Daily Mile (and Lift)

Today it's been dumping freezing rain and snow all day.  I went to the gym and ran on the treadmill (and actually enjoyed it) and did a nice full body routine.  To tell you how much it snowed while I was in the gym, I came out and immediately got my van stuck in the parking lot in the snow and had to call Jeff to come and bail me out!  

Feeling strong today!  Here is what I did:

Deadlift

Decline bench press

Overhead dumbbell press

Lat pull downs

Lat raises

Barbell bicep curls

Barbell skull crushers

Single arm tricep cable pull down

Overhead dumbbell press

Decline bench press, that's 75 pounds!

Deadlift 115 pounds, that's 87% of my body weight!

Plus, my sweet jaunt on the treadmill.  Last winter I actually ran in the freezing rain!  It sucks.  This was better.  There might not have been dirt, but there was definitely sweat!

3.01 miles
30:01

9:58 pace

Plus I did another quarter mile walking cool down for a total 3.2 in 33:11

Oh, and I know you're absolutely dying to know what I did yesterday, so here it is!

Trail Run Tuesday: This is the best one yet!

This was definitely the best run yet this winter!  Katherine and I headed up to Millcreek Canyon and decided to go up the very first trailhead for the Pipeline trail, Rattlesnake Gulch.  It was just under a three-quarter mile hike up to the trail, and it was very cold to start.  But, once we got up to the Pipeline the sun was just coming up and it was warm and beautiful.  It was like an instant shot of happy!  My entire day was better because of this run!  I think I'll just let all the photos tell you the rest of the story...

Before we headed up.  Bundled up for the 19º weather!

Rattlesnake Gulch trailhead

Sassy!

Katherine was cursing my name at this point.  The climb seemed never ending...

To the Pipeline at last!  Here comes the sun!

There I go!  Photo by Katherine:

Above the inversion.  Too bad we had to come back down into that gross air!  I could have stayed up there all day!

You can only just see the tip of the Antelope Island mountains in the distance, center frame.

Photo by Katherine:

At the end of the trail.

Photo by Katherine:

Panoramic pollution.  Photo by Katherine:

Look!  DIRT!  I love dirt!

Makes me feel like it's not winter!  Photo by Katherine:

It didn't take long to warm up once we were in that wonderful sunshine!

This is fantastic!!! Photo by Katherine:

Dirt, glorious, dirt!

Photo by Katherine:

Here comes Katherine!

Must do this again SOON!

4.52 miles

1:01
13:30 average pace

Rain? Snow? Wind? Pshhhh! Sounds like fun!

When the weather forecast calls for 40% rain/snow mix you never know what you're going to get.  Those weather predictions are rarely accurate.  I figured 40% looked like pretty good odds that our run would be dry.  Well, it was dry.  Aaaaand, then it wasn't. 

I picked up Katherine at 6:30am and we headed to Draper Park to run the Porter Rockwell trail.  It was cold, but the clouds didn't seem too ominous.  Then, around 3.5 miles it started sprinkling.  No biggie.  We have run in the rain and snow a million times.  But then at the half way point the wind picked up, the temperature dropped, and the snow/rain mix started pelting us like mad.  It was fairly miserable, but of course, we were still having fun!  We knew there was a tunnel coming and we could get out of the wet snow and wind when we got there.  We were really happy when we got to the tunnel and braced ourselves for the final few miles in the freezing storm.  

We made it, happy as clams to be back at the car.  My hands were so frozen that I couldn't turn the key in the ignition!  Luckily Katherine's hands don't get as cold as mine, and she was able to.  It was just like old times.  Running in the most ridiculous of weather.  I wouldn't want to do it with anyone else!  Thanks for the run, Katherine!  

A beautiful sunrise greeted us as we began our run.

We ran on part of the Porter Rockwell trail that we'd never been on before.  That was super fun!

Half way.  Let the fun and games begin!

Can you see the snow coming down?

We were soaked already with three miles left to go!

Renee: "Hey, Katherine!  There's a light at the end of the tunnel!"  I crack myself up!

And of course, we have to stop for a picture with Rex, who was all dressed up for Halloween!

Look familiar?

We took a different route back and it cut our run a little short, but that's just fine considering the weather conditions!

9.23 miles

1:55

12:27 average pace

The good news, bad news

The good news is my throat isn't sore today. The bad news is that it was dumping snow this morning. The race day forecast still says highs in the mid 30's with partly cloudy skies and no precipitation, so I really can't complain. I'm feeling anxious today and really ready to do this thing. Katherine and I will head to Layton this afternoon to pick up our packets. I'm sure that will only fuel my excitement! 
Two days until race day!

Don't Stop the Party Run*

Tuesday Katherine and I headed out into another snow storm.  This one wasn't as brutal, or as long, so we managed slowly but surely.  We headed through the neighborhood and did a bit of running in the Dimple Dell gully as well.  It was rough footing in the gully, but very beautiful.

5.2 miles

1:09

13:16 pace

*After Katherine pointed out to me that we are all about the party run, I had to change the title of this post!

Long run cut short

Saturday I ran about five miles, then picked up Katherine and we continued on.  It was very windy and a storm was threatening to take over the valley.  We decided to go on an adventure through historic Sandy and see some new sights.  

This stop light talked to us, "Wait to cross 9400 south."  

The cold wind picked up and we put on our head socks.

Let the snow commence!

It was pretty warm, so the snow was really wet and was sticking to our whole bodies.  My arms and thighs were covered with a blanket of cold, wet snow.  In a matter of minutes it went from partly cloudy and windy to a white out snow storm with inches of snow on the ground.  We were soaked and freezing and decided to call it quits.  This is the first time I've ever cut a run short due to weather.  

My entire body looked like this!  Brrr!

It was a very good run, despite the brutal conditions and I really wished we could have continued.  It just wasn't the smart thing to do.  

16.69

3 hr 34 min

12:50 pace