Round Valley

Today's run was a brutal shove back into winter running after ten days in Florida.  It was 13º (feels like 6º whatever that means!?) and windy.  Yeah, it was cold!  Katherine and I went to check out Round Valley in Park City.  I have been hearing a lot about these trails and after seeing recent pictures of pristine groomed trails, we decided it was time to go!  

7:15am, and oh so very cold!  Here we go!

Freshies!

The trailhead.

The sun was very welcome and warmed us up considerably!

We didn't make it far before I decided to go back and get this little beauty out of Katherine's car.  Bank robber or trail runner?  

Here are some photos that Katherine took:

It's not a party run until Renee starts dancing!

 Tire swing!?  Yes, please!

 Are you ready for this?

Here is the map of trails.  We went on Hat Trick, Fastpitch and Land of Oz. Round Valley Winter Trails

Despite the cold, it was a wonderful run.  The company was stellar, trails were great and the air was clean.  Who can complain about that?

5.87 miles

1:20

13:37 average pace

Like Daily Mile, but better

I love running on the beach. That is all.

5.03 miles

59:03

11:45 average pace

A Beautiful [Bummer of a] Run

Today was the perfect day to run.  It was cool and beautiful.  I met up with Tricia and Tehra, whom I'd never run with before, but know through other friends.  We met at Bonneville Shoreline Trail at This is Place Heritage Park.  It was quite cool at first, but not too cold.  As the sun rose, it was just beautiful out!  I really enjoyed the company of these ladies.  Soon we soon spread out and each ran our own run, meeting up at intersections.  

Around mile nine, as we headed down into Memory Grove, my right knee started bugging me again.  This was not a happy thing.  It hurt the worst on the downhills, and we were heading straight down the mountain.  At the half way point, Tricia left us, continuing on through Memory Grove and on to her house and Tehra and I hoofed it back up onto the Shoreline Trail. 

I was a bit worried about my knee, but kept a comfortable pace.  I knew I was going to have to cut the run short.  I love the downhill on this run, and was forced to slow my pace considerably.  Other than my knee, I was feeling really great.  This was actually quite discouraging and I managed to get in a pretty good funk around mile 16.  I talked myself out of pouting and just did my best.  By the end of the run my knee was pretty darn sore.  

I've since iced it twice, taken my vitamins, fish oil, ibuprofen and am sitting with my leg up.  It already feels better than it did at the end of the run, but I know that the next 19 days need to consist of babying the hell out of it.  The taper is on!

Blurry Tricia and I hiking uphill.

Snow capped mountains.  

Heading down into Memory Grove.

I knew that Tricia, Tehra and I would get along when they told me they named this hill FTH (fuck that hill.)  Yes.  A very fitting name.

Tehra spotted this guy crawling across the trail.  He was the biggest spider I'e ever seen! 

I was feeling pretty crappy at this point, so I decided to take a couple pictures and regroup.

The final stretch to the trailhead.  

It wasn't the 24 miles I had planned, but I do not need an injury this close to race day!  I thoroughly enjoyed the company of these two ladies and hope we can get out on the trails together again soon!  Now on to rest!  Rest!  Rest!  Taper!  Taper!  Taper!

18.85 miles

4:31

14:22 pace

Daily Mile

Meghan and I ran today with this motley crew.

Hey!  Matching shirts!

I was feeling good again today and it was another beautiful day to run with my beautiful friend!

3.31 miles

37:37

11:21 pace

It's a Jogging Stroller Party!

Today Katherine and I had a fun little neighborhood run with our littlest ones.  I always forget how much work it is to push that stroller!  It was a nice feel good run on a beautiful sunny day. 

3.27 miles

41:21

12:38 pace

Parley's Historic Nature Park

Ever since the Buffalo Run I haven't been wanting to spend much time pounding the pavement.  In fact, I'd nearly rather go to the gym than run on the road.  I decided to see if there were any dog friendly trails near me, so what did I do?  I Googled it, of course!  Being that a lot of the Wasatch is a watershed, dogs aren't allowed on a lot of trails*. Now, I already knew that Mill Creek Canyon is a great place to take dogs.  On odd numbered days they can even be off leash.  However, today was the 10th and I really wanted to take Ozzy with me (I very much dislike running on trails with him on leash) so I opted to check out Parley's Historic Nature Park, which starts at Tanner Park.  It was a nice little trail, and Ozzy had a blast running around with all the other dogs there.  It's not the kind of place you could get a long run in, but it was perfect for a quick run.  I'm sure I'll go back again.

3.6 miles

45 min

12:30 pace

*Check out this resource on dog friendly parks and trails and the Wasatch Front.