Blood, Sweat & Selfies

Fifteen glorious Pipeline miles with my best adventure running friend!  I love that place.  Despite a couple of bikers that almost ran us off the trail, it was a great day!  Now that Katherine is back, we've taken every opportunity to get into the mountains together!



My taste buds love it.  My stomach turns into a giant fart machine not so much.

Oops, I cut off your head!  #trailandultra



Katherine took a fall.  Unfortunately, it wasn't her first.



Hey, bikers!  Be courteous!  Yield to pedestrians! 
 
15+ miles in who knows how long!  I've sort of quit counting this summer and it's been kind of nice to just run what I can and not stress the numbers so much!

Neffs Canyon Trail

Katherine:  "Do you want to go exploring blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah ?"
Me:  You had me at "Do you want to go exploring!"

Shhh, don't tell anyone, Neffs Canyon is beautiful!  It was steep and rocky, but oh so very much fun!










































tee hee




 
4.5 miles of upness. More like FUNess! 

Laps, Laps, Laps

I'm so excited because my BARF (Best Adventure Running Friend) is running her first marathon next month!  A trail marathon, no less!  She is kicking ass at all her long runs and we did 19 miles today as her longest run before Mid Mountain next month, and her longest run to date! 


The plan was to run the Mid Mountain trail, but when we arrived in Park City, not only was it pouring rain, but it was freezing rain (37° degrees!) and lightning!  We actually got out of the car to scope the trailhead out, but when the giant flashes of light stuck once again we hightailed it outta there!


Frustrated and indecisive, we finally settled on driving back home and as long as it wasn't lightning, we'd run laps at Crestwood Park.  Well, it just so happens, that by the time we got back it was not only not lightning, but there was blue sky too!  Well, this can't be so bad, right?  There is a bathroom, we can use the car for an aid station and we have each other.  All that plus not being struck by lightning = WIN WIN! 

Our run turned out fabulous and Katherine showed those nineteen miles who was boss and even finished with a grin!  I'm so proud!  I can't wait to run Mid Mountain with her next month!




Sporting my new gear!  Nathan SpeedDraw that matches my VaporShadow, yes please!  Totally loved it!  No sloshing and fits my hand like a glove!  Plus, I finally broke down and got myself this awesome La Sportiva Breeze jacket.  Perfection!







Mile 10 or so.  Still smiling!





One bonus of running laps at the park!



Our view for the day.



Then of course, I had to take a dip!  I'd run past this creek all damn morning!  There was no way I wasn't going in!  It felt good too!

And of course, a little tomfoolery to end the day right!  Sun's out, guns out!

Seriously, I am pumped that she finished so strong!  We did about 13.5 laps in all, which was way less painful than it sounds.  We had a blast!  Go Speedy K!
19 miles
3:52
12:12 average pace

Awesome is Right!

Now that is awesome! 

Bells, Round 2

After our first run torturous slog up Bells Canyon, Kurtis and I were much more prepared. We started earlier, brought more food, more water and most importantly we knew what we had ahead of us.  This time we flew up the canyon chatting and enjoying the sights.  After the second mile, the trail turns to some of the most beautiful scenery I've ever seen in my life.  Seriously.  The pictures just barely do it justice.  We were at the upper lake before we knew it!  Not only did we cover more mileage this time, we did it in less time!  It was a fantastic day on the mountain!

The moon was full at the start of our journey.

 This kid.  I wonder where he gets it?

 Climbing up this boulder field makes you feel pretty powerful.  Plus, generally speaking, I'm pretty goofy like that.

 Being able to see across to all the other canyons is really really amazing!

 Upper Bells Canyon Reservoir. 

 You can see the dam that was built I don't know how long ago.

 We got to the upper reservoir just in time to watch the sunrise over the mountains.  It was breathtaking!

 I recently bought this Lifestraw, so we thought we'd take it for a test drive.  The water was delicious and nobody got the trots, so I'm calling it a good investment!

 Yes, this man is my son.  Yes, I birthed him.  No, I wasn't a teenager when he was born.  But, thanks.

 I'm going to have to get this boy some gaiters!

9.06 miles

5:15

34:46 average pace (and yes, I'm still calling it a run because we ran every possible runnable section, that just happened to be very little)