Gaining more than you lose

At home with my son today and, as luck would have it, my wife actually got home while there was still some light outside! I threw on some shorts and a couple of shirts and headed out to the BST. Beautiful evening run. I started with a long sleeve and a light jacket, but it wasn't long before the jacket was unzipped and then a little later it was off completely. I didn't wear spikes, and luckily it was just warm enough that the really icy spots were a little soft so there was some traction. It was pretty slippery and slushy, but the Lone Peaks did just fine. Conditions didn't allow for much speed, and I was content to just keep it casual and enjoy. Running back the sun was setting and the pink and orange was cast all over the clouds and onto the snow. I love running in the snow at sunset! If you think you have to hit a TM or not run at all during the winter, you're missing a whole new world (queue Aladdin music...)!! 925 vert, 10 min AP 

View Benchmark with Jun and Scott. Started out nice and easy, those two had to stop to relieve themselves, but I kept going and tried to keep them back as long as I could. I was feeling pretty good and was surprised that I made it to the switchbacks before Jun caught me. Scott caught up a while later, I was having a really hard time keeping up a good cadence on the crusty hard (but sometimes soft) stuff. It really slows you down! Got to the top and enjoyed a few minutes taking in the view, not a lot of wind today, which was super nice. Really warm out.

The way down was super sketchy at first, you just never know what the snow might do with each step. We took it fairly slow, then picked it up a little as we got to the dirt road section. Scott was at the front as we hit the switchbacks, and kept a pretty nice pace going. When we hit the steep downhill, he just flew down! I'd never seen him go down that as fast as he did. He never let up on the pace as we all cruised down Anns. My goal was to pass Scott, but I didn't want to make a move too soon and then blow up, so I waited until the BST splits off from Anns above the tower, and then Scott let us pass amid a muddy mess of a trail. I was pushing hard in the low to mid 6's and it wasn't 10 seconds later that I came a around a slight bend and my plant foot hit a nasty patch of mud and just went flying out from under me! I went down with a squish and just lay there for a minute laughing while Craig snapped a picture of me. I was covered in mud. The best part was it was probably less than a quarter mile from the end! Ha. Gotta have a good fall every now and then.

Finished strong and laughing and then we hit up the Chevron for a drink and snagged a Hot'n'Ready for the drive back to the office. See Juns blog for pics. 

Draper BST wih Jun. The trail was an array of mud and ice, which made for an interesting time. A good portion of it was just fine, and we were able to make pretty decent time. I tried to keep the pace up and Jun stuck right with me, despite having done Granduer this morning. Took a quick conference call at the halfway mark, and then made our way back. I almost slipped in the mud and then Jun slipped in it right behind me. He was up quickly and we kept on our way. We took a slightly longer route back which would give us over 6.5 and put Jun at 17 miles for the day. The last decent was super fast, sketchy and fun! One of my faster times on this course despite the conditions. 

6.56 miles - 1:01:39 - 9:24 AP - 790 vert 

Evening run on the Kaysville BST with Matt VH. I decided to wear spikes this time and they helped considerably. I was feeling pretty good and kept up a decent pace. The moon was bright and it was pretty warm out, even long after the sun had set. I waited for Matt at one point and then forgot to turn my watch back on until about a mile later...son of a. I hate it when I do that. I lost a little bit of motivation to push hard on the way back since I wouldn't have accurate splits, but still enjoyed a fun pace in the snowy downhills.

7.04 miles - 1:07:50 (ish) - 9:41 AP - 915 vert 

5 sporadic miles in SG. 

Jun and I were able to meet up with Seth for a sweet 10+ mile run in St. George in the early am. It was a super fun run with pretty much perfect weather.

Followed it up with 3 or so miles with Jun.