Mount Lemmon Training Run

I have been a little concerned that I have not gotten enough downhill training in as preparation for the major downhill at Big Cottonwood.  Jake, who originally gave me the idea to run Big Cottonwood, was having similar concerns.  We have gone to South Mountain twice for training runs, but that is only about 7.5 miles long.  This weekend we headed down to Tucson to train on Mount Lemmon.  We drove down on Friday night.  The ride down was uneventful, except for the a little tickle in my throat that always signals the beginning of a cold.   Upon arriving in Tucson we drove up Mount Lemmon to the first lookout area to get an idea of how much time we would need in the morning then we  found a hotel for the night.   

After a pasta primavera dinner we went to sleep.  I slept well, but woke up with a congested nose.   Jenny, Jake’s wife, was kind enough to drive us up to about 6500 feet, which would give us a good 15 miles of downhill.  We could have gone up to around 9,000 feet but the logistics would have been too complicated.  On the way up we stashed water every 5 miles.

The first few miles were the most difficult.  I am not sure if it was the elevation or the nasal congestion, but breathing was more difficult than usual.  The descent was fun and the views beautiful.  I didn’t even bother to turn on my MP3 player during the entire run.  After the first few miles I settled in and had a nice run.  It is very easy on a long downhill to lose focus and end up just coasting.  I find it much harder to keep track of my pace on the downhill.  During the race I need to focus on “running” down the hill and not just coasting along.

Jake will be trying for a Boston Qualifier at the race, which is a 3:15 for his age group.  He added 6 miles onto the end of the downhill for a total of 21 miles.  He was able to maintain his marathon pace but is still concerned whether he is ready.

I just ran the 15 downhill and felt good.  I thought about adding a couple miles at the end, but didn’t want to push my luck.  This will be my last long run before the race.  I am planning on running in the Jerome Hill climb next week (5 miles up the streets of Jerome).  I will then be able to run back down to my car and get one more downhill in before it is time to taper.