Running the Red Rock

Crazy busy weekend. My best girl friend was sealed (aka married) at the Salt Lake Temple on Saturday. She looked stunning coming out of the temple and had a beautiful luncheon at the Joseph Smith Memorial Building. I had to book it to Moab shortly after to run the Moab Other Half Marathon the next day.

After not doing much training I was excited to run with good friends, not so much the super hilly 13.1 mile course. To make matters worse once the race started I realized my iPod had broken at some point since my last training run... so bad for someone who never runs without cranking the tunes. Lucky for me Shonda never runs with music, she totally talked me out of my freak out and helped me finish despite lack of music. The race was really well organized and some of the local breweries were sponsors so there was free beer for all of the runners at the finish. I hadn't been to Moab in a year but it blows my mind every time I'm down there. It's hard to believe all of the red rock and massive rock formations are only 3 hours away from Salt Lake City and the best pow on earth. And for the first time in a while I'm not registered for any upcoming events.

Bear on the Trail

Today Bear, the Major, and I set out to Park City to ride the Flying Dog trail.



'Crossing on a mountain bike trail is definitely on of the most fun things I've done in a while. Even with major lack of suspension it felt amazing to motor up hills with an ultra light bike underneath me, that and blasting through sand was a breeze. The only 'cross bike related issue I had was due to thin tires, when standing on steep inclines with loose rocks underneath the skinny tires didn't grip as well as mountain tires and I kind of fell into a tree.



The Utah Cyclocross Series starts in a month from today!

On a side note: my poor dog is limping a bit and one of the big pads on a paw is split open and is peeling away (equivalent of getting a large blister on the heal of your foot)... I'm a terrible mommy!

In It

Riding, running, training, swimming.

Where does your mind go when you're in it?

Trying Times

Tonight into early tomorrow is the Perseid meteor shower. I plan on going up to Lindsey Garden's with Bear to watch and reflect on some things. I've watched meteor showers with my mother and friends in the past, both of which are going through trying times presently.

A good friend at work has just received news that her husband's colon cancer (which had been removed, treated with chemo and radiation, and all tests have come back negative since) has actually grown back into a baseball sized tumor that has wrapped around his aorta. The surgeons have removed 99% of it and will restart chemo and radiation therapy. Aside from the whole cancer scare (an idea that hits more close to home than I'd like to admit) the worst part is that his tests continuously came back negative... meaning either they aren't effective or the cancer is stage 4 and a tumor that size grew within 3 months.

Both of my parents have lost their jobs due to the poor economy. Both are receiving unemployment checks and should be financially stable for at least the time being. On a selfish note, this means I'm left without any source of funding for living expenses or school from anyone but myself. Student loans take time and having little/no credit has made getting a credit card a relatively hard task. I've transferred to the community college here for the semester while I wait for my student loans to be processed. Luckily, I'm eligible for in-state tuition and have received some scholarship money.

I suppose events like these force you to remember that things could always be a whole lot worse. I'll be keeping my friends and family in my thoughts and keep believing things will eventually fall into place.

Sometimes Utah Really Rocks

After getting called in to work at 9PM and staying till 8 this morning I decided it was about time for a ride with the boys.

All I can say is Mid Mountain Trail.

23 miles of single track starting at Deer Valley Resort to Park City Mountain Resort to The Canyons Resort. Most beautiful, fast, fun trail ever. It basically winds up to the top of each resort via switch backs. The descents were incredible! Tight turns through birch trees and wild flowers with just about every type of terrain (baby heads, dirt, sand, red rock, etc.). Even after getting no sleep and not eating well in the morning the adrenalin rush this trail gave me kept me going all 23 miles... with out touching the granny gear. I could ride that trail everyday.



I'm pretty sure I scared away any wildlife because I was hollerin' "yee haw" the whole way.

PS- no pictures of my own because it was just too good to stop.
PPS- I need a full suspension bike so I can stop stealing Shonda's Kona Lisa DS.

Sometimes Utah Really Blows

I hate Utah today.

Being a 20 something girl in Utah sucks... unless you're LDS and married.

Every time I go to the doctor and I hand over my insurance card I'm asked if it's my husband's. Lame.

I tried to trade in my car at 3 different places. Every single one low balled me (more than the usual skeezy car salesman low ball). I'm sure if I would have showed up with a husband I would have gotten close to the flippin' blue book value.

My old (technically current still) landlord claims I didn't repaint my old apartment well enough. Most people just move their shit and leave... in fact, that's what I've done the past 3 places I've lived. This time I knew my landlord was (is) a cock bag so I painted the walls bright white in a semi-gloss paint (at his request) and made sure the floors and appliances were spotless. Today he calls me to let me know he thinks he can still see some powder blue in the bathroom and some yellow in the office. He plans on charging me for someone to paint it again and rent for every day that it stays the way I left it. The colors were all very light, I primed, I painted, and now I'm going to get boned because I'm a little girl all on my own in Utah.

I can't remember the last time I was this fucking pissed. Balls!

Summer Ohhh Nine

Although I haven't been on a ride in 4 weeks I have managed to stay busy... with things other than work and school (whoa!):

-Moved from the university area of SLC to the oh so trendy Ave's
-Got a pooch. His name is Bear, he's an Australian Cattle Dog (little blue Heeler), he's about 1, loves the trail, and doesn't shit in my house
-Ran the Bryce Canyon Half Marathon (6 minutes faster than the SLC Half)
-Enjoying lots of live music: Park City Roots Rock Reggae Fest, Jenny Lewis, Bon Iver, The Black Keys, and open mic night at Moe's
-Hiking a ton with my homies
-Got a job at Snowbird for the winter (free tram pass worth $1100 included)



I've got some good karma going lately:
Point 1: went on a night run with Bear about 2 weeks after I got him, someone lights a loud firework as we cross the street, he wrangles out of his collar and books it up the Ave's in the dark, I search for 45 minutes (screaming his name and balling to strangers), run home to get my phone (since I've given my number out to said strangers), I get home and my dog follows me through the door as my neighbor explains that he'd been waiting there for 30 minutes.
Point 2: After leaving Shonda's house in Park City I was coming down Parley's Canyon (traffic goes about 75), heard a thumping noise under my feet, my ABS light goes on, drive home since there aren't many places to stop in the canyon, look in my tire well, see the my tire has shredded but stayed in tact.



Lots of plans in the next few weeks too:
-Snake River float trip next Thursday with the PACU crew
-Jupiter Peak Steeplechase August 8th
-Birthday celebrations the weekend after my birthday include the first day of Oktober Fest at Snowbird followed by bar hopping through Park City (without membership fee's!)

Still making silly wishes.