Road running vs. trail running

Well, I joined the Chiclets (Sheryl, Nancy and Lisa) this morning for a 12 mile run on the Rillito River path. I passed up the opportunity to run a trail with Shari because it was Nancy's birthday this week and I wanted to be there to celebrate with her. We started the run at 5:30am and we were finished before it got too smoking hot. It will be 111 degrees today, so we wanted to beat the heat. The Rillito is good because, even though it is paved, there are plenty of spots that have a dirt path next to the paved sections, so I was a happy camper. It was a good run, but I felt pretty uncomfortable off and on throughout the run, and I'll explain why in just a second. Here I am at the end, all salty:

So, this brings me to the title of my post. The Chiclets say they don't read my blog, which is fine (and some of them don't want their pictures on my blog anymore either, which is fine, too). So, I don't feel too weird talking about the whole road running/trail running thing here, because they will most likely never read it.

I started road running (by road, meaning streets or paths, paved or concrete) about 5 years ago, but really started running more than 5-7 miles a week about 3 years ago. I found this group of Chiclets shortly after getting serious about running and have been running with them almost weekly until the beginning of 2008, when I started doing so many trail races and trail runs. Since then, I have only run with them about once a month, if that. I just so much love to do trails! I started trail running about 2 years ago, and the obsession has just grown from there. I still do road races (heck, I'm signed up to do the Tucson Marathon in December, which is all road), but given my preference, I would much rather be on a trail.
I've gotten a weird feeling from them the last couple of times I have run with them. They have made comments about my trail running and racing and my running blog, and well, frankly, I just don't feel a part of the group anymore. Looking at my own side of the street, I thought to myself, have I made any negative comments about road running? Yes, I have. I struggle so much with running on hard surfaces, both in a physical way and a spiritual way, and I don't always keep it to myself. I need to stop that.

I wonder if they resent that I have chosen trails over them many times (and of course, trail running friends over them, too). So, does the running community have to be divided like this? It does seem that I have 'crossed over' to a different group of runners (those crazy trail runners), never to return back comfortably to the road runners. I still feel like a hybrid (mostly trail runner, sometimes road runner), but I'm sensing it is hard to be both.
Anyway, there is my ramble for the day. I'll have to sort it all out later. At any rate, it looks like I'm pretty hooked on trails, so I see the situation resolving itself in the long run (no pun intended). Change, while it is a wonderful thing, is never easy.

8 miles on the Rillito

Here I am posing Catra 'Dirt Diva' style on my favorite offshoot trail from the Rillito River path.

I ran 8 miles today - it was hot. I've had some blog readers ask about the heat here in Tucson. Yes, it is hot. Already. I'll be switching to morning running in about 2 weeks, when the sun rises earlier, which will be lovely! Until then, the trick is to bring enough water along and make sure you stay hydrated when you aren't running. I'm a southern gal (born and raised in the New Orleans area, y'all, and moved to Tucson when I was 19), so I don't mind the heat, I guess. You don't have to wear much! In Tucson, it is fairly dry, so it is easy to think you aren't sweating or losing electrolytes, when in fact, the sweat is just drying up as fast as you sweat it out! I use Hammer Endurolytes to keep my electrolytes up on longer runs.

Come visit in the Winter and you'll know why so many people flock to Tucson. Beautiful. I was wearing a skirt to run in for most of the Winter months.

I visited my friends 'the goats' at Green Things plant nursery, which is just off of the Rillito, also. It was a good excuse to get into some shade for a moment.

I feel very spiritually connected this week, knowing that I'm strong and capable of handling my very busy life, completing a marathon, and getting ready for my first ultramarathon!

Jury Duty Interferes with Marathon Training!

Yes, I had Jury Duty on Tuesday and I got selected for a short criminal trial, which should run through Thursday (how exciting!) So, I am a little behind my mileage since I couldn't run yesterday. I got out of court in time today to run and hopefully, I'll get out in time on Thursday as well. I'll just try to make up for the missing day today, Thursday, and Friday by running a little extra, if possible. I won't be running Saturday, because of the Arizona Trail Race on Sunday. Taking the day off might give me fresh legs!

Today I ran 8 very COLD and WINDY miles on the Rillito River Wash. It was still running from all the rain we had earlier in the week (here in Arizona, washes are normally dry most of the year, except when we get a decent amount of rain). It was really flowing on Monday when I ran, but I didn't have my camera.
Last winter I tended to blow off a lot of cold, windy days in favor of going home after work and getting warm! This year, I'm heading out anyway because I don't want to miss my runs. I usually warm up after I run a mile or so, but today, even dressed all toasty, I stayed cold! Call me dedicated or addicted, pick one.

It should be warming up soon, though - we have a little cool weather system blowing into Tucson, followed by a slight warmup (70 degrees!). Check out the lovely Catalina Mountains, on the North side of Tucson:

My husband says I look more like a runner when I wear pants than I do when I wear my running skirts. I said, "Yeah, but you can see my amazing trail runner calves in my skirts!" He always jokes that I actually have calf muscles now that I run. I have always had 'chicken legs' since I was a child, so I would say he is right. :)

Meet my faithful running partner, Dixie Dog....

We went running this morning at the Rillito wash. She had a small wound on one of her paws but she really wanted to go. We did about 5.5 miles.
10 seconds after I took this picture of Dixie, we saw a coyote. At first I thought it was a dog, and then I realized it wasn't, so we took off the other way until the coyote moved on, and then we backtracked down this trail.

This is the little houndog that always barks at Dixie Dog when we run the Rillito. He (she?) stopped barking long enough to pose for me. Very cute dog.

All done with my run. I love running, especially with Dixie. She is a good dog. Running makes me feel like a strong woman. I feel like I can treat the universe right when I have had a good run.

Thought for today - "Karma can be endlessly patient. Eventually the universe will insist on redressing the balance of wrong with right."