Oooh! A Race!

All of a sudden this morning I realized I'm running a race tomorrow!  I'm feeling very excited about it.  21K will be fairly easy for me, but a decent run.  Plus, it's a new adventure!  After my last few runs and feeling so stellar I'm thinking tomorrow should be cake.  I realize it's possible to have an off day tomorrow, but I'm just going to think positive.  

Yesterday's Corner Canyon run started with a 600'+  climb followed by a second 400' climb.  Not too difficult in the world of ultrarunning, but I'm extremely happy with my finishing time of 1 hour and 39 minutes for an 8.7 mile trail run.

The Xterra 21K that I'm running tomorrow barely has any elevation gain.  I'm hoping I can really hammer down and run this quick.  It's a half marathon distance, so longer than yesterday's run, but not as difficult.  I have no idea what the trail condition is like as I've never been to Jordanelle, but I can't imagine a trail next to a lake would be extremely rugged.  I guess I'll find out in the morning!  Packet pick up is tomorrow morning before the race.  Squeee!

fast

Today was AWESOME!  I'm pretty much in love with Corner Canyon, so of course that's where I went.  I decided I'd go out Ann's Trail again, like we did on Sunday to see if I could duplicate my speed.  I not only ran faster than I did on Sunday, I ran faster than I ever have on any trail!  I pushed it and it felt great!  When I got to the half way point and realized that my pace was just over a twelve minute mile, I knew I could bring it down in the the elevens.  And I did!!!

That's where I'm headed.  The hills!

Multi-use trail

Half way!  I was so excited to make it in such good time.  I stopped for a minute or two to eat and take a couple pictures.

I had to stop and take a few of the wild flowers, but of course, I paused my Garmin.

I am so thrilled that I could push this hard and not bonk!  I'm hoping that I can rock this speed for my 21K this weekend!  Wish me luck.

8.7 miles

1 hr 39 min

11:23 pace

Daily Mile

Best day ever!  Anyone want to take a guess where I ran?  Yep.  Corner Canyon!  I started at Andy Ballard Equestrian Park, which is where the start of the Corner Canyon 25K/50K is.  This took me on some nice single track up to the Carolina Hills trailhead.  Then I headed up Canyon Hollow and down Clark's.  It was gorgeous out and the perfect temperature.  It was a bit muddy because it rained all night, but not too bad.  I learned there is an advantage to having a dog that pulls on his leash.  Having a bit of tension on the leash helped up run uphill in the mud more easily!  Nice. Every time I run in Corner Canyon I feel like it's the best day of my life.  I love it there.  Just in case I haven't mentioned it before, I love Corner Canyon!  I felt fantastic and killed the trail in record time!

Although this slug had seen better days, it was still cool.

Mmm, mud.

6 miles
1:17
12:50 pace!  Hell yeah!

Ab-tastic!

Running.  It does a body good.

Weekly Mileage

Monday 6.78

Tuesday 

Wednesday 5.01 + weight lifting

Thursday

Friday

Saturday 4.09

Sunday 13

Total 28.88

Not too shabby.  I'm pretty sure that with this amount of mileage I'll be golden for my three upcoming races in June.  

June 1 Xterra 21K

June 8 Dirty Dash

June 15 Corner Canyon 25K

the long run

Another Sunday full of epic Corner Canyon goodness with my trail running buddies.  I felt amazing today!  I was full of energy and feeling speedy.  I was able to power uphills and crush downhills.  Where did all the energy come from!?  It was fantastic!  I kept getting ahead of the girls, which is totally unusual for me, as we all run right at about the same pace. It gave me plenty of opportunity to take lots of pictures.  We did a Coyote Hollow loop to Clark's and then out and back on Ann's.  We made it all the way to the end of Ann's Trail, where it meets up with Bonneville Shoreline. We had intended on 10-12 miles and ended up with a bit more.  It was just a beautiful day to be out and we were all enjoying ourselves.    

Lindsay fits in perfectly with us goofballs.

13 miles

3 hr 24 min

15:41 pace (Ugh, I don't like even writing that since it felt so fast.  Guess all those photo ops really screw up my overall pace.)

Daily Mile

Today I ran to Meghan's, then she ran me home and headed home herself. It was a gorgeous and warm morning and great to get in a few miles before my daughter's fifth birthday party.

Plus, I did ten push ups in a row today. Real, man push ups. Just thought you should know.

4.09 miles
44:48
10:57 pace

Daily mile

A quick morning jaunt up Viscounti with Meghan and Ozzy is always a great way to start the day! Then it was off to the gym to work shoulders with Jeff.

Sometimes I see bizarre things when I'm out running.  The watering of an all rock lawn was definitely high on the bizarre scale.

Run complete!

5.01 miles

56:32

11:16 pace

I Won!

Mad props to Utah Running Guide and Utahrunning.com! I have won a few races from them, and I am very excited that I just won entry to the Xterra Utah Trail Run Series at Jordanelle State Park on June 1st! They have a 5k, 10k & 21k. Of course, I'll do the 21k.  I'm so excited!  The race is only three days before my birthday, so Happy Birthday to me! First an epic trail run in the morning, and now this. What a great day!

Jordanelle State Park