It’s All About The Climb…

I actually like that Miley song…..

Anyway, last week was a pseudo recovery week from my very first Triathlon–I didn’t do a whole lot of running (two days) but I got in a tough trail run/hike at the end of the week.

Monday I headed to the gym and worked out with a buddy. She had me doing some crazy stuff that left me quite sore, lol! It was fun though, because they were workout drills I normally would never do–squats with weights and other fun things.

Tuesday had me running an easy 5 miler (8:53/m) with a friend and her pooch.

Wednesday I picked up the pace on a solo run, 4 miles at 8:04/m. I was really happy with this run because my splits were good–8:16, 8:04, 8:05, 7:51. 😀

Thursday consisted of a 20 minute stationary bike ride and core work and I took a complete rest day Friday .

Saturday was a big day.

I have a 4 year old <3

I have a 4 year old ❤

It’s crazy how time flies. When she was born, people would tell me that before I knew it, she’d grow up. Now it’s really happening.

We had a fun family day together and in the evening we had a few of her friends over for play. Her big party is this next weekend so there’ll be more pictures then 🙂

Sunday I met up with my run club for a new trail run. I always jump at the chance to run on a new trail because I love exploring where we live.

This particular hike was exactly that, a hike. It was about a 40 minute drive from where I live, but we were told it would be worth it.

Oh, boy.

The trail was labeled “expert” but I wasn’t sure what that meant. I’ve done some pretty tough climbs but this had been talked up as being a really, really tough one.

See those towers way up there? Let's climb up to them just for fun!

See those towers way up there? Let’s climb up to them just for fun!

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Yep, that was my Garmin read of that hike.

It was a 9+ miler that was basically UP. At the start, you had a few rolling hills, so you thought you’d be okay. But then around mile 2 and a halfish, the ridiculousness started. I was f bombing left and right at how not fun it was. At this point, the trail turned into concrete and there was no running; it was literally a climb.

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Pit stop to decide if we *really* want to go all the way to the top, lol!

The trail website describes it:

“The climb provides a serene feeling of ridge-line hiking, offering amazing views along the way as you quickly climb 2000 feet to the peak.”

I somehow missed the serenity feeling, lol!

Anway, I huffed and puffed (and swore) my way up all the way to the very top 🙂

Almost to the top. This was after quite a few Holy Fuckballs

Almost to the top. This was after quite a few Holy Fuckballs

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Amazing view of Phoenix

And when we got there, we saw a helipad!! I of course had to take a picture on it! 😀

Helly on a helipad :D

Helly on a helipad 😀

The way back down had to be done carefully. It was so steep there was no way you could run down that without falling. Once it leveled out a bit though, it was easier to pick up speed. Which I did because I wanted to get the hell out of there, lol!!

Shoefie!

Shoefie!

Protruding cactus at the start/end. I wanted to high five it

Protruding cactus at the start/end. I wanted to high five it

I was glad I did the hike though. As with most things in life, it’s good to try everything once (most things anyway 😉 )

–Have you hiked a rough trail before? What about it made it tough?

–Do you swear when you run? Or during your regular day?