apAdventures

Wanted to share a few fun running photos we’ve snapped lately:

Linda and Paul looking bright-eyed and bushy-tailed at the start of a Mt. Lemmon run

My summit pose (lame, I know)

John making construction-cone-orange look good in the mountains

Mountain wildflowers

A break on a stroller run to let a rattlesnake cross our path

A desert tortoise crossing Paul’s path

High desert wildflowers

A trail’s view of Tucson

The Catalina Mountains from the Douglas Springs trailhead

Storm blowing in over the Rincon Mountains

posted by arr

As Linda nears closer to her big 50k, our mileage increases steadily to keep up! This weekend Linda completed a run that Paul and I, and Linda too, have talked about wanting to do for years. Literally, years. The Tanque Verde Ridge run in the Rincon Mountains is a stone’s throw southeast from our home. This one-way 20 miler starts at the end of Speedway Blvd (at 2750 feet), runs all the way up my beloved Douglas Springs Trail past the Douglas Springs Campground (at 6.1 miles and 4800 feet) to Cowhead Saddle (at 8.5 miles and 6100 feet), up to Tanque Verde Peak (at 7049 feet) and then aaaaall the way down the ridge to the Tanque Verde Ridge Trailhead in Saquaro East National Park (back at city level). Oh, and if you want to turn it into a marathon you just tack on the Cactus Forest Trail and run it back to Speedway and make a loop of it. The real reason we’ve never done it is because the start/finish are at a low enough elevation to make it a better winter run than summer (and we all know what and where Paul and I are typically spending our energy on during the winter months…you got it, Hueco!). Linda got her chance though, lucky gal. Thanks to tropical storm Ivo Tucson got some clouds and cooler temps over the weekend. And Linda went for it! And succeeded! Wooo!

We were her support crew for the effort. I ran the first 6.1 miles with her to Douglas Springs Campground, carrying an extra 2 liters of water (in addition to my 2 liters!). Paul ran a couple miles up the end of the ridge to join her on the descent. And Silas and Ivan helped set up a quaint aid station at the Saguaro East parking lot, looking their darned cutest to greet her return. A stellar time was had by all!

Although I will admit – I was quite bummed on my solo 6.1 mile return to the car after seeing Linda off at the Douglas Springs Campground. I was bummed I wasn’t fit enough to join her up and over the ridge. At this rate though, I’ll be plenty fit come November. Just in time for the Hueco season to start! Ahhhh, the vicious yet lovely cycle. I love the desert. 🙂

Ready to rock

And there she goes

Me trying like hell to keep up

Fellow trail user

Low elevation beauty

Trees. Gaining elevation

Linda and I at my turn-around point, the Douglas Springs Campground – which is nothing more than a rundown outhouse, a couple old bear bins and a few posts in the ground designating the campsites.

Only 13.9 to go Linda!

Fuel up girl. I didn’t haul that extra 2 liters up her for nothin.’ 😉

A view of Tucson and the Catalina Mountains on my lonely descent

Silas and Ivan’s aid station. They kept wanting to eat all the pretzels!

A tortoise dropping by for a snack

No pretzels for you Mr. Tortoise. Enjoy a tasty leaf instead.

The finish! She made it…woo! Nice work girl.

posted by arr

Linda and I bagged Mt. Guthrie last weekend. A nice little run. Nothing big or epic, just a modest 6 miles roundtrip from the Lower Green Mountain Trailhead. Nothing at all compared to the 9 mountain miles my legs just ran this morning, the heinous 7 Butterfly Trail miles Paul’s legs ran, and the 17.8 miles Linda ran!!!!! Yes, you read that right. Linda is training for the Water is Life 50k. We’re not. But what’s convenient about this situation is that Paul and I can tag team Linda’s training runs and do kid trade-off! It’s a beautiful thing, really. We gotta get Linda to sign up for more of these ultra’s, hehe.

This morning’s run began with Linda and Paul running the Butterfly Trail one-way from Mt. Bigelow. From either end the trail plunges down, WAAAAY down in elevation. And then you have to climb back up, WAAAAY up. Each of us had dabbled a bit on both ends at one time or another, but only traveling a mile or two down-trail. None of us had ever tried to run the whole thing…probably just because of the logistics of it being a one-way endeavor.

Overgrown, hot, steep, hard and so-not-fun was their account this morning when the kids and I met them at the finish. Guess that wasn’t a good game plan after all. I suppose there’s a reason why you never hear of anyone running the Butterfly Trail, haha. (Note: On the drive back down the mountain however, Paul admitted that he actually kinda enjoyed it a little and would run it again. 🙂

From their finish at the Butterfly Trailhead it was kid and runner trade-off time. I handed the boys over to Paul, tied my shoes on and continued with Linda on our “Mt. Lemmon Classic” loop. This is a loop we’ve all done many times, thanks to our good buddy Courtney for taking us on it for the first time. We usually park at the Butterfly Trailhead (cause it has a better vibe, as Courtney says…and he’s right), then cross the road to the Sunset Trailhead and start there. Thanks to our genius plan we were already in position. Linda and I ran Sunset Trail down to Marshall’s Gulch, then on a whim decided to add some extra mileage and took Aspen Trail (we usually take Marshall’s Gulch Trail) up to the junction. From there we continued on Aspen up to the summit of Mt. Lemmon, then down the backside via the Aspen Draw trail, over to Summerhaven, through town and down the pavement back to Marshall’s Gulch. I met Paul and the kids at the Gulch and called it quits and Linda continued on, taking the Sunset Trail back to where her and I started (and her and Paul finished earlier that morning). Whew!

Meanwhile, Hueco training is underway. We did some work on our rings yesterday (pushups, tuck levers, L-sits, jackknifes, etc). I think every single muscle in my body is sore right now. Including my butt cheeks. What the?

Linda approaching the Guthrie Summit on last weekend’s run

Running buddies

Ok, so the Guthrie summit isn’t quite as amazing as I’m making it out to be. It’s more like a ridge, or a bump maybe, just one of the many in the Catalina Mountains

But the view is pretty sweet

We’ll soon be calling her our ultra-running buddy

Silas and Ivan at the top of the Butterfly Trail this morning anticipating dad & Linda’s sweaty arrival

Linda kicking my butt on the Aspen Trail (ahead in blue). Ok, so she kicked my butt on the whole run but I’m not training for a 50k so that’s my excuse. 😛

posted by arr

Gateway to the west

Texas! …getting warmer

New Mexico! …almost there

Arizona! …home sweet home

We love you van!

Well that about wraps up our big summer vacation. Hope you enjoyed the show! Not much to report here since we’ve been back in Tucson. We’re modifying the woody and getting started on our fall training for (what we’re hoping will be) an insane winter bouldering season!

posted by arr

Back porch picnic

Listening intently to big cousin Luke’s reading

A trip to the Science Center! Great idea Aunt Francine!!

A Science Center digger!

Paul and his dad

Grandma and the boys admiring the neighbor’s flowers

Ahh, the days of the little pointer finger. My favorite!

If you’ve ever been around Ivan when he’s really excited you can probably hear the loud yells coming out of his mouth in this photo. The kid likes to be heard.

Grandma, Pap Pap and the boys

posted by arr

Keeping to the camping theme of our trip, we stayed a night at the Laurel Hill State Park Campground in the Laurel Highland mountains, east of Pittsburgh. This campground was where Paul’s love of the outdoors most likely spawned from; he and his dad frequented it a lot in his childhood. We even stayed right next to their old regular campsite! The next morning, after an all-night torrential downpour, we went to Ohiopyle for a walk on the rails-to-trails path. The trail connects Pittsburgh to Washington, DC!

Mmmm, pancakes for breakfast

Owl and Silas watch Pooh Bear while it rains

The Youghiogheny River

Ivan entranced by the rapids

The Great Allegheny Passage (GAP) rails-to-trails

posted by arr

Last Christmas we did a run with our sister-in-law Francine and the Pittsburgh Fleet Feet runners. They do a run every Sunday so we decided to show up and run together with Francine.

This run was dedicated to historian David McCullough, shown here. He turned 80 this day and Pittsburgh renamed the 16th Street Bridge in his honor

Francine in pink, Paul in orange

And afterwards all runners got $1 biscotti at Enrico’s!!!!!! YES.

posted by arr

Silas practicing his bike riding skills with Pap Pap

Keeping Ivan from uprooting plants and making a break for the street. 😉

Silas visiting with his porch-turtle friends

A nice evening walk at The Waterfront

Porch relaxing with Grandma

posted by arr

Back in the city!

posted by arr

Before our stay with Grandma and Papa came to a close we decided to venture north again for the weekend, back to the Adirondacks. First to Lake George to meet up with my good friend Cara from college and her family, then on to Schroon Lake where my sister Katie lives, and then even further north to Lake Placid cause we might as well since we drove this far!

Schroon Lake

Katie and Richard

Schroon Lake

Cool looking Luna Moth inside the bathroom stall at the Eagle Point campground

Silas and Papa

posted by arr