On the Trails Again

This past week I have slowly been getting back at it. As in running/training again. On Thursday I started with 6 hill repeats. I needed to wake my legs up per say. Then on Friday I did a nice and easy 6 mile recovery run. I was feeling pretty good. Mentally, it helped to be focused again on running/training. This weekend I had big plans in store for me and Trailmomma, I emailed Trailmomma and we decided upon 16-20 miles starting at the base of stagecoach and doing the Clementine and Overlook loops. We wanted to do loops as the day was going to be super hot. Soon enough our little run of two turned into 5 of our running friends. Awesome, it's always better to run in a large group especially when it is hot.

We arrived at the base of Stagecoach around 6:25 am and were ready to start running around 6:30. It was already muggy when we started. We ran the Clementine loop first as I knew the mountain bikers would be out this nice weekend and I wanted to hit the loop before they started.. I was feeling pretty good, but I also noticed my legs were still recovering from my 50 mile adventure from a few weeks ago.

We finished up the Clementine loop and refueled at the car, I added some more ice and water to my hydration pack and enjoyed a banana and used the restroom. I also realized that the chaffing I had experienced at TRT was not 100% healed and was aggravated and hurt.

Soon we were ready to tackle the next 10 miles which we call the Overlook loop. We climbed the "fully exposed" Stagecoach and I just pitter pattered up this 2 mile climb. Power hiking every so often and just taking in the spectacular view. The climb was warm, but there was some shade, even though I still believe it is fully exposed. A little joke between Trailmomma and myself.

At the top of the climb the group regrouped as Miss P. and Karen tore it up. We hit the pavement and continued on our way. We had a little turkey sighting that made Trailmomma's heart skip a beat. I of course just laughed about it. We hit the water fountain and immediately dosed our bandanas in hopes of staying cool as it was getting really warm. Luckily we had stated early and would hopefully be done before the heat just drained us and baked us in the canyon. Miss P. lead the way and I took up the rear, just keeping the group in my sights. We hit the overlook in no time and again, cooled down. Now we only had 4 miles to go, but it was in the canyon and that was going to be hot.

I was feeling it in my legs and the chaffing was uncomfortable. We saw a lot of our friends on the trail at various points and it was nice to stop and catch up for a bit. That is the great thing about trail running, you can see a ton of your friends even though you may not have started at the same point and it makes for a nice day. We hit the waterfall and again cooled down. Only 2.5 miles to go, but the heat was zapping our energy. I was slowing down and I was sucking my water down. It was hot. The fire road to No Hands Bridge was super hot as it was exposed, but we kept a nice steady pace. We arrived at No Hands crossed over and made our way to Stagecoach for a nice 16 mile run.

I was done, the heat and my legs had had enough. Which was fine, as this was my first weekend running and 16 miles was a nice start. I am looking forward to hitting the trail with these amazing ladies again, the miles ticked by quickly and it was great to on the trails again.

What do I have planned in the upcoming months you may ask? I don't know, I do know that I am enjoying being on the trails again. I look forward to focusing on my fitness and maintaining a nice base.