Dry Creek Dried Out

Went for a quick 10 mile out and back (from my house) today on the Bonneville Shoreline Trail via Dry Creek. Normally this time of year the snow is still frozen or just starting to melt, which makes this trail pretty tough to get up. Since we've had such a weak sauce winter the trail was perfect after a few days of sun.

Despite how sore my legs still were from the crossfit squats I took the rigid single speed...

















Drew a little bit of blood (this will look fabulous with the dress I have to wear this weekend)... I have no idea what part of my bike actually caused this but this was a mind says go and legs say no situation.


It was 60° with a nice breeze (that is hopefully bringing snow into the mountains) and tons of fun...

Learning to Love the Burn

I learned a lesson in planning ahead today... don't take your fixed gear bike to crossfit (even if it's only 4 miles each way).

WOD:
AMRAP in 20 minutes
15 Squats at 65 lbs (was supposed to be 115 for the ladies, but I'm a puss)
9 toes to bar
200 M run

7 reps... everything about that hurt. Especially when I wasn't droppin' it low enough on my squats for the men in charge. I got the ball. Sometimes... in the heat of the moment... it's forgivable to go ass to ball.

My legs were a burnin' and I was thankful I left the brakes on my fixie.



Straight sausage-y.

Spring in SLC

This time of year in Salt Lake City tends to be my favorite for bike commuting. The inversions start to become less of a problem and the temperatures at night become more bearable for my fingers (despite purchasing Pearl Izumi lobster claw gloves this winter). To be honest, most of my commutes are within two miles of my house... commuting to the hospital involves 2 miles with 500 foot elevation gain, only 3 blocks of that 2 miles are on roads open to cars. It's pretty fabulous.



This morning I got to ride only with a long sleeve jersey and shorts (wool socks and gloves because my digits are wimpy). Also fabulous. Saturdays and Sundays are particularly nice because there is hardly anyone on campus or on the roads and the sun happens to be coming up over the mountain I'm climbing at the same time. Makes for a lot of zen moments with my Surly LHT. A little bit of Ray never hurts either.

You'll Never Walk Alone

One of my closest friends lost her mother in a sudden and unexpected accident this week. They were best friends and practically inseparable. My heart truly hurts for her and my thoughts have been with the whole family since I received the news. Today I went on the longest run I've been on in months and not once did I have to find strength to push through any kind of pain. I guess things are in perspective for me at the moment.



"Unable are the loved to die. For love is immortality." -Emily Dickinson

"I think every woman should have a blowtorch" -Julia Child

Mama' got a new culinary toy... and it's blue! (not a blowtorch, but still exciting)



Since Friday's are my Monday's I decided to spend some time cooking some things today that I won't have time to cook in the next 5 days while I'm held prisoner in the hospital (for money). This includes about 1.5 pounds of chicken, a variety chopped veggies, and a few sauces from my new cookbook Well Fed. This lady is pretty rad if you're into the paleo lifestyle. I recommend her blog/website for a few recipes to light the proverbial paleo fire under your butt.

I just seasoned my chicken with salt (sea and iodized), paprika, and pepper and cooked at 400 for 30-ish minutes.

I've Got a Lovely Bunch of Coconuts

I spent an obscene amount of money on paleo groceries this evening at Whole Foods (mostly coconut products and meat). Apparently coconut is the way to go if you're avoiding vegetable oil (heavily refined soy bean oil)/peanut oil (not paleo) and when the taste of olive oil isn't ideal.

My coconut grocery list:
Coconut oil- supposedly has a somewhat buttery flavor and can be used at high temperatures without oxidizing. It's solid at room temperature (kind of weird).

Coconut aminos- tastes like soy sauce, good replacement for asian style foods (regular soy sauce is loaded with gluten, other replacements are soy)

Coconut milk- good for making sweet/savory dishes, also a good replacement for heavy cream and yogurt in sauces



SLC Crossfit WOD:

5 rounds for time:
400M run
15 burpees
15 medicine ball slams
30 sec plank

Burpees make my heart beat fast. 20:07.

On a side note: SLC Crossfit is kind of a meat market. Not sure how I feel about that yet.

Happy Valentines Day

Paleo post-run breakfast: eggs, asparagus, onion, broccoli, and garlic (cooked with a few sprays of olive oil)




While I'm not a terribly huge fan of this holiday, I did run in my red shorts today. So festive.



Good grief.

125 Toes to Bar

After graduating from the beginner course at SLC Crossfit last week I got to play with the big boys for the first time today...

5 rounds for time:
5 dead lifts @185
25 toes to bar
250 M row

Toes to bar hurt. 21:24.

To reward myself: my own paleo concoction (ground turkey meat, italian turkey sausage, onion, brocoli, sugar-free tomato sauce, and garlic)

I'm Gonna' Carpe the Hell Out of This Diem

So it's been a while.

A lot of things have changed, some good some bad. Rolling with the punches along side an amazing group of friends and family. I've learned a lot about life and myself in the past 844 days (the amount of days that have passed since my last post); one of the most significant things being the importance of my personal health. After a year or so of my reproductive system trying to oust me and planting my ass in bed or on the couch to recover I learned relatively fast how easy it is to become weak and lethargic. Since then I've dedicated my life to caring for others and myself.

No gluten. No Dairy. Training hard. Positively impacting the lives of others (via work and relationships).

This blog will be dedicated to those things from now on... because that is what makes me happy.

"Let yourself be silently drawn by the strange pull of what you really love. It will not lead you astray" -Rumi



I'm gonna carpe the hell out of this diem.

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.

4th of July in Jackson

Jackson, WY is the most beautiful place I've been in my life.

Fact.



PACU crew and significant others made the 4.5 hour trek to WY for the holiday weekend. Within 20 minutes of arriving we downed Billy Burgers and signed up for the Jackson 4th of July 10K.



We camped on National Forrest land on Shadow Mountain. I definitely hadn't peed in the woods for years but it was totally worth it for the flow-y single track just a few miles up the fire roads from our site. I got to steel Shonda's Kona Lisa DS and motored up the mountain despite the elevation being twice what I live in... I was feeling so good that I bombed down the trail and totally nailed a log and ate shit. I caught guff the rest of the trip for my sweet spill. After riding with the boys the entire group went for a hike to Grizzly Lake by the Red Cliffs. Dogs aren't allowed in the National Park so we had to stay on the east side... kinda sucky but still beautiful.



We ran the Jackson 4th of July 10k the next morning, I ran average 10 minute miles (absolutely sucking wind the entire time, 7400 ft bizzle). Unfortunately, while I was taking a recovery nap the day before I left my trail running shoes outside of my tent during a thunder shower so it was a pretty squishy 6.2 miles for me... but I did keep my red cowboy hat on the entire time. Classy. We got a pretty rowdy, drunk game of Apple to Apples goin' that night while listening to "country rock". Probably the most fun I've had since I moved from Carbondale.

Going to work and school was a total buzz kill on Monday... I mostly want to quit my job, drop out of school, and move to Jackson. There's definitely a job opening at the hospital there... not that I looked or anything.

Running Through Cougar Country

Some of the PACU crew spent the morning in Provo at the Provo Riverwoods 10-Miler... now, the race aside Provo is it's own little world. It is home of the Brigham Young University Cougars, the LDS university, and it's filled with all the typical stereotype mormons: the men who think they're all that and a bag of chips, the wives with 6 children and no job, and the young married couples playing house and living off of mommy and daddy. So, this race took some real tolerance because there was a 20 minute shuttle ride to the start and the finish was filled with a ton of loud children and spouses.

The course was one of the most beautiful I've ever seen. It started at about 7000 feet up in the mountains, it's been raining for the past week so everything is green and some clouds were hanging on the peaks... majestic fo' shizzle. After running 3 miles down a small canyon we turned on to the Riverwoods Trail which follows the Provo River and goes past Bridal Vale Falls, it's all shaded and nicely paved. It should have been my best time because it was a great downhill/flat course.



Reasons the PACU girls didn't do as well as last week:
-The hospital has been crazy busy this week so we were all beat
-Apparently we spend enough time together that our periods have synced... therefor cramping and bloating ensued
-I'm getting sick from not eating enough carbs (trying to drop the pound-age)
-... and I'm out of excuses

I was hoping to run 9.5 minute splits since last weekend I was at 9.9 but I ended up running at 10.01... pretty disappointing. Not bad considering there was conversation at mile 4.5 about "I just want to walk this fucker" and "Oh, I feel like shit" and "I really don't want to play anymore". All in all everyone did well, no racing till the Bryce Canyon Half Marathon (July 18th).

PS- my quads are getting a little rediculous... I can only imagine what they'd look like if I started riding my bike and got a tan. Daaayum.

BLS: Basic Life Support

Is it wrong if I thoroughly enjoyed practicing chest compressions for 3 hours today in my BLS renewal class?

CPR is pretty unaffective... but it sure is fun.



Oh, Pam.

Running at the Butt Crack of Dawn

The PACU Crew took on another running challenge this morning. This morning at the crack of dawn, to be specific. The Salt Lake City Crack of Dawn 10-Miler started with a 2 mile stretch up East Canyon to the lookout over Little Dell Reservoir, down the switch-backs to Emigration Canyon, all the way to This is the Place Park for the finish.



The worst part of this run wasn't the 2 miles up a canyon but the lack of level road to run on. Most of the race had a pitch off to the right which has made my left knee and quad pretty sore. My first race was the Salt Lake Half Marathon with 10.8 minute splits, today's race (my second) I had 9.9 minute splits. I'm pretty happy with that progress considering major lack of training and feeling relatively crappy the past day or two.

Over breakfast San San "the machine" Wu (she placed 2nd for the women overall, first in her age group, and then went mountain biking) was talking about the Jupiter Peak Steeplechase race. It's a trail run in Park City up to Jupiter's Peak and back down for a total of 16 miles. It sounds like a pretty good race to determine if I should do the Pike's Peak half or full marathon next year. There are only 250 places so I'm sure I'll be registered before the end of the week. I've put a lot on my plate for this summer with work and class, but it should be a blast!

June-
13th- Provo Riverwoods 10-Miler

July-
2nd-5th- Jackson Hole camping/ mountain biking trip
18th- Bryce Canyon Half Marathon
31st- Snake River float trip

August-
1st-2nd- Snake River float trip
8th- Jupiter Peak Steeplechase Race

September:
19th- Chequamegon 40 mountain bike race

October:
18th- Moab Other Half Marathon