Mt. Hopkins run with the Tucson Trail Runners

I joined TTR this morning for a run up Mt. Hopkins, which is located South of Tucson near Amado, AZ. The route to the top, the location of the Fred Lawrence Whipple Observatory, is 23.6 miles. I opted for a shorter version, which is to take the mostly dirt road (part of the first or second mile is pavement) to the gate at the top, which was supposed to be 7.8 miles up. After the gate, the paved road to the summit is 4 more miles, so I cut a round trip of 8 miles off. Ross Z., one of the respected group leaders and today's RD (run director), tried to talk me into doing the last 4 miles and then running down the 4 miles back to the gate, whereby someone would drive myself and a few others taking that option down. I gave it thought, and decided to make the decision when I got to the 7.8 mile gate. The distance would be the same either way, but I wasn't sure I wanted do the additional 1,000+ feet of elevation gain. The run starts at about 4,200 feet elevation and is 8,550 at the top of Mt. Hopkins. Total elevation gain was about 3,000 feet for about 16 miles round trip, and 4,350 feet for the 23.6 miles round trip. The weather was so nice this morning, very cool and crisp. It did warm up a little as the morning went on, but the breeze made most of the run super comfortable.Less than 10 of us headed out right into the sun, which was getting ready to peek over the mountains. Ross and some other guy (Michelle's SO, not sure of his name) were on bikes, and runners included Troy, Nate, Mindy, Julie, Michelle, and Joel (I think that was his name). Nate took off fast in the lead, followed by Julie and Joel, then Mindy, then Troy, myself and Michelle. Here are Mindy and Nate at the start (they are a couple and just super cute):

The dirt road is a nice, gentle grade, a little steep in spots, but definitely runnable. My legs were a little sore from yesterday's race (as were the tops of my feet, which I attribute to the deep sand on the course), so at first I ran the more level spots and hiked the steeper uphills. Although I had achy legs in the beginning, eventually, my legs warmed up and my energy level kicked in and I found myself running quite a bit of the uphill as well. I passed Troy at some point, who was doing amazing considering he just ran a super hard marathon yesterday (yes, yesterday!). We chatted for a few minutes, but then I ran alone the rest of the way to the top. Here is Troy against a backdrop of one of the many beautiful views on the way up:I made it to the gate at 1:49, which was under my 2 hour 'guestimate'. The views were beautiful all of the way up. Here I am at the gate, the entrance to the Whipple Observatory:

At the gate, I saw Mindy. She was trying to decide what she should do and so we both talked about it and determined that we would run back down. What fun! I love running downhill. It wasn't too steep running down; it was just right. We made pretty good time, making it down in about 1:16, for a total run time of 3:05 for me. Mindy had clocked pretty close to 16 miles total for us on her Garmin. I think I talked her head off (too much caffeine?) but she was super nice and such great company.

I didn't make it to the top, where the views are supposed to be incredible, so I'll have to save that for another day. I am considering doing the total 23.6 miles as a training run next month for the Tucson Marathon, to give my legs some good downhill training. I had a blast, though and felt like it was a perfect distance for me today, given the race yesterday.

I hung out afterwards with Mindy while we waited for others to come down. Once Ross got back, he broke out the most amazing stash of snacks and drinks! I think it was the largest and most fantastic spread of food I have ever seen at a run or race! There were also 4 aid station volunteers out there today (can't remember all of the names!) who were on the top with food and drinks. I snacked a bunch and talked with everyone for quite a while.

I then headed back to Tucson, first stopping on the way at my in-laws brand new house in Sahuarita for an afternoon visit, which was great.

The only thing that could have made this a better day is to have come home to my wonderful husband. He'll be home tomorrow and I can't wait.

We might be adopting another dog, a Louisiana Catahoula (hey, that's where I'm from!) More on that later....

44 miles for the week. 27 this weekend. Whew! I think it is finally time for the ice bath. Brrr.

Mt. Wrightson Ascent

I finally got up the courage to join the Tucson Trail Runners for my first event ever with them and their first event of the season - the Mt. Wrightson Ascent. Mt. Wrightson is located south of Tucson (about an hour or so) in the Santa Rita mountains and is the highest peak in the area. It is in the beautiful Madera Canyon recreation area. Even though I have lived in Tucson 22 years, I have never been there, although I have always heard such wonderful things about it.

I caught a ride with Bruce and his friend Joel, which was nice, so I didn't have to worry about finding the place. All the way down to Madera Canyon, I kept thinking to myself, "Are you crazy? You aren't in the same league with these people! What were you thinking?" I always have fear that I'm going to look bad with a new group of people. I'm not sure when I'll get over it, but at least I can recognize how ridiculously ridiculous the thoughts are and I still take action in spite of the fear.

Anyway, when we arrived, the weather was a little cool, which was perfect! I immediately found Joyce, who I had met at the Tucson Trail Runner potluck, so it was nice to see a familiar, friendly face! She is about one of the nicest people you'd ever want to meet.There were about 20 people there to do the run. It starts in Madera Canyon at 5,420 feet elevation and goes up to the top of Mt. Wrightson, which is at 9,453 feet elevation. Whew! I knew it would be a hike up at best, since it is only about 5.4 miles up. 4,000 foot elevation gain in 5.4 miles! Hike, hike, hike. My plan was to take the Old Baldy trail up, but then cut over to the Super Trail on the way down.
There were quite a few decent runnable spots on the way up, but it was pretty steep most of the way, especially near the top, so I did do a lot of hiking going up. I paused for a moment at the memorial for the 3 Boy Scouts who died in 1958 when an unpredicted storm hit the area; I had read about it previously in a hiking book. How sad. Such a reminder that nature is unpredictable. I have a lot of respect for nature and the power it holds.

I finally made it to the summit in 1 hour and 59 minutes! Ed was so nice to capture the last part of my ascent and my 'touchdown!' gesture. Thanks Ed for the pictures! The views from the top of Mt. Wrightson are pretty spectacular - 360 degrees. Although I was excited to be at the top, I didn't take much time to rest. Because it had taken me so long to get there, I figured I better hurry on down and not make anyone have to wait on me. After talking with some others, and given the time factor, I decided to just take Old Baldy trail back down, since Super Trail is longer. What I also heard is how overgrown the Super Trail was, and after having Butterfly trail flashbacks, I decided to forgo!

It took me about 1.5 hours to get back down. I was able to run quite a bit, but the rest was slow going because of the: 1) steepness, 2) overgrowth on trail (not like Butterfly trail, though!) 3) rocks and roots and 4) because going up wore my legs out! Total time up and down was about 3.5 hours. Not bad. I wish I was a little faster, but I'm just not in that kind of speed hiking/running shape and I was also playing it safe.

Oh, but the wildflowers were amazing! Lots of yellows (fields of them!), purples, reds and whites. Just so pretty. And the trail is very shaded for much of the way, which was delightful.

I saw a lot of wildlife - 2 large deer, a squirrel, a hummingbird, lots of beautiful butterflies, and a snake (King snake?) The deer bolted too quick for a picture. I had to leap over the snake - he didn't seem very interested in moving - he was right smack in center of the trail. Lots of bees because of the wildflowers. After reading Jeff's blog post about the bee, I made sure I kept my mouth closed.

A lot of runners were already in when I arrived, but there were still a few out on the trail, so we all chatted for a bit. The runners that took the Super trail down were pretty scratched up and were already starting to itch, so I made a good choice skipping that one! Just as the last runners came in, fat raindrops started coming down, so the whole crowd split pretty quick.

I forgot to mention - on the way down Old Baldy trail, I ran into Troy! He mentioned he was running late getting to the trailhead and quickly sped past me on the way to the summit of Mt. Wrightson. Unfortunately, I had to leave before he got back down. I swear that guy has the biggest smile I've ever seen. It was great to see him.

The fastest guy got up to the top in around 1:15. Crazy! The Tucson Trail Runners are a pretty fast and experienced group of trail runners, and I enjoyed my first run with them very much.

I'm already sore from the run. I think I overstrided a little too much coming down (some fast descending!) which has caused my shin to ache a little. I'll just take it easy for a few days.

I ate raisins for this run and had lots of energy. They are much cheaper and have everything and more than do other energy blocks/gels, except salt. However, I use Nuun electrolyte replacement, so I should be fine. The combo seems to be working good. And raisins are a lot cheaper than Clif blocks, which are my favorite. I'll still use the blocks from time to time, but on longer runs, they almost get too sweet for me.

Next up: training the next two weekends with Shari, and possibly Julie, for the upcoming Catalina State Park 11 mile trail race on September 27th. We'll be out at Catalina State Park running the exact course to get ready. Shari saw a bobcat (mountain lion?) out there the other day when she was by herself (not on the course, but on the road). We should be fine in a group, but I think she got a pretty good adrenaline rush! Makes for a good story, Shari!

Touchdown! Bagged a peak! Life is good.