Summer Trail Series 2 - Deuel Creek Trail

The Deuel Creek is just south of the trail we took last week. It started much the same as Parrish but after the first mile it ducked back down to the river and followed it the entire time. We crossed countless bridges and weaved in and out of heavy brush that was overgrown in many places. Surprisingly, we came across several fire pits that were built up and maintained quite well. Sometimes we lost the trail and had to go back, eventually the trail was indiscernible and we turned back. That just happened to be mile 3 as well. So, we still got a good 6 miles in.

Steve at the waterfall

Sam on the swing

Steve on the swing

Sam crossing one of the many bridges

Can you see the trail? Yeah, neither could we, so we decided we'd gone far enough.

Good times

Stats

Summer Trail Series I - Parrish Creek Trail

In the leadup to the Quest for Kings race, it's time to kick off our summer trail running series.  Once a week we try to get out and explore the trails along the wasatch front a little better.  Usually we do this during the week before I (Steve) have to go to work, which usually gives us a good 4 hours or so.

For Summer Trail Series I, we decided to try out the Parrish Creek trail, which starts directly at the east end of Parrish Ln, almost exactly halfway between our houses.  The trail winds straight East up the mountain between Parrish canyon and Centerville Canyon.  Apparantly, there is a pretty good view of a waterfall that can be seen when overlooking Parrish Canyon, but we didn't see it due to us not really knowing it was there.

Being still somewhat tired from the marathon, we switched back and forth between walking and jogging up the trail until we hit the ridgeline.  At that point it leveled out and we were able to pass through a pretty cool meadow on the way upward and eastward towards the Skyline Drive dirt road.  We didn't make it to that road though, and turned around and jogged back down when time ran out.



Have you ever seen a Huff in the wild before?  Their Sunburn usually makes them easy to spot.

Meadow looking out towards Magna 

  

 Not sure what's happening here, but at least it's not another photo of my backside.

Yup 

He's crusin.

Our stats for the day.

Utah Valley Marathon 2012

Steve & Sam

The Utah Valley Marathon 2011 was the first official race we ran together. We had no intention of running it again until Steve's brother, Matt, decided to run it. So we thought we could give him some moral support and run with him. Not long after we registered Matt decided to get a new job in Maryland was a higher priority than running in the big fat 4our!, so we ran it without him.

Anyway, we did not originally plan on running this race again but found ourselves doing it. In some ways it is exciting to run the same course again. You know what to expect and can plan accordingly, both mentally and physically. Last year I did not expect the hills to be so difficult and was better prepared this year.

The race started out nice and Steve and I used our experienced skills to weave in and out of the slow people who think, for some reason, they need to start at the very front of the line. About mile 3 a headwind picked up, which felt refreshing at first, but quickly became a major deterrent for practically the whole race. It's a strange feeling running down a steeper decline and having the wind almost stop you in your tracks. The downhills are supposed to be easier! Anyway, I'd say the wind was strong in our faces for the middle 18 miles or so.

We ran together side-by-side for about the first nine miles. Then I didn't see Steve again until the finish line (He probably had to stop to tip a port-o-john over or something of the like. Maybe the monkey he sewed into his sock fell off and he had to stop and find it). I took it easy during miles 14-20, then kicked it into gear for the last six.

Sam's time: 3:46:43, knocking a whole 41 minutes off last year's time. Averaging 8:39 minute miles. And setting the record between the two of us.

Steve's "official" time was Four Twenty-Aweful. Averaging 10:30suuuuuuck per mile.

Sam, in orange, sprinting the last 100 yds.

I lost that toenail last year and it only just grew back. I think it got

clipped twice since last year. I guess it will be an annual loss.

What Steve learned from this race:

1.  Drink more the night before.  I tried to reign in drinking water/gatoraid in the hopes that I wouldn’t have to take so many leaks prior to the race, but it didn’t help.
2.  If you start walking once, you’re pretty much guaranteed to walk again… and again… and again.
3.  The ratio of hours of sleep to hours of car travel within the previous 24 hours should not be 1:2, but rather 2:1.
4.  Bad days happen.  I’m signing up for the Layton marathon a week from Friday (my next payday).

5:  I don’t need to run 7:20 miles for the first five miles.  Stick to the game plan.