Virtual Race: Global Warming, My Ass! 6.66 Mile Run

This morning I met my co-worker Abbey and a few of her running team mates in Carson City for a nice trail run up Ash Canyon. It was a beautiful sunny morning, if a little brisk with the wind blowing, but once we got going it was absolutely perfect weather for a run. I'm sorry to say that I'm not at the top of my game right now because of off and on lower back pain. Not sure what I did this time, but I'm working on the moves my physical therapist got me started on. I'm feeling pretty good, but because of my lack of quality trail runs lately I found myself getting winded pretty quickly on the uphill half of our run (which felt more like 2/3). It was a beautiful trail and I'd like to get another go at it, but maybe at a slower pace. Abbey and her team put in so many miles in these hills I swear they are part Bighorn Mountain Sheep!

I had a goal in mind: I signed up for a virtual race called "Global Warming, My Ass!" which is a 6.66 mile run any way we wanted to complete it before March 16th. I thought today would be a good day to knock this one off. However, it's a good thing that the host of this race isn't choosing prizes to give out to the winners because that's not a category I'd fall into with my slow-poke pace of an hour and a half. Yes, I did a lot of walking. But first things first. Here is a pic of us getting started: (Abbey is on the far right waving me forward- I'm the one in green)

The pavement only lasted for a few minutes and then we started in on the uphill. What a fantastic view of the mountains! And the sky was super blue today, which contrasted even more sharply with the white clouds floating overhead.

Here's a typical shot of Abbey's hair, wildly swinging in tempo with her pace. I don't know how she runs with her hair down- that would drive me batty.

As I mentioned earlier, I got winded pretty quickly on our uphill climb and the group had to wait for me several times. Here they are in their (unpanting) glory:

Here I am coming up the hill, in last place, with the valley below me~

And following Abbey- looks like she's giving me the skinny of the trail and its history...

And a glorious photo of the valley below us, and soooo much sky!

I learned that it is mandatory to "fly airplanes" around the hairpin turns going back down hill (here I was able to keep up! :)

And the rest of the group following suit~

Fellow TLD (Team Library Dork) runner Turi also made the trek down to Carson for this wonderful trail run, even if he already completed his 6.66 mile run (with a MUCH faster time). He also is going to run this 6.66 mile distance 6.66 times. Overkill or just super enthusiastic? He never does anything half-assed. :) Nice profile pic here~

And a photo op of Abbey, me and Turi:

And one final watercolor photo of my braided hair, just for fun~

Thanks to Abbey and her running team for including me in your Sunday run! And also to Razz for hosting the virtual run!