Last Fall, our good friends the Winns invited us to run it with them. Although Lel had to back out in the end, we had a great time training together at South Mountain Park. A few times the kids even came along.
We would hike up at sunrise, then Steve and I would watch the kids while Lel and Katie ran. Then they'd take the kids home while we ran. Steve was great at coming up with things for the kids to do.
One time, when the freezing temperature made venturing out to look at cacti seem less than appealing for the kids, we brought up this classic on my iPhone:
Anyway, back to the race, the weather was perfect and my van-mates were a blast.
We saw some great scenery along the way. Here's a panorama I took south of Wickenburg (click to enlarge):
Here's a shot of Four Peaks during our third leg:
The full team:
I always wish I were in better shape by the end of these races, but I think doing a round of P90X last year made a difference this time. My pace for the three legs was 8:20 (5.6 miles), 9:33 (4.7 miles), and 10:23 (8.8 miles). That puts my overall pace at 9:35. I hope to get in better shape so next time I can average more like 8:30.
Thanks to the Winns for letting me run with them!
