Change of Plans

We’ve all had that time when we had to change our running plans. Sometimes this change is forced by injury or schedule, sometimes it’s allowed by opportunity. When we’re not in the final weeks of an important training cycle, change presented by opportunity should be welcomed – a new trail, a new training partner, an interesting running opportunity – these changes keep running interesting.

I had a change forced on me last week by opportunity. I say forced because the opportunity was so great I couldn’t turn it down. I was traveling in Arizona for work, staying at a resort hotel with the Tucson Mountain Park just out the back door. Mountain trail running was an opportunity a Miami runner just couldn’t pass up, 10k on Friday be damned. 

Tucson Mountain Park.

Monday, scheduled fartlek run forgotten, I talked to the concierge about the trails behind the hotel, picked up a map and headed out on a short loop before dinner. The loop wasn’t particularly demanding, and had no real steep climbs, but still I could feel muscles I’m not used to using and my lungs strained in the slightly thinner atmosphere (2500 ft). Only a 4.5 mile run, not enough to feel truly pushed, but enough to wet my appetite.

The next day, with a later work day start than usual, I decided to head out for a sunrise run, camera in hand. 

Hitting the trail just before sunrise.

Sunrise on the hills of Tucson Mountain Park

I started out retracing the same trail as the day before, stopping often to take photos of the rising sun and the mountain trail – it was a bit different than the flat Miami running I’m used to. I stopped for a while at the Brown House Ruins, a small stone cabin built in the 1930’s – not much to look at but a great view from the living room. 

Brown House Ruins

View from the Brown House living room.

I continued exploring the trails, deciding to take a slightly different route than I had the day before since I had 2 hours before I needed to be back. Finally I paused to look at my watch and realized I’d been on the trail for over an hour, including the photo breaks. I was going to have to be a little more serious about continuing without stops, but I still had time for the slightly longer Star Pass route back to a trail head from which I could book it back up the road to the hotel. 

10 minutes later I was wishing I’d had a topographical map so I would have known the next mile would be straight up hill. Only 600 ft up, but for someone living in Miami where the biggest climb is 20 ft over one of the bridges, it was quite a mountain. The view was amazing from atop the ridgeline, but I was starting to enjoy it less as I realized I might not have enough time to make it back to the hotel. 

Almost to the peak.

My decent from the ridge line was a little haphazard as I pounded down the other side of the mountain, sliding on loose rocks and narrowly avoiding cacti and steep drop offs. As I got back into the valley I suddenly realized at an intersection that the trails were not marked in this part of the park, and not all the trails were on the map – fantastic. I set off hastily in what I believed was the right general direction. 

Hard to see here, but the trail down followed this ridge.

The trail weaved between rocks and cacti, and I made hasty decisions about which trail to follow every time I came to an unmarked trail crossing or washout, several times not sure about my decision but each time the trail seemed to lead me in the direction I wanted to go. By this time the camera in my hand was all but forgotten as I focused solely on trying to make my way home.

At one point the trail forked, nether choice leading me in the direction I wanted to go – but I could see what looked like a trail in the distance. Bushwhacking seemed like a good idea at the time… Turns out roughing it through desert where you have to constantly watch for thorns, snakes and scorpions - not as much fun as it sounded and I was plenty happy to rejoin the trail where I could at least stop worrying as much about the thorns.

25 min until I had to be back and I was still uncertain as to where I was. I had chosen a trail heading towards a building in the distance, but upon looking that the map I wasn’t sure if it was the trail head I wanted, or one that would force me to run miles around the park to get home. Then I remembered I had a navigation feature on my watch – not something I’d ever needed in the city. After playing with the menus I finally figured out how to pull up the navigation feature of my Garmin watch – a dotted line marking the path I’d taken, and a GPS bearing to get me to the start. Sure enough I was heading the wrong way. I spun around and headed off again, picking up the pace trying to salvage hope that I’d make it home in time.

In another 10 minutes I finally saw a familiar trail intersection and without hesitation sprinted down the trail towards the trail head, slowing only briefly to pick my way up a stream before the trail turned to road and I was able to open up my stride, finally believing I’d make it back to the hotel in time. Another 10 minutes of racing up the hill and I was finally back at the resort with time for a 5 minute shower before joining my coworkers to head out to the work site.

For the next couple of days muscles I didn’t know I had ached, but the memory of that 9 miler invigorated the spirit. Someday I’ll live in the mountains, able to enjoy these scenic runs at whim, but for now I have to be content to let these opportunities distract me from my schedule and remind me how fun running can be.