Run Forest! Run!

I’m pretty sore this morning and I have only myself to blame.

I ran in a 20K yesterday and probably didn’t stretch enough prior to the start. As I get older, I’m finding that stretching is necessary more and more in order to feel less like a 5th floor dropped suitcase the day after a high mileage event.

In this case, the event was the 9th Annual Run to End the Silence (a benefit for Albuquerque’s Presbyterian Ear Institute). The race took place on the nearby Sandia Pueblo.

The course was 12 miles out and back with a pretty smooth trail except for a couple of arroyos and washes where you had to run through sand and gravel. Even though I drive through Sandia twice a day on Tramway, I was drawn to this event because I’d be able to run on the pueblo in places that aren’t visible from the road and are off-limits to visitors.

Another great thing about this race was that it started at 6:30 a.m. and so the sun had yet to creep up over the mountains. I ran east and uphill in shadow for most of the first half. When the sun did come up I was already at the halfway point and heading back downhill.

It was really amazing to be out in what remains pretty much untouched land, just a few minutes from downtown Albuquerque and with views ranging from the Sandias to the Rio Grande. What a spectacular thing to be doing before even a first cup of coffee.

The truism holds: No pain, no gain.

I suppose the gain can be measured in visual as well as physical terms.