Summer running

Well, in the last month, I ran two more marathons.  Park City Marathon in August, then last week I did Mid Mountain Marathon.

Park City was an AWESOME one, done mostly on paved trails and some dirt road.  I ran the whole thing with my friend Marci.  We just took it nice and easy and talked and talked and enjoyed the beautiful places we were running through.  I think this was my favorite marathon of the summer.

Mid Mountain was a trail marathon, done on dirt trails through the mountains.  I knew it was going to be challenging and to plan on it taking a lot longer than any other race, but I didn't expect it to be so brutal.  I think what made it so difficult was the terrain.  The trail was a narrow single track dirt trail with lots of rocks and roots sticking out just waiting to trip someone up.  This meant that you couldn't let your mind wander for even a second or you'd end up doing a face plant.  I tripped many times, and even ended up sprawled out on the trail.  I banged up my knees pretty good with a couple of huge bruises and road rash.  I had a lot of emotional ups and downs during this one because of it's difficulty.  Marci and I started together, but split up at about mile 8.  In the end, it was a challenge, but I still enjoyed being out there running.

Tomorrow I go in for my surgery, which marks then end of a super awesome summer of running all over Utah.  I'm grateful for all I was able to do this summer, and hopefully in a few months, I'll be back at it, stronger than ever.  I'm definitely sad that I'll be laid up for several months, but I hope in the end it will be worth it.  Plus, I've managed to beat my body up pretty good doing all these races.  I think my legs deserve a bit of a break from logging miles, and hopefully all these little nagging injuries will have time to heal and I'll start back fresh.