6 miles
1,200 vertical
(stats include a short warm-up as the loop is 5 miles and 1,000 vertical according to Bill)
At Bill's BBQ last night, as I was saying goodbye, he suggested that I run the "Brook Loop" which is a loop that starts at the cement bridge at the S. Mesa TH, heads up Towhee to the base of Shadow, then traverses right along what he calls the "Bridge Trail" to the Mesa Trail, then N. on the Mesa to Bluestem, then back down to the lower section of the Mesa Trail and back to the bridge. He was thinking that I could break the record of 37:15 and after a bit of talk, I was convinced that I could and hoped to give it a shot soon.
I headed out there this afternoon, it was a bit cool, but not too bad. As I arrived at the S. Mesa TH shortly before 2pm, it was windy as could be and I was losing motivation. I lingered in the car as the wind howled, stirring up dust devils and eventually and reluctantly stepped out for a short warm-up. I jogged in my jacket with my hands in my pockets as I listened to the powerlines sing songs in the wind. I felt good, but not great and I knew I would be bucking a stiff headwind, so my hopes were not high.
From the bridge, I was cranking right off the bat, as this was a short run and I was putting a bit more into it than usual. I crossed the small creek on Towhee at 3:27, got to the Homestead jct in 10:08, then the next junction in 12:08. I knew I should have been faster than this, but pushing through that cold headwind was doing me no favors. Made the Shadow/Bridge Trail jct. in 18:35, good but not great. I sped through the short ups, leading to the long down pretty well, but as soon as I hit the down, I knew I had my work cut out, as my downhill muscles and coordination are not totally there after Saturdays run. Oh well, I just cruised it, going fast, but definitely not setting the trail on fire. Made the Mesa in 23:51, then the Bluestem in 25:09, back to the Mesa in 31:3? (I think), then the finish in 35:48. I beat the record, but was not at all satisfied, as I was thinking I would be 32 or 33 going good, or 34 at the worst. Oh well, I just really wanted to put down a baseline time for me and have something to improve upon. Great run though either way.
