I Could Have Drank My Weight In Pina Colada Slurpees

This past week of running included some miles on the street with the dog, some miles at the track, some miles on the JEM Trail, and some miles of cooking my innards in Toquerville.

Tuesday was the JEM. It's about a ten minute drive to get to this gem. I'm having a very hard time dragging my carcass out of bed early in the morning lately but the views made me glad I did.

It's cool to be able to see the sun rising against the silhouette of Zion National Park. I'm so spoiled to live this close to seriously incredible trails.

The JEM also travels alongside Gooseberry Mesa. One of the sections of the Zion 100 climbs 1,500 feet in less than a mile to get to the top of this puppy.

Wednesday included a run to Toquerville Falls. I planned to run here frequently over the summer to train for the Bear 100 because it is a very hard run. But I might have to change my plans. Because on this run and the previous one I got eaten alive by deer flies. I applied bug spray with 40% deet before the run. And I even brought the can of bug spray in my pack just in case!

Well, when I neared the falls I started getting swarmed. I pulled out my 40% deet. 40%! That is strong enough to remove the hair from your legs. That is strong enough to deserve a concealed carry permit. That is strong enough to make you speak in tongues. So I doused myself again. And guess what. The deer flies didn't care one bit. My flesh tasted just as delicious to them. I stayed at the falls for approximately 2 seconds to take a picture then I had an impromptu speed workout to run away from there.

I decided I'd add some extra miles and run to the top of the mountain to the Toquerville cell towers. That climb added another dimension of brutality to the run (which was steep enough that there wasn't much actual "running"). But the view at the top is cool. That little line is the freeway running through southern Utah.

It was SO unbelievably, unawesomely hot. 4.5 hours out there and the temperature was somewhere between 91 and 762 degrees. I was a little tight on water and next time I'll bring more with me. I swear to you I could have drank my body weight in pina colada Slurpees out there. SO unawesomely hot.

It hasn't rained here since like 1984 so the route is bone dry and some sections have dirt that seems like moon dust. With each step a cloud of dust flew up (and right into my shoes). It was like running on powdered sugar.

I love my back yard of trails, hills, rocks, and powdered sugar.