Fri 2/22 - double, 90 minutes easy total

AM - 65 minutes very easy/easy, Sentinel Mountain. Relaxed pre-breakfast shakeout, even including the climbing part. Last run in Tucson, decided to keep it simple and start from the hostel rather than travel to some other starting point. Some predictable soreness in quads/adductors after yesterday's slipping around in the snow. Haven't been sleeping particularly well of late, feeling somewhat strung out. Back to the tent for tonight which actually may help with that.

PM - 25 minutes easy, White Tank park. Brief shakeout after driving to the outskirts of Phoenix. Much-needed stretching and strengthening routine afterward. Calf twinging in the low-profile shoes, very annoying and never too far from the surface. Just a bit cooler than I'd like with a persistent breeze.

Thu 2/21 - AM 2.5 hours

Back to Chiricahua which was blanketed in snow. It was either slog along in the stuff or stay in the visitor center parking lot. Anywhere from 6-9 inches depending on the elevation, powdery in the shady spots and rapidly compacting down anywhere it was exposed to sun. South-facing exposures in the last hour were turning rapidly to slush in fact. More than deep enough to slow the pace down obviously, and the heart of rocks loop was mostly walking as it was a challenge at times just to stay on the path. Inevitably, as time wore on my legs got fatigued from slipping and sliding on rocks underfoot I couldn't see at all. After stopping at Inspiration Point I realized I didn't have the juice left to do the Echo Canyon loop, it'll have to wait for next year. Legs fried by the end, adductors sore in particular. Not at all surprising. Worth it for the views:

 trailhead before leaving

 Steps buried

same spot 50 weeks ago

 Cochise Head

 Inspiration Point

trailhead after finishing, 3 hrs later

Wed 2/20 - double, 80 minutes very easy

AM - 35 minutes superslow pre-breakfast shuffle, a glorified walking tour of the Barrio Viejo neighborhood near the hostel. Not a whole lot in the way of range of motion in any of the major joints, quads plenty sore. Overcast and windy.

PM - 45 minutes very easy out and back along the bike path. During the day the weather went straight down the toilet, with a mix of rain showers and snow. Not what I signed up for although apparently not unheard of. Although I saw locals taking pictures of the snow falling which leaves me to wonder. Raining by the time I started, felt stiff and sore from the outset. Then about 10 minutes in the left TFL locked up suddenly, likely from putting too much strain on it while favoring everything else. The whole thing was a tiresome slog but hopefully will help facilitate some kind of recovery for the next couple of days.

Tue 2/19 - AM 4.5 hours

Tanque Verde Ridge trail, from the visitor center to the summit and back. Having learned from last year's ordeal, I took a pass on the mega-loop and did the out and back instead. The descent wasn't exactly fun and took longer than expected thanks to the steepness of the trail and the fact that my quads are destroyed from the past two days of up and down. Still overall a much more positive experience than the last time I was here. While I remembered the numerous false summits on the way to the top I had forgotten that their existence meant some up and down traversing the saddles between the trailhead and Juniper Basin. Also underestimated how long it would take to cover the final 2.1 miles between Juniper Basin and the summit. Wind picked up as the day progressed, with a winter storm bearing down. What that means in this climate I don't entirely know.

 snow at 6,000'

 snag at Juniper Basin

 summit view #1

 summit view #2

 summit view #3

summit view #4

Mon 2/18 - double, 2 hours total

AM - 1:40, out and back along the Romero Trail in Catalina SP. The hair of the dog after yesterday. In theory today was supposed to be a less severe effort than yesterday, which it was but only in terms of duration. The trail is steeper than the Sutherland though, which meant my quads were pulverized by the time the descending was done. Made it a bit beyond the pools before turning back.

 steeper than it looks

view from the turnaround points

The water in the pools was brisk both in terms of flow and temperature, too cold for a dip alas. Weather similar to yesterday, frost at sunrise but temp zoomed up within a couple of hours of the sun coming up.

PM - 20 minutes very easy jog with drills, strides and stretching. Back to the scorched grass of Santa Rita park near the hostel. Legs felt like lead at the start of the drills, eventually came around and feeling better.

Sun 2/17 - AM 3 hours

Out, back, then looped around on the Sutherland and 50 Year trails in Catalina SP. Pokey start, right hammie very bothersome as the trail tilted upward. Almost as bothersome as the cobble-sized rocks strewn absolutely everywhere on the trail as it headed up out of the bajada and into Cargadera canyon. As I was on the trail, I was thinking about whether to do a straight out and back or use the trail link to the 50 yr trail. Eventually reached a point where the trail was only getting steeper and rockier and decided that was my cue to turn back.

 snow at the top of the ridge

The trip back down became a comedy of errors as I got lost and/or misdirected multiple times looking for the godforsaken 50 year trail. Neither it nor the link trail were well marked, at all. Once I did find what I thought was the right trail I passed various people going the other way and asked them if in fact it was; their response was to ask me the same question. At long last with the sun getting near its zenith I reached familiar ground from yesterday's run and hammered the last 20 minutes or so mostly so I could eat lunch quicker. Trip down wasn't as steep as I expected, and at some point the hamstring stopped bothering me as much. No idea what if anything I did to cause this or whether it's a sign of some lasting change for the better. In the evening I was able to get in a reasonably thorough stretching session which was desperately needed.

Sat 2/16 - 50 minutes

Catalina State Park. After an exceedingly long day spent mostly sitting then getting supplies squared away, it was a relief to be able to do something before the sun set. Headed down the 50 Year Trail which trended mostly gradually uphill. Nothing severely steep but enough to keep the pace slow on the way out before turning around and heading back the way I came. Right hammie didn't react well to the uphill and in fact felt like utter crap. On top of that the right calf was twinging and it certainly felt like it was trying to pick up the slack for what the hammie couldn't do. All the sitting around didn't help of course but it was discouraging and I'm concerned the right leg bugging me will end up being the bane of the trip. I'm not exactly set up to deal with tweaked muscles right now, although I can do hamstring compressions on the edge of the picnic table. A foam roller would be nice but no way it fits in the luggage. Sunny warm afternoon turned into a breezy cool evening. As one would expect, when the sun sets the temp drops like a stone.

Fri 2/15 - PM 60 minutes easy

Longfellow loop. One last run in snowbound Maynard (still relatively mild for one more day at least) before heading out to warmer drier climes for a week. Got started early enough that most of the run was actually in the daylight and I could see the sidewalk puddles and avoid them. Did a few pickups on the way in, started with 4 longer slower before doing four more shorter and quicker. Feeling the right hammie when reaching forward, tried tinkering with the stride mechanics a bit on the strides with inconclusive results. Didn't have a lot of time for post-run stretching/strengthening routine but did as much as I could fit in.