Met Laurie and Shari for a training run out at the Catalina State Park trails today. It is for the upcoming 11 mile race on April 12th. However, we couldn't do the actual race course, because of too much water flowing off of the mountains from last week's snow and rain fest here in Tucson. Here are Shari and Laurie pausing at the first of the crossings - we decided we just didn't feel like running with wet feet today and knew that other crossings might be higher, so we turned around. 
Laurie finally succumbed to the skirt way of life and looks so cute in her new skirt! We ran the Nature Loop trail, the Bridle trail and part of the 50 year trail. The 50 year trail and Nature Loop trail have a little elevation gain at first, but the Bridle trail consists of a lot of deep sand! The Bataan March marathon I am doing on March 30th has some sandy spots - specifically, about a mile of it around mile 20 of the marathon. So, I'm getting my ankles ready for that race!
We did a little over 6 miles. It is super pretty out there. Laurie came to my rescue with a water bottle, fanny pack and hair tie. I had to make a quick switcheroo with my husband's truck (mine was out of gas, and I had no time to fill it!) so I left a lot of my gear behind. Thanks Laurie!
On another note, I am signing up for the Flagstaff Marathon on September 27th! The race is mostly around 8,000 feet elevation with about 2,200 feet of climbing. It is 100% on trails! I'm a little worried about the elevation, but I'll just have to go a little slower. Laurie is signing up for it to get ready for her Ironman in November, so I told her I'd join her! We'll be heading up to the Catalina Mountains for elevation training this summer.
2 comments:
those are nice trails on the other side of catalina state park - the side you don't have to cross a stream to reach (i often skip them to get back up in the mountains instead).
a friend ran the flag half last year - it was an awesomely muddy mess and she had an absolute blast. i was supposed to run, but coming off an injury, i wasn't prepared :(
I've hiked there up to the Romero pools. My parents are moving to Phoenix in April to be closer to my brother. So I don't know when I'll be back in Tucson again. I'll miss the Catalina's! : ( You'll have to run/hike up Pima Canyon for me. : )
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