Oh my word! I ran Wire today. Met some of the Wasatch Wranglers at the parking lot across from the zoo and I kept up on the uphill...for about 1/4 mile :) okay, I held them in my sights for quite a while until I was SO mesmerized by the sunrise I had to stop and take pictures! It had nothing to do with the seemingly 40% grade for the last 1.5 miles I'd been trekking up...nothing at all.
I enjoyed the party at the top with some of my most respected trail runners for a few minutes before we headed down. I felt very accomplished and was ready to take on the 3 mile alternate trail downhill.  
The First pic is a group pic that Craig took at the top...yeah, I'm the poser. The second is a pic I didn't know was being taken and I started down the trail while she was finishing her panoramic pic. But, I love it!! The last one is my attempt at a jump shot. Scott was nice enough to take the shot, but I couldn't help my gut from hanging out...oh well :) The way down I thought "I'll finally be able to keep up!" Nope. Not a chance in heck. I don't know how those guys run down those steep, technical trails SO fast! I'm just a chicken. I lost the group and had to make a few junction choices on my own. I knew that I would drop down into the U if I just kept going down and I knew the way back to the trailhead from there, so I wasn't worried that I was lost, but I felt a little 'lost' :) I biffed it a couple times and one was pretty muddy and left my knee a little sore. It isn't horrible and I love having a few good scratches from a trail run, but I was pretty muddy after that. The trail down was lovely! Tree shaded and a narrow little winding trail. Felt more like running through a wash. That was half my problem with 'running' it. The larger rocks in the bottom of the narrow trail didn't provide a lot of good footing and the narrow, deeper trail didn't provide side footing. Quads got a little sore from breaking so much. I hope that someday I'll learn how to be more confident on those types of trails. Just keep at it I guess. When I hit the shoreline trail I had some more difficult decisions to make on trail choice, but knowing the U and where the car was helped guide me to where I needed to go and I actually finished down the same starter trail we took up! I was rather impressed with myself. Also, my mileage on my garmin was close to what Craig said the round trip should be, so I guess if I did get lost it certainly wasn't for too long. The only problem is that since I went so slow hubby had to leave the boys asleep in the hotel room while he went to work downstairs. I still had about 1/2 mile to finish running and then the drive back...yeah, I was that slow! 5 miles in over 90 minutes...nice, welcome to trail 'running' :) When I got back to the hotel the boys were still sound asleep. I even got showered, ready and a good hour+ nap before they woke up! I need to get me some of those black-out curtains!! I really, really enjoyed this challenging trail and I want to do it again, but attempt to do two rounds back to back. I know I could do it, albeit slow...slower than molasses, but I'd love to give it a try some Saturday morning. The views and everything were just amazing. I love trail running and need to get better at it...just keep doing it, right? Spent the day running some errands around downtown area and then walking to Liberty Park to play in the Seven Canyons fountain. Dad then picked us up and we headed home to greet Lauren as she came home from camp.
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