Well, I'm back from my whirlwind tour. Business travel these days has become a bit more of a hassle than it used to be - the economic times mean fewer and fuller flights. It used to be pretty common to have an empty seat in a row when flying. But with today's higher fuel costs, airlines are flying fewer flights (after all - fewer flights means fewer people and less fuel you have to buy), which means that even if the overall number of people flying has gone down, each plane flies a little fuller. Which means each flight is a little less comfortable. Oh well - it's not like we have a lot of options. right?
The other thing I've learned to live with when travelling are ever present weather delays. During the summer, delays for afternoon/evening thunderstorms are not uncommon. Well - guess what? I almost didn't make it home last night for that reason. We boarded our plan in El Paso just as the thunderstorms started. We then proceeded to sit at the gate for an hour while the lightning, thunder, and torrential showers pelted the airport. I had an hour layover in Phoenix, so I had some serious doubts whether I would make my connector.
It was close, but I made my connector. In fact, this particular airline (okay, okay - Southwest) held the connector for me so that I wasn't stranded in Phoenix for a night. Now that's service I'm not used to from the big airline I usually fly! Thank you Southwest!
I was going to try to sneak in a quick run yesterday, but I had a conference call at 8AM, and a family dinner at a fancy schmancy restaurant for my daughter's 21st birthday at 6PM, so I wasn't able to crank out any miles.
I'm getting ready to leave the house now for today's 18 miler. Next time someone please stop me when I start showing interest in a marathon.....
oh my god...i havent flown in a while (not since the economic downfall, anyways)but i remember the days when i flew back and forth by myself to see my grandparents, and i would have entire rows to sprawl out on..or since i was the 'little girl'..if there were open rows in the back, the flight attendants always asked me if i wanted a row to myself. SO NICE!
ReplyDeleteOh..and the delays. ughh, sorry you had to go through that..i had a flight out of orlando one day, and it got delayed SIX HOURS due to thunderstorms and no visibility (IN ORLANDO!?! what the heck!) and didnt make it to my connecting flight in minneapolis. on the bright side, i got a free dinner, free hotel stay, and of course a connecting flight in the morning...and they lost my luggage. ugh.
Hahaha...have fun on your 18 miler today...i have the feeling im going to be dragging my lazy butt out the door for a run later. gah.
All the flights (OK...well, both of the flights) I was on this week were packed (on Southwest).
ReplyDeleteSouthwest is the best...I agree.
Hope your 18 miler went well. To be honest, I don't know how you do it...travel, work, fly, then run. I just had a little puddle jumper from Oakland and I was DONE this morning.
Flying drives me crazy.. Read on Twitter that the 18 miler was miserable, hope your day got better after that.
ReplyDeleteTraveling is hard work. Traveling for work is a necessary evil. Welcome back and I do hope you get your miles in.
ReplyDeleteI am sure you will have forgotten all about the training, after you have run the race, sporting the medal and type the race report ;-)
I've recently become a fan of Southwest too. They've really ramped up their customer service in the past several years.
ReplyDeleteHappy birthday to your daughter! Turning 21 is a big deal. Something tells me she maybe celebrated with something other than Sprite.
that was cool of southwest! glad you were able to make It home. happy belated bday to your daughter!
ReplyDelete