Running to my wedding location with all of you was really such a gift to me. It was an amazing start to a really wonderful day in my life. In fact, I told friends that the Wedding Express run was my perfect place.
I was so filled with anticipation for everything to come, watching a beautiful sunrise, and doing the activity that centers me most. Much of the rest of the day was a blur, but I feel like I was so in the moment for every step of that 4.5 miles.
What I didn’t anticipate was how glad I would be that you were all there when I saw the wedding site– complete with chairs and flowers– for the first time. How nice it was to have friends with me then, snapping pictures and exchanging hugs. I think I may have been nervous if you weren’t there with me!
Because you were so much a part of that day and my memories, wanted to be sure you saw pictures of everything that transpired in the hours that followed J It was perfect and lovely, and exactly the day that Todd and I imagined.
Often I regret that I didn’t discover running and the passion that I feel for it until my mid-30s. But maybe running, and especially the support and friendship that I have found in my running group, arrived at exactly the right time to be my peace and consistency through a time of great change.
Todd & Jenn
I ran and unraveled the complexities of the new supersized job that scared me a little. I ran the week that I got engaged to the man who will share my life. I was there the week that I put my house, symbol of my single years and financial security, on the market, and when it sold in only three months.
It surprised me when I ran the week my fiancé suffered a serious surgical complication. Didn’t think I could run as he lay in a hospital bed, connected to a heart monitor. And yet it was the best thing I could have done for him and for me. He agrees. Think I ran faster than ever that week.
And in recent months, I run and am introspective about the ways my life is changing every day. Living with someone following nearly 40 years of single life for both of us. I had no idea how engrained I was in my own habits and rituals, until I shared a home with someone who had equally engrained habits and rituals. Today we are creating new habits, a new home and a new life together.
On March 26th we will be married in a backyard on Troon Golf Course. I plan to run the distance between my single and married life– running from our home near the intersection of Pinnacle Peak and Pima to a beautiful home near Alma School and Happy Valley Road.
I would love to have the company of others from our group that want to make the journey with me. I can think of no other time that the peace and consistency of running with my fellow runners would mean more. That run will be a treasured memory for me, precisely because I shared it with you.
Jenn & Todd
If you can make it, the details are below…
Date/time: Saturday, March 26, 6 am.
Meet: AJ’s shopping center on the SE corner of Pima Rd and Pinnacle Peak. Bathrooms available beginning at 6 am. Also great seating, coffee and bagels for after run.
Distance: 8.5 mile turnaround
Profile: Gradual hills and some flats. Mainly up there, mainly down back.
Surface: Paved and dirt roads, with little traffic.
View: Beautiful estates, majestic saguaros, and dramatic mountain views.
Route:
• Run East on Pinnacle Peak, turn left (north) on 92nd Street.
• Take a right at the fork in the paved road (Desert Vista). Run to end of cul-de-sac. Take the dirt path at the end that will take an immediate left, this is 94th Street (but not paved).
• Turn right (east) on Happy Valley Road (paved).
• Run past stop sign, then take second left on a residential street called Windy Walk. You will run by the entrance to Troon Country Club on your left and see a guard gate ahead. Wave to security guards, they are nice and will know you are coming!
• Run up the hill past several cross streets, nearly to the end of the neighborhood. Turn left on Quartz Rock Road. Run to the end of the cul-de-sac, the house at the end of the street is the place (10600 East Quartz Rock Road).
• Should be about 4.25 miles one way.
Return route:
• Return the same route. Key to look for the residential street sign that says 94th street (that dirt road). Turn left there off Happy Valley Rd. Otherwise pretty straightforward return. Enough of a downhill that you will feel like a superstar!
Here’s a great video from Runners Den on a topic that many runners know little about. This form is similar to that used in the Chi Running method and in my opinion can reduce injuries for endurance runners. (Note: there is no audio with the clip)
This is long overdue; it’s a subject I think about every Saturday morning. As runners in a large metropolitan area we mainly have three things to worry about as we traverse the streets and sidewalks. Those three things we need to worry about are; cars, cars and cars! If you follow these three rules you’ll be able to continue running and avoid early morning trips to the hospital.
Rule 1: Always run facing traffic.
Whether you are running on the sidewalk, curb or in the street one should always run against the traffic. Wouldn’t you rather see them coming instead of sneaking up behind you? An easy rule to follow but also easy to overlook; remember, that approaching driver could be talking, texting or looking at pictures on their iPhone.
Rule 2: Always make eye contact with drivers.
Whenever you are on a path to intersect with a vehicle, make eye contact with the driver! If they are not looking at you, they may not see you. This is critical especially when you approach a turning vehicle. Often the driver will pull up to a stop sign or light, take a quick look and proceed. Unless they make eye contact with you, one should assume that they do not see you.
Rule 3: Pay close attention to traffic signals and the rules of the road.
We’ve all been there; it’s 5:15 AM, you come up to a red light, there’s not a car in sight, so you continue running across the street. Not a problem 99% of the time, but that 1% will get you. I have found that the left turn only arrows can be deceiving to runners. More than once I’ve been honked at because I ran against a red light, failing to notice the left turn arrow which had turned green sending me on a collision course with an angry soccer mom.
That’s it, just three rules, and of course common sense. Run safe!
watching a beautiful sunrise, and doing the activity that centers me most. Much of the rest of the day was a blur, but I feel like I was so in the moment for every step of that 4.5 miles.
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