100 Miles of healing in the Borderland, El Paso Strong!

El Paso, TX is a beautiful city that wraps around the largest urban wilderness park in the US, Franklin Mountains State Park. North Franklin Peak tops out at 7192’ with views of three states and two countries. Just across the southern border is our sister city of Juarez, Mexico. Overlooking El Paso, Juarez and Sunland Park, NM is a 29’ tall statue of Jesus of Nazareth on the peak of Mt Cristo Rey. Thousands of devout Christians climb the smooth trail leading to the top several times per year. The Rio Grande slices through the middle of the two large cities and a levee trail heads north. These trails and mountains are my home and where I go for therapy and to meditate, heal, take in nature and ponder everything that is great about my life and the Borderland. I cover a lot of miles in this beautiful place and recently ran 100 miles in a week.

Mt Cristo Rey 

N. Franklin Peak

I rarely run that much in a week unless you count the weeks that happened to include a 100 mile trail race. Several times in this past year I dabbled with high mileage training weeks and two of them I did just last month. For the first time in my life, last January, I ran 100 in seven days just to see if I could do it. Of course it was cool which made it a bit easier and I chose routes that didn’t have too much elevation gain, but I still ran some miles in the Franklin Mountains. I ran between 10-20 miles each day and, while I was tired at the end of the week, I made it without any problems. None of my runs were very fast and at least one was on the Rio Grande Levee road which is completely flat. 

N. Franklin Peak in the distance

When I’m training for a mountain ultra of 50-100 miles, I usually focus on my weekly long run and build up to a 30-40 mile run about a month before the race and then taper back down. Sometimes I do back-to-back long runs if I don’t have time to spend all day in the mountains due to my work schedule or family events.

Apache Plume

Sweet acacia

However, training in the summer heat in the Desert Southwest can be a huge challenge. Options are: 1) running at night where rattlesnakes are out in abundance and harder to see or, 2) travel two hours to Cloudcroft, NM where you are in the Lincoln National Forest at 8,000-10,000’ where it’s 20-30 degrees cooler. Well, I’ve recently discovered another way to deal with the heat here in the desert and that is to run a 100 mile week of 10-20 miles per day.

Read my post: The All Night Training Run

Can you believe man walked there 50 years ago?

The beauty of this training plan is that you can be finished by 9:30-10:00am before the heat starts to destroy you. Unfortunately you have to wake up at 4:00-5:00 in the morning and possibly start in the dark with your headlamp, but it’s worth it. Even though it can reach 105 degrees for the high, the mornings are very fresh with views of the moon and stars, gorgeous sunrises and singing birds to keep you company. You can pack a lot of miles into a week’s training plan and even do some back-to-back runs of 15-20 which is great training for an ultra.

Cactus wren

Franklin Mountains State Park (Eastside)

Taz is my life coach and personal trainer.

What do you do with all that free time when you are on the trail for 3-5 hours? If you are like me, your mind wanders all over the place and you start to worry about all the things you have to do later or about other issues in your life. This can lead to a run that is far from the present moment and not very therapeutic. I recommend focusing on your breathing and taking in the natural beauty that surrounds you. Zen master, Thich Nhat Hanh writes often about walking meditation. While walking is better, I have found that I can do it while running if I just slow my pace a bit. He writes inspiring gathas or poems that help you practice mindfulness. Try reciting this gatha the next time you are out on the trail walking or running:

Taking two or three steps for each in-breath and each out-breath,

Breathing in “I have arrived”; Breathing out “I am home”

Breathing in “In the here”; Breathing out “In the now”

Breathing in “I am solid”; Breathing out “I am free” 
Breathing in “In the ultimate”; Breathing out “I dwell”

"The mind can go in a thousand directions,
but on this beautiful path I walk in peace.
With each step a cool wind blows.
With each step a flower blooms."

—Thich Nhat Hanh

Paintbrush flower, N. Franklin Peak

In early July I ran 100 miles in six days mostly because I had plans with my family on the seventh day. I did two 20 milers that week with several shorter runs in between. Just last week I did another 100 mile week in seven days with back-to-back 20 milers at the beginning of the week. Hopefully all this training pays off next month when I run the Wildland 52K in Jemez Springs, NM. This is a small, low key event where half of each race entry benefits wildland firefighters. 

“…we will split the proceeds between the Eric Marsh Foundation and the Wildland Firefighter Guardian Institute.  Both organizations were created after the Yarnell Hill tragedy, when 19 of the Granite Mountain Hotshots perished. The GMH was in the Jemez fighting the Thompson Ridge Fire just weeks before they died; working alongside the La Cueva VFD and USFS Jemez Ranger District fire fighters. This is just one small way of showing our gratitude.” —Wildland 52K

The course will be very challenging too with 8000’ of elevation gain. “The course was intended to help display the rigors of wildland firefighting…[with] rugged, unimproved, steep and very technical [trails], requiring your full attention and grit.” Sounds like a lot of misery and fun don’t you think? Without suffering there can be no bliss.

Greater earless lizard

Black-tailed rattlesnake

Tarantula

Anyway, I had some great runs this summer and as always, carried my camera along to capture the beauty of the Borderland. I encountered many creatures including several species of snakes, tarantulas, millipedes, vinegarroons (whip scorpion), deer, rabbits, lizards and plenty of birds. When you cover 100 miles in a week’s time you are sure to see a lot of natural beauty and amazing wildlife. This is my therapy, my solace and my church where I go everyday to heal. This is just one of the many things El Pasoans and Juarenses are doing to recover from the tragic events of this week. The humans of El Paso, Juarez and the Borderland will emerge from this stronger than ever. El Paso Strong!

See you on the trail.