Corner Canyon Group Run

November 23
I've been having so much fun just asking on Facebook in a couple of running groups, if anyone wants to go on a trail run, and seeing who shows up.  This was the 3rd weekend in a row I decided to ask and see if anyone would go with me.  The first week there were 10 of us.  The second week we got 8, and then this week there were 4 plus a dog.  Often times I like to run alone but if I can get others to join me on the trails I prefer that.  Mostly, because I get bored after a few hours of me, my brain, and my music but also because I feel way more safe out there with someone else to scare away the bears, cougars, and wolves. Now I'll be honest, I've never seen any of those, nor heard of people seeing them, but there's always a first for everything.  Actually, I saw a porcupine once out here in Corner Canyon, and that was a little freaky!

Me, Jeff, Dallas, Cosmo (the dog), Jeffrey

So for this weeks run I headed to Corner Canyon and got one person from last week to join in and two others I had never met before.  One of them I had talked to on Facebook and is also planning to run the Vegas Ultra 100 in February.  We had plenty to talk about with that race coming up so soon.  Jeff gave some great strength training recommendations to get my legs and hips ready for the race.  I'll be working on that pronto!

We met at the Andy Ballard Equestrian parking lot and headed up into the hills.  When we got to the upper area of the canyon we found quite a few places with signs like this.  I was very sad because these were my very favorite places to run.  So we headed off and explored a new area, only to discover down below other people using the closed trails.  We also had run into a couple other people on the trails that had said they were going to head over and run them anyway.  So we did the same thing.  I was VERY nervous about crossing over the chain and would not have done it had I been out running alone.  I figured if we got in trouble then we would get in trouble all together.  One of them said "What are they going to do, give us a running ticket?" 

After getting deep into the trail and seeing the snow, ice, and sometimes mud, it made sense as to why the trails were closed.  We only did a little slippin' and slidin' sometimes, but mostly did fine. We had a great time.  Anne's trail which is higher up the mountain is the longest trail in the Corner Canyon system and we were able to do a very long out and back on it before heading back to the car.

This is Jeff who is planning to run the Vegas Ultra 100 in February too.  Good times will be had I'm sure.

After almost 5 hours of running in a cool, crisp, and exhilarating morning we ended up with a distance of 19.25 miles.  That's finally some good mileage I have so desperately been needing to get.  My training for the ultra is calling for some big runs on the weekends and my challenge and goal will be to continue to try and do this in the next couple months.  

One thing I have discovered about myself in this whole running journey is how much I really enjoy the social aspect of it.  I love to run the races and be with the people.  I love to organize runs and just head out into the hills and visit while running.  I don't love to train and run by myself in the neighborhood.  That's just boring. So it will definitely be interesting to see how my training goes up through February.  I'm sure I'll be doing quite a bit of treadmill mileage too as Winter hits and the roads and trails get plastered with snow and ice. 

Let me know if you're ever up for a trail run on the weekend!  You know I want to go!