Tales of Trails, Mountains and Rocky Roads

I have no idea why I felt so nervous about Aravaipa's Punisher Night Trail Race 30km on Saturday evening, but just a couple of hours before the 6pm start, the butterflies were doing somersaults in the old tummy. For the past month, I'd been really happy and surprised at how well my training seemed to be going, and whilst 7 minute miling doesn't feel remotely as easy as it used to do, I was starting to feel much more comfortable running at a faster pace again. Enjoying some good quality training sessions The original plan  had been to run the 50k Pass Mountain race that same morning but a clash with Tillie's puppy school graduation day meant I had to transfer to the night race instead. I wouldn't have missed her graduation for the world and I'm pleased to say that the little girl was outstanding on her last training session despite distractions from her ever supportive bug brother and sister, Wilson and Brandy. The furries were also due for their annua...

It's been two months since my last race and I have to say that I've really enjoyed having a little downtime. Sure, I do have a goal race in December but for the past few weeks, I've been focusing on getting back some speed and gradually increasing the miles without the added pressure of racing. Recovery from the Mogollon Monster went really well and I've had some really good training runs where I've been hitting my target pace when required, and I've managed to keep abreast with the local running scene by doing some voluntary work at a couple of the Aravaipa events. During September and October, the weather in Phoenix was still pretty hot with temperatures still close to the 100 degree mark. Folks living elsewhere were talking about how autumn was in the air, and photos on social media showed damp, misty mornings with fog lingering in the fields, or pictures of mountains with a dusting of snow indicating that winter is just around the corner. It certainly d...