morning - 15.5 Navajo Trail. Twix and I parked a Little Black Mountain and took the Navajo Trail road instead of he LBM loop. When we got out to the power line where the road turns, we continued straight and eventually came to this amazing canyon. So we ran the wash through the canyon for a few miles. It was so envigorating and beautiful. I didn't want to leave and hoped to run the whole canyon, but the miles were adding up and we still had to get back. Twix found some hideous dead animal and was wanting to chomp it, so I had to convince her that wasn't a good idea. Eventually, we found a spot where we could climb out of the canyon. On the way up, I found a decent little four point shed that had been washed down the rocks in a flash flood. Also saw lots of amazing cactus including barrel and cholla. Had to boonie crash for a couple miles until we found the road and started back toward he car. Twix didn't mind and was still hammering after everything that moved - I bet she put in at least 18 miles this morning. The roads were thawing and getting a bit muddy by the end, so it was super slick, but so awesome. The views of the desert were awesome and Pine Valley was maybe the most amazing I have ever seen it! Super glad I took the GoPro - I'll post some pics on fb or something. (VertK 581.75) Week was up and down, but today was soul fulfilling and was really what running is all about. Probably the most fun I have had running since the Virgin Rim. Goals for next week: keep strengthening the knee (felt decent most of the week, but did hurt a bit today when I was climbing out of the canyon - it is the steeper, unstable stuff that is causing the last bits of pain). Been working on both achilles for months, but gotta get those feeling better. Gonna try and do the workouts with the team this week; we'll see how that goes. | 