Happy 4th of July! I celebrated with a trail run, of course...

I was off work today, so I thought it would be a great day to get some trail running in (day off = trail running, right?) Boy, does it feel good to have 3 days off. I am really busy with work right now, so I anticipate having to work a few weekends in July. That being so, I'm taking all 3 days to rest, have fun, and catch up on some overdue tasks around the house. Bliss.

My friend Martinho and I did a trail run this morning at my favorite place, Tucson Mountain Park, which is on the west side of Tucson. Martinho was the one that helped me out when I had that bad fall on a run on Phoneline trail back in November.We went in at the Camino de Oeste trailhead on the Yetman trail and looped around on the Yetman trail to Tucson Mountain Estates and took the Starr Pass trail back to the Yetman trail. I was planning on doing about 8 miles, but we ended up doing 9.5. It was a hard run! Plus, it was already pretty hot, about 85 degrees, when we started and probably about 95 degrees when we finished.

I did my usual stop at the Stone House, so we hammed it up for some photos.

Martinho had a Garmin, so we were able to look at the data on his computer after our run. It was very interesting! Sometimes our pace was 12+ min/mile pace (sometimes 20 min/mile on the really rocky uphill walking parts) and other times it was 7-8 min/mile pace, depending on whether the hills were up or down. Some of the grades on the uphills and downhills were 20+%! We were screaming on the downhills! He even clocked a 6:50 pace a few times on his Garmin, but I'm sure it was only for a few seconds on a downhill portion. At any rate, my overall pace was higher than usual because of Martinho. He is fast!

So, my legs got a great workout, and hopefully not too much, because I'll be running about 11-12 miles tomorrow with the gals (a redo of last week's run with the trails/hilly road, which was fun).

I'm beginning to think I have rubber ankles; on the trails, I am constantly rolling them or crunching them on the downhills, but I never seem to have any problems afterwards. I think the trails are strengthening my ankles, feet and legs in a way that the road doesn't seem to. On that note, here are some comments on trail running from skirt goddess.com, which is where I buy my a lot of my running skirts and tops:

The soft dirt of a trail run is far kinder on the hips and knees than either pavement or concrete sidewalks. Plus, over time, the constant balancing act navigating through uneven trails, avoiding rocks and tree roots can actually help improve balance and strengthen the muscles around the ankle decreasing the likelihood of future injuries. Of course, there are a litany of other benefits to trail running. Solitude. Solidarity with nature. The need for complete and utter focus. Biodiversity. Fun furry animals.

Here is what my friend Kathleen said to me about trail running:

You get to go out into the quiet and see wonderful scenery. Your legs are much more beautiful and shapely due to all the rock and root hopping, powering through sand, uphill and downhill running we get to do. Your lungs are happier. You don't have to breathe in exhaust fumes. Your joints are happier. Pavement/concrete is hard on the body regardless of how good of shoes we have. Yes, I know there are very scenic paved trail and road routes, but overall, trails are going to offer the superior outdoor sensory experience!

You said it ladies. See, this is why I so much love trail running. This trail run was very challenging, with the heat, rocks, sand and hills. It is so gorgeous and pristine out there and I feel alive and strong and in touch with a power that I can't even begin to define but that I know is there, watching over me, protecting me.

Have a great 4th of July, y'all. See you later alligators....

A long overdue trail run on the Yetman Trail

This morning, I went out to the Tucson Mountains (my favorite place!) and ran the Yetman Trail (Camino de Oeste trailhead) over to the Starr Pass trail and looped back. I only ran about an hour and a half because it was already heating up and I felt a little tired. I had the opportunity to run road runs with others today, but my spirit was seriously craving a trail run, so I indulged. I wasn't able to find anyone to go with me, so I enjoyed my own company (I don't even own an Ipod!) and just thought about my life, which is what I do sometimes on my trail runs. I think having to pay attention to what is right in front of me for a while (like Yoga) gets me back in the present, which is where all of the gifts of life are.
It had been 3 weeks since I did a trail run (since the Zane Grey race!) and it felt great to be out there.
Tucson Mountain Park was really beautiful today. I love the Stone House. The windows make good 'frames' for pictures. I only saw about 3 people on the trail today which was great! One guy I saw was a mountain biker who I had talked to back in February out there - he asked how my marathon (Bataan) went! What a good memory. Another female mountain biker said she loved all my pink!
The city is starting to add more trail signs and has a comprehensive plan for Tucson Mountain Park, which is great. However, that also brings more people in. I like the quiet out there.

I saw a Gila Monster on the way back to the trailhead. They are very cool looking, but poisonous. They are similar to lizards, but very large and colorful (this one was orange and black). He was about a foot or so long and wasn't interested in me at all. It was only the second Gila Monster I've ever seen out in the wild.

I ran about 25 miles for the week. I have just felt pretty wiped out, with work being full tilt right now and the rental house renovation requiring a lot of thought and attention. I figured I was tapering anyway, so it was all good! I went over to the rental house afterwards and did more raking, shoveling, and cleaning for about 5 hours. It feels never-ending over there, but it is coming along.

I'm excited about the upcoming Red Mountain 50k in Utah. Unfortunately, there is supposed to be a pretty good chance of rain in the area that day, which would be not so good in my book (born and raised in Louisiana - I'm not a lover of rain!). So, I'll hope for a shift in the weather and then just accept whatever happens!

I just love Tucson Mountain Park. Any of you Tucson trail runners want to join me out there, just email me and let me know.

Last long run before I taper for my marathon...

Out at Tucson Mountain Park, of course. I LOVE that place. Most of the trails are very runnable, but I still get the up and down hilly action that my legs crave. I ran so many trails in the park today - Yetman trail, Yetman Link trail, Starr Pass trail, 36th St. trail and many other small offshoot trails that aren't marked. What a blast! I ran for 4 hours and 1 minute (I was out there for about 4.5 hours, with breaks and chatting with other runners and mountain bikers). I figure I did about 21-22 miles, based on looking at the map and my approximate speed. I ran at a pretty good pace most of the way, except a handful of 10-20 feet rocky spots that I chose to hike rather than chance injuring myself.

I started out on the Yetman Trail (Camino de Oeste trailhead). The stone house is a little over a mile in.

I continued on the Yetman trail after the junction and then did the loop to Tucson Mountain Estates to the Starr Pass trail (after doing the Yetman trail link and about 4 other offshoot trails).Not sure if my fueling was off, but at about 1.5 hours of running, I wanted to quit. I would eat some Clif blox (and I was also using Hammer Heed in my hydration pack) and then I would feel better. I mixed some Hammer Perpetuem at about 2 hours and felt much better after that. However, my energy was still up and down the whole time. I would have surges of energy followed by moments of feeling extremely spent. I think I may have not been hydrating enough; I was worried about my water supply, so I was trying to be cautious. I'll be ordering a bigger bladder for my hydration pack before my upcoming races. I also know my legs were tired, which I suspect was due to taking 10 days off of running from being sick, in addition to the steep run I did on Wednesday this week. I did almost trip and fall about 4 different times - once I got so close to the ground and was able to yank myself back up without falling (whew!). I think I was just tired.

But, wow was the desert green and full of wildflowers! I'll have to do a separate post on the wildflowers I got pictures of. We had a wet Winter in Tucson this year, which always means a wildflower filled Spring.

I then continued on to the 36th St. trail and ran to the trailhead. This sign is completely inaccurate (.9 miles, right...), because it took me 25 minutes to run it at a good pace! I think it is more like 2+ miles. The sign is leaning into a tree, so not sure what that means. Anyway, if you see this sign, make a note to self on the actual possible distance.

About half of the trails out there are full of loose rocks, especially on the hilly sections - training for ZG 50k? I did run into (no pun intended) a trail runner today that had a ZG 50 mile t-shirt on. I asked him about the race and this is what he said:
"It was horrible. Barely runnable. This area out here (referring to Tucson Mountain Park) PALES (emphasis by me) in comparison. There are very few flat spots - it is all up and down the whole way."
Well, I still haven't registered yet, so I either have to figure out a way to get my legs in 'hiking' shape, or else not do it. His comment did worry me, but I'm concluding that since he did the 50 mile and I'm only doing the 50k, that it will be a better experience for me. Yeah. I'll just keep telling myself that. :)

All in all, it was a great run, even if I was by myself. I suppose I'll be 'by myself' during the upcoming marathon, so it was good to see how I would cope. I felt super endorphin rushed driving home (jamming to Boston's 'Peace of Mind'). I felt pretty strong and now I am ready for my marathon, which is 3 weeks away. Now begins 'taper madness', where I'll start to cut back on my mileage and intensity to get my legs 'fresh' for the marathon.

However, I am doing the Arizona Distance Classic Half Marathon (Valley of Gold) in Oro Valley, AZ next weekend. Sort of impromptu - I'm running in the place of my friend Laurie, who is injured. I'll be running with my friend Lisa, which will be fun! It is on pavement, so I stopped by the Running Shop here in Tucson and picked up a new pair of road runners - ASICS Cumulus 9. My other 3 pairs of road running shoes are stacking up the miles (I used them to run the Rillito dirt/pavement trails mostly). I'll try them for a quick run or 2 this week to make sure they work, but I'm confident they'll be fine - I've worn about 8 pairs of the Cumulus, which are fabulous for pavement running. They are so beautiful and white, but not for long.
Thanks Laurie for the wonderful opportunity!
Thank you, God, for these wonderful places to run.

Tucson Mountain Park adventure - so many trails takes so much time!

'There must be some kind of way out of here...' ~ Jimi Hendrix

This is the theme of the trail run that Laurie and I did today! We ventured into Tucson Mountain Park on the West side of Tucson for a 12 mile run for Laurie and a 20 mile run for me. We headed out on the Explorer trail, which starts at Kennedy Park (off of La Cholla South of 36th St.) After some wrong turns, we decided we were on the right trail. However, we ran into a 'troll'; in other words, some really strange guy who was yelling out loud and appeared to be standing there with a plastic bag and up to no good. We were fairly far away from him at this point, but we decided to hightail it outta there and head on over around the mountain a different way. We ended up on another trail, which for all we knew was the Explorer trail, and made our way into the park.

The weather was warming up fast - what a beautiful Winter day in Tucson! A little cloudy, but nice and warm. I was wearing my other arm warmers - Pearl Izumi - with the cute pink roses on them, but quickly peeled them off.

We think at some point we may have ended up running on the 36th trail (it looked familiar from our Winter Trail Series race), which had this amazing stand of saguaro cactuses. I think the Tucson Mountains have many more saguaros than the Rincon Mountains. They are majestic and seem wise and beautiful.

We ended up running into some Tucson runners we knew - Tia Accetta, Paula Morrison and another familar face - not sure who it was. After talking with them, we decided to do the Starr Pass trail out to Tucson Mountain estates (off of Kinney Rd.), then looping back around to the Yetman Trail. It was very pretty and we were having a great time!

Unfortunately, Laurie stepped down on her leg on a rocky part of this loop and tweaked her hamstring, and had pain from her right hip down to her knee. We kept running and stopped periodically to stretch and rest, but it continued to get worse. Rather than make our way back to Kennedy Park (okay, at this point, this lovely loop was adding quite a bit of mileage on - it was turning into a 15 mile run for Laurie!), we headed out to the 36th Street trail, which seemed closer. Here is the sign right here (clearly says .9 miles):

Well, as can happen in Tucson Mountain Park (trails are not well marked at all), we ended up coming out in Starr Pass somewhere (there was an unmarked branch off of the trail that we did not take - must have been to the 36th St. trailhead!) So, we ended up walking through the Starr Pass neighborhoods a few blocks (Laurie is barely making it at this point), and then we found the big hill that we did for our Winter Trail Series race, which we knew went up and over to 36th St. I can't believe Laurie was able to do it, but she amazingly hobbled up and down that huge hill. What a trooper.

The top of that hill is cool, though - it has a stone house on it, as does the Yetman Trail and the Tortolita Mountains Wild Mustang trail.

She had called already her son, who was waiting at the trailhead to bring us back to our trucks at Kennedy Park. I went on to do 3 more miles, which gave me a total of about 17 miles. Laurie ended up doing 14 miles total. I'm pretty wiped out - I was out there a total of about 4 hours, with all of the walking that we did. Also, if you can believe it, I'm sunburned!

So glad to be done. It is always an adventure in Tucson Mountain Park.