We're Streaking, Man!

It's February, so what does that mean?  It's time to streak.

Like really streak, non-stop, balls to the wall, no holds barred.  Streaking.

Yes, I really did just type 'balls to the wall'.  And again.  I also just learned the origin of "no holds barred"...it stems from a wrestling match in which all holds are legal.  And, interestingly, I just found out today that wrestling is being removed from the Olympics.  Say what?!  That's like the original sport of all sports.  Fighting.  Scantily clad gentlemen, scowls, pain, the whole nine yards.  That's what they DID back in the day, when the Olympics were first dreamed up.  What a funny world we live in now :)  Hopefully they keep track and field around for a bit longer...

Wow, so that was probably the strangest tangent I have gone off on here.

Where was I?  Oh, yes, streaking.

Geof and I accepted the challenge of running at least a mile every day in February as part of our satellite membership of our old running group back in Chicago, New Leaf Ultra Runs.  They do fun stuff like this every so often, and we decided to jump on the bandwagon.  Why not, we're running anyhow, may as well make it interesting :)  Plus, it will get us all geared up for the 100 Miles in Three Days challenge NLUR has lined up in early March.  Honestly, how did I get tangled up in this?  I'm happy to run 100 miles in less than a day, but somehow I'm having trouble visualizing doing it over the course of three days.  That weekend, life = on hold.

So we're running every day.  If it hadn't been for this challenge, I totally would have skipped running the entire weekend two weekends ago...when we stayed up for 24 hours and moved.  It was a tamer version of when we moved across the country last May, but still.  We woke up at 4 a.m., ran six, went to work, picked up a moving truck, chopped up the ice in the driveway, moved all of our stuff in three trips, cleaned up an epic flooding mess, showered, slept for a couple hours, got up, ran again, unpacked all day long, slept a little, got up, ran some more, settled into new house.  And it was just the two of us the entire time.  Lifting heavy stuff.  My levator scapulae and latissimi dorsi were screeeaaaaming.  Yep, I just went anatomical on you.  But we got 'er done.  And we still are.

It's fun.  But now I'm wondering how it's going to feel running the day after laying the smack down on the Red Hot 55k course down in Moab this weekend.  Should be interesting.  At least there will be pizza.  And beer.  I'm looking forward to our first race of the season, and hanging out with lots of my favorites in a really beautiful place :)

Oh, so neither Geof nor I made it into Wasatch this year.  What are the chances?  Apparently quite high.  So now we put our focus onto the dear, sweet Bear instead.  We're going sub-24.  No excuses.

Day 13 of the streak.  And, like, day 10 of not enough sleep.

Onward!

Paige, out.

Yaktrax Contest Winners!

It's a beautiful morning here in Salt Lake City and a great day to pick some winners!  I extended the giveaway one extra week in order to give more peeps a chance to enter.

The time has now arrived...

I first forced myself to complete some school work.  I then stared outside at the frozen yard, still covered in two feet of snow.  *Sigh*  Is it terrible that I'm already looking forward to spring and it's only the first week of February?  Oh well.

I digress!

From the magic hat I pulled three lucky names.  Please contact me at susanpaige1 at gmail dot com with your name, mailing address, Yaktrax preference (Pros, Runs or XTRs), and size (XS = W 2.5-6 / M 1-4.5; S = W 6.5-10 / M 5-8.5; M = W 10.5-12.5 / M 9-11; L = W 13-15 / M 11.5-13.5; XL = W 15.5+ / M 14+) by the end of this week.

Include in the subject of your email "YAKTRAX WINNER" so that it stands out just in case it goes to spam for some reason :)  I will forward your information to my contact and they will send you your prize directly.  Sound good?

Winners:

Mandy
Elizabeth
Anne W.

Congratulations, ladies!  It was a chick sweep!

Thank you to everyone who participated!  I hope to have more like this in the future...this was fun :)

Paige, out.

Gaining Traction: A Yaktrax Review and GIVEAWAY!

The trail is a treacherous mix of snow and ice several days old and trampled into a slick, rutted, ankle-busting mess.  But you, "have miles to go before you sleep..."  You've got to make it up this mountain.  It takes everything you have just to remain upright, and as the trail suddenly pitches steeply upward, you really wish you had a pair of spikes right about now.  Heart racing, sweat springing to your every pore as you negotiate the footing ahead.  Steep drop-off to your left, narrow trail, icey, and downright terrifying to the pagophobic...

But, alas, you remembered to pack your trusty Yaktrax XTR Xtreme Outdoor Traction spikes!  SWEET!  Fear no more, fear no more.  Ice, kiss it!  You've got a summit to bag!

So basically I have this intense fear of ice, and slippage on said ice, as a result of many a run along the Chicago Lakefront in winter...breeding grounds for some of the worst ice I have ever experienced.  Ever.  Gives me chills just thinking about it.  And, since we now live in a place that can be a bit of an ice fest half the year (up in the mountains), I decided to look into taking control of my fear and getting some traction so that I wouldn't have to miss out on precious mountain time during the winter.  On a whim, I checked out Yaktrax's website to see if they had anything new, and lo and behold: the Yaktrax Run and Yaktrax XTRs appeared before my eyes.  They've been busy making cool stuff!  I've owned the Yaktrax Pros for awhile now, and my brother even sent me a new pair for Christmas this year, so I'm well versed on the Pros.

I'm a big fan of the brand, and I'm a big fan of staying upright and being able to run no matter the weather.  I was crazy-stoked to try out the Runs and the XTRs (hehe, the "runs" :)).  I think everyone knows about the Yaktrax Pros, they are the original Yaktrax, with a velcro strap that goes over the top of your foot for added hold on the shoe.  They are what I picture when I think of traction.  And, they are perfect for hiking in a little bit of snow, not totally solid ice, and for general use (e.g. walking the dog, shoveling, walking to the bus, etc.).  They are the perfect daily use traction device, and sure beat turning all your shoes into screw shoes (which are fun to have, but not ideal).  I have run in my Yaktrax Pros on occasion and they do a fine job in a pinch, they just feel a bit bulky underfoot if there's not enough snow (your foot doesn't go flush with the ground, so it feels a bit...pillowy), and snow gets stuck in the tread and coils.  There's a happy medium in there somewhere, but likely not for the avid runner.

Here's a snazzy shot of the Yaktrax Pros from Yaktrax.com:

Now, the Yaktrax Run.  This was something new to me.  I was curious about how they would stand up to the snow, and I admit, I didn't have very high expectations for them.  I was really psyched about the XTRs, but wanted to give these a fair shake, too.  

They turned out to be pretty...okay!  They would be perfect back in the midwest, where there is not a whole lot of snow these days, but a lot of crummy icey/snowy/slushy stuff that freezes overnight and makes morning runs a little scary at times.  The carbide steel spikes on the Runs are fairly shallow and worked fantastically on the thin snice (snow-ice) I ran in along the Bonneville Shoreline Trail here in SLC.  The conditions were great for these, but their use remains optimal in low snow or thin ice, and much more reliable than the Pros for sure.  I felt like I had really good traction on the slippery stuff along the trail and I felt confident with each step.  The Yaktrax Runs are the best replacement for screw shoes, and you can put them on any pair of running shoes without putting holes in your soles.  

I just busted a rhyme without even 'try'n.

Okay, so, downsides?  Probably user error, but the front lip kept slipping off and sliding underfoot.  I had to readjust this a few times.  And they were fairly tough to get on my shoes initially.  Also of note, snow got stuck in the heel treads of my shoes and the rear coils of the Runs.  The forefoot remained snow-free, but not the rear of the device.  I kept having to knock the snow off my shoes to get better traction.  I think the snow was wetter than usual (it was beginning to melt) so perhaps that added to how much it was packing beneath my feet.  Nevertheless, I made it through fully upright and happy!

Fancy photo of the Yaktrax Runs from Yaktrax.com

Hard to tell in this photo, but the front lip of the Yaktrax Runs kept slipping off my shoe.

Another SLC winter wonderland kind of day :)

This post feels a bit like the tale of the three bears...

And I'm saving the best for last.  I can't help it; I'm completely partial, and for good reason!  The Yaktrax XTRs are a godsend for mountain trail runners.  Nothing short of that.

I LOVE MY YAKTRAX XTRs!  They are a steal of a deal at $50 at REI and they come with a handy storage bag that doesn't rip.  The other big brand of spikes sells theirs for $10 more than the XTRs and the bag is sold separately, for another $10.  That's a lot of dough.  Anywho, 'nuff of that.  Let's get to the goods!  

I stowed my XTRs, in the storage bag, in the back pocket of my Nathan vest on a recent summit of Mt. Wire here in SLC.  Geof and I weren't sure what the conditions would be like, but I had a feeling (and hope!) ice would be involved.  And I was right.  Geof slipped and slid all over the trail, giving me a heart attack on several occasions, not to mention scaring the bejeezus out of himself a few times as well.  The footing was terrible, and it got worse the steeper the trail got.  After a few near misses, I stopped, pulled out my XTRs, slid them on (so easy, so quick!!) and continued onward.  Geof was a little jealous.  I was a kid in a candy store!  Smiling, laughing; I couldn't believe how much better the running was with spikes!  I couldn't believe what a difference they made.  I had high hopes, and they were exceeded.  I haven't felt that sure of foot in...ever.  So, yea, the XTRs worked out pretty well for me.  

Once we began to descend, and the sun had had a chance to melt some of the snow and ice down lower, we were traipsing through a muddy, slushy mess, but I kept the spikes on just to see how they'd hold up and they did awesome!  It was a little like nails on a chalkboard when I'd step on rocks with the spikes on, but they held firm and sturdy.  Also of note, while the weight was apparent, that was the only thing giving away their presence on my feet.  Since the spikes dig into the terrain, there's no weird wobbly feeling (like in the Pros).  Your foot goes flush with the terrain with each step, just as it would in your shoes alone.  Awesome.  The toe and heel plates prevent snow from packing/sticking underfoot, and they actually work.  When I was done, I slipped them off, stuffed them back in their sack and stowed them back in my pack.  Easy peasy!  

I couldn't wait to use them again.  Dare I say I look forward to icey runs on the trails now?  I carried them in my jacket pocket this past weekend on a long run that included an ascent of Mt. Wire again; though I didn't need them I felt good knowing I had them just in case.

In fact, Geof was so impressed with my experience with the XTRs that he decided to pick up a pair for himself as well.  This is huge!  He was skeptical at first, as he usually is with my running knick-knacks, but the XTRs proved themselves more than worthy.  And now we match :)

Photo courtesy of Yaktrax.com.  They really need to put a running shoe in these and get rid of the boots...

 Yaktrax XTR field test #1...climbing up Mt. Wire

Yaktrax XTRs atop Mt. Wire after a gnarly, icey early-season climb

 Look, no snow stuck on the forefoot or heel!

In closing, yes, I have a serious crush on my XTR spikes.  They are a perfect fit for me and for the running I do, and for where I live.  But, the Yaktrax Pros and Yaktrax Runs also have their place in my running/hiking repertoire.  They will all get plenty of use in the miles to come.

Soooooo, now that you've made it through this long-winded post, I have a treat for you!  

I'm giving away three pairs of Yaktrax!  All you need to do is be a follower of my blog (it's easy, follow via Google Friend Connect in the right side-bar, or sign up to receive posts via e-mail, also in the right side-bar), then leave a comment below stating your name, how you would use a pair of Yaktrax, and which pair you think would suit you best (Pros, Runs, or XTRs).  I'll give it a week or so, then select three random winners.  Also, be sure to like Yaktrax on Facebook, and follow via Twitter (@yaktrax)!

Man, I'm so excited to get this posted; it's been a long time coming!

Let the fun begin!

Paige, out.

Welcome to My Life, Take A Seat, Get Comfy

I've spent the last couple of months resisting, pushing mightily against a fierce and worthy opponent; it is an opponent that, ultimately, would always win.  But I had to try, because that is what I do...I try.  I guess that's a good quality; being willing to risk it, to fall on my face, just to see what I could do.  I do not like to recoil in the face of adversity, though it does cross my mind (c'mon, I'm human).  Instead, I like to try my hand at it

It's trivial really, this opponent.  Truly.  You'll laugh when you see it.

Algebra.

Yep, see.  I told you so.  I have never, never, NEVER EVER been mathematically inclined.  It's always been a sort of achilles heel.  I have one of those weird photographic memories where I can file away an image or concept for short term use.  And, often, it sticks around long term; but not in the case of mathematics.  I memorized my way through every math course I've ever had.  I learned every acronym, short-cut, and catchy rhyme imaginable to make it through some gnarly math scenarios.  And it worked.

Now, you see, there's this class I have to take as a prerequisite for my program, but you can try to test out of it.  Booya.  Of course I was going to try to test out of a semester of anguish, frustration, short tempers, and, not to mention, the enormous financial cost of a 4-credit hour course.  Blech.  So I self-studied my brains out.  I tried...three times.  I briefly prevailed on the first try, only to find out the requirements had just recently changed, but were never published anywhere for me to see.  Talk about deflated ego.  Crushed in fact.  So I tried again, no dice.  A third time, still no freakin' dice.  I'm pretty sure the proctor could have caught and bottled the disappointment that oozed from me on that third try.  If she would have asked a question, or otherwise elicited any kind of response from me, I probably would have cried.  But instead she just looked at me blankly as she handed me my printed results and I turned and walked dejectedly towards the campus bookstore.

And that's the end of the rope for me.  As the saying goes, "when you get to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hold on."  So, I bought my insanely overpriced books for the class, tied a knot, and am now holding on for dear life.

I guess it's meant to be.  I'm supposed to take this extremely expensive (read: out-of-state tuition) math class.  Fine.  You win, grand plan, you win!  It's embarrassing; intermediate algebra, bringing me to my knees.  I laughed at myself on the way home after my third failed attempt.  Why do I resist it so?  Why has it always been such a battle?

So where am I going with this seemingly unrelated drivel about resisting?  That, while I do not yet know the outcome of the coming semester, I do know that I have full control over my thoughts and fears.  And so, seeing as one of my new years 'resolutions' this year is to get over irrational fears, I say 'when in Rome.'  I can handle this.  I'll do what it takes to emerge victorious.  I will be the algebra queen!

Speaking of resolutions, I guess I usually like to write about what I've resolved to do at the start of each new year.  I kind of like the tradition here on Serious Case of the Runs :)

In addition to getting over irrational fears, I've decided to say yes more and welcome more into my life. In fact, just yesterday I said yes to something I thought would never enter even an extreme outer orbit of my life.  Endurance cycling.  Yes, you read that right.  Geof asked if I would like to join his company's team for the MS150 ride in June.

*crickets*

*more crickets*

I had three reactions to this:  first, it was, "HA!  No F@*#ing way!  I'm not a cyclist, I'm a runner!"; next was, "I'd truly rather run 150 miles...can I do that instead?"; and, finally, "ah crap, yes...YES, I'll do it.  Why not?!"  This all ran through my head in the matter of probably 30 seconds, as I responded to his text as soon as I hit the next red light on the drive home.  Then reality began to sink in.  How on earth am I supposed to train for a 150 mile bike ride?  Oh, that's right, by riding.  Crap, crap, CRAP!  My butt is going to hurt so much!  But as I began to really think about it, we live in one of the most amazing places for endurance cycling.  The smooth and winding long canyon roads are a cyclist's mecca.  I guess it won't be too bad, and it'll sure be one hell of a cross-training effort for our trail running season.  Boom.  Silver lining = found.  Plus, this means I'll now have to get real clips and cycling kicks for Stiletto :)

So what else have I resolved to do this year?

No more hitting the 'snooze' button.  No excuses.  Our 4 a.m. wake-ups start to wear on me over the course of a week, and I've been known to hit the snooze button...a lot.  Like, really a lot.  And that really gets in the way of running.  So, snooze no more!  That means getting to bed a touch earlier than the average 82-year old, but whatevs.  It means more precious miles await us in the morning.  So far, so good.

My last 'resolution' is to run sub-24 at Wasatch (if I get in) or the Bear.  I can do it, especially considering what my training was like leading up to the 2012 Bear 100.  Now that we live in the lap of trail running heaven, a really great training season shouldn't be a problem :)

Ooooo!  I got a new pair of trail shoes!  The Brooks Pure Grit 2.  Mmmmm, yummy new shoe smell.  They are pretty...heinously ugly (I hope they come up with better colors, lol!), but I took them for a spin this morning and really, really enjoyed them.  It feels like there is a rock plate of sorts in them, which completely rocks (heh), and the tread/grip is incredible.  I mean, seriously incredible.  Who knows, perhaps I'll put these in the line-up for the Red Hot 55k next month in Moab.  I should take them for a spin on the southern Utah red rocks before I make that commitment, though ;)

So, the moral of this long, not-much-of-an-obvious-point post?  Live and let live.  Stop resisting that which you do not fully understand or appreciate.  Open those arms of yours and welcome a little bit of discomfort, a little daring, a little change, a little "why not!".  Sometimes that which we push hardest against turns out to be the best thing that's ever happened to us.  I have no illusions about algebra or cycling becoming the twinkle in my eye, but I do think that there is a place for these things in my life, and I'm now willing to allow them in.  I'm throwing up my white flag on these, and a host of other things I've resisted for a long time.  It is freeing, emancipating in a way.  It's incredibly tiring to push so hard against certain things, especially when it's for no apparent reason.  This is true in all aspects of life, training, racing, love.  Stop hating, resisting, and discounting the things that you've never even given a chance.  You never know, you may find the 'love' of your life, whatever that may be.

I now welcome you (i.e. that which I have resisted) to my life, take a seat, get comfortable.  I'm so very glad to have you, finally :)

Paige, out.

Say It With Me Now: WHAT A YEAR!

At the top of the Salt Lake City Library...where the staircase ends

Helllloooooo?  Anyone still out there?  I hope so :)  I really must apologize.  I've been an absentee blogger the last few months, posting here and there, but it's just been a wonderful final few months of 2012.  Truthfully, I haven't felt completely inspired to post, and when I write it's almost always purely out of inspiration.  I find my posts have just simply come to me...out of the blue.  So let's see...

WHAT A YEAR!  I still can't believe all that's occurred, all the places and faces and fun we've been to, seen and met, and had.  I scroll through pictures from our No Reservations summer regularly.  "That really happened," "We really did that," "I ran that," "We live here!" are thoughts I have daily.  Basically, to sum the year up: We schemed, we saved, we arranged, we quit our jobs, packed up our apartment in Chicago into a Budget moving van, drove it across the country to Salt Lake City, UT, flew back to Chicago for a few more days, then zigged, zagged, and wound our way through, over, and around some amazing country, up and down incredible mountains, witnessed the marriage of several friends, helped Gretchen reach her Hardrock goal, watched one of my brothers graduate from Marine basic training, shivered our way up many a 14,000 ft. peak, melted in the heat of southern California, swatted mosquitos in the flatlands of the Midwest, relished the intimate peace of time spent with family, scrambled along high ridges, watched the sun set and moon rise each night from the comfort of our camp chairs or the back of our truck.  We listened to the crackle of a couple of campfires, enjoyed many a cold microbrew on many a warm night, ran until our legs and lungs felt as though they'd explode, then ran some more.  We arrived in our new hometown exhausted and elated, and almost instantly reintegrated back into society and 'normalcy'.  School began, I worked my butt off to get great grades, complete assignments well ahead of time, and sweat through a four hour exam I'd studied for for six months.  Geof began work and reacquainted himself with the suit and tie.  We ran more and more, we raced, and fantastically at that; Wasatch, The Bear.  We now rise most mornings at 4:00 to squeeze in our daily runs.  With many a trail mile under our belts, the snow began to fly and we soon opted to frolic in the powder on weekends rather than run long.  I never thought I'd fall in love with skiing.  Never.  Ever.  Ever.  But I have :)  

Imagine standing atop a high ridge in the Wasatch Mountains, the wind howling, the snow blowing and so thick you can hardly see more than a few feet in front of you, but you know the terrain well enough to make it down.  Your skis moving silently over the powdery fluff (imagine powdered sugar...) you begin to descend, crouching down to carve, quads firing, standing momentarily to turn, then crouching again, shiss shiss shiss, the flying snow stinging what little bit of your face is exposed, heart pounding because you're flying down on the very outskirts of control, hands gripping your poles as though they are a lifeline, yet you're relaxed.  Reaching the bottom, legs burning from the effort of basically air squatting for 20 minutes straight, skittering back over to the lift, "Again!"  It is thrilling, exciting, scary, tiring, and pure awesome.  Often times we'll rip off a quad busting 10 miler up Mt. Wire before heading up to ski for a few hours.  That's my favorite.  We're now multi-sport athletes :)  It feels good to finally have something else to do, in addition to running.  Really, lots of something elses to do.  You know I LOVE running, but sometimes I just want to have other active hobbies to explore.  That was a big factor in choosing where to move.  We wanted to have options.  With the mountains RIGHT THERE we can not only road run and road bike, but also trail run, mountain bike, downhill ski, backcountry ski, cross country ski, skate ski, snowshoe, hike, scramble big peaks, camp close to home, get lost, and get some serious nature.  It's awesome.  I am a runner at heart, but I also like to move my body in other ways.  Like screaming down a powdery slope.  It feels good to be more versatile, to have more than one thing to say when someone asks, "so what do you like to do?"  It's been a big year for such things: exploring, opening new doors, trying new things, being more than what I've always been, beginning to become well-rounded.

And what's a year-end post without the numbers?

We've managed to get in 15 downhill days, three XC ski days, and over 109,000 feet of vertical.  I skied myself silly yesterday, my first day of skiing solo, garnering over 19,000 vertical feet before 3:00.  Holy crap I was exhausted afterward!  But I reached, and then surpassed, my goal :)

This has been the highest running mileage year-to-date.  I've racked up 2,140.6 running miles with well over 100,000 feet of vertical gain, and 403 hours of running.  That's just shy of six miles per day.  Child's play.  I can do better than that :)  If you recall, I hit 2000.6 miles by December 31st of last year.  So, I'm pretty happy with this year's total, especially considering the intermittent nature of our running during April, May, and June, and our newfound love of skiing in these last couple of months.  January will be our usual Get After It month as we plan to have an even better year of running and racing.  I'm giddy as all get-out thinking about 2013.  Even with all the awesome we had in 2012, I see an even better year in store for us in 2013.  So much on the horizon :)

Which finally brings me around to the whole point of these year-end posts: reflecting on who I was, who I am now, where I've been, and my personal evolution through the span of a year.  I feel the same, but lighter, freer, more open, more enthusiastic, more hopeful, more ready, more whole.  Seeing new places, trying new things, working through challenges, doing the work, reaping the rewards.  Making.  Shit.  Happen.  That's what this year has been about.  Not waiting around and hoping something would happen, but actually rolling up the sleeves and making it happen.

Thank you to everyone who helped us get to where we are now.  I'm pretty sure the biggest thank you of all goes to Rob and Rina...all of this wouldn't be possible without them.  They jumped in and helped us make it happen.  These last seven months have been the most amazing months of our lives, and RnR have been there to support us in our dream of moving west, to lend a helping hand, a roof over our heads, lots of laughs and smiles, patience and understanding, staying up waaaaay past their bedtimes to make sure we made it across our finish lines, eaten every meal I've set before them without hesitation (which only encourages me to want to cook more!), entertained our need to have a fresh chopped Christmas tree, and just generally be awesome all the time.  Thank you RnR!  

Have I mentioned that it's snowing again?  It's like living in a snow globe.

This year was an ending and a beginning.  Where one thing ended, something new began.  With the end of a year comes the beginning of a new year.

I recently discovered I'm getting close to maxing out my photo memory on Blogger, so in lieu of posting a bunch here, I decided to create a fun little slideshow...but I can't figure out how to embed it here, grrrrr!  New Year's resolution: figure out how to embed video! :)

Happy New Year!

Paige, out.

Oh, the Guilt! The Shaaaaame!

Dearest Dedicated Runner Readers,

This is Serious Case of the Runs writing to inform you that the Writer-in-Chief/Editor/Sole Contributor/Sole Writer/Paige-in-the-third-person is extremely embarrassed about her recent AWOL status in the blogosphere.  So embarrassed (not to mention guilt-ridden) in fact that she is having to write in the third-person in order to alleviate some of the pain she feels for her inexcusable absence of late.  She asked that I mention she is incredibly sorry.  Then she laughed at the thought, because, really, it's just a blog, right?  Does anyone notice?  Then she continued to spout off very philosophical-sounding stuff that I'm not even sure made any sense, but it sounded really cool.  Basically, SCOTR is very important to her, so she feels like maybe someone else out there might feel the same way, too :)  Hence this message.  (She laughed again because writing in the third-person is terribly fun!)

Then she watched an episode of Grey's Anatomy to try to take her mind off of not blogging instead.

Have no fear, Paige still has a raging Case of the Runs and is still racking up the miles in her new hometown.  She's even got a little product review and giveaway planned for the new year.  How 'bout them apples!  I snuck a peak at her running log the other day and noticed she has far surpassed her running mileage from last year.  I also noticed she is working on a year-end post.  Those are my favorites.  I love reading other people's year-end posts :)

So basically she's just been really busy keeping herself busied with school, work, running, skiing (dear God, the skiing!  So much skiing!!) that she kept putting off her dear old blog.  But, now that it's winter break (and she can put away the notes, the books, and forget her school log-in info. until next semester), she can return to posting...if I can convince her that she shouldn't feel guilty about living life.  Or tear her away from her new indulgent (i.e. non-school) book, Wild, long enough to do some writing of her own.

Paige is very happy to see so many (read: all!) of you have stuck around over the last month and a half of radio silence.  She appreciates it more than you know.  Oh, yea, her last post was about leaving for Zion...that fell through.  Turns out the storm of the season popped a squat over Utah that weekend, and the trip got canned due to unsafe driving conditions (and a 12-hour shift the night before).  Have no fear, Paige and Geof made lemonade out of lemons and cross country skied all weekend instead, enjoying the massive powder dump enormously.  (They also had some REALLY good barbecue in Park City, at a place called Bandits, after a massively fun ski at Mountain Dell where they were rerouted by two bull moose (moosen? mooses? moosies?) standing in their path.)

I digress.  Paige will be back soon.

Oh!  Did I tell you about the 5k race she ran??  Yea, you read that right, a 5 kilometer race.  Ohohohohoh, I can't wait for her to tell you about this!  It was so un-ultra of her, and totally awesome :)

SCOTR, out.

Bound for Zion

Yahooooo!

It's here :)  Geof and I are heading down south for one more destination run before the snow really starts to fly (which is in the forecast this weekend!!).

F'real.  Sixteen to thirty inches in the Cottonwood Canyons this weekend.  Booya.

We are meeting up with Stacy of Wilderness Running Company and Justin for a day of running around Zion National Park.  Only one of the most beautiful parks in the world, according to a lot of someones.  Originally, we planned to do a Zion traverse (the whole park, end-to-end), but seeing as we aren't really hip to a 48 mile run at the moment, we decided to scale it back to a more leisurely 20-30 miles instead.  We could certainly bang out a full traverse, but then it would hurt and then we'd be tired.  And there is much beer and pizza to be had post-run!  And I'm working a 12-hour shift at the clinic on Friday which puts us in Zion close to midnight.  So, we amended the plan a bit.

I'm super pumped, and reallllly looking forward to a mini-vacation of running in a really amazingly beautiful place (from what I've seen in pictures, and what little we saw in the Kolob Canyons earlier this summer); it will be our first time really in Zion, so that's pretty awesome.

Oh, what have we been up to lately?  Oh, just some mountain running...

Bethany L. showed me around the gorgeous trails of Jeremy Ranch (near Park City) a couple weekends ago.  We rocked out one heck of an 18 mile run all over those hills, through deep powdery snow, slush, streams, tacky mud, dry desert-y washes, and up endless inclines (yes, all in the same run).  I also fell.  Hard.  It even tore a hole out of the knee of my only pair of thin running tights.  Stupid tights.  I didn't like them that much anyway...which is why I just finished up mending said hole so that I can wear them with some dignity down in Zion :)  Bethany is making a go of a FFKT (female fastest known time) Zion traverse this weekend (which she is totally going to nail, just like her FFKT of the Grand Canyon R2R2R), so she schooled me all over Jeremy Ranch.  I was worked by the end of the run!  And totally stoked.

The view of Park City Mountain Resort from Jeremy Ranch trails

Geof and I have been heading to the Cottonwood Canyons each weekend to get in "one last run before the snow flies".  I think last weekend was really the last one.  The trails over 9,000 ft. were already covered in snow, and once we broke 10,000 ft. it was deeper stuff and left us with some wet feet!  We decided to check out the White Pine Trail just below Snowbird.  After running up to the lake and back, Geof convinced me to run the Red Pine Lakes trail too, for a little extra mileage.  It was a fantastic trail!!  There was a section of fairly sketchy ice on a steep climb, but other than that it was just perfection.  Absolute perfection.  We closed out that run with just under 15 miles.  My legs forgot they ran even before we stopped.  I felt goooood.

Geof contemplating the magnitude of awesome that we are surrounded by here at home.  I love this place.  White Pine Trail.

I'm sweating bullets from the stress of having just run/fudged my way down through the ice-y steep section right before Geof took this shot.  My heartbeat was in my ears.  Then it was nice 'smooth' trail again, as in this picture :)  Red Pine Lakes Trail.

So that's the latest.  Oh, and I bought downhill ski boots.  I'm turning into a f'real Utahan.  Now I just need to find skis to put said boots on :)

Paige, out.