Pemberton Trail - 15.3 mile loop - March 19, 2011

I've decided I want to try and do a marathon. It's something I said I wouldn't do because I've injured my hip, I've had a stress fracture in my foot, my knees are feeling the wear and tear from all this running and my hamstring (behind) hurts most all of the time. I figured if I tried to pack more miles on this aging body that I was going to pay for it. However, I really really want to try and do a marathon so I'm going to try to slowly add the miles and hopefully avoid injuries. And if I'm going to train for a marathon, I'm going to enjoy the training as much as the race. I'm always on the hunt for fun trails and scenic places to run because I don't want to get bored with running along the canals close to home. So this past weekend was kind of training day #1. After looking for mountain trails around here, I came across the Pemberton Trail which is 15.3 miles. I read that it had hills but gradual and not straight up like the last run, dirt paths which are easier on the legs but not overly rocky like we've run in Usery Pass. Sounded like the perfect run to try with my awesome trail running partners. I couldn't wait for Saturday morning to get out to that mountain and attempt over 15 miles of trail running. We packed our waters and gels and headed out at 6am.

Here we are at the trailhead ready to start our run as the sun was just coming up.

Rhonda, Sheryl, Marla Marla

Rhonda

Sheryl

As luck would have it, there happened to be a breast cancer walk at Pemberton trail the very day we decided to run out there. So we were not alone in the desert but had all kinds of fun people around cheering us on when we weren't even part of their race. They even had mile markers, aid stations, people biking the loop to make sure that everyone was ok and a finish line .

Made the 15+ miles with a avg pace of 9:48. My goal was to keep it under a 10 minute mile not knowing how hilly it would be. The first 9 miles were a constant gradual climb and the last 6 were mostly flat and down. It was a beautiful run and another awesome day. I can't wait to see where we go next.