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.

July 7th's 20.6 miles in 2 parts

The heat and humidity here in Ioway has been leaving me wrecked! Been cracking under the pressure and spending much more time on the treadmill then I care to admit, but hey! it's miles logged in preparation for August's Ragnar Relay! But TM photos are pretty boring so I apologize for the lack of posting!

This was a two-part long run, the first 17.3 on the treadmill as I worked with the machine's belt, off and on throughout. The last 3.3 was done as the sun sunk fast along the Deep Creek Dash route . . .

The Starting Line of the upcoming Aug. 25th Deep Creek Dash 5k, 

facing east near the bus stop on Center Street in Charlotte. 

Gawgeous!!!

I love the little hanger oners!

Park Avenue T's with 330th Ave. onto which the course takes

a brief left before heading back west along Hwy. 136. I loves 

me some old timey telephone poles! I imagine ghostly

linemen climbing those steps upwards . . . 

Nice and flat . . .

. . . for a bit.

The route passes the Deep Creek Campground before climbing up

Hwy. 136 before going off-road . . . 

A little jaunt north on the back gravel path toward Mill Creek trail.

Another view . . .

With the sun falling fast and daylight expiring, it grew more

difficult to photograph the route. At the end of this path is the 

Mill Creek Bridge that runners will cross before turning

right on Case Street. Heading east until it T's with Broadway,

the route will take runners left/north through Charlotte and past

Assumption Catholic Church and beyond up the first

big hill of Co. Hwy Z2E.

Turning around, runners will enjoy a nice drop as they cruise

back into town and past Assumption toward the finish line 

at the corner of Broadway and Charles Street.

See you August 24th!!!!

18 in 2 chunks: 10 weeks 'til Ragnar

My road is most always paved with good intentions and Saturday was no different. With a start goal of 5:30 a.m., I'd hoped to log 15 of the day's 18 to Delmar and back along Hwy. 136 before the 9 a.m. start of kid2's baseball tournament in Charlotte. Unfortunately I've felt majorly tanked this week and slept in, which meant FAB conditioning for the August Ragnar River Relay! I wasn't able to hit the road until after the first ball game.

High Noon . . .

Groovy gaiters and new shoes! With as dry as it's been, I knew rocks and weeds

would be a factor. As for the shoes, while I enjoy trying new brands, after failures

with the Saucony ProGrid and Etonic Endurance, I opted for the latest version of

the Asics Keyano. I loved the 16's so much I still use them for everyday, but wasn't

impressed with the 17s, which is why I didn't instantly pick up the 18s. But let

me state, these bad girls are HEAVENLY!!! Big HUG&KISS to Asics!

'Leaning Crib of Corn'

I snapped a shot of this small, antique corn crib last spring, but her listing has 

me wondering if she'll see another harvest before falling down.

Mere feet from the 'Leaning Crib of Corn' is a barren ditch.

I'm pretty sure this is a Wild Prairie Rose, Iowa's state flower.

I thank my 3rd grade teacher Mrs. Ann Ott for teaching

me sweet little factoids about our wonderful state!

Spotting the next farm through the window of this old, decrepit excavator.

When it came to Saturday's blazing sun, I and the dude to the left 

appeared to be the only dumb animals.

There's a couple of curves on Hwy. 136 that give me the heebies and cause me

to run fast. This is one of them. Visibility sucks and the ditches aren't the greatest. 

I'm no stranger to walking those grassy inclines in an effort to run safe and 

avoid getting smashed like a skunk. Wish other runners would be as mindful.

It doesn't matter how many times I've run this road, I NEVER tire of these

gorgeous vistas! Nor do I tire of Good Samaritans, the latest being my husband!

I could only carry 20oz. of fluid with me and normally it would last me the 6.5

miles to Delmar, but with temps nearing 90 I was dry by 4. Fortunately, Hubs

had gone to Delmar to reload on ice and Gatorade for the day's Minor League Baseball

tourney in Charlotte and not only stopped to refill me, but planted 2 bottles in a bag

of ICE along the return! Big HUG&KISS to you, too,  Dear!

Closing in on Delmar . . .

After refueling with 2 Nuun tabs in my water and a can of Mountain Dew at the

Casey's General Store, I headed back east. For a couple weeks, I've been

wondering about the little green boxes on some sign posts. I was hoping it was one of

those Geocaching things and maybe a nice crispy $100 bill was waiting for me . . .

Nope. Just dead bugs.

With 2.6 miles left, I looked down and saw this neat-o looking old metal bar.

No clue what it is, but I liked the shape.

What was more neat-o was looking up from the metal bar and seeing a neighbor

come down the road with a load of hay. Makes me think of Hayden Fry's "ANF,"

which pains me to admit. I bleed "Cardinal and Gold" for my beloved Cyclones!

Just an idyllic little view of a neighbor's farm . . .

I thought the little one tucked down into the tall grass was so cute!!!

Two hours later . . .

Following the 3:30 game, I was back on the road by 5:15 for the last 5 miles

of the day's 18er. I had to kick it up because we had evening plans. I kept it 

simple and ran into Charlotte where I admired this little peek-a-boo pig!

Heading back home along Charlotte's back road is this little park-like area.

I never see anyone there and the only evidence of it being a park is the

manicured lawn and the falling-down bench, but I find it a peaceful little spot.

Ashes, ashes, we all fall down . . .

A westerly view from a Hwy. 136 bridge spanning Deep Creek as 

it meanders into Charlotte. Such a pretty end to the day's running.