Skip to main content

Catalina State Park Trail Race

Last Saturday I raced in the Catalina State Park Trail race, which happens to be my favorite race that Tucson holds. It's not a huge race. There are about 300 people total. But it has breath-taking views, great support, and it's quite the challenge!

The route is a 10.2 10.5 miles (according to MY Garmin) race. There are 2 loops that you complete. Within the loop, there is a 92 stair climb. While running on trail, you're pretty much running on sand the entire time. Which is not easy! You pretty much suck wind the while 10+ miles.

The views are just incredible, though!

I did this race last year, and happened to place 1st in my age group, so I felt pretty serious about "defending my title". (another perk to a smaller race. Placing!!) I'm not elitist.

After I did last year's race, I got motivated to become a better trail runner. So I really started incorporating it into my workout plans.

And I definitely beat my time, but didn't do as well in terms of rank as last year!


Last year's results: Time: 1:39:16.  7th overall women. 1st in my age group
This year's results: Time: 1:31:48.  9th overall women.  1st in my age group

I had so much fun, and just smiled ear to ear the whole time. I did the race with a few other friends. By mile 3, another runner and I realized we were about the same pace - so we ran the rest of the race together. I was planning on trying to convert her to our running group, but unfortunately she lives in California!

Here are a few photos from the race:

Here is a picture of one of the water crossings and stairs we had to climb. I stole this off the Everyone Runs website.

This is an example of the views throughout the whole park! Pretty awesome, huh?
 
This is a photo of some of the "Ragnar crew". We were laughing because all had some form of "Ragnar swag" on at the race. We should get paid by Ragnar for marketing!  
 

 
 
This is a fun shot of me and my friend Amanda, who I work out with most days of the week. She beat me by a few minutes - but she was my "rabbit" during this race!
 
We both walked into this race saying, "let's just take it easy and have fun and not worry about pace" Ha! Everything changed once we crossed the start line. We are kind of competitive....;)
 
After the race we went to a local Mexican restaurant for Bloody Mary's and omelets. It was a great morning, and a fun race! Can't wait to do it next year!


Comments

Congrats on your first place finish! That is awesome! And wow, you shaved so much time off of your previous time! I am impressed with your pace given that it's a tough course with sand and things like stairs! Well done, Rufus! :)

Your post-run plans sound awesome, too. I always love going out for brunch with my girls after we do one of our destination races!
Marlys said…
Awesome that your placed first in your age group once more! And 9th overall is nothing to feel bad about! You sure look intense in that on picture!
Sounds like a great day!

Popular posts from this blog

What is your color?

Green My favorite color ever! I have to control myself to not purchase too many green things. If I had no control, my house would be green. My kitchen would be lime-themed. With greenery everywhere. My bathrooms would be green. My bedroom would be green. You would all feel nauseated-green after entering my home. (So I don't have a green-themed home) Many things I love are green, such as: Spinach (I eat it a minimum twice a day usually) My weding color was green. (clover green) Limes (I have at least one time a day) Grass. I love the feel of grass, especially since I see it so rarely in AZ (except in my neighborhood that has amazing landscapers with grass-galore) Palm trees. Any tree. Christmas trees. I love Christmas Green Beer. I think the green beer on St. Patty's Day tastes better. My favorite color of eyes. When I was in 9th grade, I so badly wanted to get green contacts. But they made me keep my brown eyes. Diet Mountain Dew (my guilty pleasure) Granny Smith

Currently - May edition

   I haven't blogged much - but the last time I did one of these, Maddy was 9 months old. It's really fun looking back on the things that were "stressors" to me at that time. Prior to that - my currently post was a pregnancy edition.  So here goes May 2022. Maddy is almost a 15-month old and summer has set ablaze here in Tucson.   Reading :  I really wish I had a better answer for this one, but I have not been the best about reading lately. The only book I'm reading is "How to talk to your kids so they'll listen and listen so they'll talk". It is really good. Most of the book is geared more to school-aged kids, in my opinion. But it highlights some great communication skills with children to help them trust you as a parent to be open and honest. Eating: All the smoothies. It has been getting really hot here - and every day when we get home from our stroller run I make a smoothie for Maddy with whole milk, Fage, and fruit - and then a smoothie for

8 Months

 Well, I missed month 1-8. But it is never too late to begin, right? Here is a recap of Maddy at 8 months. (I'm totally stealing this idea from my sister, Lisa. I thought it was so neat that she recaps her son's favorites and happenings every month)   How am I sleeping? Better than I was - but not as good as my peers. It also depends on if I'm teething. Last week, her 2nd tooth was poking through - so she was awake 3 times.  No matter how much I let her cry it out, I cannot seem to cut down her feedings. When I go in there - she is literally pulling at my shirt with her mouth wide open. So clearly she's hungry.  She eats 2 times/night and luckily goes right back to sleep. It is what it is. What am I eating? While we have had breastfeeding and bottle refusal struggles - I am so glad that taking to food as been relatively smooth. We are doing baby led weaning, and Maddy really enjoys most every food I've given her.  Her favorite foods are scrambled eggs, apples, and c