Sometimes seeds I plant take a long time to come to fruition, and a Summer Running Series was one of them. In 2005, local Flagstaff runners organized the first Summer Running Series for the community. It wasn't too long before I caught wind of it, and was interested in participating. However, I was working a 2:30-10:30 pm shift. The races were scheduled early Saturday mornings, and I'd often worked Friday and would work Saturday. I'm a little techy about my sleep, and just couldn't get up the gumption to commit to getting up early enough to participate.
At some point, I conceived the idea of doing my own running series, (which was itself the seed of the One-Woman concept). Again, it just never came together. Even after I retired, when I had time for EVERYTHING, right? Last fall it was was very close to being a Fall Running Series; I even bought trail running shoes for the purpose. Then I fell and split my knee open, taking me out of running into the winter.
This year the stars aligned. I was healed from all injuries. With Covid-19 bearing down, I was looking for ways to structure some of my outdoor activities. Bingo! Summer Running Series was finally on! There were only three parameters: 1) The runs would be on local FS roads I had rarely or never run on and 2) The runs would be limited to 3 miles, usually out and back. 3) The runs would be once a week, with allowances for weather or life.
I did the first three runs by myself. I drove to the running area, parked, ran out 1.5 miles, ran back. Next time, I drove to where I left off last time, ran out 1.5 miles, ran back, etc. The roads I was running on quickly deteriorated for driving and I got uncomfortable with my sometimes reckless driving habits. I invited Ron to start coming along. He could do the driving in his cautious and measured manner, then go on his morning ramble with the dogs while I ran. This collaboration was not only the reason this Series succeeded at all, but turned into a wonderful adventure for both of us. We got to explore some beautiful country at a slow pace: the best way to see it!
I kept an open mind about the running conditions, which was to run what came my way. Yowza! It included lots of very rocky areas, and some ups and downs that had legs and lungs burning! Walking was allowed for safety, but even the slowest jog was the preferable challenge and I was able to maintain that most of the time.
A sample run.
Some highlights of this delightful Running/Adventure Series:
Numerous wildlife sightings, including deer, elk and a flock of 7 LARGE turkeys.
One day after the run/walk part, we decided to continue the driving part and see where the road took us. That rough and rocky session pressed on even Ron's driving abilities and took about an hour to complete. Something about bumping around on a remote sort-of road in the forest, though......kind of pioneer-like!
Another day, Ron spotted some downed oak he could add to his woodpile. The next time we went out, we drove back to the oak, and I ran my only naturally occurring loop while he cut and loaded wood.
The last run coincided in place where friends Peter, Deb & Lindsay were at their go-to camping spot. Ron made egg muffin sandwiches for everyone the night before, and after our run/walk portion we all enjoyed breakfast and visiting at their camp!
I didn't have a set number of runs in mind. It happened that this past Tuesday was the tenth run, a nice round number, and that we had run out of roads that were both driveable and within a reasonable driving distance. Meeting our camping friends was the perfect ending!
The reward of a thing well done is having done it.
--Ralph Waldo Emerson
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