Give a Guy an Inch, he takes a Mile.

The entire workout this morning I was thinking the same thing over and over: I'm SO blogging about this when I get home!

So, here's today's story. Kali, her guy friend (who shall remain nameless) and I went to Sabino Canyon (yet again, I know, we'll change our scenery soon) this morning. We were planning on watching the sunrise, but we got there too late for that. That was my fault, and we realized we need to wake up waaaay earlier to see the sunrise. I was pretty sure we were doing about the same run we did on Saturday. So, I got into that mindset. Does anyone else do this? I feel that a mindset for running is extremely important, at least for me. Some people just get up and go, but I need to take a little while and visualize what I'll be running and how I want to run it.

Anyway, while we were in the car, he decided we should try a different route. I was okay with that, I just wanted to run, so I went along with it. It turned out to be the back way to Sabino Canyon, which is what I wanted to run in the first place. We drove a little farther past the main entrance and up a dirt road to the beginning of a trail...that went up. Okay, I know I need to work on hills, but I was already weary about starting on so early in the morning (6:30). But I did it, and it kicked my ass! He was bounding off, up the hill, leaving Kali and I behind. we were definitely struggling! The whole leaving us behind really got to me. I feel that if you go to run with someone, you need to stay with them, despite you being faster. That's the whole point of training with a partner. And if you don't like your partners speed, find a new partner! Am I totally cruel in thinking this way? I just feel it's running buddy etiquette.

We finally made it to the road after .5 miles, and that was all uphill, rocky, nasty-ness. I HATE ROCKS. We then get to run down a big hill. Kali and I pick up our pace so we're not trying to slow ourselves down. I thought to myself that we'd have to go back up the hill, and I wasn't very excited about that. Kali's friend was way ahead again, but then all of a sudden, he slips (because he was weaving, back and forth, while running) on some gravel and starts to bleed from his hands, knee and arms. You think this would stop someone. But no. He jumped up and started up again. So we continued to follow him.

We were getting closer to the road we ran Saturday and I was getting excited because I wanted to run farther back into the canyon. However, he had another idea: a trail that went, surprise surprise, uphill. But this trail was smaller and rockier, not my idea of a good run. It got so hard that Kali and I had to walk/hike this trail. So basically, we were hiking now. Woo-hoo.

Now, I don't mind a little hiking mixed in with my training. But this goes back to the mindset thing. I wasn't ready to hike. I was ready to run. And that's what I prepared myself for this morning. We continued up this trail until we came to a small waterfall, which I'll admit, was very pretty. But I didn't want to hike!!! We ended up hiking along a stream for what seemed like 20 minutes. Definitely cutting into my running time, and the sun wasn't getting any cooler. I told Kali this and she seemed to be feeling the same way. He was way ahead of us again, so he didn't hear us. Don't worry, I'm not rude. The worst part about this "hike" was the lack of a trail. We couldn't even run. It was just rocks. I swear. The big, boulderly kind. Awful stuff, even to walk on. My ankle was hurting and wanted to get back to the road. We kept yelling at him to take us to the road, and eventually we scaled a small cliff (with many prickly stickers and plants that got caught in our socks) and got to the road. I was about ready to run away from this guy. And finally, we got to run. But it was so hard. I had lost my mindset, and all of that stopping really didn't help.

Total: 5.74 miles
Avg Pace: 10'28"

I always stopped the watch when we were "diddly-dallying". And let me tell you, we stopped a lot. I don't dislike the guy, he was very nice and just wanted to go on an adventure. Which sounds awesome, but on another day. I love Kali as a running partner and we would love to invite more people to our Sunday runs. However, I won't be inviting this guy again; or, at the least, if he really wants to come again, then Kali or I will be taking control of where we run and hopefully he'll get the hang of it.

Well then! That's my rant for today. I just had to get that out, it seemed so ridiculous, I just had to share. I have a cultural anthropology final in 30 minutes, so I need to get going!!! Have a great Tuesday everyone! :)