and THIS ...
for THIS ...
yup! not even 24 hours off the plane, and i went from running in -25 weather, to +25!. first kool spot - a desert-like section of the arizona trail with the captain, everhard and liz (now known as DiDi) ...
it was definitely a scorcher, but i wasn't complaining!
amazing blue sky ...
cap and DiDi did 20k, i managed 31, and keener everhard pulled off a marathon! 4+ hours of sweet, WARM trail bliss!
sunday, we traveled to tucson and did a 2 mile couples valentine run relay! i think me and cap placed 3rd in the old fart's category! after a couple cookies and half a donut (yes, i was very bad this trip), we said good-bye to DiDi and everhard, and me and cap headed to saguaro national park for another 'little' run! this trail was totally different from the first, with big tall 'coyote/roadrunner' cactus!
there were a few good climbs ...
but the view made them totally worthwhile. we put in almost 3 hours at this spot!
tuesday we ran the sabino canyon trail ...
another blue sky day, with a nice little mile climb to start ...
although the temp was close to 30, we were blessed with a bit of shade from the canyon wall!
coming back down was a little harry, as right around this spot, some poor old guy tripped on something and started sliding down into the canyon! i yelled for the cap and we ran back to try and help. luckily his fall was broken about 20' down by a big cactus! we pulled him up, and after telling us he was fine, he went on his way! wow! i would have still been lying there crying like a school girl!
i really wanted a pic of me doing a handstand against a cactus, but we couldn't seem to find a good one! so i settled for this ...
we put in just over two and a half hours, and i was loving every second - especially after hearing temps of minus yuck and snow back home ...
wednesday was my last day for running - good thing too, the cap was getting tired after having the three of us for 2 weeks! we decided on the madera canyon - totally different again ...
kinda similar to the trails in bc, but with about a half dozen different types of oak trees!
sigh - another beauty day in paradise ...
after a very challenging 4 mile climb to the top, we were rewarded with some sweet single track on the way down!
i even managed to get a couple kool shots of the creek ...
and hahahahahaha! here's what my picture page on my phone looked like after the cap tried to get a bunch of shots with the camera facing the wrong way! he couldn't figure out why he couldn't see me...
ah, but we eventually got it sorted out!
what an incredible way to end my trip. another 2 and a half hours of heaven! i was sad when we made it back to the car. big big thanks to captain and bev for housing me for a week! i hope the TWO pecan pies made up for it a little ...
and then, i came home to this - lots of snow ...
and a minus 37 run on sunday ...
sigh ...
