Mt. Lemmon Marathon Training Run #2

David, Tom, Chris, Renee, Dallas, and Darrel

Yes, another MLM training run with some of the same crazy crew from last week's run. We started at Windy Point, which is about 14 miles up Catalina Hwy. We were shuttled there from Sabino Canyon by Tom and Denise (thank you!) We ran the highway up to Palisades, about 5.5 miles. It is a fairly steep section of the road. We then hooked onto Palisades trail and took that down to East Fork and then Sabino Canyon trail. We returned on the Sabino Canyon tram road. About 5.5 miles uphill, 14.5 or so miles of steep downhill.

Total mileage: 20.44 miles

Total time: 4:41

Getting ready to get started:

My favorite part of the Catalina Hwy. run is between Windy Point and Palisades - 360 degree views.

Having a lot of fun for a road run:

Me running down Palisades trail:

Me and Steve heading down Palisades. Steep downhill, rocky trail. Steve ran up from Sabino Canyon about 9 miles onto Palisades trail and met our group.

Dallas tearing up Palisades with a view of Thimble Peak in the background:

The happy couple:

What a blessing to have found Dallas, who is so gentle and loving. I have found a true partner in Dallas - both on and off the trail! He loves to spend time with me, no matter what we are doing! I love running with him.

We were also really blessed with some great cloud cover for the morning, but it really started to heat up as we descended. After getting on Sabino Canyon tram road, I was in survival mode; not only was I conserving water, but I was just downright overheated. Little slice of hell, actually! Dallas was smart and took a dip in the creek on the way back.

I have fried quads from the downhill, but it really was a great run. Everything was so green from the rain! Love the ocotillos.

"You're caught between the devil and the deep blue sea
You better look it over

Before you make that leap..."
~ Killers