It all started around 4:45PM after I parked at the soccer fields by the Fairmont Scottsdale Princess Hotel. I started running west towards the gorgeous orange sunset for the first mile before taking a left and going south on Scottsdale Road. At Frank Lloyd Wright, I took another left to go back east towards the McDowell Mountains as they glowed purple in the setting sun. By the time I took another left on Thompson Peak, a left again on Bell (through Westworld) and returned back to my car, I was already an hour and twenty minutes into my run. I drank some Carbo-pro infused Gatorade Endurance, ate a Stinger waffle and started back again.
After going east again through the Fairmont Scottsdale Princess, I crossed Scottsdale Road towards Lifetime Fitness, took a right on Mayo Blvd, another right back on Scottsdale Road to return back to the car via the Fairmont Scottsdale Princess. Another fifty or so minutes had gone by as my Garmin read 2:10. I drank some more liquid, took another waffle and started running again. I was tired but I only had 1:20 to go.
This time, I started running circles around the soccer complex. Each round is about 1.4 miles and I was taking about 12 minutes per round. I needed to do about 7 rounds. I stopped after the first 4 to fuel up again, and then struggled to finish the final 3. The last mile was the hardest as I averaged more than 10 minutes per mile. In the end, I ran for 3:33:57 for a total of 24.32 miles.
Curiously, my Garmin is telling me that I climbed 84,699 feet. The barometer is definitely broken (or something else is definitely wrong). Tomorrow, I will call Garmin and complain about it. Hopefully, they will help me out!