Patience; the new endurance sport.

ran up to squaw peak camp ground and back.  coming down was really hard an ended up carrying my dog about 3/10ths of a mile down (she split her foot pads on the hot rocks).

temple loop at sunset

My kid is taking tennis lessons across town at Lakeview and so I ran my old trail from Geneva Road down the River to the end of the Lakeshore trail.  I looked in on my renters (doing good on the yard) and went all the way down to the end of the trail.  I miss my trail -- it makes me heartsick.  So much went through my mind as I ran.  I grew my pregnancies walk/jogging along that trail, I called to get my 7 year old son out of bed to pedal down the trail in his pajamas to come see a turtle lay her eggs  near the bird reserve, I tried to save a parakeet I found sitting in the middle of the road and countless ferral cats.  I even fended off an attacker.  I let my eyes rest along the familiar beauty and pondered the countless pictures I've taken there in summer, winter, and autumn.  I never got tired of the bike trail.  It still holds its magic for me.  I'll run it every morning this week while they have their lessons.  When my kids are gone, maybe I'll rent out my new house and go back to the old one to remodel it.  I hate that side of town, but I love that side of the river trail with all my heart. And after my kids are grown and I don't have to drive across town 100 times every day, I may go back.

Slow going today, but I wasn't going to let that stop me from being on the trail.  I walked and stretched when I wanted.  Averaged 11 mm doing that.  I so enjoyed hanging out in the hood.  Except the last segment of the trail was sectioned off with yellow caution tape and a huge "trail closed" sign.  It reminded me of when that homeless kid overdosed one night out on the trail two or three summers ago.  But it wasn't a crime scene, they are doing something down there like deciding to delta out the last segment of the river (not sure why, there are some years so dry there's hardly any water).  Also, there's a group of protesters in tents with a huge billboard petition to 'Save our River'.  Except for the recent improvements to many parks and trails throughout the city, I'm not sure Provo City can be trusted to make a decision about the area that will be beneficial to residents down there.  Just this morning, I was sickened by the sound of a Fronteir Airlines commercial size jet taking off.  So who knows what the city is up to down there.  But it's hard to know, "environmentalists" around here get pretty hard core.  Who knows what's going on.  I ended up having to run the Lakeshore drive which cut my run short by 1 mile.  It's ok, I walked 4 more in the evening up near  Squaw Peak as I've been doing these past few weeks. 

My last day on the River for a while.  Maybe if I can keep running, I can come back on Saturdays.  But knowing it was my last look for a while, I took in the sights: A ferral Kitty curled up in the grass sleeping in the early morning sun, a hawk landing and perching on one of the hundreds of alfalfa bales out in the freshly shorn fields, 8 new calves in the reserve who mooed and bucked when I stopped to take a picture of their sweet faces looking up at me.  I saw that yellow bird whose name I do not know, 7 ducklings floating on the mirror-still  shore of Utah lake, a quail quickly crossing the road trailed by a row of tiny, tiny fluffy babies, and listend to the high whine from the cloud of the hundreds of thousands of crane flies hovering above the marsh.  I'm averaging 10:30's to 11's when I walk a bit--but this morning took the opportunity to push one full mile into 9:28. Yeah! Sub 10.  I seriously never thought I'd get here.  It's been like recovering from a car wreck.  I did really have to focus on lifting that left leg up at the knee (the leg with the broken hip ligament and bad ham) or it drags and trips me up.  These past 3 days along the trail have filled up my cup a bit.  Maybe I'll try to run my end of the trail more often.  I just HATE the sound of the cars going up the canyon off in the distance. 

Ran before Yoga at 8:15 a.m.  After a week of running outside--I finally felt like I was "worthy" of running up the canyon.  I just about cried when I got to my favorite concrete pipe water fountain. the water pressure was high, and the stream from the pipe was thick and cold.  That water feels like heaven to me always.  I even took a picture of it. I've missed that side of the canyon too.  I've been back at Yoga this week, and realizing how much I have wrecked my hips/hamstrings with every stretch.  I used to be so flexible and strong in my buttocks, hips, and back.  Practicing in studio is a good challenge for me now.  Did 25 salutations in 2 hours of Yoga.  Felt so good, cleared my brain and made me feel how bad running has been to my body--I didn't strength train or stretch the way I should have after I stopped regular Yoga in 2009. I hope to rebuild that hip strength.