Running. Living.

This morning was my last canyon run before the race next weekend. I'm going to take it easy this week. In fact, I'm in semi-quarantine--hoping to avoid any accidents, blisters, intestinal diseases, or spores. For my final long rung, I started at South Fork Park, ran down to Bridal Veil, did the switchback and then ran back to my car. It is a beautiful summer day and I decided to just enjoy myself. No timeline, no bridal shower to attend, no distractions.

Every weekend brings a very similar crowd of outdoor enthusiasts (some a bit on the crazy side). Over the past few months, the faces on the trail have become familiar. There's the pair of mid-agers with Lassie, a peppy lady with big earphones, the guy who works down the hall from me, and two die-hard Loveless runners. Usually we just exchange "heys" and head on our way, but today it was fun to run a mile or so with Mark & Jeff on the trail. Let's face it, a great deal of my running motivaton comes from them. I think watching the Salt Lake Marathon for the first time and seeing Mark cross the finish line was when my desire to run more than 3 miles surfaced. They always ask about my training and the last few months, seeing them on the trail has given us a much needed boost to get through the remainder of the run. So, today I felt like a little girl (a slow one at that) running betwen these two powerful runners and it humbled me. Needless to say, their running abilities are well above mine and I knew they were just trotting along at my slow pace to be nice (and I appreciated it). But at the Bridal Veil switchback, I let them loose. It was the most amazing thing. I couldn't believe the power and speed with which they attacked the incline. It was inspiring.

Can you order running bodyguards on eBay? I am definitely going to look into it. Wait--stop the train--I already have 2 awesome running guards--Megan and Jerilyn! Ladies--I'll see you on race day.