Run Yogi Run!

Sunrise run with a friend. Took it easy and chatted away. Up the Freedom Hills switchbacks and along the BST to loop back around through the neighborhood. Reigned it in because she's just getting back into running and her ankle doesn't handle the downhills so well. 10:58ish min/mile.

Followed it up with Ashtanga MDR.
5 cycles Suryanamaskara A
5 cycles Suryanamaskara B
Pashimotanasana
Min. 5 minute Savasana

Felt strong and the flow was great.

Mountain run up Freedom Hills to the BST again. Same friend. Didn't know if I'd make it out until I woke up this morning at 6:20 and felt pretty rested (not bad for staying up 'til 12:30). This time we went north and looped back down around the rocky trails instead of neighborhoods. I much prefer the trails. It was about 15 degrees warmer this morning than yesterday morning! It felt like spring. Less layers required. Glorious. I definitely worked up more of a sweat today.
Still held back on the downhills some. Easy pace. 11:42 min/mile.

I'm thinking an MDR sounds good again.

Wednesday night, yoga night!
Align and Flow Moon Salutations for 1.25 hrs and then YTT for another 2 hrs. It sounds so peaceful saying it that way, but it was INTENSE. It wasn't my most mindful and present practice, but it was good. By the end of YTT my hips were DONE. Awesome. I was able to accomplish Hanumanasana (splits) on both sides. I can drop into a dance split at any moment, but the hips have to be squared off in this pose, so it took some work to align correctly and get down!
Took a break from the morning run so that warlordblade could go to 7 am Jiu Jitsu.

Another gorgeous morning run! 2.6 with my friend Mara up FH again. 11:31 pace. I think next time we'll try to push it up the switchbacks more. Starting out uphill is not my favorite, but it's good for me right? 3 hrs of yoga last night had my legs burning hot within the first mile. But the birds were singing and the temperature was perfect. I finish almost every run happy, but with just a hint of lamentation at my slowness. I need to remember that I'm probably faster and stronger now than I have been at any time in the past (except maybe last summer/fall). I can't compare myself to anyone but me!

Time for morning asanas. MDR on the way (if the kids will let me)!

Nada. Bah. Running partner is in Hawaii (poor thing), and the sudden jump to runs+yoga every day on top of the crazy busy calendar had me needing a pajama day- which I took. Husband also had early morning yoga and climbing, so it was my turn to sleep in. Did get in a tiny bit of rock wall climbing near the end of day at family health/movie night.

Very little running was had, unless you count running around chasing nieces, nephews and offspring around yards and playgrounds. That happened a lot today.
Began the morning with an incredible 90 minute modified Ashtanga Primary Series (yoga) class at Mindful & Embodied. Kicked my trash and left me feeling clean and glowing despite the puddle of sweat that formed on my mat. Just what I needed.

Considered running with WLB between Easter Egg Hunts, but my legs were hashed enough that it would have been frustrating to try. Glad he got a run in though.

Hike with the munchkins around Farmington pond and out to Lagoon trail. Super casual and fun. Carried the 3 year old for about half of it.

Barefoot Kundalini Breath Walk as a moving meditation with YTT. Beautifully grounding. So great for sorting out the mental state.

Finished a Yoga Teacher Training Immersion weekend. I've been doing MDRs every morning, and then 3 hours of nightly yoga practice+class Wed, Thurs, Fri, and 8 hours on Saturday. Good stuff.

3.5+ miles up the Freedom Hills switchbacks, north to Little Valley road, and back along a few other random trails (and non-trails), across a big dirt pit, and flew screaming with exhilaration down some awesomely steep hills. Great way to break in the new kicks. Vivo Barefoot's Breatho Trail shoes.  I wish the toe box was a touch wider, but over all a great shoe. The traction on these babies is delicious! The soles are pretty much everything I wish Altra would make just for me. :) Killer traction and adequate rock protection without compromising ground feel or flexibility. Light and lovely. They wouldn't be my pick for everyday wear, but they are just the ticket for trails. I wish I'd had them this past winter!

I thought I'd have a hard time having not run for over a week, but I felt fantastic! Had my dad adjust me yesterday (he's a chiropractor). I only had one illium slightly flared out and everything else was in line! That has NEVER happened!! Huzzah for yoga!

Morning MDR coming up!

Didn't get a run in this morning, so I decided to take my 4 munchkins hiking. We went up Davis Creek Trail to the waterfall and then climbed up the muddy mess to the big rock and the petroglyphs. (I had my 3 year old on my back.) It was slightly terrifying. We made it back down to the river without dying and crossed to climb up the switchbacks on the other side, wandered across the foothills off trail and then met up with a 4-wheeler trail that took us back down to the BST. I am super proud that my kids didn't whine and were majorly up for adventure at every turn!

My kids rock!

Had a rainy rainy morning mountain run with Mara. I can only ever dream of running in Scotland, but I like to pretend. :) Everything is greening up and the rain was the perfect steady drizzle. We mixed up the route and went up through neighborhood roads- a steady uphill. Blech. I was so happy when we finally hit trail! South on the BST for a while and then back North, ranging of on hillside trails and just playing around and getting soaked. It wasn't too muddy, but I was super glad to have shoes with awesome traction. I love them!
Gorgeous morning. I am a happy girl!

Snowy morning 3 miler with Mara up the Freedom Hills switchbacks to Little Valley Road and winding back through some random trails down the mountainside. Just snowy enough to obscure rocks and such, but not snowy enough to protect us from them. I came down the mountain staggering and tripping like a drunken newborn giraffe. Very graceful. No injuries though. Bonus. :)
Gotta throw in a quick yoga MDR, make breakfast, get everyone ready, and get laundry sorted and going before I take the kids to the museum. My life is so glamorous! I love it!

Another great trail run with Mara this morning. 3.73 miles up the FH switchbacks, south on the BST, up the little canyon just past the waterfall, then came flying back down the hill and to the neighborhood roads to make a figure 8 course. I wanted to go further, but we ran out of time. It was chilly! The waterfall still had ice around the edges. Ready for some warmer runs in shorts without hats and gloves. All thing considered though, I'm just grateful to run. It's my first run since the Boston bombings and they were on my mind. I've been itching to run in my mountains. Don't they just feel that way when you're in them? Like they're yours. They welcome me back in silent greeting no matter how long it's been, challenge me playfully, and breathe new life into my soul.
Eh, maybe it's just me. Or maybe I'm just cheesy enough to write it that way.

Morning yoga practice on the way. Last night's Alignment/Pranayama class had me dripping (including a LOOONG held headstand). I have some recovery tension that needs some serious breathing out. The kids are sleeping in since we got in late last night. I might get lucky and be uninterrupted.

Took my kids to the Freedom Hills Park so that warlordblade could go for a run and ended up hiking 3 miles to Rick's Creek Waterfall and back. The kids just wanted to hike! I carried a 3 year old on my back almost the entire way.

It was a beautiful morning for a run/hike. Mara and I decided to mix it up. So we parked at the Davis creek trail head and run to the waterfall, then climbed up on top of the big rock. Only then did she tell me she was afraid of heights! Poor thing scooted back down the trail slowly on her bum! She was a good sport and ran to El Capitan with me once she felt solid on the ground again. Not as much distance as I wanted, but that trail isn't easy! Totally enjoyed it.
I joined Fitocracy last week and went a little crazy leveling up. I kind of love this site. I'm sore EVERYWHERE!!
Morning yoga practice on the way!

2 mile hike with the fam toting kids the whole way up to Patsy's Mine. That trail is steep! I've run it a bunch of times, but it's a whole different animal when you are packing 5 kids along. We went all the way to the back of the mine with our flashlights. That was fun!

3 and a third mile loop in the mountains with Mara. Gorgeous morning. We took it pretty easy. My knee has been bugging me from hiking/running down Patsy's on Monday with a 40 lb kid on my back. I've been lifting kinda heavy lately too. Weighted Barbell Squats and stuff. Yoga yesterday helped a LOT, but it started to flare up a little at the end of the run.
Time to get back at it. More yoga it is!

3 miles up FH switchbacks to Little Valley Rd and wound down through the trails back to Mara's house. Felt rather short and slow, but it was a gorgeous morning. SHORTS WEATHER!! Yay!
We finished things up with a private yoga session out on her driveway with a lovely view of the sun coming over the mountains. Sun Salutations indeed.
Running has never had a better friend than yoga.

Later morning run with Mara. Sunny and gorgeous, cool, but pleasantly so. We both had super sore legs- mine from yoga and lifting and hers from a boot camp workout. We started out at a stiff hike straight up the mountain from her house to try to warm things up. Once we hit the BST we headed north at an easy run. I have a skinned up pinky toe from a rousing game of barefoot Virus Tag with my kids on Monday, so that was a little tender. At our easy pace I felt like I could go forever. It was good to go a little longer than our usual 3. I need to up my miles if I'm gonna do the Moab Trail Half in November! And I can't forget Spartan Beast in June- that's not too far away!

4 miles with Mara, the FH switchbacks, south to Rick's Creek along the BST and back the same route. I flew down the switchbacks full speed and yelling! It felt amazing! FREEDOM!! Mara got mad when I cheered her on after waiting for her at the bottom. Ha! I assured her I was sincere. It was a great run. Gorgeous weather!
 

Hike with the munchkins. Carried one of them at all times- naturally.

Barefoot walk with my 5 year old daughter. Well, I intended it to be a walk, but she likes to run when it's just us two! Wasn't feeling my best, so we walked at least half- much to her dismay. :)

Good morning Monday!
4.7 miles with Mara. BST to Rick's Creek, up over the waterfall and back around the other side then into the canyon, up to the base of the waterfall, back out and north on the BST to the FH switchbacks. The waterfall spray was so refreshing this morning! Gorgeous!!
Nice temps and cloudy, but lots of bugs! Post run yoga got cut short due to bugginess. I'll be doing another inside practice for sure.

Barefoot mile around the hilly block. I hate road running. I just wanted to bust out a quick mile since I slept in this morning and was feeling lazy. Well, quick is being generous. 8:35 isn't very quick. But hey, whatever. It's all relative! Something went down the tube wrong this morning and I was feeling rather asthmatic while I ran. Very strange. Gonna shrug it off, do some yoga and have some breakfast. 

Yay for a longer run!
This morning as I got up I thought, "I really want to hop on the BST and just go on long, gentle run." Turns out Mara was cool with that without us even discussing it. We headed up the FH switchbacks and went north, chatting away, and by the time I looked down at my phone we'd gone 3.33. So we turned around and looped it back to her back yard for about a 10k. We didn't have time for yoga together, but I'll get mine in. Beautiful morning, slightly chill to start with, but shorts and T-shirt by mid-run.

I stepped out of bed at 6 am and my ankles and knees told me to go back to sleep. Once they were warm and awake, they were fine, but I took it as a sign that I should take it easy this morning. Mara and I headed out on a hike/run and just decided to head up. We ended up somewhere south of Pretty Valley, high on the mountain in fields and fields of Arrow Leaf Balsam Root (they smell like chocolate!) and a gorgeously dreamy view of the GSL and Antelope Island.  It was brilliant and I'm so glad I didn't go back to bed!! 4 miles total. Very slow pace, but very very much enjoyed.

Hiking in Park City on a girls weekend. A couple of us took off running for probably a mile or two of it. It was so fun to just wander the hills with friends!
Then of course the walk up and down main street for shopping and lunch. We finished the day off with a yoga practice in the condo living room. My friends are starting to see the benefit of my yoga training. :) Free yoga classes on the spur of the moment!

Another hike with the girls in PC after breakfast on the Armstrong trail. We ran short on time so we turned around and came back rather than completing the loop.

Morning run with Mara. We let it be short because our legs were tired from all the hiking lately. Took my new Superiors out for their maiden voyage. I have to get used to less ground feel, but overall no complaints! Great shoes. I love my VivoBarefoots, but I have missed the Altra toe box!! My toes were so spread out and happy today!

It was a gorgeous morning and we had plenty of time leftover, so we spread out on the driveway and moved through an awesome yoga practice. It felt so good to breathe elasticity into legs and hips after upping my hiking and running mileage lately. I'm pretty sure I couldn't be a runner for very long without yoga.

Ran up the FH switchbacks to the BST and up to the base of Rick's Creek Waterfall to power up on the awesome moving energy of the falls. Then we ran back! I got chased down a steep hill by a fairly large rock that caught the back of my calf and Achilles and scraped me up pretty well. The legs were kinda slow and heavy today after two recovery/sick days taking care of a fevered toddler. Other than that is was awesome. I love coming back down those switchbacks and just letting the legs fly! 4.5 miles 

4 mile Pretty Valley loop with Mara. I feel like I took a happy pill! All the flowers and forest and quiet and NATURE! The hike up was just that- a hike, with a little running thrown in. Mara's legs weren't feeling it, so we took it pretty easy on the steep uphills. But once we got up there, we frolicked!! It was so fun. We made the run back down in less than half an hour. Would have been a lot faster, but we were just chilling on the pace for the sake of Mara's legs. Absolutely gorgeous run!

Rainy morning run with Mara. My lungs are fighting off a cough and weren't super happy, but they did better than I though they would. We were short about it, and I came home and got in an hours worth of yoga practice and pranayama. So so good. 

I got to run with my warlordblade! Up Davis Creek to Pretty Valley, then looped down the flats, around to Little Valley Rd and back. Not a ton of distance, but plenty of vert for the legs this morning! 

I love mornings after the rain! So dang refreshing. Mara and I ran to the base of Ricks Creek Waterfall. I took over a week off of running to let the extensor tendonitis in the right foot heal. (I did plenty of yoga, lifting and body weight exercises.) The foot did really well, but got a little tender toward the end. I loosened my mid foot laces today and that helped. Just need to concentrate on relaxing that foot!
Felt so amazing to get out in the mountains and run! HAPPY!!

Testing the foot out after a long rest. Did pretty well. It was good to get out with Mara again.

Good morning Friday! Got out to explore some new trails with my Warlordblade.  We started at the pond and did a lot of hiking on a rough trail (we both had crazy sore legs!). Once we looped back onto the Farmington Canyon road, it felt good to just run it out. Then we hit the firebreak road and went south for while, turned around and came down the BST to the pond parking, down to the pond and back up. 3.4 miles. Foot felt good, so that's encouraging!

Sad panda. I tried to run with the funnest group and just couldn't hang with them, with sore, tired legs, and a very upset digestive system. I turned around a quarter mile in and hit the outhouse on the way down. *hangs head*

Easy Monday morning run up the FH switchbacks to Little Valley Rd and back. Foot felt good. Didn't worry about pace (that means we were slow), just ran/hiked whenever we felt like it. 

Did a Flag Rock loop from Davis Creek trail head up the south side, down the north and back on the BST. Gorgeous morning!! It was cool and I wished I'd brought long sleeves at first, but once I got going I was fine. I was just loving the trails this morning. We even made some new deer friends on our way back on the BST. Foot is still feeling pretty good. I'm hopeful Spartan Beast won't be a total bust. I haven't trained enough miles, but I know I can nail most of the obstacles, so hopefully whatever fitness I have is enough. My running buddy likes to hike more than run (especially on hills- up or down), and our time frame for runs doesn't really allow more than about a 10k at our current average pace. Real training just doesn't happen much. *shrug* As long as I'm not miserable, I guess it's all good! Once yoga teacher training is done, I'm hoping to be able to get in some longer Saturday runs in prep for the Moab Trail Half.
Anyway... Great morning run! Happy to get in more than 5 miles!

Mile walking around the aquarium, mile easy hike in Little Cottonwood.

Gorgeous 4 mile Monday morning run with Mara. Up the FH switchbacks to Rick's Creek WF.  Seems like there is always something that slows us down. Good times and good company. Spartan Beast in less than a week. *eek*

4.7 mile Super Moon run up in Heber with my big brother and crew. Aaron and I made the long drive up to run in the rain at Soldier Hollow. It was a blast and the moon came out to greet us just as we finished!

Easy run/hike with Mara. She was sore and I was trying to rest up for Spartan on Saturday. Good to get out!

SPARTAN BEAST!! Holy cow. This would have been so much more fun if I had had time to train well for it. As it was, I struggled, but I made it through! I only had to do burpees at 3 obstacles. The long rope climb (which I sat at the top knot on forever and tried so hard, but was not fueled adequately to complete), the horizontal traverse (my forearms were SO tired and my hands were swollen and burnt from not enough salt and the rope climbs, pulls and hot tires), and the spear throw (because I didn't practice throwing a spear... duh).
30 burpees each and 5 compulsory burpees at another obstacle makes for 95 burpees. Dang.
12 miles, 31ish obstacles. A lot of the obstacles were feats of strength. And not easy ones at that. I was pretty confident with most of them- enough to forgo waiting for the "girl weights/sizes" and do the guys ones instead.
One strange note. My feet got SO HOT in my shoes. It was crazy! It was 102+ out there, so that made things harder too. I was totally impressed with the amount of trail vert in this race. It was kind of insane. I wish people hadn't backed up the single tracks, because I could have flown down some of those had it not been for the line up of slowpokes!
Warlordbalde was an animal. That man is insanely strong and fast. He was nice enough to stick with me the whole time.
We finished in under 4 hours (3:50 we think). 4 hours was my goal time, so I'm happy and proud! .... And exhausted, sore, burnt crispy and beat up. :)