2:00:15. These were not easy miles. I ran near the Campbell Mesa area (like I did last week), but this time after a 2.5 mile connector trail I got off on the Arizona trail. There are two Arizona trails at this trailhead, named C and D on the trail maps, but not named at the trailhead. I was going to run on the D - and it is supposed to head up along the Walnut Canyon area (this is an area that has some really cool Indian Cliff Dwellings). Anyway - the C trail looked really hard on the trail map, so I chose the D trail (only 500 ft elevation gain). Hurump. So, I found the trail, good. Then I ran for about 2 miles and all was great, it was a relatively easy trail and I was only at 6800 ft, so my breathing was pretty good - my thought was an hour out and an hour back. The next thing I knew I was loosing elevation fast ... the trail got rough and there were tons of switchbacks. I ended up at the bottom of the canyon!!! It was pretty, but I dropped at least 500 ft in about a mile, then the trail started heading back up the mountain on the other side!! Crud! This is not what I was expecting. I kept telling myself, "man, if this is the easy trail I can't even imagine what the hard trail looks like!". I ran up for a while, I couldn't breath and the footing was tough. Finally, I looked at my watch and realized I had only gone about 5 miles! If I kept up with this and turned around in another 3 miles I was going to have a tough time on the way back (plus it was about 88F and I did not have water with me). So, I decided to turn around and then finish my run on the "Mesa" where I ran last week. I felt completely demoralized. Despite knowing that I am not completely acclimated to the altitude I was disappointed at how much I was sucking wind, and criminy - this was supposed to be an easy trail (well, the D trail is called "moderate" for hiking). After I got to the Arizona trailhead, I realized I had turned the wrong way and had been running on the C trail -- whew!!! I ran on the C trail (only about 300 ft elevation gain over 2-3 miles, much nicer, and only at 6400 ft). Still, my legs were shot from the 2 miles on the other trail and I really had to mentally regroup during this run. I had stashed some water that I was able to get at mile 9 or so, and that helped a lot (I think I was dehydrated at the start). A nice thunderstorm rolled in during my last 4 miles, which made it much cooler (because of the cloud cover) -- but I swear at one point it seemed like the lightening struck right next to me! As soon as this happened I remembered that the fire that had burned on Campbell Mesa two weeks ago was caused by lightening! HA. I think I ran faster after I remembered that -- I couldn't wait to get to the burned part of the forest, because I figured, statistically, the lightening wouldn't hit there again this week ;-). So goes my 3rd awesome long run in Flagstaff -- one more to go, next week Schultz Creek trail! Happy Sunday bloggers, I hope you are enjoying your day with your family!
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