Summit junkie!

I woke up early this morning so I could go run up View Benchmark via Ann's trail. It was colder than it has been recently at the start, but I knew I would warm up fast and I did. I was by myself so I put on some good tunes and got into a good groove. I hiked the steepest hill but ran everything else and I reached the top in 47 minutes. I stayed longer than usual enjoying the views and the early morning. I checked out a few trails on the other side of the mountain and after about 10 minutes I went down.

The run down is always fun and I really pick up the pace. I didn't see another soul on the trail the entire run. I think that that it is fair to say that View Benchmark is my new treadmill. It is the perfect training run for me and I'm sure I will continue to hit it weekly. 

I went to the gym to lift after the kids went to bed. It was the first time in a while that I have been at night and it was CROWDED and stinky! 

Here is some friendly banter between me and a 12 year old kid that was working out:

Me: Hey can you make your pecs bounce like this (showing him mine). The chics dig it.

Kid: No. Can you make your ears bounce like this (shows me)

Me: No. Do the chicks dig that too?

Kid: I don't know, but you're sweatin' like a pig.

View Benchmark solo:

My life has been CRAZY the last few months. I got laid off from my job, started a business and then took a position with another company. My blogging has been sporadic at best. I have barely had time to check my own blog and haven't been updating regularly. The good news is I love my job and I couldn't be happier with how things have worked out, but I have been working my butt off, so time for blogging just isn't as ample as it was before. 

After work I hit Ann's trail up to View Benchmark. Thanks to Jun for letting me into his office to grab some water. It was a hot motha on the trail and I needed every ounce. I cranked up my ipod and got into a pretty good groove. When I started I saw a dude hiking just about the one mile mark. I passed him just before mile two and then I hiked up the steep hill and took a gel. At the top I ran into 3 shirtless rednecks that were drinking what appeared to be homemade brew and clearing brush just off the trail. WTFlip? I didn't stay long to figure out what was going on. Oh and they were all fat and pasty white. Hot.

The run up to the summit was fun. I only stopped once to hike on the steep hill just before the top and I made it to the summit in the exact same time (within 10 seconds) as Sunday. Weird. I checked my phone for messages and then bolted down. I passed the hiker dude about a half mile down and he was moving pretty well and I said hello. I got into a good pace and enjoyed the rest of the run. I did pass the pasty shirtless necks again and they looked at me like they were doing something wrong. It was weird, but I didn't stop to investigate further. I'll check out the area the next time I am up there. Maybe they are runnin' shine.

This morning I met MattVS early before work to run to the Ave Twin Peaks above Salt Lake City. This is one of my favorite runs and this morning did not disappoint. The weather was near perfect and it was a really enjoyable run. Matt and I chatted most of the way up and I just enjoyed the views. Awesome. We kept looking back for Jun and Dorsimus because we knew they would be starting about 15 minutes after we did.

When we hit the steeper hills I started to hike and Matt kicked me in the butt and told me to run so I did. We pushed it pretty good to the top of the first twin and at the top I finally saw Jun and Dors running up the hills below. On the second twin I gave Matt some meds for his aching knee and we took in the views and then went down where we ran into Jun and Dors and chatted with them for a few minutes.

The run down was a nice cruise and we actually ran at a fairly decent pace. I really love this run. It was a perfect morning.

Ave Twin Peaks with Matt:

I love this run! I met Matt at 7:00 at the Capitol building in SLC to run on the BST up to the Ave Twins. We did this on Thurs and it was so good we went back for more. The first mile seemed to take forever. We were running an 8:00 pace, but we had to stop for a break and although it was hilarious it hurt our split. We were kind of slow moving up the first few miles today, but we were talking the whole way up and enjoying everything about the run. When we got on the upper portion I felt really good so I pushed it hard up the hills and ran up some of the steep hills that I have been known to hike at times. We hit the first summit and then cruised over to the second summit where we stopped for a break. 

 The wind really picked up and the summit became really cold, so we went down. It took a few minutes to warm back up, but Matt was pushing a good pace and both of us ran pretty fast the rest of the way back to the car. After the steeper hills we pushed into the 6's and held that for a good distance until we hit some rollers and then we stayed in the 7's most of the way down. It was a blast. Both of us had some good tunes and we just got into a good groove. Back down on the road Matt took off pretty fast and I stayed back a little enjoying the views. we ran past the cars and back up to get an even 10. What a fun morning.

4 mountain runs and 4 peaks for the week.