Fun weekend

Friday: After an easy 3.6ish miles around Sugar House Park in 39:xx, I took the kids to Liberty Park Friday for some serious play time (2 hr!!!) with my friend Ye and her son Adam. The sprinklers were on and Calvin ran around in them, getting pretty wet (fortunately, it was warm and sunny and he dried quickly).

My brother Alex and his wife Erica arrived later that afternoon, and I made paella to feed us all, and peach cobbler for dessert. The kids were SO wound up that night because of the excitement of having guests over.

Saturday: Early morning (6 am to beat the heat) TNT workout from the State Capitol, featuring 10 miles through City Creek Canyon (hard uphill for 2 miles!) and the Avenues. It was a gorgeous morning, though it did get quite warm by the time my walkers finished at 9:15 am. I'm glad we changed the workout time to 6 am, even though it did mean an early morning for everyone. I ended up doing 14.12 miles in 2:49 for 11:58/mile on average, including the time I spent with the walkers. Not too bad.

I'm still trying to figure out how best to get in my own long miles, but I think Mondays are working pretty well for me so far. It's just not quite the same to coach a TNT workout as to do long miles at my own pace; with TNT sometimes I run a little (I ran probably 1 mile on Saturday), sometimes I racewalk fast, and sometimes I racewalk slow, and sometimes I just plain walk. Yes, it's mileage, but not the same as doing it alone.

TNT workout photos here

As soon as I got home, I ate some Kashi Go Lean Crunch with vanilla soy milk & berries (one of my favorite breakfasts post-workout) and then packed a lunch for a gorgeous hike to Lake Catherine w/my brother and his wife [photo at L is us at Lake Mary, on the way to Lake Catherine]. We averaged 25 min/mile over the 5 miles, but keep in mind the elevation (8750 to start) and elevation gain (1200 feet - to 9950 ft). We were also NOT in a hurry and enjoyed a moderate pace, not pushing too hard. It was a gorgeous day for a hike.

hike photos here

More later when I have time - of course we did see fireworks and I have photos but I want to hang out w/Alex & Erica right now :)