Mt Elden Last Sunday I drove up to Flagstaff from Phoenix to run Mt. Elden. My hubby and my bestie Yael joined me for the trip and the run. The goal was to leave Phoenix by 5:30am. My teenage son came home form a trip at midnight and woke me up to chat. He then proceeded to keep me awake all night by going in and out of the house the work on his bike. His new bike frame arrived while he was out of town and he was anxious to get the new bike all put together. 5:00am was painful! But we made it out the door by 5:45am.
I wasn’t exactly sure where I was suppose to start my run. My coach (Chris Vargo) was a little busy pacing at Western States so I tried to figure it out on my own. We started at Buffalo Park. We looked at a map, had a basic idea of where we were going and headed out. 1.5 miles in I fell hard on my left shoulder and managed to lose about half the water in my bottle. We kept going on the trail, confused, but when we saw the fire road I realized this is probably what Chris meant for me to be running up. So, up we went to the top of Elden. Because we had started in the wrong place, it took us longer than expected and I of course forgot to put my gels in my water bottle. Over an hour of running, out of water and not gels. Going down was going to be interesting.
I wasn’t exactly sure where I was suppose to start my run. My coach (Chris Vargo) was a little busy pacing at Western States so I tried to figure it out on my own. We started at Buffalo Park. We looked at a map, had a basic idea of where we were going and headed out. 1.5 miles in I fell hard on my left shoulder and managed to lose about half the water in my bottle. We kept going on the trail, confused, but when we saw the fire road I realized this is probably what Chris meant for me to be running up. So, up we went to the top of Elden. Because we had started in the wrong place, it took us longer than expected and I of course forgot to put my gels in my water bottle. Over an hour of running, out of water and not gels. Going down was going to be interesting.
Top of Elden
Heading down we had a deer run right in front of us and up a steep embankment. It was so cool! Norm was struggling because he had no business running that far or that hard. He’s been injured and before that not even training much. It was a bad story. Yael took the blame saying you peer pressured him into going to the top. Since Norm was doing a lot of walking, Yael and I got to the parking lot on the fire road before Norm. And there we encountered my least favorite thing about nature – a dog off the leash! As we are getting closer I am getting nervous. I didn’t like the look he was giving us and sure enough he went all cujo on us. I screamed and jumped behind Yael (every man for himself evidently). Of course we got the “oh he’s really friendly” BS from the owner. She had the nerve to tell us, “he wouldn’t hurt you that is just how he talks”. Yeah right lady.
Norm finally showed up and we left the road for the trail, which was hysterical but we constantly had to stop and wonder if we were going the right way. Norm was dizzy and dehydrated as we finally left the trail and entered Buffalo Park. He managed to walk it in and Yael enjoyed our last bit of running to the car for water! We celebrated our survival by eating at Beaver Street Brewery. Poor Norm, Yael and I enjoyed an adult beverage, which made us sleepy and not very good company on the ride home.
Norm finally showed up and we left the road for the trail, which was hysterical but we constantly had to stop and wonder if we were going the right way. Norm was dizzy and dehydrated as we finally left the trail and entered Buffalo Park. He managed to walk it in and Yael enjoyed our last bit of running to the car for water! We celebrated our survival by eating at Beaver Street Brewery. Poor Norm, Yael and I enjoyed an adult beverage, which made us sleepy and not very good company on the ride home.
On the road finally! Monday the crazy last minute preparations for Silverton began. We ate some interesting meals as I was avoiding buying any food and trying to empty the frig. As we started looking around at all our supplies we realized that we might have enough space in the car. We tried to be as minimal as possible, but we are also planning to live in tents for 3 weeks with 6 people. We considered a Thule car box, but there really isn’t an extra $500 in the budget for that, but we put it on the list of things we need eventually. It kinda requires some stuff. The first leg of our trip was to Flagstaff. My friend Jennie has a vacation home there and we were staying with her for a few days. Car packed we sat and waited for 2 hours for the UPS truck to deliver our North Face jackets. I was regretting my bargain shopping and wishing I had just bought them at REI! Finally they arrived and we took off, with a brief stop at the Nike Outlet because my teenager and his friend only have skate shoes and needed real athletic shoes for the hiking we plan to do. There goes the money I was planning to spend on daypacks for hiking. (Every time we spend money I cringe knowing we only have so much to get us through the trip!) We arrived around 9pm, ate the delicious dinner we were suppose to at 7pm and relaxed until bedtime.
Tuesday morning Norm and I ran an awesome hilly route. The temperature was awesome and the air smelled great! I was in heaven. We dropped the big kids at the bike park. They were very excited that there was a BMX park and that the weather was nice enough to be outside! We headed to Thorpe Park to let the younger kids play. Lots of tree climbing!
Tuesday morning Norm and I ran an awesome hilly route. The temperature was awesome and the air smelled great! I was in heaven. We dropped the big kids at the bike park. They were very excited that there was a BMX park and that the weather was nice enough to be outside! We headed to Thorpe Park to let the younger kids play. Lots of tree climbing!
Basin BMX Park
Because I am the nicest mom ever, I made the drive back to Phoenix late in the afternoon to pick up another friend of my teenage son. (We are still waiting to hear of he can go to Silverton with us so I might be driving back to Phoenix on Thursday morning.) We missed dinner again, but were back by 8:30pm this time!
This morning woke up with a terrible stomachache. No running for me today. The boys went to another bmx park (2 in one city!!!). We went back to Thorpe Park and were greeted with dark skies, thunder and wind. We actually had to get sweatshirts out of the car. Lunch at Beaver Street Brewery again (we love that place), took the teenagers some water, Gatorade and food, and back to the house to play outside. We paid the rest of the bills for this month so we have a better idea of the money we have left. Even though we have gone over it again and again, I constantly have panic attacks about running out of money. (Although I can think of worse things than being stranded in Colorado.) The teenage boys spent all day biking. Jennie made us another delicious dinner! She has been so awesome about trying to work around all our dietary restrictions.
This morning woke up with a terrible stomachache. No running for me today. The boys went to another bmx park (2 in one city!!!). We went back to Thorpe Park and were greeted with dark skies, thunder and wind. We actually had to get sweatshirts out of the car. Lunch at Beaver Street Brewery again (we love that place), took the teenagers some water, Gatorade and food, and back to the house to play outside. We paid the rest of the bills for this month so we have a better idea of the money we have left. Even though we have gone over it again and again, I constantly have panic attacks about running out of money. (Although I can think of worse things than being stranded in Colorado.) The teenage boys spent all day biking. Jennie made us another delicious dinner! She has been so awesome about trying to work around all our dietary restrictions.
Thorpe Park on a cloudy day
The weather is amazing in Flagtstaff. I have totally enjoyed being here, but tomorrow we will make the trip to Colorado. We are leaving here with no plan. We know we will spend some time in Silverton and some time in Telluride, but no schedule. Although as I am writing this my kids are asking about staying in Flagstaff for a few more days…
Plans for next year - a whole summer away from Phoenix are underway as we relax on the porch, listening to the distant thunder and enjoying the view.
Plans for next year - a whole summer away from Phoenix are underway as we relax on the porch, listening to the distant thunder and enjoying the view.
Enzo and Joey relax on the deck after a rough day of biking
Sinjin rocking the buff at Beaver Street Brewery
Sinjin and Frank play in the backyard
Board Games!
