This morning I had two thoughts for the run as I was heading out the door: 1) run 10 miles; 2) run a significant portion of it on a trail. As I headed east up 4th Ave, I decided to do the Cucina Loop on the Bonneville Shoreline Trail, from Dry Creek Canyon to City Creek Canyon. It takes about 15 minutes to run up to the trailhead at the bottom of Dry Creek (it's a pretty steady climb to that point, though it's only about 1.6 miles). Then I vanished into the womb of Dry Creek. It was still a little dark, but no visibility problems. The trail was still frozen, which was good because I think it would have been muddy otherwise. At the first overlook above the switchback in Dry Creek, there is a great view of the city. I noticed that someone had etched a message into the now-frozen ground with large letters, reading "THIS IS HOW WE MANIFEST IMPERMANENCE." I agreed. After the overlook, the trail rolls nicely, with only one notable climb and a couple of other little grunts. I descended into the meadow above City Creek and then dropped down through the upper Avenues, Ensign Elem., and the cemetery. I did some drills on the grass near the cemetery offices to finish the run: skipping, knees, carioca.
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