May 19-26 2008

Playing catch up here. The last couple of weeks have been pretty busy traveling on business and then on vacation. Having said that I'll get caught up by wrapping it up into one post.

• Mon May 19th - Off
• Tues May 20th - AM 5 myles 35:55 University of Utah hills - legs were sore PM 7 myles 54:34 City Creek Canyon - A little elevation, felt better
  
• Wed May 21st - 8 myles 58:58 City Creek Canyon/BST - Feeling really good, a little stiff
• Thurs May 22nd - Off (Blues Traveler)
• Fri May 23rd - Off (Traveled to Deadwood, South Dakota)
• Sat May 24th - 22 myles 2.52:23 Mickelson Trail - About 500ft of elevation first 10 myles
  
• Sun May 25th - 20 myles 2.34:27 Mickelson Trail - Recovered really well from yesterday
• Mon May 26th - 14 myles 1.41:55 Mickelson Trail - Still feeling good despite previous day

I spent a full week in Utah for business and managed to get out 3 times in two days despite having full days. The weather was sloppy in Utah for the whole week. It was 90 on the weekend then it dropped to the low 50s and rain. I don't mind the rain because that just ensures I get the trail to myself.... although it doesn't do much for that heat training I need.

As soon as I got home on Friday at 10 am, I did the ol' quick change and we were out the door by noon on our way to Deadwood, South Dakota. SOUTH DAKOTA?!?!? ....WHY??? Good question, the short answer is that our friends invited us to stay in their cabin for the weekend. The long answer is that I was supposed to go run the Deadwood Mickelson trail marathon but for some reason they changed the weekend but none of the families could change their days and the cabin was booked up for the next week. Therefore I decided to run my own Mickelson trail marathon and guess what, I won! Here's a picture of the trail:
It's basically a super highway - hardly a trail, at least not ones that I run. It's an old rail line that spans 109 myles through some pretty nice forest. I ran on this trail for 3 days and just took different sections with out and backs. In all I did about 30 myles of the trail. But again, I did NOT get any heat training in. Here is a picture to set the weather scene:

Yeah! That's 4 inches of snow on my car this morning! ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!?! I am about to run in the desert for 6 days with 100+ degrees and this is what "she" throws at me?!?! Someone is trying to be funny..... Maybe she's trying to get me ready for Hard Rock? (which by the way is officially on) Gonna be lots of the white stuff in the San Juans! Anyways great weekend in Deadwood, South Dakota. The highlight of the trip was Mt Rushmore. Talk about awe-inspiring! If you've never been you have to see it for yourself, pictures don't do it justice.
All in all it's been a fantastic two weeks for me. I have had a good dose of what makes my ticker tick: Epic runs with good friends, quality time with my parents, business knowledge, awe-inspiring sights, and most of all quality time with my family. Life is all about a good job, good family, and good friends. I feel very fortunate.