Don't tell dirt, but I think I love snow

Dear Dirt,

I miss you dearly.  You are irreplaceable.  You are my best friend.  I love you very much. That said, I need you to know I've found someone.  Her name is snow.  She's very very beautiful, but as cold as ice.  I could never love her the way I love you, but in your absence I really needed a friend to turn to.  Don't be upset with me.  I really do wish for your swift return.  But for now, I will let myself love snow.  Just a little.  

Yours Always,

Renee

Corner Canyon was amazing today.  It was sunny, and just absolutely stunning out.  I really enjoyed the quiet and solitude.  The trek up was very slow, but I bombed the downhill like nobody's business.  I'm feeling really strong and great running these days!  

I plowed lots of first tracks.

By the time I got back to the car, it was dumping!  

Snow! <3

4.76 miles

1:02

13:01 average pace 

Back to Back?

Is it still a back to back if you do the longer run on the second day?  I really don't know.  However, since my plan calls for several back to backs and Sunday works out best for me to run long, I do my "short" long runs the day before.  Today, I met up with Michelle who ran with me and the great group of ladies last week in Millcreek Canyon.  She was running a little late, so I ran about 1.25 miles before she was ready.  We met at the Equestrian Center trailhead and headed up into Corner Canyon.  

It was a very nice and easy run.  I didn't want to push it too hard, since I have my long run tomorrow.  I was a little frustrated at myself, because I unintentionally cut our run short by looking at the wrong lap screen on my Garmin.  We finished up with 8.74 miles under foot, which was a bit shorter than I had intended.  However, I was anxious to get to my son's soccer game, so we called it and I headed home.  I then decided to just run to the game.  I changed my socks and shirt and threw on my street shoes and ran the 1.66 miles to the soccer field.  I felt much better about my mileage total after that, and bonus, it brought my average pace way down!  

Can I also just say that I guess I should post more pictures of myself in my underwear, because I had a record number page hits yesterday!  Ha ha!  I suppose I should have seen that coming!  

A lovely morning in Corner Canyon!

10.4 miles

2:11

12:36 pace

Most Important Meal of the Day

Once again, I started off today at the Equestrian Center and headed up with a new (to me) trail in mind. I have seen the Burnham Creek Trail sign any times, but yesterday when I passed it I decided that that is where I would head today. My Garmin kept losing signal right off the bat, which was very odd.

But let me rewind a little bit. They say that the most important meal of the day is breakfast. Who are they? Your mother. Your father. Your doctor. Well, you can add me to that list. Today, somehow, I forgot to eat before I left the house and I wasn't twenty minutes into my run and I was feeling clammy and light headed. After trudging uphill for ten more minutes I decided it was time to eat. So I began with a fruit leather, then a bag of dried pineapple and finished it off with a few ginger chews. That was everything in my pack and I hadn't even been out for forty-five minutes. Ugh! 

 Note to self: Eat breakfast and bring more food than you think you need on every run.

I kept on, taking the new trail, as planned. It was quite beautiful, but short. It lead me to the Gasline trail and ultimately to the Ghost Falls trail. Along the way I saw seven deer, including three fawn, and five rabbits! Plus, a really cool butterfly, which I think was a Red Admiral, bumped right into my chest. I started feeling better and by the time I go to the top I was feeling pretty good. Oh, and remember how yesterday I told you there is no bathroom in Corner Canyon? I lied! I've even noticed the bathroom before, but never thought about what that building really was. Today, at the top of Ghost Falls I ran right up to it and the realization hit me smack in the face! The little bathroom symbol is even on the trail map that I carry around. So much for being observant!

Anyhow, I cruised back down the way I came, knowing I wasn't going to make great time. The downhill felt good and I wasn't the fastest I'd ever been, but I was making up a bit of the slow trudge uphill. And then, I fell. Hard. I saw it coming, I tried so hard to run out of it and it just wasn't in the cards. The ground came fast and furious. I scraped up both my right arm and knee and hit my right hip pretty damn hard. My pants were full of dirt and rocks and my right shin was throbbing. I sat in the dirt for a couple minutes, cussing, before I carefully picked myself up, dusted myself off and called it a day. Of course, I still had to run back to the car, but I had had enough.

Despite the rough day, I still can't say it was a bad run. I enjoyed the wildlife and just being in the mountains that I love. I guess I just should have eaten breakfast. 

And Corner Canyon, you are officially the best!


One of the bunnies I saw.

Mama and baby.

The new (to me) trail. 

Another one of the deer I saw. 

Gasline Trail, which was part of the Corner Canyon 25k I did in June.

Ghost Falls is a watershed (read no dogs or horses allowed, no humans in the water: we drink it.) They've kindly added poison ivy all around the water. At least they give you fair warning about it. Honestly, until today I had no idea what poison looked like, so it's nice to know.



Leaves of three, let it be.  Easy enough to remember.

Right before I kissed the ground.  The irony here?  I was actually running when i took this picture and didn't even stumble.  As soon as I put my phone away and picked up the pace I ate it.

Thumper #5

It's not bad at all, really. Just a bit of road rash. Mostly just my hip hurts. I have a feeling I may have a really nice bruise tomorrow. 

Because my dumb Garmin wasn't working right, I had to figure my mileage by using the time of day and my average pace (which was SLUG:SNAIL.) 

7.3 miles
1:50
15:06 pace

Operation plam: complete

CAUTION: This post contains TMI (too much information), reader discretion is advised. 

Today was really awesome.  Although, I have to say that I'm sad summer is slipping away.  Despite the cooler start temperature, I still found myself a little sad at how dark it was at 5:30am.  I started off at the Andy Ballard Equestrian Center in the dark and found myself pleading with the sun to just come up already! I really don't mind running in the dark, except that I am quite sure that I'm going to be eaten by a mountain lion or attacked by a rabid coyote.  Well, not really, but every time the wind blows or a small animal rustles a nearby branch I have a little surge of fear.  That is actually part of what I like about running in the dark.  It's a bit exciting.  

After not being attacked by any wildlife, my favorite time of day to run arrived.  That time just before sunrise when you no longer need a headlamp, but it's not actually daylight out yet.  I was feeling really good and my hips only just let me know they were mad at me earlier in the week.  I was able to run very well uphill and I didn't push too hard on the downhill, but kept a pretty good pace anyhow.  I ran out and back up the new section of Coyote Hollow to Ann's.  I was amazed at how fast half way came around today.

On my way back, (here is where the TMI comes in) I was starting to feel the need to pee.  I was thinking how great Corner Canyon is and wouldn't it be nice if they had toilets at the peak, or at least running water.  Well, they don't.  So I started thinking that I should take another stab at operation PLAM (pee like a man.)  Yes, I have tried this before.  More than once.  But today I can say, mission complete!  I can now successfully pee standing up.  And I don't even have to drop my drawers! (Insert maniacal laughter here.)

After my PLAM success and some speedy downhill running, I was feeling like a bad ass, and was charging uphills as fast as I could.  Overall, it was a really terrific day in the hills.  And I didn't even get eaten by a mountain lion!

This sign cracks me up!

Draper city in the distance.

The particularly bright cluster of lights to the very left of the photo is the prison.  

Good morning Corner Canyon!

Those little specs just over the horizon are hot air balloons.  Sandy city has a hot air balloon festival every year.  My girls and I actually went to see the balloon launch yesterday morning.  It was fun to see them from the mountain today.

Hot air balloons.

Remember when I said that Corner Canyon doesn't have bathrooms or running water?  Well, as it turns out, I was wrong about the latter!  Very cool!

13.2 miles

2:46

12:37 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!