Trail run in Sabino - didn't get to Hutch's Pools, though....

I dragged myself out of bed late after a week full of overtime and hard work, so I didn't get to Sabino until 7am! I ran the tram road to Sabino Canyon trail and then took that trail to the Sabino Creek, where East and West Fork trails meet. I only had to go a little less than 1.5 miles more to get to Hutch's Pools, but my intuition said, no, not today. It was weird, but I heeded it. I was the only one out there that I could tell, and it just didn't seem like a good idea. That's the thing about intuition - you may never know if it pays off...but it is good to listen to it from time to time. I rested there a few minutes, and then returned. I like this rock striping on Sabino Canyon trail...

On the way back, I took Phoneline trail instead of the tram road. Ran into a couple of guys that I chatted with a while - one, an ex-Arthur Anderson fella (he had a t-shirt on) so, we talked accounting shop for a while. Anyway, it was hotter than you know what by the time I got done and the storm clouds were building. I really need to get out earlier! Heat training is always good, though.

My watch was being a little wiggy, but it appears I did about 13.2 miles. (I lost signal on the tram road for a bit, but I know the distance of that road, so it was pretty easy to tell what I was off by.) About 3,300 feet ascent, though that could be a little off, too.

I'll rest tomorrow, and then I have the run on Mt. Lemmon on Sunday with TTR! I hope to do about 16-18 miles. Anyone is welcome on that one. Starts at 7am just past the Butterfly trailhead on the left. You can do any distance you like. Should be fun. Hope it doesn't rain!

Hope everyone has a great 4th of July.

Canine Classic 5k

Cracker Dog's first 5k. She did so well. We ran 3.2 miles (supposed to be 3.1), which was 3 laps of the course. Some people and their dogs did one lap, but not the Crackinator! She ran the whole thing. It was about 95 degrees out, although it didn't start until 6:45pm. It was quite crazy at the start of the race (dogs and people everywhere!), but Cracker immediately knew we were !!!!running!!!!! Yay!!!!!! I'm not sure if this picture is blurry because she is so fast or because we were running... Man, she had fun. She did it in 36:32. (11:23 min/mile average). We stopped at almost all the water stops on each lap, too!

There was a doggie fashion show and talent show. Cracker's only real talent is her ability to sleep all day on the sleep number bed, but she does have the cutest pink camouflage rain jacket that would have stolen the fashion show. Maybe next year. :)

Here are a few of the dogs at the fashion show:

This was a great event. Can't beat it for $20. Got a cute little scarf, too.

So, I got in 18.2 miles today and just about exactly 40 miles for the week.

Hutch's Pools trail run

Ran from Sabino Canyon Visitor's Center to Hutch's Pools and back.

Route: Sabino Canyon road to Sabino Canyon Trail. Sabino Canyon trail to West Fork. West Fork to Hutch's Pools. Return the same way.

Total distance: 15 miles exactly

Total elevation gain/(loss): 3,493/(3,491) feet

Total time out, including breaks: 3:21

On Sabino Canyon trail, overlooking the tram road:

I took a nice little break at Hutch's Pools: There isn't much water there, but there is a little. I felt pretty remote out there. I saw nobody the entire time I left the road. I kept hearing noises off the trail which were most likely little ground squirrels, but spooked me nonetheless. One thing mountain lions like this time of year in Tucson is water - there isn't much - so these spots are pretty attractive. I thought about going a little further, but it was getting pretty hot, so I turned back. I was going to take Phoneline trail on the return instead of the road, but was worried I was running out of water. I was drinking much more water today than usual.

Saw a snake on the way back on Sabino Canyon trail. I took his picture and then politely asked him to move out of the way so I could pass. He did. What a nice snake. :)

It was about 82 degrees when I started and about 93 when I finished. I ran out of water the last mile. I started with 2.1 liters. It was smoking hot out there.

I liked this run. I might do it again this Friday, July 3rd, since I am off. Anyone want to join me?

Gotta go rest up with a nap. Taking Cracker to the Canine Classic 5k, which is tonight. Her first race! More on that later.

Esperero Canyon Loop

I have never attempted this loop of trails before, as I was always worried about getting lost. So, Kandi was my trail run guide today. I officially met Kandi a while back at a TTR run. She is super nice and a fellow accountant (Although we didn't talk shop on our run; hey, it is our day off!) She does this trail almost every week, so I trusted her to keep us from getting lost. I'm not sure I'd attempt it by myself even still - the first part is fairly sketchy in spots. Kandi and others are responsible for clearing this trail to make it much easier to navigate, though. Thank you!

The loop starts at the Sabino Canyon Visitor's Center. After heading down the road a short distance the Esperero trail picks up on the left. We took this trail until we hit Cathedral Rock trail. We took this to the West Fork trail, which passed Hutch's Pools and connected with the Sabino Canyon trail.

The SC trail ends at the end of the SC tram road, which we went down and finished at the SC Visitor's Center where we started. Some of the canyon and other spots were nice and shady. Total distance: 20.8 miles

Total elevation gain/(loss): 7,853/(7,713) feet. 80% of that elevation gain is in the first 8 miles.

Total time out, including breaks: 7 hours 14 minutes. We pretty much took our time on the uphill section, with Kandi stopping to show me different things on the way, like a good tour guide.We also stopped at mile 13 at Hutch's Pools to filter some water. However, even at over 5 hours out, I had only drank about 1 of my 3 liters, so I didn't need any more water. I must have been very hydrated to start the run, but I do think I tend to conserve water too much. I'll have to watch that so I don't get in trouble one of these days.

Highest point (topout): 6,922 feet

3 of the miles uphill are over 1,000 feet elevation gain each (2 almost 1,200!) It was pretty steep on the way up. Once you top out at 8 miles, that 9th mile is over 1,000 feet downhill. Lots of slippery scree stuff. Move slow to avoid sliding off the edge! Kandi took this pic of me from uphill, so an optical illusion makes my legs look super short!

Kandi led until about mile 10 or so? and then I led us back. The downhill on the way back is super runnable and so much fun!

My quads are pretty trashed from the steep downhill. I felt like I had tons of energy today, though. I used Hammer gels and Perpetuem. I also had Cytosport drink in my pack.

Good run. Thanks, Kandi.

I ran 42 miles for the week.

Tat.

Finally got one. Was going to get a larger tattoo on my back, but decided to get a small 'test' one first to see if my skin could handle it. Those who know me know that I have horribly sensitive skin. I have been wanting to get one for quite a while now. No better time than the present, I guess. Here it is, pretty fresh and red:

It didn't really hurt too much when I got it done (getting a tattoo beats a fall on the asphalt any day of the week!), but I have had quite a bit of swelling and redness since I got it. In the pic below, my ankle is so swollen, it is hard to see it. I put an ice pack on it and it looked better the next day. Cree at Red Sky Studio Tattoo Gallery did it for me. He was super nice. I think the shading will be good once it heals.

It is the infinity symbol, which, for me, has a load of meaning.

My Yogi tea bag saying tonight was this:

"Open up to infinity and you become infinity." I thought that was so weird. I had never seen that particular saying before. Hmmm...

I may hear something about it from a family member or friend or two. In the big scheme of things, though, it is really no big deal. Kenny got one, too, on his calf. It still needs a little more shading, but he had enough after 4 hours:

The whole experience is kind of cool, actually. I feel different. I'm already planning the one for my back. Not to worry, Mom. Won't be getting an arm sleeve of tattoos or anything like that. :)

The Catwalk

After finishing my run at Luna Lake, I traveled back to Tucson via Hwy 180, which dropped into New Mexico before heading back to AZ. I did not want to take the curvy Hwy 191 back this time. Plus, I had the ulterior motive of stopping off at The Catwalk, one of my favorite places.

The Catwalk is in a very narrow canyon and the trail is a little over 2 miles total for the out and back. The name 'catwalk' refers to the original plank-board walkway, placed atop the steel pipe which carried water to an ore processing plant. Most of this is gone, although you can still see old remnants of pipe in spots, and the canyon is now a recreation area. There are steel walkways constructed in certain areas, which are necessary because of the narrow nature of the canyon and the water flowing through.

Anyway, it really lifted my spirits. Very beautiful and good canyon to go visit. One of my absolute favorite places. I love it when I am traveling and I can just stop whenever I want and have fun along the way.

I did 31 miles this week. A little lower mileage than I usually like to do, but I'm still in healing mode from the falls I took last week. The wounds are coming along, but I tell you, falling on asphalt is not good. I'm going to try to avoid that in the future. :)

Trail run at Luna Lake

On the way home from Alpine, I drove to Luna Lake and ran through a beautiful pine forest on forest roads. There was nobody out at all - just some cow elk! I saw this group of 4 on both sides of the loop. They were running both times. See, the animals know how to experience the wild!

Distance: 10.5 miles

Elevation gain/(loss): 2,391/(2,496) feet

High point: 8,442 feet. I was breathing heavy for the first 3-4 miles, but it was uphill on the first half. I think if I continue to do some runs at higher altitude over the Summer, I should be ready for Imogene.

I took a wrong turn at some point, and didn't realize it until the road turned into a game trail. I realized I had lost the small metal blue diamonds (on the trees marking the trail), so I backtracked and found my error. It added on about 2 miles (the loop is supposed to be 8.5 miles). I was good with that. Bonus miles.

I figured out how to not lose my chapstick! I bought it at Zombie Runner. It is chapstick (brand is called 'Cat Crap' which totally cracked me up) that is attached to a carabiner. I tuck the whole thing in my pocket, but if it comes out, it is still attached to me! I just love it when I find stuff that works. Speaking of stuff that works, yes, I am wearing shorts, not a skirt. I finally found a pair of shorts that I love! Pearl Izumi. Super comfy. I'll still be wearing my skirts, but I have to say, I'll be buying more of these. I was a little slow, but I am having some problems with a tight/sore outer shin muscle on my left leg (maybe because I tripped both times last week with my left foot?) Probably a strain. So, I babied it for the first 4 miles until it really warmed up and then it didn't bother me anymore.

I love running through the forest. Very quiet. Too quiet. I had a lot to think about today. Sometimes I pray when I run. Please God keep me safe, help me be in the moment, help me make good decisions in my life, help me be a better person. Help me see the truth about me and the world. Help me love others more.

And then, if I'm not wrapped around my own axle about stuff, I sometimes remember to thank God for the beauty that I get to see that many people never experience.

"Don't surround yourself with yourself..." ~ Yes (the band)

Heading to Alpine, AZ

Behind on my blogging - I went to Alpine, AZ (8,000 ft elevation) for a conference this weekend. I was by myself, but I love traveling. So, heading up there I saw 3 mountain goats (wild goats?) outside Morenci. I think that is what they are? They just scaled right up the side of this hill as I was coming around the corner... I saw about 100 deer and elk on Highway 191, the curviest, twistiest road I have ever been on (I was nauseated for an hour and a half!). It used to be named Hwy 666, Devil's Highway, but was renamed to be P.C. Many of the deer and elk were standing in the middle of the road around a lot of curvy corners. Yikes! It was a beautiful trip up. Looking forward to doing some trail running in the area over the weekend. A little training at higher altitude for Imogene!

Trail run and another fall. Good Grief.

Shari and I ran out at Saguaro East today on the Cactus Forest trail from Broadway to Old Spanish Trail and back (about 10.3 miles). I wasn't picking my left knee up enough, which was pretty bruised and sore from the banging it took on Friday. So, on the way back, about 2 miles from being finished, I went down. Shari was in front of me, and afterwards, said that she was worried it was going to happen because she could hear me tripping a lot behind her.

However, I saw it coming, and to avoid ripping up my right hand and elbow and left knee, which were still super raw, I threw myself on my left side and onto my back, scraping up my left hand, bruising up my left hip pretty badly, and getting a few scrapes on my upper back. Shari was the best - she didn't judge me or laugh at me or anything - she just put her hand out and pulled me up and helped dust me off. Thank you Shari. Hope you are okay with me putting your picture up here - I did sneak one in of you - but you look so fit and it was such a good pic.

I wasn't even going to mention that I fell on my post, but I just really felt so thankful to Shari for being so loving about it. She just said don't be too hard on yourself - you are tired. You got that right. I'm EXHAUSTED. My emotional life has been so hard this week. I'm sad on so many levels. I'm not sleeping enough. So...it happened. Maybe I am clumsy. Maybe I fall more than some. And, it is what it is. I'm tired of judging myself for so many things. Thank goodness for friends.

We saw 3 of those big jackrabbits, which was cool.

Afterwards, we got Robek's smoothies and I stopped at Walgreen's for some more larger bandaids (I seem to be going through them at a high rate at the moment!) and ran into Troy! He looked great, although he said he was tired. He'll be doing a 12 hour run/walk this week. Good luck Troy! He looked so much more 'grown up' since the last time I saw him. He and Poppy had a baby this year - super cute baby Zane - and I don't think he could be happier.

Well, guess I'll work on getting some rest and healing up this week.

I'd much rather fall on the trail (I think)...

Oh man. I tripped 2 miles into my 6 mile run with Taos this morning while crossing a neighborhood asphalt road and ended up with some pretty bad road rash. Holy Moly. It really hurt. I managed to run back home and get cleaned up before work (shower was quite painful). So, my 6 mile run was only a 4 miler today. I almost didn't go into work, but I took some Aleve and was feeling good enough to go. I scraped up my right hand, right elbow, left knee, and I have a long, but light scrape from my ankle to my hip on my right side.

Lesson of the day? Be present. In today. In the moment. That is where God is. :)

I've still fallen less than 10 times the whole time I've been running. It just seems like a lot because I broadcast it to the world through a blog.

I'll still be running this weekend. I won't let it stop me. I think I'll be cancelling my massage on Monday, though....

Imogene Pass Run

I'm in! I've officially registered for the Imogene Pass Run, which is on September 12th. The race registration opened today, so I registered first thing this morning. Last year, the race filled up in 4 days. The course length is 17.1 miles and runs from Ouray, CO to Telluride, CO over Imogene Pass, which is at 13,114 feet. Here is the elevation profile: I've thought about doing this race for a couple of years now, but I finally got up the courage. Hopefully, the weather is good; that time of year is very unpredictable in Colorado. At any rate, I better get in better shape! Probably a lot of training on Mt. Lemmon and other high elevation areas to get ready. Nothing like getting registered for a big race to up the motivation! That's how I roll. :)

TTR Sunset Loops trail run

Since this was the last TTR event of the season, I didn't want to miss it. Who showed up: Harry, Ken, Gene, David (from Sierra Vista), Kandi, Doug, Glenn and a few others I didn't know. Everyone was doing various options - 6, 10 or 17 miles.

I ended up doing the longest option, which turned out to be 16.3 miles. Kenny came along with our dog Taos, but he was going to hike about 6-10 miles by himself, and just meet me somewhere along the way.

It started at Sunset trailhead in the Catalina Mountains. The longest option takes the following 'figure 8' route:

1. Sunset Trail to Marshall Gulch. I ran with Glenn for most of this. I wanted to run with David, too, but he had some energy and hung with the fast guys up front.

2. Aspen Trail all the way to the top of the Ski Lift area (Radio Ridge). This trail is just so gosh darn steep, so quite a bit of hiking on this trail. However, they had cleared away a lot of downed trees since the last time I had been up. Nice. Hardly any tree hopping at all. I was by myself for most of this part; Glenn ended up turning at Marshall Gulch and only doing 6 miles, but it was good to have some company for a bit.

3. Down the Lemmon trail to the Wilderness of Rocks trail turnoff. Lemmon trail is super runnable, with lots of downhill. The trail is not too rocky, either. I came upon Kandi and ran with her for a while, which was nice. She is an Accountant, too, so we talked shop a bit. The downhill got too enticing and I really picked up speed and ended up pulling away from Kandi at some point. This was my favorite part of the run.

4. Back up on WOR trail to the Marshall Gulch trail. WOR is downhill at first, but then gets really rocky and uphill and I got really slow. I eventually ran into Kenny and Taos about a mile from the next trail junction. We hiked/ran together to the finish, which was really fun. Taos carried her pack and was such a good dog.

5. Marshall Gulch trail to Sunset trail and on back to the start. Marshall Gulch is fairly runnable in spots and very pretty. Lots of people, though.

Total time: 4 hours and 53 minutes!

Total elevation gain/(loss): 6,791/(6,878) feet. Holy Moly.

Ross and Pam rode their bikes up, so we got to visit with them at the finish, too. Pam found a 'Pleasing Fungus Beetle' to show us:

I wore my new 'Atayne' shirt, which is made from recycled materials (plastic bottles) and activated carbon (from coconut shells). I won a $50 g.c. at http://www.irunfar.com/ (thanks Bryon!) so I went to http://www.igottrashed.com/ and picked one out. The one I bought says, "Run Hard! Tread Lightly." I have to say I was really happy with the performance of it; I never overheated and it was super comfortable. I'll be buying more. The service from Jeremy was awesome. Definitely check it out.

I hope to do a few more runs with TTR next year. My confidence has risen a bit and I feel and I can take on some of the more challenging ones. I decided that I could always help out on some that I choose to not run and be of service there, too.

Kandi is going to take me (if there is water) on my inaugural trail run on Esperero trail in a few weeks. She says she is a little slow, but that is fine. I just would like to check out that trail to make sure I don't get lost when I do that run with TTR next year. So, got to see some old friends (David, Glenn) and got to make a new one (Kandi).

It was an all 'Gu' brand gel run. I really liked them! I'm trying out different gels, so next time will be 'Hammer' time. I felt pretty good during the run, so I don't think I'll be doing the Clif blox anymore.

Weekend over. Back to work. Hope everyone enjoyed doing something fun this weekend.

My favorite trail - Yetman in the Tucson Mountains

Here are a bunch of pictures from my short 6 mile Memorial Day run in the Tucson Mountains on the Yetman trail. I bought a disposable camera to use over the weekend while I waited for my new Olympus Stylus digital camera from the 'Tough' series to arrive in the mail this week. This new camera will be waterproof! dustproof! shockproof! crushproof! freezeproof! Perfect for trailrunning. Anybody who has run with me knows I had dropped my camera (or fallen on it!) too many times.

The only bummer about a disposable camera is that there is no self timer, but I finally found a nice lady to take my picture for me. It was quiet out there today; lots of mountain bikers and a few trail runners, but nobody I recognized. It was a great 4 day weekend.

Bear Canyon Loop trail run

Today, I ran 17.5 miles on the Bear Canyon loop in Sabino Canyon with David M. He had just run 18 miles the day before, so I was hoping he would have sand bags for legs and be a little slower for me, but, as usual, he was raring to go with energy to spare. Keep an eye on this guy; I am sure he is going to do some amazing things in the ultra world. Me, on the other hand...slow as molasses. Is it allergies? The iron deficiency still? Or just hills that I'm no good at? Will I ever get better at trail running? David says I'm too hard on myself; that this loop is challenging.

The Bear Canyon loop starts at the Sabino Canyon parking lot, heads out towards 7 Falls, and then goes up towards the East Fork, connects with Sabino Canyon trail, and then up to Phoneline trail. We ran Phoneline trail on the return instead of the Sabino Canyon tram road. It took a long time to do this run, but returning on Phoneline trail just takes longer than running the road back on the last part. I'm also terrible on the uphills, so I tend to walk those a lot. I have to do something about that.

Total cumulative elevation gain/(loss): 4,112/(4,229) feet

On this run, a great deal of the elevation gain is on the first half and the majority of the elevation loss is on the second half. This is my second running of this loop (first was with TTR and I had a mighty sore ankle that day). I would really like to do it more often. Beautiful. The cactus are blooming right now and the saguaros all look like they have little hats on them. :)

Lots of cloud cover out today, which was fabulous! We got a few sprinkles of rain falling on us on the last 2 or so miles, but it felt good. What a great run. I didn't feel so bad about missing the Gunnison 50k (which was today) after all. Maybe I'll do that one next year.

I ran 40 miles total this week. I hope to keep this mileage up over the summer, with some additional hill training thrown in. On June 1st (when registration opens), if I can get in, I'm signing up for the Imogene Pass run, which is on September 12th. Holy Cow. Oh, and I also signed up for the Run with the Roosters race, which is new this year, and is on July 12th. Pretty soon, I'll have my race calendar filled. That's the way I like it!

Heart of Rocks Loop hike - Chiricahua Mountains

Haven't been blogging much - I have been a little down about some things lately. Since I cancelled my Grand Canyon trip this weekend, and of course, the Gunnison 50k next weekend, I really don't have anything going on that I felt was blog worthy.

I recovered nicely from the 27 mile trail run up the Santa Catalinas a few weeks ago - I really wasn't even very sore. I did keep the mileage down that following week - 23 miles - partly due to the shorter road run I did last weekend. I'm running in the mornings before work now. Tucson is averaging 100 degrees for the high, so I, like many other Tucson runners, start getting up earlier to run and beat the heat.

This week, I ran every morning before work, totaling 30 miles. I pretty much just do various loops from my house, and up to the Rillito River sometimes. It is a nice way to clear my head for the day.

Without any big runs planned this weekend, Ken and I went over to the Chiricahua Mountains (about 2.5 hours away) and hiked the Heart of Rocks Loop. My friend Sarah and my sister Andrea had highly recommended it. We did 10 miles, with 4,714 feet of cumulative elevation gain. The high point is about 7,000 feet. It took us 3 hours and 50 minutes, not including about a 25 minute lunch break. Here I am next to 'Big Balanced Rock': Ken at the top of 'Inspiration Point':The Heart of Rocks Loop is a combination of various trails, with the Heart of Rocks trail being the center of the hike. There were all sorts of awesome rock formations that have been carved by time and wind, I guess. The hike was fairly shady, going through a lot of pine forest. The bugs drove me nuts for about the first 2 miles, but as the day heated up, the bug population dropped a bit (also there was a nice breeze at times, which kept them away).

Ken and I had a great time! It was really good to get out and hike together. He rarely exercises (well, except for the strenuous nature of his work), but he just trucks up the hills like it is no big deal, which always impresses the hell out of me. I'm terrible on the uphills. Ken will be hiking some of the big 14er's (14,000+ feet peaks) in CO this summer, which of course, I think is crazy. That's what he says about some of my running. :)

My upcoming running plans? Well, I'm still working on that, but I suppose I probably will just post them in my sidebar. I'm worried that whenever I blog about upcoming plans, they seem to fall through! Well, let's just say I have quite the adventurous running year coming up, with some super exciting races on my wish list. I'll need to get in better shape though, which will be my plan for the summer. That, and staying cool.