First I want to say that I did this run at the last minute. I had planned on doing a run on the road up city creek but the weather was so nice I decided to hit a trail. Because I planned on running the road I only had road shoes, which made me sort of nervous. I tried to run a trial in my Altra Instincts a while back and didn't really like the experience very much. Apparently, that was due to my inexperience both with running in general and running trails in particular. In the last month or so I have logged a lot more trail miles and today the instincts were great, even on the dirt and mud. The only real difference I noticed is that there is slightly less protection underfoot and the traction on the snow isn't nearly as good as it is with the Lone Peaks. I started at the trail head on 18th ave and Hilltop rd. with the goal of reaching what I assume are the twin peaks up sort of behind the U. I have never taken this trail before and I knew that at most intersections I had to go up, if there was a directional choice. Turns out I didn't need to do this the whole way but now I will know for next time. The up portion of the run had some mud, snow and ice on it still, not to mention the occasional small stream comming out of the snow, which I had to get around. It was pretty fun and technical. I made it to the top of the first twin then the second, then I dropped off the top of the second comando style and hit the Bonneville Shoreline Trail and followed that back to the car. Without the snow, ice and mud, and without the steep hills to climb, I was able to move pretty quickly even for a trail. I managed at a couple of places to get my pace below a 7 minute mile, and sustained a 7 minute mile pace in a couple of places. This was supposed to be an easy run so I only went that fast when it felt good to run that fast but the rest of the time I moved at a comfortable pace. I'm sure I could get my average pace down in the future. AP: 12:20, Vert: 1,483'
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