I'm not crazy...I'm just bored!!

I was going to get up early before my daughter left for camp to put a few miles on the road, but I slept in. Then, after dropping her off at the church and realizing I was sending my baby girl to camp I needed a little pity party. My boys were still asleep, so I couldn't leave and take baby in the jogger. I went back to bed and woke up with them at 11:00 and by then it was too hot to do anything, so I packed up and we went downtown to hang out with dad.

I was lucky enough to have an amazing running partner for my downtown journey. I met Allie at her house and she showed me the traditional wood-chip path at Liberty Park, Sugarhouse and an amazing little street off of 1300E that I now want to live on :) it is beautiful!! I just need about 3 million dollars to get there...

I loved the run, except that when I thought the uphill was over, there was more. I should've known! I had a great run and felt good, which hasn't happened in a long time. I could tell my legs weren't hitting any sort of speed, but Allie was nice and never complained about my slowness. I'm glad she is tapering! 

Got back to the hotel and showered then crawled back into bed. Black-out curtains help kids sleep like nobody's business! another 10:30 wake up day. Then, we were off for a day of fun for my oldest boy's 9th birthday! Took trax to Einstein Bagels, walked down the big hill of 400S then went to the planetarium. Played and watched a star show. Then took trax to Leatherbys downtown and met my mom and sister and her family for ice-cream. Took trax back to the hotel where the boys enjoyed some sesame chicken from a Chinese food place on the trax route. We finished the day off with a swim in the hotel pool during a hurricane. It was SO windy!! But, the boys had a good time so that is all that matters. Dinner at Settebello finished off a fantastic birthday and, of course, a little gelato to wash it down. SO much junk! Staying downtown near some of our favorite restaurants will get me into Athena for the Utah Half before I know it!

Oh my word! I ran Wire today. Met some of the Wasatch Wranglers at the parking lot across from the zoo and I kept up on the uphill...for about 1/4 mile :) okay, I held them in my sights for quite a while until I was SO mesmerized by the sunrise I had to stop and take pictures! It had nothing to do with the seemingly 40% grade for the last 1.5 miles I'd been trekking up...nothing at all. 

I enjoyed the party at the top with some of my most respected trail runners for a few minutes before we headed down. I felt very accomplished and was ready to take on the 3 mile alternate trail downhill. 

The First pic is a group pic that Craig took at the top...yeah, I'm the poser.

The second is a pic I didn't know was being taken and I started down the trail while she was finishing her panoramic pic. But, I love it!!

The last one is my attempt at a jump shot. Scott was nice enough to take the shot, but I couldn't help my gut from hanging out...oh well :)

The way down I thought "I'll finally be able to keep up!" Nope. Not a chance in heck. I don't know how those guys run down those steep, technical trails SO fast! I'm just a chicken. I lost the group and had to make a few junction choices on my own. I knew that I would drop down into the U if I just kept going down and I knew the way back to the trailhead from there, so I wasn't worried that I was lost, but I felt a little 'lost' :) I biffed it a couple times and one was pretty muddy and left my knee a little sore. It isn't horrible and I love having a few good scratches from a trail run, but I was pretty muddy after that. The trail down was lovely! Tree shaded and a narrow little winding trail. Felt more like running through a wash. That was half my problem with 'running' it. The larger rocks in the bottom of the narrow trail didn't provide a lot of good footing and the narrow, deeper trail didn't provide side footing. Quads got a little sore from breaking so much. I hope that someday I'll learn how to be more confident on those types of trails. Just keep at it I guess.

When I hit the shoreline trail I had some more difficult decisions to make on trail choice, but knowing the U and where the car was helped guide me to where I needed to go and I actually finished down the same starter trail we took up! I was rather impressed with myself. Also, my mileage on my garmin was close to what Craig said the round trip should be, so I guess if I did get lost it certainly wasn't for too long. The only problem is that since I went so slow hubby had to leave the boys asleep in the hotel room while he went to work downstairs. I still had about 1/2 mile to finish running and then the drive back...yeah, I was that slow! 5 miles in over 90 minutes...nice, welcome to trail 'running' :)

When I got back to the hotel the boys were still sound asleep. I even got showered, ready and a good hour+ nap before they woke up! I need to get me some of those black-out curtains!!

I really, really enjoyed this challenging trail and I want to do it again, but attempt to do two rounds back to back. I know I could do it, albeit slow...slower than molasses, but I'd love to give it a try some Saturday morning. The views and everything were just amazing. I love trail running and need to get better at it...just keep doing it, right?

Spent the day running some errands around downtown area and then walking to Liberty Park to play in the Seven Canyons fountain. Dad then picked us up and we headed home to greet Lauren as she came home from camp.

I wasn't sure I wanted to run this morning. Sore quads from Wire yesterday and getting up early (in spite of the naps afterward) were wearing on my mind. I could take the day off. Then, my baby was up quite a bit through the night with restless sleep and was up when I got up to leave for the run. I asked him if he wanted me to stay or if he was okay if I left (my 12 yr old was home to babysit, I just didn't want her to have to get woken up at 5:30!). He said I could go so I kissed him and headed off. I really wanted him to say no and throw a fit. Then, I'd have to stay home! Sorry! :) Darn little stinker. 

I headed off with the Newtons and despite my slow start Chad was enjoying chatting away at his super easy, near walking pace :) So, I didn't refuse the company. I walked as soon as I hit the dirt...I was tired! But about half way through I started feeling better and didn't walk as much and started feeling the groove again. It is nice to feel good running! Even if I'm slow, I don't feel like death warmed over when I run which is a nice change. 

We all ran from the gate up to the top of the last hill together and George took some pics that I can't wait to see. We are getting some amazing sunrises lately! Glad I'm up to see them. The way down we all stayed together until the last 1/2 mile ish and Ronnie and I chatted away while George and Chad took off for the Mario Kart strip :)

Downtown in the evening with the family and we hiked Ensign Peak after dinner. It was a wonderful sunset hike. Sometimes I wish I lived downtown!

I was really surprised to see my last few splits knowing that I was relaxed and chatting. Maybe something is coming back to my legs....

AP: 9:12 splits: 9:49, 10:06, 10:55, 10:03 8:28, 9:02, 7:40, 7:57, 7:27 (last .2)

Came home and since everyone was still KO'd (and baby was asleep on my daughters floor...I'm sure he woke her up and she made him comfortable there) I decided to try my new aero bars on my bike. I quickly texted Kami and she was on a ride leaving in 5 minutes. I got everything together and took off. It was a great ride with her and Natalie on the South end of the MVC and I'm loving my aero bars!! Wish I would've done this a long time ago. I still need to get used to being there for extended periods of time, but I felt comfortable and strong there. The other 2 ladies took off back to home at Rosecrest Dr, but I decided I wanted a few more miles....I was enjoying myself. I went out to Old Bingham and then turned around and came back via the HS. Love my new bike...love it! That is all :)

With time running during stops and all I finished 16.5mph average, which is far better than I've done on my other bike even stopping time! My bike computer that relays to my garmin is nice too. Gave me an average cadence of 60, but I think that is less accurate because of the stops. I need to figure out how to program auto stop for the bike.

So, I ran and bike almost equal times this morning. I'm excited to start this tri season! I just need to start swimming more :)

What a race! I finally got back to my perfect pacing :) Okay, so I cheated a little bit. The course was short and on the last turn we had 2 minutes left, but waited and encouraged people to beat midnight and then crossed at the right time. I loved that my runner card showed 1:59:59.8...can't beat it for 2:00 pacing!

It was nice to sleep in, but those blackout curtains kept the boys asleep an hour longer than I could take! After an hour of waiting around I let my daughter open them and wake the boys...it was 11:00! We got checked out of the hotel, went to Einstein Bagels, walked down 400S (the BIG hill), rode the train to The Leonardo and had a wonderful time there! What a great museum, I loved it! The kids did too :)

Then we went around city creek and I saw Johnny Rockets! It has been a long time since I went there, so we did again. The only problem was that I finished only 4 hours before race start. Shouldn't get a gut full of greasy food before a half! It was good though, the first time...

Drove to Farmington, met the other pacers, got enough glow-sticks on to choke a horse and got on the buses to the start. The Legacy Parkway was VERY nice to run on. Except the bugs. I forget about mosquitos! Once we got running it wasn't bad, but the waiting before was.

The company on the run was great and we got to talk to some runners and hear some amazing stories. We weren't able to pull anyone into the finish with us from the start, but we did pick up a runner at the last mile that stayed with us and beat the midnight hour. It was a fun race, but it is hard to run at night and you get awfully tired!!! I need at least 3 hours of sleep :)

It was a great opportunity to pace with Paul and we had a great time! I sometimes wish I never wanted to race and could just pace my days away :) too bad I still have that crazy desire to race, because pacing sure is fun!

Since I didn't get home, showered and in bed until 2:30 the morning came much too early. Lauren had registered for a triathalon and it was here in Herriman, thankfully. But, we still had to be up and out by 7:30. The night was much too short.

We rode bikes to the park to get her packet and then my sister (bye-wing) took her bike up to the reservoir where they did their open water swim. Although the oldest group (12-15) had to wait until the last wave, I was really proud of how well Lauren handled the race and the heat!

She had a 200M swim 8 mile bike and 1.5-2.0 mile run. Since I was on my bike at the reservoir the race director asked me to lead the bike group. It was a fun push! The lead boy really had me pushing myself at times to keep ahead of him. The only good thing was I could lose him on the flats and uphills, gave me some hope that I've got a bit on a 14 year old boy.

After leading him and subsequently the other kids through the loop twice I let the first place kiddo go into transition and I went on another loop to find Lauren. She was almost done with her 2nd loop and happy that she'd passed quite a few people on the bike. The kids were spread far enough apart that there wasn't anyone to catch on the run, but no one passed her either. She actually got pretty close to catching the girl in front of her, but was still a few minutes behind.

It was after Lauren finished that my sister and another person told me that the girl that came in 2nd didn't finish 2 loops on the bike, just one. Since Lauren was in 4th I knew that meant she would get bumped to 3rd. I was excited for her to get a reward for her hard work and training she's put in. But then at the awards they tried to give the girl the 2nd place trophy. 2 other parents (and the mom) agreed that she didn't finish the 2nd lap on the bike, but the lady kept saying "Well, would she have finished in double that time? We could just give her 3rd" I was a bad mom and couldn't keep my mouth shut. I just said "you can't guess a bike time or just add time, because her legs weren't as tired for the run. If she didn't finish the full course she is disqualified from awards." I couldn't take it. I'd hope that if it wasn't Lauren in the next position I'd still fight for them and the right thing to do. Unfortunately, that girl had the same instruction and signage to follow as everyone else and if she didn't complete the course you don't just get to guess a time, you get disqualified. A hard lesson to learn, but one that needs to be learned. After I said that and joined in the conversation I realized what a turd I was being and that I needed to step back from the conversation. I apologized and said I need to just step back and I did. The race director then came over and made the decision that she should be DQd and gave the 3rd place to Lauren. I'm not sure that if that girl would've done 2 laps she would've beat Lauren or not, but I was proud of Lauren for her effort whether or not she came home with a trophy. I just couldn't stand by and have rules not followed. I'm a little particular about them :)

I went home for a nap and ended up with about 15ish miles total on the bike. a few good pushing miles. Then I waited for my evening run with Kelli and Scott.

They got home from trek and then were willing to do the HOMM trail half course with me in the evening. Man, those first 2 miles trekking up to the peak isn't easy, but SO worth it! The sunset over Tooele and the lake and then the moon rising nearly full over the mountain we were climbing. Trail running (power hiking) certainly has its perks!

The way down then started getting dark and it was slow going, because us girls are kind of hesitant on steep, rocky trails in the dark. Once the moon came out nice and bright we shut off headlamps and enjoyed the moon. It was gorgeous! I really loved it. Not the unsure footing part, but it was gorgeous!! Plus, the company was good too :)

I didn't remember a few miles of the trail and was worried we were lost. The only problem is that you can't go anywhere other than the wide trail we were on! I just didn't remember it. Either way, after a couple miles of worry I started recognizing the trail again. Whew! I'm glad Kelli and Scott were more confident in my skills than I was :) Just after the gate (we'd turned headlamps on again, because of the tree shadows) I looked up on a trail and about 8 sets of eyes 5 feet off the ground were shinning back at me! Scared the pee out of me. Not literally, but almost. I knew how scared Kelli was of wildlife so I tried to stay calm, but then quickly realized they were cows. Ah, sigh of relief...just a bunch of cows. They were close to the trail though. We walked past them just in case they were like dogs and tried to chase us. Hamburgers can be big and frightening! :)

Since it was later than planned we called my hubby to come get us at the top of Rose Canyon Road and bag the 3 miles of pavement down to my house. We ended at 10.0 as Craig came to get us. It was a fantastic adventure and I loved it! I need to do this more often. I love trails, I may suck at them, but I really enjoy it!

A great way to end the weekend, even if I didn't get to bed until 2:00 again :)