Two Month Progress & Homecoming Update

Ok, I have just over 2 months of faithful training clocked now. I started with some short runs in late July and followed my schedule starting August 4th. Remember me telling you guys how I was a data-geek and how I like to chart my progress, etc? Well here is the first update just to show you how quickly all these things add up:

As of today, I have now run 53 hours, burned 33,260 calories and clocked 202 miles.

That's a bunch of extra energy expended versus laying around the pool and reading the paper!!! Don't get me wrong, I still find time for those things, but just by carving out a little time early in the morning and on Saturdays... look how quickly it all adds up!

Oh... and that 12 I redid on Saturday? Here is the funny thing. Got a little bit of a later start, ran on my desert trail instead of the streets and it took me 40 minutes longer!!! Needless to say... there were plenty of times where the heart rate dictated I had to walk. The trail has a 400 foot elevation change from it's lowest to highest points - but the ups and downs vary all over the place during the run. So it is a little tougher run than the street. But the point I am trying to make is it is so much more delightful for me to run on the trails that I didn't get nearly as cranky as the street run, even though my time was significantly slower. I was just happy to be somewhere beautiful. So I snapped a few pictures to show you just how pretty the desert can be... even at the end of summer.



Here's a little trivia for those not in the know: The Giant Saguaro Cactus (the big guys with the arms) grow an average of 2 inches a year. They sprout their first arm at approximately 70 years. They can be several hundred years old when they get the size of those guys lining my running trail. They are also protected by the State of Arizona - you must get a permit to move one and when replanted, it must be oriented to face exactly the same direction as it grew or it will die. Isn't that crazy???

The 2nd picture shows just a glimpse of the face of the Superstition Mountains which jut straight up out of the desert to almost 6,000 feet in elevation. Magnificent views of this range line a 7 mile trail that starts right out my front door. There are many more trails that wind up the canyons that I have yet to try. I am so lucky to have all this so close to home! Makes a hot, 12 mile misery run actually enjoyable. Oh - and I can't forget to add all the critters that accompany me! The birds, lizards, squirrels, chipmunks, coyotes, occasional snake, deer & wandering cattle... I am sure there are more, but so far, they have kept in hiding! Probably terrified when they hear my plodding footsteps approach!

Well, I can't quit without an update on Mackenzie's (the Cha's) first Homecoming Dance. She looked beautiful and her dad was blown away at how fast his little girl has grown up. She had fun and was home on time. Dad is beaming in the picture below.

Then look closely at these two significant loving creatures in my life and ask yourself: "How can 2 such loving people like that, make so much fun of how slow CJ runs???"