It was time for me to say farewell to Arizona and head to Utah for one last USA race.

I ended my time in Flagstaff with two CrossFit sessions – one at CrossFit Flagstaff, and the other at Ponderosa CrossFit.  After four weeks off training I was welcomed back with a 15 minute EMOM of thrusters, so the next day my legs were feeling quite sore. On Tuesday I was the only person at Ponderosa CrossFit, so I had a tailor made session involving rowing, burpees and ring rows as my legs weren’t up to handling 150 wall balls.

I left Arizona on Tuesday evening and flew to Salt Lake City for Battlefrog. I arrived late Tuesday night and headed downtown to meet Jess and Dan – my Couchsurfing hosts. They welcomed me into their home and we briefly chatted before heading to sleep.

I spent two days helping out at the Battlefrog site setting up for the race. One of the things I love about volunteering at races is getting to know some of the crew and other volunteers. It also makes me proud to see my hard work shown off on race day. Over the two days I cemented my place as the banner queen after I put up so many banners to absolute perfection. Some of the other volunteers thought I worked for Battlefrog as I was so friendly with the crew and knew what I was doing.

After two full days of helping out I was glad to spend Friday just chilling out in SLC. I met up with Margaret from Dirt in Your Skirt as she showed me around her awesome garden and we sat for two hours talking about all things OCR. I had to spend some time packing (again) before heading out with Jess, Dan and Jess’ friends to Antelope Island. I had a great time seeing the great salt lake, despite being attacked by midgies. I got to see wild Bison and an incredibly beautiful sunset which was worth the trip.

Saturday was race day and so you can check out my recap here. Saturday night just involved doing my washing and inhaling almost all of a large pizza before passing out at 9pm.

Sunday I flew back to LA and spent the day with Mimi. We headed out to Santa Monica Pier and walked along the beach before heading to Lemonade’s in Venice for lunch. I spotted Conor McGrath (ex-UFC fighter) who was enjoying lunch at the same place. We later headed back to Mimi’s so I could take a quick nap before going to In-N-Out and LAX for my flight to Beijing. As I type this I’m sitting in the oneworld lounge ready for the next part of my adventure.

I have had the most incredible time over the last 78 days in the USA. I’ve made some awesome new friends, caught up with so many old friends, completed 180km of races and seen so many incredible sights. The generosity of others has never ceased to amaze me, and I am truly thankful to have so many incredible people in my life. Now it’s time to head to China for a week before heading home for 3 weeks. I can’t wait to be back in the US for more adventures and fun later this year.

Week 11: 9 – 15 May