22? Nope: 18.25 & 4 weeks 'til Ragnar

Due to continued high heat, dew points and humidity, to the treadmill I did flee! Which explains the lack of action here. However, having joined my husband for his annual national conference, I opted to take advantage of Phoenix, Arizona's "dry heat" and tackle today's 22 18.25 miles in 3 parts . . . kind of like a mini Ragnar squished into 13 hours.  I ran 12 this morning and an easy 3 in the early afternoon. Unfortunately my planned "7@7" (in homage to my Bix@6ers back home) got halved due to nagging knee pain turning SPIKY! Here's hoping whatever's happened heals in time for Ragnar . . .

While I'd hoped to be on the road by 5:30, 6:20 came 

soon enough. It was a gorgeous, quiet morning 

amid the desert pretties . . .

A view of the Faldo golf course at the JW Marriott Desert Ridge. Beyond are the

mountains of the McDowell Mountain Regional Park. 

High Street in a little development called North City that sits south of 

E. Deer Valley Drive. When the conference was here 6 years ago, 

the Marriott was surrounded by desert.

Referring back the 2006 visit, an attendee kept cracking me up calling

this particular cacti "Toenail Cactus" because it reminded him of his 

father-in-law's feet. Gross, but the way he told it? Damn funny!

Sweet, pretty, teeny tiny blooms along Deer Valley.

Getting out early made running along the normally active thoroughfare of

Deer Valley quite peaceful and enjoyable with beautiful vegetation 

bordering the sidewalks and filling the medians.

After heading east along E. Deer Valley Drive, I turned left and went south along 

N. Tatum Blvd. I love these trees! The bark was smooth like sage-colored skin.

All that development? Well, not in all parts. 

Got me in touch with some Shel Silverstein action!

After roughing it along that undeveloped section of Tatum, I ended up on 

E. Mayo Blvd. Weird. I was at the original Mayo around this time last summer

with my dad. Last Sunday marked 6 months since he died.

Eventually I left Mayo and headed back north along Tatum where I spotted 

these small pods hanging around. They reminded me of our catalpa tree back

home. The kids love using its rather large bean pods as mini swords. 

More cacti.

I liked seeing the bird nests in trees rather than the holes

pecked in cacti. I kept fearing something was going to 

crawl out of them and jump on me!

I thought this little guy was cute. I'm thinking partridge?

Not sure whether these are blooms or fruit, but I found

them quiet interesting.

From N. Tatum Blvd., I headed east on Ranger Drive. As the miles 

ticked by, the sun climbed and I began to crave shade.

A marker along Ranger Drive.

I run with headphones, but low enough so I can hear traffic and people . . .

and the rattle of a snake's tail. Yup! Of course I had to take a bunch of pictures.

When I stopped a person to ask if there were rattlesnakes in the area, he said, 

"Not around here. I've lived here 12 years and only seen one." Soooo,

I whipped out my camera and he totally gaped! BOO YA! My lucky day!!!

Another view of the McDowell Mountain Regional Park beyond the links.

Where Ranger Drive ended, undeveloped and gorgeous wild desert

stretched toward the park and its mountains.

Turning around, I headed back along Ranger and noticed movement.

Teeny, tiny little lizards. You can barely see this little guy hiding under a

yucca-like plant. I chased him for awhile but he simply was not having it!

But guess who was?!!!! My bad boy/girl sexy beast hadn't moved much,

but didn't appear nearly so pissy as when I previously passed.

My favorite part about Ranger Driver (aside from continually thinking it was

Ragnar Drive) was the lack of traffic and QUIET!

Fortunately when I got back onto N. Tatum Blvd. and started making 

my slow return, much of the earlier traffic had decreased.

I loved the pink peeking over the privacy wall.

I could never have done this morning's run without my 70oz.

Camelbak, but even that much fluid isn't enough in this arid

climate. As I passed Station 52, all was quiet. The one firefighter I

did find was cleaning and he graciously let me refill. While there, 

I couldn't resist this shot of boots and pants at the ready. 

I hope they stayed that way and it was an accident/fire-free day!

Yay! My draw was finally quick enough to snap a usable shot 

of one of these cute lil' guys! (I had a ton of blurries. They're FAST!)

During tonight's foiled run along Tatum, I spotted this Jim Henson

Muppet-like hand. I shall call it "Muppet Cacti" because clearly it's having

an identity crisis. Shhh! If you listen hard enough, I think it's singing, 

"Am I a Muppet? Or am I cac...ti?"

"If I'm a Muppet, then I'm a Muppet of a cac...ti."

"If I'm a Cactiiiiiii, then I'm a Cacti of a Muppet!"

With all the singing going on, it's a wonder I spotted this egg nestled deep in 

the center of this conflicted plant. Due to darkness falling much earlier down

here, this was my final shot before the pain hit . . . ugh.