Leavin’ on a jet plane!
Ok…unfortunately in the wrong direction as we are heading home from a
long weekend in Arizona where I was once again reminded that there are tons of
places on this ball called Earth that don’t ever get cold and therefore don’t completely
suck for 3-4-5 months a year……
Our trip was multi-purpose as we were spending time with
Mark’s Dad, spectating for the Arizona Ironman and trying to have something
resembling a vacation.
Thursday we had a really, really early flight which got us
to the Phoenix area I think 9am-ish.
Having lunch on an outdoor patio reminded me there is hope for life
between November and April and definitely de-stressed my brain. I told myself I would try to stay off my phone/email
as much as possible on this trip and for the most part I succeeded. We also got to go for a great trail run on
Thursday PM before heading over to have dinner with Brandon and Theresa and
catching up with them pre-Ironman. It
was a wonderfully warm, difficult trail run.
At least for us coming from the Midwest.
450 feet of elevation change, lots of rocks, switchbacks and
“stairclimbing” made me really feel like we were doing a REAL trail run. I loved it.
It was harder than hell but I absolutely loved it. Such a great change of scenery from the paved
world we live in.
Friday we got to go visit White Tank Mountains and go for a
long birding hike through the park.
Mark’s Dad was able to join us and put up with our crazy random stops to
try and hunt down birds we heard in the distance. Little fact I picked up this day was that the
standard cactus we all know grows so slow, it takes 50 years for it to get its
first “arm”. And we came across a number
of little lizards that seemed as curious of us as we did of it. Best photo of the day I think though was us
finally getting our eyes on a Gila woodpecker not on a tree but in the middle
of a trail munching on what looked like a smashed cheeto.
Saturday was an early wake-up call. We did it to ourselves. As usual we couldn't help but see if there
was an interesting race worth running while we were in a new area and found the
Pass Mountain Trail Run. We signed up
for the 12k and once again learned how difficult real trail running can be and
how much fun it is. Honestly, most of
the race course wouldn't never fly in the Midwest. They would rope it off and consider it too
dangerous to navigate. Here in the
Southwest, you run on singletrack type hiking trails and just try not to trip
on the rocks or slip on the way up or down hills so steep you would call it
mildly technical. Oh and no “passing in
the grass” like you do in Midwest trail runs.
Here you’re likely to meet up with a cactus plant that wants to burrow
into your skin. (more on that here
shortly…..). But we had a really fun time
and will absolutely continue with trail running.
After the run, since we were way on the other side of the
Phoenix area, we decided to stay over there and do some sightseeing and birding
and geocaching. Our trek took us on a
long and winding road up at Superstition Mountain to the Tortilla Flat. This is via one of those roads that makes
you a little nervous. Up a winding, super skinny road on the mountain side with
very few places to pull over and not go hurdling down the cliff-side. The actual town of Tortilla Flat is an old
cowboy type place with a restaurant known for its hot chili and dollar bills
lining all the walls. Highlight I think
though was the Prickly Pear gelato from the General Store. Seriously….if you ever see this on the
menu….get it!
We went after a few geocaches on our way back down and one
of them we ended up getting close to but didn't make the grab since it felt a
little too much like one of us was going to fall to our death off the
cliff. It was a terrain of 3 but
honestly with the way I was having butterflies in my stomach getting across a
few spots I’d say it bordered on more of a 4.
Granted we got a couple really cool scenery pictures and while lining up
a photo of Mark I caught a bald eagle fly overhead.
And then as if our legs weren't tired enough, we found a
beautiful hike at Lost Dutchmen State Park.
2.4 mile loop up very close to the mountain side and again on trails
that would without a doubt be closed in any park in the Midwest. If you weren't pretty sure of your strength
and footing then this trail was not for you.
Our legs were exhausted but I would recommend it to anyone. We were lucky enough to be there an hour or
so before sunset too so the lighting was super pretty.
Along the trail I finally had to give in to one of my random
curiosities. There are many different
types of cactus plants in Arizona but this one really intrigued me. It was little a tree that dropped these crazy
green balls completely covered in thorns.
Maybe the size of a golf ball but we figured out these little balls
likely rolled around in the wind and then would root themselves down in
different places. I wanted to know if I
could pick one up. The best way I can
explain my curiosity is like that of a small child that keeps getting told
“don’t touch that, it’s hot!”….until you know what “hot” is, you don’t really
know why to avoid it. So with extremely
gentle touch I put my fingers around the little ball and it quickly burrowed
itself into my fingers. I’m telling you
that little thing has a life of its own and grabs you more than you grab it. Was sort of funny, while it stung at the same
time. I had to have Mark step on it to get it to let go. One small puncture wound later, I now have a
better understanding of why you never want to come in contact with a
cactus.
Sunday was Ironman Arizona so an extremely early morning to
get up and over to Tempe before the swim start.
Having both participated and spectated the entire day of an Ironman
before it was a lot of fun. Knowing the
little tricks like watching the swim start for no more than 30 seconds and then
booking it to the nearest breakfast location before the line is out the door
and around the corner. And watching the
final athletes make and not make the swim cut off time. There was a group of 5 swimmers all coming
towards the exit in the final few seconds and all of us spectators were yelling
and cheering so loud for them to make it in time. It’s very exciting and stressful and
heartbreaking. 4 of them made it and 1
of them missed it by less than 30 seconds.
Missing the cutoff by a few minutes is one thing but missing it by
seconds is so much worse I think.
We were able to catch Brandon and Theresa all over the
course and it was fun to run into Jon and Dana along the bike course. We didn't know they were going to be out from
MN too spectating for Alex who was doing his 3
rd Ironman. Only saw a couple bike crashes which weren't
anything serious. Brandon and Theresa’s
parents were out later in the day and we got to help them navigate and project
times at different points along the course.
That was fun being with them and seeing their excitement. Especially at the finish of course. Brandon finished about 15 ½ hours and Theresa
just under 16 hours which, if you’you've spectated an Ironman before, within that
final 2 hour window where the finish line becomes a huge party. Mike Reilly spends most of his time down on
the carpet pumping up the crowd and personally congratulating the athletes as
they go by. The 17 hour cut off was a
little stressful as there was a good number of finishers in that last 2
minutes. One of which was pretty much
dragged by Mike Reilly and the winning pro female. He was on his feet but I’m not sure he had
anything left to give and they were holding him up by the armpits to get him to
finish as an official Ironman.
No one crossing within the first few minutes after midnight
as we walked out of the park. The worst
is seeing someone come in within a minute or two and not be considered an
actual finisher. As we were walking back
to the car we had a heartbreaking moment.
As we crossed the bridge over the lake, the streets and paths were all
quiet and we were by ourselves. Mark all
of a sudden stopped, gasped and pointed down to the path below. This was probably 10 minutes after the race
was over and right about the 23 mile mark was two people walking with a lady
who you could tell was shuffling one foot in front of the other as much as she
could but at a painfully slow pace. She
was an athlete still heading for the finish line. Probably not set to get there until an hour
after it was all over. Part of me
wanted to go down there and walk with her to help get her there and the other
part of me just wanted to see her continue slowly off down the path on her own
journey to that finish line. She wasn't
alone so I wasn't worried about her, just heartbroken for her since she spent
all day out there like most other athletes did but at the finish line wouldn't’t
be a crowd, wouldn't be music, no Mike Reilly, no one telling her she’s an
Ironman. That’s one of the harsh
realities of the race.
After a weekend with a lot of trail running and triathlon
focus, it does make me start to ponder again what our race schedule for 2014
will be like. It will continue to depend
on our business schedule as we’re not quiet to that point yet where we are
making enough money and have paid off enough debt to stop working 24/7. Business is really doing very well but until
something miraculous happens and we bust the street-rat theory, we just don’t
seem to have enough funds to live the life we ultimately want. (*end rant…..) Part of me is thinking we will sign up for an
ultra this year. Especially after how
much we enjoyed the trail running this past weekend. The other part of me thinks maybe we will
find our passion for morning workouts again, head back to swim and sign up for
a few triathlons. Who knows.
So now here we are on a plane back to the friggin’ frozen
tundra on Monday night unfortunately knowing that we both have to work tomorrow
and I have a ridiculous amount of work waiting for me on all fronts. Zap, USAT, UpTempo and RaceGuide365. It was nice though to get away from the
computer for a few days and a huge thanks to Mark’s dad for letting us stay at
his place the entire time, borrow his car and treating us to breakfasts,
lunches and dinners!
A few other random trip photos:
