drops to his hands and knees and searches on the floor with his flashlight. About 45 seconds later he pops up with a guitar pick!!

I was astonished (1) that Andy Grammer was able to throw a pick that far (we were not that close to the stage) and (2) out of all the people, it hit Andy in the chest!

Traveling kid-free is a luxury that you cannot properly understand unless you have kids. Andy and I couldn’t help remiss that our trip felt almost like the “good old days” of freedom from when we were younger. I say almost because there was one big change…we literally were in bed every night by 10 PM haha

After the concert we had been considering if we wanted to go out dancing at a nearby club. When the concert ended we both looked at each other and were immediately like yeah nope lets just uber back home haha

On Saturday, we went to Saguaro National Park. We had a really difficult time deciding on whether we wanted to go to the East or West side. (Seriously, who’s brilliant idea is it to have two different sides of the park that are literally 1.5 hours driving from each other?!?)

In the end, we settled on going to the west side because we read online that there were more cacti. And good lord, the amount of cacti that we saw and experienced was incredible.

We stopped at the visitors center on the way in to pay and ask for a map. The nice individuals working at the counter helped us choose our route. We hiked to Wasson Peak. Our route was an 8 mile (out and back) hike that was moderately strenuous and SO scenic. The peak was a 360 degree view.

It was windy at some parts but for most of the hike it was just perfect weather. A little wind to counteract the blazing Arizona sun (and yes mom, we did put on sunblock!)

That night we went back to the national park to watch the sunset. I wish pictures could do it justice but the pictures don’t nearly reflect the gorgeous scenery that we saw.

The next morning was RACE DAY.

I was very nervous on race day because we had an incredibly tight schedule to complete the half-marathon, get back to the hotel to shower/eat/finish packing, drop off the rental car and make our flight. However, I am pleased to announce that everything went off without a hitch.

One of the cool things about Tucson is the Tucson Loop – it is 130 miles of car free paths for running, walking and biking. Ironically, Andy and I both spent our Sunday morning on the Tucson Loop. Except I was running 13 miles and Andy was on a different part of the path exploring the area with an electric bike.

Yeah, yeah, yeah – we all know who had the better end of the deal here 😊

But here is the truth: this was probably my best race in maybe 8 years. Yes, I did train (look at me gooooo!) but not as much as I would have liked because we got an absurd amount of snow and then the flu and then the stomach bug.

So I don’t know if it was the flat route? Or the fact that the weather was great for running (low 50s)? Or that I just got lucky and had a good running day? Or maybe it was a birthday present to myself? Whatever it was, I pretty much flew during my half. I did the first 9 miles at around a 10:30 pace and then I stopped at mile 9, took out my Invisalign (because sigh that’s a thing now), ate some energy gummies and then just kicked up the pace the last four miles. I did a 9:45 pace the last four miles and finished in 2:17. 🥳🥳🥳

(For reference, I usually consider it a good race if I finish around 2:30 and my normal time is more like 2:45-2:50.)

What I liked about the race:

• Flat! No explanation necessary 😊
• Logistics: It was super easy to get there, no issues parking, etc. This is probably because it was a relatively small race (less than 200 half marathon runners) so everything was just smaller
• Gatorade at every aid station

Things that were not my favorite:

• Out and back route which, as we all know, is kind of boring
• There weren’t as many bathrooms or aid stations as I would have liked
• Because it wasn’t a big race, at certain points it felt like I was running alone. Not that it is necessarily a bad thing but just not the same high energy vibe with supporters that you get sometimes

Other random thoughts from our trip to Tucson:

1. The Andy Shoe Adventure: Let me start this by saying that I swear I love my husband. I love him AND sometimes he drives me up the wall. The shoe saga is a great example. On our way to Tucson, Andy decided that after wearing the same shoes for five years that *today* is the day he HAS to get new ones. So yes, we went errand shopping on our first vacation in forever. Tell me you work too much without telling me you work too much…

But the worst part? We didn’t even find any shoes for him at the outlet!!! The next day we continued our shoe shopping adventure and Andy finally decided there was a shoe he was okay purchasing.

2. Holiday Inn Express: To know Andy is to know his obsession with Holiday Inn Express. While my preference is always to stay at an AirBnb, Andy swears by Holiday Inn Express. So of course, we stayed in one while in Tucson. My rating? It was fine. No complaints but also nothing special. The two things I like the most were (1) Getting to park in the special “Diamond Elite” space because Andy has one trillion points and (2) Early morning breakfast! Breakfast opened at 6 AM even on the weekend so I could actually eat before doing my race on Sunday morning.

3. Jerry Bobs: I really should have picked up on it by the name. I was being particular and obnoxious (I blame the shoe saga but will totally own my obnoxiousness). I chose a place to eat which Andy was hesitant about but went with it. When we walked into the diner, Andy pauses as everyone in the restaurant looks at his. He turns to me and says “Julia, we ended up in a senior center.”

He was not wrong. There were probably ten tables full of people and literally Andy and I had to be the youngest by at least four decades haha.

While the waitress was so lovely, their food/service was a tad bit questionable. For example, I asked for water to drink and she looks at me and then looks at my Dasani water bottle and goes “Are you sure? The filter is broken and it tastes nasty.” I mean how bad does your tap water have to be if you’re discouraging someone from drinking it? (In the end I still ordered it and, while it wasn’t terrible, it did have a funny aftertaste)

4. Amelia’s Mexican Restaurant: On the flip side of Jerry Bob’s…OMG Amelia’s Mexican Restaurant was freaking fantastic. Hands down the BEST Mexican food I have ever eaten. To put it in context, we had to wait for a table because the place was slammed and we arrived at 3:10 PM which would normally be a slow time for a restaurant!

5. Charro Steak & Del Rey: We also ate at fancy pants restaurant in downtown Tucson. It was way nicer/more expensive then where Andy and I would normally go but it also was delicious. Mostly what I remember is how amazing their brussel sprouts were!

6. Weather: I’m starting to think that Andy can no longer come on half marathon trips with me. After the snow storm in Mississippi, the frigidness in San Diego and then the gloom/rain that was Fort Lauderdale – he might just be my bad weather charm. Haha All that to say, the weather was fiiiiiiine but it was no Arizona warmth and heat that everyone talks about. Instead, it was moderately chilly and windy the entire time.

7. Shoe Cleaner: At the bottom of the trail we hiked in the national park, they had this awesome shoe cleaner thing and we NEED this for our house. I cannot even explain how much mud Andy and his crew trek into our house. It would be life-changing to have this shoe cleaner (hint hint Andy if you made it this far in the blog…)

Andy and I both really like Arizona but neither felt like we could live there. It is probably because everything felt so remote and spread out. We really enjoyed how many different types of outdoor activities there were.

Thanks for the enjoyable trip Arizona!