I think I am trying to kill myself…I set out yesterday morning with the Ultra club, keep in mind, I am the slowest and least fit of the bunch. They are tolerating me because of my determination, and I always show up. Anyway, I show up thinking I’ll put in the 12 miles this week that I was supposed to put in last week (but only completed 10.5 before almost dying on course). Well, we don’t get 2 miles into the run, when we (two of my very good friends that I run with regularly…even they can leave me in the dust) see another friend that has taken the wrong route…she has taken the LONG route…Well, we know she is not familiar with the trails in this area and decide to follow her in an attempt to catch her…We do this with the full knowledge that the next time we will be in the vicinity of civilization and more importantly, water, is a minimum of 9 miles. We figure the water we are carrying and fuel (food) is enough if we go easy on it, and head in her direction…mountainous, crazy steep hills on a trail that emulates a rollercoaster track.
We start off after our friend as a steady pace…knowing we also have to survive the distance. It gives us a goal to keep moving as we follow the trail over hillsides and mountain tops. One minute we are towering over the desert landscape, and the next we are plunging down to the valley floor only to cross an arroyo that leads us up to the next climb…sure and steady, we make our way, connecting one trail after the other and tipping the scale of no return when we pass the half way mark…to more water…eventually the next water stop grows increasingly closer as we count down the miles.
Fatigue is just starting to settle in as we finally come back in to civilization. We look somewhat ragged, and who would know that the three girls refilling camelbacks have just chased a fourth friend 9 miles through the desert without ever catching sight of her. We leave a message on her phone, telling her our current location and that we have another 6 miles to finish before we will be back at the cars. It is a little diconcerning that she doesn’t answer, but there is little any of us can do before we get ourselves back to the starting point. We start off slow, knowing now that the goal is to just get back to the cars…as we continue on the up and down terrain the sun starts taking it’s toll on us…we welcome a cool breeze and continue the steady climb this side of the course offers. By the time we get to the top, we have gone beyond the initial goal of 12 miles. We are grateful that there is nothing but down hill infront of us, and each take on our own pace as we finish up the most grueling part of…just getting home. In the end, we did a total of 15 miles…and a welcomed return call from the girl we had been following…she was safe and sound heading home, having taken a slightly shorter route in the end.
