Cursed Realm of the Faceless Ghost

My brother and I decided to take advantage of the holiday to explore a new trail in the area, so we headed up Spanish Fork Canyon. After riding up some trail whose name I can't remember, we picked up Second Water and rode it to Center Trail, past Third Water and then down Fourth Water. (Our plan was to ride Center all the way to Fifth Water, but by the time we hit Fourth we were do far behind schedule that we thought better of it. Thanks to the loose, rocky surface, there had been a lot of hike-a-bike going on since we picked up Second Water.)

At the bottom of Fourth Water, we took the road over to lower Fifth Water, which sent us back to the car. Fifth was a great trail, but it's also the trail that leads to the hot springs. Mellow, short hike + hot springs = exactly the kind of trail you want to avoid riding on a holiday.

Overall, it was a good ride, although it took much longer than expected. I think the full loop will make a phenomenal 21ish-mile long run. One hundred percent runnable, with beautiful scenery and a swimming opportunity at the end. 

By the way, for anyone who also reads Catherine's blog, she's back. Head over and say hi if you get a chance.

I went out for my first trail run in a while--I know for a fact it's been longer than two weeks, but I'm not sure how much longer (and I don't feel like reviewing past entries to figure it out). It was just a quick out and back up Grove Creek Canyon to the bench (no watch, because timing myself would be depressing), but it felt great.

Afterward I did push-ups. I decided to start the 100 push-ups and 200 sit-ups programs again, because I feel like a weakling. We'll see if I even keep it up for a week. 

I went mountain biking this evening. BST from Battle Creek to the Gun Range, then up past the Altar to Trail 51 and eventually back to the BST. It was fun, even if I get scared sometimes because I suck. The real bonus is that wrestling that singlespeed up steep, loose trails is a serious workout.

By the way, Catherine and I will be in the hospital tomorrow so she can have a heart procedure done. (Heart surgery, really, but that makes it sound much scarier than it is.) Keep her in your prayers.

Catherine's procedure went well. I go into much more detail about it here.

This evening, I went mountain biking with my brother (have I mentioned that I really love my mountain bike?). We rode a much shorter version of yesterday's ride. Starting from Dry Canyon, we rode the BST over to the Little Baldy Trail, then up to Trail 51, and back down Dry Canyon. I smoked my brother on the climbs. He smoked me on the descents. So pretty much a typical ride for us.

At one point, I got so focused on cleaning a climb that by the time I realized I couldn't make it, I didn't have time to unclip and I toppled into a bed of rocks. Now I have a bruised and bloody shin. 

I'm so tired tonight,

It hasn't been much of a week for running. But I'm happy with my on-the-bike time. 

Alpine Loop with a couple of friends. The pace up the climb was much more mellow than last week. And some idiot driver tried to kill us on the descent.