Oh, heaven. I am in Flagstaff where it is COOL and beautiful. I ran with my sister and husband at Buffalo Park, where I have run many a cross country meet and where my love of running began 15 years ago. There are sweeping views of the peaks. My husband kind of did his own thing. My quads were a little sore.
I ran about 10:00 pace by myself and about 11:00+ pace when running with my sister. It felt surprisingly easy, even at 7600 feet. I think the cool weather makes such a difference, and the effort felt about the same as it does in Phoenix. There is one steep downhill section that is pretty short, and my pace got down to about 8:00 on that section.
At about 3.3 miles, my sister wanted to walk, so I walked with her for a while. Then I ran another mile on my own. Afterwards, we stopped at a local coffee shop, and I got an espresso milkshake. Perfect end to a perfect run! |