Deer Trail #99 - Flagstaff, AZ

by Maria Torres

The only way to define your limits is by going beyond them. - Anonymous

I have put in a lot of miles since my last post, and the ten mile run in Flagstaff, AZ, was by far the most eventful. David and I had planned a weekend getaway in Flagstaff the weekend of August 15th, and one of the highlights was going to be our long run on Saturday. Telluride is an amazing little town, but it is just that: little. You can only run the same path so many times before getting a little bored. So on Friday we printed off several maps of trails in the area and headed down to Flagstaff. We wanted to go on Saturday morning so we could get the run out of the way, but disaster hit...insomnia! As long as I can remember, it has always hit me in waves. I go about 4 nights in a row with little or no sleep, and then I am fine for several weeks. Prior to leaving for Flagstaff, I hadn't been sleeping well so I knew it was a possibility. It was especially bad on that Friday night though. Before finally dosing off from 5 a.m. - 6:30 a.m., I tried pretty much everything to fall asleep. I watched the Olympics, complete with late night Ambien commercials (they market to insomniacs in the middle of the night, FYI), and had even listened to an entire thunderstorm come and go. It was so frustrating because I knew I'd feel like the living dead on Saturday and wouldn't be able to run. I also felt bad because I knew David wouldn't want to go without me. That's exactly what happened, so instead we spent the day exploring the town and shopping. We ate Indian food that night (delicious), bought an OTC sleeping aid at Wal-Mart, and decided we'd just get up early on Sunday.

We headed out for Deer Trail #99 early after a pretty rushed continental breakfast - David refused to let me wait in line for a fresh Belgian waffle, which was probably a good thing in retrospect. That might not have been the best "energy food," but it sure sounded good at the time. When we finally arrived at the trail, a sign said that it was about .6 miles to the actual trailhead. David seemed very reluctant to leave me and run up ahead (he runs faster than me), but after I assured him several times that I'd be fine & that it looked safe, he felt better. We did agree that if there were any confusing areas or forks along the path that he would turn around and come back to tell me which way to go. Anyone who knows me knows that if there is any possible way to get lost, I will find it. So off we finally went, and that was the last we saw of each other until an hour and a half later...

I never saw David on my run, and I just assumed he ran up ahead thinking there were no confusing parts on the trail. Every once in a while I would look down to see if his footprints were in the dirt, but I didn't ever really get worried because it seemed perfectly safe to me. When I saw him waving his arms in the distance an hour and a half into the run, I was actually more annoyed than anything. I thought, "just because he's celebrating being finished with his 10 miles doesn't mean I can yet." When I got close enough to see him, I was surprised to discover that he was actually yelling at me. What in the world?! He had what looked like - I can't be sure - tears in his eyes (shhhh!) and looked terrified. To add insult to injury, because I didn't immediately understand the gravity of the situation, I was still set on finishing up my run. Yeah, that didn't go over so well with David.

Apparently, David made it 2 minutes into his run (we know this because it was saved on his Ipod) before turning back and discovering that I was nowhere to be found. When he ran back to find me, I wasn't there, and we still can't figure out how I took a different route and ended up on the right trail. Not only did he not get to do his run, but he also had a search party out looking for me...complete with park rangers, folks on horseback (not even kidding), and hikers. He ran back to the car, left a note on it, and then proceeded to twist his ankle three times while looking for me. Apparently I had also missed a sign that warned of mountain lions in the area, so he had pretty much decided I'd been dragged off the trail for mountain lion lunch. He had even called his dad to figure out what to do! [As an aside, his dad was talking this over with his sister, including the possibility of a mountain lion attack. His little nieces, who were over swimming at his parents' house, must have overheard this. So when his mom got home, his nieces ran to the door proclaiming, "Maria was dragged off by mountain lions!!"] I felt absolutely horrible. We plan to invest in some walkie-talkies before our next long run to avoid any future crises.

It took time for David to relax, but we had a great day after that. Before heading back to Telluride, we went to the Grand Canyon and took these:

Since I knew I'd be in Las Vegas the next weekend for my friend Sara's bachelorette party, I ran all my longer runs before I left. After the 10 miles on Sunday, I ran 3 on Monday, 7 on Tuesday, and 5 on Wednesday. I only had 3 left to run while I was in Las Vegas, and that didn't ever happen. So this week, I have to run every day Tuesday-Saturday to catch up. I'm actually looking forward to it so I can get back into marathon mode! :)

Camelbak saves the day

by Maria Torres

The training schedule called for a 9 mile run this weekend, and it was a lot more difficult than I had expected. I actually ended up running 9.9 miles because I decided to run for time (90 min.) instead of distance, but that's not what made it such a hard run.

Sunday was an unusually hot and dry day in Telluride. No clouds were out to help shield me from the heat, and no afternoon showers rolled in to cool everything down. I shouldn't complain because it would probably feel like the Arctic to my Dad and Stacy - the blistering summer heat in Arkansas and Oklahoma has undoubtedly added an extra obstacle to their training. But I've been spoiled by the consistently mild temperatures here lately. Usually the most I have to worry about is being struck by lightning, and even then I think I could outrun it ;)

I ran a new trail along the San Miguel River this weekend, and with that came a new challenge. Initially, I planned to run the 9 miles on a different - and far easier - trail, but when I got to the trailhead I saw that no dogs were allowed. Since the dogs needed exercise, I chose a trail I knew nothing about (except that dogs were allowed). The trail ended about 40 min. into my run, and until I turned around to head back, I didn't realize I had been running on a very gradual downward slope. No wonder I felt so great! But the slope became very apparent as soon as I started the second half back up the same way - my legs felt like lead and it seemed like I was barely moving. It took me a while longer to run the second half than it did the first half, and I was exhausted! I think paranoia also set in somewhere around the halfway point after I spotted some bear droppings on the trail. The rest of the run I was constantly checking over my shoulder, convinced I was being stalked. Getting eaten alive would probably have been less painful than running at that point ;) I did like the trail - I'll just have to mentally prepare myself for the uphill part next time.

On a couple of the longer runs, I have finished so dehydrated that I can't even work up spit in my mouth (how's that for a nice lil mental image?). So before running on Sunday, I decided that I needed to figure out a way to carry fluids with me on my longer runs. Because I'm pretty sure I'd look like a big dork toting around a "water belt," which is a fanny pack-type thing that you can carry water in, I decided to check out some Camelbaks. Luckily, the store I went to had one with my name written all over it! It lays flat against my back for running, and even has pink in it. What's that? You want to see a picture of it? Okay!
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I filled it with very diluted Gatorade for the run and it worked out really well. You all will be glad to know that I still had spit in my mouth at the end of my run! haha

Next weekend is my 10 mile run, and hopefully it goes at least a little more smoothly than Stacy's did (see her latest post). Check back soon!

10 miles down!

by Stacy Hogle

It has been about a week and a half since I last blogged about my training, and I have been going strong. Last Saturday I finished a 9 mile run (week 4) and it went much better than I had expected. I set my alarm for 5:45am and made it to the trail at 6:30am. It was hard to roll out of bed, but I knew it was going to be hot and humid so it had to be an early run day. I ran at a place in Muskogee called Hatbox, it has a running trail that is a 3.2 mile loop. I went out 2.5 miles then back to the Tahoe to complete 5 miles. At my car I briefly stopped to grab some Gatorade and timed myself walking for 1 minute to let my stomach settle. After a minute I kicked it into high gear and went back out 2 miles and came back to total the 9 mile run. While I was running I saw a lot of cute little bunnies and some very interesting people. One fellow was running in a big t-shirt, jean shorts and had his two pit bulls with spikey collars following him NOT on leashes. I politely smiled and said hi while making sure my pepper spray was very visible. Weird...was he running for exercise? To a friends house? From the police maybe??? I never saw him again so I think he was taking a short cut. Luckily there were plenty of cute old men riding their bikes so it was fun to wave and say hi when we passed each other.



I ran the same trail this morning. It is cooler today so I got out there at 7:30am to allow myself to sleep in a bit. It's too bad my dogs Rebel and Jimmy didn't get the memo...they wanted to go outside around 6am. I need my beauty sleep!!! Remembering that last weeks 9 mile run wasn't too bad I thought the 10 miler would be a piece of cake. I was so wrong! When I got out to Hatbox and put on my Garmin Forerunner 205 (GPS running watch) and tried to turn it on it would not do anything. I have been running with my Garmin for almost a year and it has never missed a run or bike ride. I was then horrified to realize that my Ipod shuffle would not turn on either..what in the world is going on?? Luckily I had my Ipod Nano in the car and was able to use it for some running tunes. I felt so naked without my Garmin...I hope it just had a bad day and that it is not dead forever! I finished 5 miles and stopped at the car again to grab some Gatorade. I am trying to train myself to be able to stop at 5 miles to grab a quick drink then jump right back into running again, so far so good. I took a few quick drinks then headed back out to the trail, that is when I noticed my ponytail getting loose. I took out my ponytail holder and when I tried to put my hair back up it snapped in half. WTF!!! I wanted to quit and call it a day, but I was able to tie two ends into a knot and like they say on Project Runway "Make it work!" I was very discouraged but kept on moving and finished the 10 miles. I don't know my time since my Garmin died but at least I finished.



Now, if I can only get the right running shoes so my feet don't turn into a huge blister and fall off that would be great. I have been having trouble with my New Balance being too short so my toes have been blistering and I bought an Asic Kayano 14 last week that almost crippled me after 6 miles. Hopefully the Nikes I ordered will work. I ran in them during the Half Marathon and they treated me well. If you know anyone that likes Asics and wears a women's 9.5 let me know. I will sell them at a deeply discounted price! They only have 6 miles on them :)

Still running strong

by Maria Torres

Well, I've almost finished with four weeks of training - I still have 9 miles to run this weekend - and am still as excited as ever! That's not to say there haven't been days where running is just about the last thing I want to do, but it's nice having a schedule I feel compelled to follow. Plus, Sooie has now come to expect her daily runs, and she starts biting me to let me know when it's time...thanks Sooie! She's a little drill sergeant!

Other things that have helped keep me motivated include: my TWO new running skorts (see Stacy's post below), a new running playlist on my Ipod with remixes from none other than DJ Stev, thunderstorms - I love running in the rain, and my goal not to miss a single run in the training program. If I skip a run, I just make up for it on an "off" day so I can stay on track. I feel pretty confident about the marathon at this point, and I think it will stay that way if I just follow the program.

This past month, I have been extremely careful to watch out for rocks on trails so I don't turn my ankle. I have extremely weak ankles, and have had problems with them my entire life. It seems that every time I start running seriously, I end up stepping on my ankle and having to stop running until it heals. My whole foot turns purple and my ankle swells to about 5 times its normal size. And then, once I start running again, I'll twist it. In the words of Franck from the movie Father of the Bride..."Lots of fun!" I would be so upset if something like that happened before the marathon, so I'm just being very cautious. Sometimes that means running slower than I really want to, but it's worth it until my ankle gets stronger.

I'll keep you posted with a post :) on how the 9 miles goes!