Holy crap, that was hard!

I’m one week from the Philly Marathon and its pretty much all I can think about.  Had a couple of good rides with Matt, this week, and an awesome trail run on Thursday – knocking out 6 solid miles in complete and total darkness the whole time.  Not to worry, my friends, I managed to stay upright for the entirety of the 6 miles – even though my headlamp faded and faded and faded as I made my way back to the trailhead.

The ride was SUPER windy on Friday - I was overheated and took my arm warmers off 1/2 way through!

The trail I always run is the Desert Classic and runs along the base of the south side of South Mountain.  I’ve always been told that the 3 miles out and back that I do each week are the toughest of the 9.25 mile trail, but never having had the opportunity to see more than my usual route – I was always curious about the rest of the trail.

I guess you can tell where this is going.  These last couple of weeks of training are where we taper – less and less and less mileage to prepare our bodies for the 26.2 in front of us.  I thought “well, this week only calls for 10 miles, so I will do the 9.25 mile Desert Classic from stem to stern.”  Fortunately, it ends about a mile and a half from my house.

Kris agreed to pick me up at 6:45am, this morning, and plunk me off at the trailhead on Desert Foothills/Chandler Blvd.  The rest would be up to me.  I made sure to wear my Achilles brace and headed out as the sun rose over the hillside.  It was gorgeous.

By the time I reached my usual turn around spot, I was feeling good, if not a little nervous about what was in front of me.  Matt had told me that the next couple of miles were fairly flat and that I needed to really pay attention to the mile markers to make sure I wouldn’t detour off on to some other trail that intersected with the Desert Classic.  So, the night before I memorized the trail map provided by the city of Phoenix (online).

Sadly, my memorization skills weren’t good enough as I reached a fork in the trail around mile 5.25.  I guessed that it would be to the right and headed down and down and down this lovely trail which situated me right in the midst of a parking lot and Ahwatukee neighborhood.  “CRAP!”  I thought.  I turned around to head back into the hills and quickly came upon two mountain bikers.  Yep, they confirmed that about ½ mile up I had chosen poorly.  It wound up being a 1.2 mile detour – and the route back to the fork was all up, up and up. (sigh)

I was relieved when I hit the spot of my error and back on track to finish the run – but at that point, I knew this 9.25 mile run would be a good mile and some further.  I had to regroup mentally – especially considering what was in front of me.  The next 4-5 miles were up and down and up and down and up and down – the inclines were steep as hell, too.  It became one of the hardest things I have ever done.  Mix those abrupt elevation changes with constant mountain biker traffic and it was an exercise in agility and patience, as well.

See my stupid detour -- sticks out like a sore thumb!

Right around mile 10.5, I hit a HUGE climb and decided it wasn’t worth it – so I walked for a minute to the top.  Then, back on my feet to the parking lot just west of 48th Street and Guadalupe Road.  The lot was packed with cars and people were spilling out everywhere making my navigation through the moving parallel parking cars and mountain bikes difficult.  But then I coasted home.  As I finished the trail my watch beeped 11 miles.  I entertained walking home, but 1.5 miles is a LONG way to walk – and I told Anne I would meet her for breakfast around 9:20am.  I was definitely going to miss that mark – even if I ran, so rather than delaying food any more than I should – I ran home.  The pavement felt strangely good, after 11 miles on the trails.  Total mileage to my house?  12.6 miles.

Home!  

It should also be known that I woke up to 42 degree temps in Phoenix.  It always pisses me off a little when the temps in Phoenix are colder than my home town in Illinois – and this morning was simply one of those mornings.  I suppose its good practice for Philly, next weekend, eh?

Oh….BIG NEWS!  The bike is here and resting comfortably in my house!  I took it out for a short 30 minutes yesterday to make sure I could get in and out of my clips.  I think I’ve got it – but not without some form of injury in the process.  Tomorrow, Matt and I have a nice long, flat ride planned – I cannot wait to see how she performs!

Isn't she a beaut!

My FIT appt!

sigh...Klutz!

Next blog…post marathon, people!