convenient truth

It's my birthday.

I'm wearing my new pants.

I'm gonna eat pie.

I ran up La Luz last night all the way to the top of Sandia Crest then across the peak to the tram. This was an early present to myself, 'cos that's how I roll.

Last year I got cheated out of this very run by rain. This year it rained (predictably), but I still ran anyway. It was gorgeous, it was cool. Me and the hummingbirds.

The trail was pretty rocky - we've had some rain recently and the trail is taking a bit of a beating. All the rain, too, has made the vegetation really thick - so it's kind of a bushwhack in some spots.

I haven't been higher than the Overlook (about 4.3 mi up) since last year. I learned last night that it gets really hard after the Overlook. There's a short stretch of downhill, but then there's this rockslide I kinda forgot about. There are several switchbacks worth of rockslide, about a mile and a half, I'm told. This is not just any rockslide - this is the kind that you have to hike through whilst praying you don't lose your footing. In my experience, it's a rare elite runner who can actually run the rockslide.

After the rockslide comes more trail, and it's a bit more runnable. But by this time the altitude is somewhere close to 10,000 feet and fatigue sets in.

The kind of fatigue that says, "You suck. Go home."

Then it flattens out again about 500ft from the summit at a point known as "the Y". The race would take a left turn and go straight up. It's only another 0.7 mi, but easily the hardest 0.7 mi of the whole trail, as I recall - it includes a section of stairs.

Instead of the race path we took another path - the 1.1 mi other branch of "the Y" that follows the ridge of the peak to the tram. The tram trail has dropoffs straight down into neverland and a view into forever. We arrived at the tram just in time to lose all the remaining light of the day. Whew!

For me, that was a bit over 2hrs 20 minutes of running uphill. This is only about 7.5 miles, but the hardest 7.5 I've done in some time. Woof!

And we took the tram down - in the dark. With an awesome view of the city lights. Gorgeous!

I should mention that it's really fun to be in a tram car packed with people when you smell like ass. I think they noticed.

Instead of doing something fun for my birthday I'm at work. Work is not so bad, I have an interesting job, I'm an Environmental Scientist.

Environmental you say? That must mean you must hug trees for a living! You must wear Birkenstock sandals and hemp clothing!

Um, yeah, it's kinda like tree hugger, only different.

Here's a little video that shows sorta what I do for a living. Sorta. Or at least, this is what I'm going to start telling people when they ask.

I suppose wearing the yoga pants makes me the yoga captain for today.