Sunday, July 24, 2011

Total Distance: 5.2 m
Time: 51:00
Location: Treadmill, South Mountain Park(Pyramid Trail)
Total Miles: 223.00 m
Total Time: 34:57
Total Elevation Gain: 800 ft

The last week and a half has been pretty unspectacular. I had planned on reintroducing myself to the alpine forests of Flagstaff this past weekend with the hopes of getting in atleast one longer run either before or after my friend Rob and I hiked Humphrey's Peak, the highest peak in the state. This was not to be. I had packed all my running gear and headed north with anticipation of the hike and the impending run. Upon arrival we found that Weatherford Trail, the main trail to the summit, was closed due to logging somewhere up along the first ridge so we had to head down to Humphrey's Trail to make our connection to Weatherford, then to the top. It was a hot day, about 85 degrees or so, so I knew that that would take a little extra effort on both our parts to make it in one piece to the summit. I realized soon after we had started that Rob was not going to make it to the top this day. He was complaining of a headache and further up started to cramp up so I knew that this was going to take a little longer than expected. We made it to the first saddle which lies about 400 feet from the summit in good time but I knew that it would take a miracle to coax Rob into making it that last 400 feet which I knew he was capable of.
In summarizing the day, Rob said "No Mas", around the 12,500 feet mark and I proceeded to tell him to stay put and I would be back down in a jiffy and I darted up the rugged talus field hopping, zig zagging to and from. After reaching the top I took in the views and decided to get back asap. No more than 15 steps from the summit I stepped off of a rock and turned my ankle in the loose volcanic rock bed that covers the summit. At first I did not think it was a bad sprain, which in hindsight is was not, but as I tightened my shoe and put on my game face for Rob I realized that I would have to hop on one leg for the next 4.5 miles back down to the parking lot. Not cool.
I will spare you the long, gory details of agony, etc. and just say that it was a long day. So to make a long story short, no long awaited Flagstaff trail run ensued. So, after a week of no running or physical activity at all for that matter I was able to make it out to South Mountain for a shorter heat drenched jaunt on Pyramid Trail in the center of the park. It was hot, I was out of water, and I did not have the mental toughness to push through a medium length run so I called it a day after just 3.2 miles albeit with a decent amount of uphill.
I am looking forward to the remainder of the summer though.

1 comment:

  1. Tough outing at Humphrey's, but glad your back at it man. This heat has been relentless! It has been tough to escape.

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