Dallas and I went up to Mt. Lemmon on Thursday to scout out the route that TTR was doing on Sunday. We did it 'backwards' from the route TTR does, which is:
Sunset trail ~ Aspen ~ Lemmon ~ WOR ~ Marshall Gulch ~ Sunset (figure 8).
It was pretty - we ran into a few log jams on the trail on Wilderness of Rocks. 'Hmmm...what do we do here?'
Dallas is a good trail steward - can't find a cairn? Leave one when you figure out the route!
I love this picture of Dallas on Aspen:
I found a log 'seat' that one of the trail crews made when clearing Aspen:
Dallas was chatting with one of the trail workers on Sunset - these guys have done a phenomenal job clearing trails quickly on Mt. Lemmon. Thank you immensely!!!!
Total time: 5:33
Distance: 16.6 miles
I had 4 injuries on this outing:
1. Tripped and almost fell, but jammed my leg up into my already sore SI joint. Ouch.
2. Whammed the TOP of my left foot on a rock - big bruise, very sore.
3. Whacked my knee into a tree knob when I was going over a downed tree.
4. Scraped up the back of my leg pretty good trying to go over a downed tree. Man, that smarted.
Jeesh! I was hoping I was going to be okay to run it again on Sunday!
So, that was Thursday. I had a few days off of work to take care of various things. Friday, my divorce was final. Kenny and I are friends - I am so glad I didn't have the battleground that some people experience during this type of thing. I have God to thank for that. I left the courthouse (we didn't do lawyers, no need for that mess) feeling content, not sad, all grown up - it was a weird feeling. It just was. I don't have any regret - I've dealt with it all. I have a lot of hope for my future. Okay, back to the running...
Friday night, Dallas and I did another Sabino Canyon moonlight run - 7.4 miles on the road. Moon didn't come out until the very end. We did see a pretty big snake.
I don't worry about snakes too much - falling on the trail, now that is something I worry about!
On Sunday, Dallas and I headed up Mt. Lemmon to do Sunset Loops again! Only 5 of us and Ken, the run director, showed up, which was unusual.
Ken was doing the route, too:
John, Ken, Dallas and I were doing the full route and Kim and Constantino were doing the 10 mile option. John was running pretty fast, and so Dallas stayed back with me the whole time! Lots of running with Dallas this week!
Ken was behind us. He had taken quite a spill in the creek near Sunset and decided to shorten the route.
Aspen scenes:
On Lemmon:
I could run behind this guy until the cows come home... :)
At the WOR/Lemmon junction:
On Wilderness of Rocks:
We ran into a customer of Dallas' on Marshall Gulch and they took our picture.
Total time: 5:00
Distance: 16.6 miles
We were quicker this time! I think the faster route is the TTR 'official' route.
Injury report:
This time, right after Ken fell in the creek, I slipped on a rock and jammed my shin and big toe into another rock, and then I tripped and almost fell and jammed my leg up into my SI joint again. Ouch to the 10th power. My SI joint has been bothering me for some time now - this was just adding insult to injury.
So, I'm taking a few days off of running this week to rest up. I ran 51 miles this week and 51 miles last week, much of it at elevation and lots of climbing (SCA and two Sunset Loops). I've got the MMD 5k on Saturday and in two weeks, the Flagstaff 50k and Mt. Humphreys summit.
'How many roads did I travel before I walked down the one that led me to You? How many dreams did unravel before I believed in a hope that was true?'
~ Nicole Nordeman
