Catalina State Park Trail Run (or, what happens when you take your eye off the ball)

Laurie and I headed out to Catalina State Park, which is North of Tucson for a little trail run. The trail we had planned to run crossed a wash with a little water, so we changed plans and ran the:

1. Nature Trail (a little steep at first, but great views of the Catalina Mountains),
2. Bridle Trail (pretty flat, lots of deep sand - great for ankles and calves!), and

3. 50 Year Trail (up and over a ridge on fairly rocky terrain)

Around 11 or so miles?

On the way back on the 50 year Trail, I was engrossed in conversation as I can be when I am enjoying a great running partner, when wham! Down I went. Into cactus. My left hand is pretty torn up from the slide on the trail (see gross picture), my left knee is banged up again (how much can you bang up a knee before it revolts?) and I had quite a bit of cactus in my left leg, hands and right arm. I couldn't get out one cactus needle - it is too embedded (ouch!) and it will just have to work itself out, I guess. Laurie was so sweet and happened to have some tweezers back at the trailhead, so I was able to pluck some of the needles out on our trip home.

The lesson? The lesson will be presented until it is learned. I have to keep focus on the trail or else the trail will remind me to do that. Here I am showing off my wounds:

Hey, at least I didn't have to get medical attention! I'm not going to let a little fall stop me from heading back out to the trails!
Great run with Laurie today. Had a blast!

My foot pain has faded, and I'm thinking I might have a arch muscle strain. Doesn't seem to hurt much now that I have fallen!

I wore my new trail Dirty Girl Gaiters today - the pattern is "Iron Butterfly". They were very helpful to keep out all that sand!

When we made our alternate trail plan this morning, Laurie said,

"What's the worst that can happen?"

Seems funny now.

Some apropos running quotes for the day:

"If you want to play the game you have to train."- Unknown

"If you look up, you're going down!"- Unknown

"Adversity introduces a man to himself."- Unknown

Merry Christmas to all my wonderful friends and family!

Hope everyone gave a lot of love to the people around them and received all the love they could handle this year!
Love, Kenny, Renee (Pinkcorker) and Cracker

(Kenny and Renee's 10th Christmas together)

Here is Cracker modeling her new t-shirt:

She is my little mini 'Pinkcorker'! It was her first Christmas with us.

I haven't run since Saturday. My foot still hurts so I'm giving it a few days off of running. I'm praying it is not something more serious (stress fracture). I've been in a lot of fear about it and have seen my whole running season flash before my eyes! If it is not better by Thursday, I'll make an appointment with the doctor and get a bone scan to see what is up. In the meantime, I'll enjoy the friends and family that God has given me to enjoy. :)

'I have always thought of Christmas time, when it has come round, as a good time; a kind, forgiving, charitable time; the only time I know of, in the long calendar of the year, when men and women seem by one consent to open their shut-up hearts freely, and to think of people below them as if they really were fellow passengers to the grave, and not another race of creatures bound on other journeys.' ~Charles Dickens

Okay, Winter has arrived in Tucson

Cold run! I ran with Nancy, Sheryl, Laurie, and Sue this morning - about 15-16 miles. I used my hydration pack and it was so cold that the drink in the hose was slushy. Brrrrrr.........
It was below freezing when we started, but I warmed up quick because I was wearing a lot of clothes (two pairs of gloves, two earwarmer headbands)! It always amazes me how much my body will warm up when I run. I typically overdress, but I am slowly learning not to.

Renee, Laurie, Sue and Sheryl. Nancy is taking our picture.

We ran through the Ft. Lowell Park area, so we got in a little wash/trail running, in addition to a little road running. I felt pretty good and really felt like I could keep running forever (had the 'runners high'). I love those days. Total mileage for the week - about 40.

I'm worried though - my right foot is bothering me badly. The outside bone (not the arch). I'm praying I don't have anything serious....

I'm not running for two days, and then I'm going to try and do trails only the next few weeks and see how that goes.

We saw a Great Dane along the way, who weighed more than we did! I think it really liked me. :) Don't tell Dixie or Cracker.

We did our Christmas gift exchange after our run, and the gals were very generous. Lots of great running stuff from Nancy, Sheryl and Sue, Laurie framed some great pictures of us, and Sue made us some pretty ornaments. Thanks ladies! You all are the best. We all talked about our friend Lisa, whom we miss greatly. She moved to Bend, OR less than a month ago and so we are all adjusting. We love you Lisa!

"I believe in the runner's high, and I believe that those who are passionate about running are the ones who experience it to the fullest degree possible. To me, the runner's high is a sensational reaction to a great run! It's an exhilarating feeling of satisfaction and achievement. It's like being on top of the world, and truthfully... there's nothing else quite like it!" ~ Sasha Azevedo

Every year, the Southern Arizona Roadrunners hosts a non-competitive 5k run through Winterhaven, which is a subdivision in Tucson. Residents who live there put up tons of lights and people from all over Tucson go there to enjoy them. This was my third year in a row doing this run. It is so much fun!

Renee and Sheryl with the very nice Marines.
They were at the entrance where kids can go see Santa Clause. No, I don't own anything red, so I picked the closest color, Pink!

Jim Irish, who is the run director, is a really neat guy. He is the one that does 'Jim's Mystery Run' here in Tucson. He is really cute, but don't tell my husband I said that. :)
No, my husband doesn't read my blog, he just looks at the pictures.
Thanks Jim for another great Christmas run!

Over 200 people showed up this year. Jim recognizes participant's birthdays near the end of the run.

Well, between the crazy rain earlier in the week, and the short run today, I only have 33 miles for the week. However, I did do a 14-15 miler yesterday with Laurie, Nancy, Sue and Sheryl, so I am coming along on my marathon training. The weather in Tucson is warming up (70 degrees tomorrow - yes!) so I'll be getting in the miles this week...

Dixie Dog Run

36 miles run for the week. I did about 13 or so miles with the gals yesterday. We got poured on for two hours. I love running with my friends because they put up with my whining about the rain. :) 19 years of living in New Orleans made me a fan of a dry climate!

Today, I ran with Dixie along the Rillito Wash, which actually had water in it with all the rain we had yesterday! She loves the cooler weather that we are finally having. However, I bet we are still wearing shorts while we are grilling our shrimp outside on Christmas Day!

We went to visit our friends, 'The Goats', on our run today.

I think they told Dixie thanks for coming to visit.

On the Mend

WARNING! Some of the attached pictures might gross some folks out!
My body is healing up well since the trail running accident. My knee still hurts a little, but not when I run, only to the touch. I am applying all sorts of creams to keep the scarring on my arms down to a minimum.

Here is the before picture of the worst injury, which was to my arm, taken 3 weeks ago today, right after the accident (just 4 stitches):

Here is my arm today:

I don't think I heal as fast now as I did when I was younger. I am grateful that it wasn't any worse! Thanks to all my wonderful friends and family for the love and care over the past 3 weeks - I really needed it!

Blogging about Blogs.

"Just because it happened to you doesn't make it interesting!" ~ Unknown

I only ran about 25 miles this week. Getting back into it after being off because of 'THE FALL'. This coming week I begin my marathon training, so I'll be upping the mileage over the next 3.5 months. Bataan Memorial Death March Marathon - March 30, 2008 - I'm getting ready!