I Need Oxygen

This morning Michelle and I were in the car by 6:30am to drive to Flagstaff so that I could join a bunch of runners from NATRA (Northern Arizona Trail Runners Association). I didn't run yesterday to give a break to my poor right Achilles and I felt pretty good. I dropped Michelle off at Starbucks, near a Barnes and Noble bookstore she wanted to go to, and got to the Schultz Creek Trail parking area with plenty of time to spare. Quite a few people showed up, I would say more than 15 and at about 8am, we started running UP.

Did I mention that Flagstaff is high up, way up in the sky? The trail began at 7200 ft and we went straight up. A few hundred feet into the run, I was already out of breath. That did not stop until we reached the top about 50 minutes later. The trail was nice, but it was quite rocky and you had to really be carefull with you foot placement. The group pretty much split in two and I was bringing up the rear of the slower group.

Once we reached the top, most of the people in my group went back down the same way, or ran to a parked car halfway up the mountain, I didn't quite follow. A guy named Scott wanted to finish a longuer loop and I went with him. THe way down was much easier and I was able to hold my end of the conversation.

We reached the parking lot after 1 hour 42 minutes of running. It felt good. Altitude kicked my ass though.

Back in Flagstaff, I picked up Michelle at B&N and we went to a store call Babbitt's, where I proceeded to try some Vibram Fivefingers (see picture). I've been trying to find a pair for a while but the one store in Toronto that sells them never has my size. Babbitt's had my size and I'm now the proud owner of the most ridiculous pair of shoes that money can buy.

From Running

After my shopping spree, we had lunch at Charly's Pub & Grill at the Weatherford Hotel where I had an excellent half pound cheeseburger and therefore ingested more calories than I burned, or at least close to it.

From Running

All in all, another fine vacation day.