Where has the time gone?

A lot has happened in the past years in the Pope family.  Almost 4 years ago Terence was born on January 20th.  One day after Loren's and he was almost born the same day. We moved almost 2 years about a half mile away in to a lager home.  We love it but have had more problems in this house than the last 12 years in the other one.  Months after we moved in the hose that drains the washer came out and flooded the hall way.  Then is drained through the sealing and set off the smoke alarm.  Having the smoke alarm go off was heaven sent.  we were able to ketch it early and reduce the about of damage caused to our new house.

December of 2014

The kids found water leaking from the ceiling in to Terences' room. We traced it back to the fridge. It had leaked through the kitchen floor in to the bathroom ceiling down stairs and in to Terences' room. Pulling up the floor under the fridge we found mold.  Who knows how long it had been leaking. The water never came out from under the fridge.  We spent the next 3-4 weeks with our kitchen under quarantine. We were unable to use our for the holidays.  We called a friend and asked if we could cook them dinner on Christmas. When all was said and done we had enough money from insurance to re-floor the whole up stairs, replace the 3 cabinets that were damaged and reface all of the bottom cabinets.  Laurie still wont let me hook up the water to the fridge.

Mueller park CR

I have been running and biking Mueller Park for years but most of the time only to elephant rock or to Rudy's flats.  I was first introduced to running a loop up to cave peak by Sam earlier this year on a 4 am run.  In the dark the conditions of the trail are hidden but easy to navigate. Unless you're Chris krash. I can't count the number of times I have fallen down on that loop.  Most of the time it is going up hill.  But as many of you may know I have a talent to krash with style. 

I took Jeremy Haddock on the loop before speed goat and pushed him up to Rudy's flats in 1:08. I did my first front hand spring running up the trail. I had never done one on level ground.  The majority of the time I am lucky to be able to tuck and roll back on my feet and continue running with minor scraps.

I have been thinking about doing the loop solo in the light for some time to get the CR.  As Steve, Sam, Matt and I headed up one gloomy Friday morning to do the loop.  There was talk of a show down between Matt and I for the CR.  Matt held the current CR for the loop.  My plan was to hang with the boys till the rock and then get Matt to come with me to brake his CR. As we headed up the trail it started to rain.  I love running in the rain, even if its muddy.  We got about 2.5 miles up the trail when a bolt of lighting lit up the sky right above us and the thunder cracked at the same time. We stopped and evaluated if it was safe to go on.  The consciences was to keep going.  It wasn't more then 20 sec later that the next bolt of lighting and thunder shocked us to the core. With out saying a word all four of us turned around and headed quickly back down the trail.  I am not easily scared but that one startled me.

Matt and I ran together quickly on the way down and talked about the loop. We both felt we could easily take 15 minuets of the current CR.  I know I could take 20 off but didn't tell him that. 

Mueller park Cave peak beat down!

The following Monday I didn't work so I decided that's when I would have a go at the loop solo. I dropped the kids off at school and headed up.  The sky was clear and it was cool out side.  The parking lot at the trail head was fairly full and I hoped I didn't have to contend with too many bikers coming down.  I secretly hoped there was a biking going up and I would say to them "race you to Rudy's?"

On a side note, if you are looking for an adventures long 20 miler, run up Mueller to Grandview peak. A very fun ridge run. I would love to guide you there if you want.

I love the first 6 miles to Rudy's flats. It's mostly up hill but has a few short down hill jaunt and only climbs 1000 ft.  The first mile is the hardest but I was able to run a 10:33. I was hoping to run a 1:05 but after hitting the rock in 31:37 the sub 1 hours look doable.  Having never run the loop in the light if felt like every corner I turned I should hit Rudy's. One of the major draw backs from running in the dark, we don't get to see the beautiful trees and the surrounding view. I hit the top in 58:33 and celebrated by sending Sam a picture of my watch.

Running down north canyon is a blast and I got a little carried away with my speed.  I knew on the down hill I could take even more time off the CR. At one time I looked down at my watch and saw I was running a 6:10 pace.  Many times I felt like I was going to ketch a toe and fall because of my carelessness of down hill speed.  If I did, I was going to blame it on Sam for not being there to run in front of me to slow me down.  I am grateful for Sam leading the way down hill and saving me from pain most of the time.  It seems that every time I decide to push it down hill and run in front of Sam I krash.  Maybe that my punishment for thinking I am invincible at times and  krashing is a way to humble me.

After dodging some big puddles past the single track in north canyon I took the hard left to the base of Cave peak. I checked my watch and it had taken me 1:20 to that point. I thought to myself I might be able to go under 2 hours but didn't plan on it.  I still had to climb cave peak and that wasn't easy.

The first time I climbed cave peak wasn't any easier then today. Sam had pointed out the top to me and I had pushed ahead by 20 ft. The view was great but I didn't see our trail down anywhere.  When Sam arrived he said something like "oops that over there is the top, it's not that far". On this day I was on a time crunch and thought to myself there is no way we are going to be done in time.  He reassured me that we would make it and we did.  I will never doubt Sam again.

I hit the top of Cave peak out of breath in 1:43.  I had my sub 2 hour and CR in the bag.  Once again I ran down hill too fast and out of control.  I was so confident in my time that I missed a turn and stayed on the ridge.  The trail is not that well traveled and hard to see at times. I quickly doubled back but still couldn't find the right way. My head was then flooded with doubt about the CR. If I was too far off course all my work could not be recorded on Strava. But does my Srava time really matter? I knew what I had done and no one can take that away from me. I didn't run this loop to be the top dog. It was a test for myself physically and mentally and to see if I could push myself to the edge of exertion. I didn't come this far to just give up. If any thing I got a great workout.

I quickly cut down the hill to where I thought the trail could be but no luck.  I bushwacked my way to the water tank and was back on track. Bushwacking at this time of year is a painful treat and I picked up about 60 stickers that clong to me for the rest of my run. Hitting the bridge was a joyful sight. I was done and had finished the loop in 2:01.  Sam told me I would have gone sub 2 hour if I didn't stop to take pictures.  I will save the sub 2 for next year.  Now its Matts turn to take a crack at it. I hope I have set the bar high. Good luck Matt, you will need it.

Chris Krash Pope

Ressurection of the Blog!!

Wow has it really been three years since I have posted? Well so much is happening. So instead of recapping it all let's just do a little bit. Natalie ran her faster 5k this year just under 38 minutes. I ran my fastest 5k ever in 29:14 and Chris is running again. We are heading to Arizona is about 9 days and I can't wait!! I hate cold, I hate dark, I hate winter! So at least in Arizona I can get rid of cold for a while and Chris will run his first half marathon in about 3 years.

I have dropped out of the marathon to the half because my training was lacking (enter excuses here: broken toe in November, cold, snow, dark) I am excited to exit Utah for a while though!

Natalie is doing wonderfully in 1st grade. Academically and socially, although her superb social skills get her in trouble more often than not, but hey she is essentially still pulling straight A's so I don't complain too much.

Loren LOVES preschool and can't wait for school to start. He has decided he wants morning kindergarten and I am not surprised. I can never wake up, go potty, and sneak back to bed because some boy is already bright eyed and bushy tailed just waiting for the first signs of life in the morning.

I have quit teaching and I LOVE IT!! Finances, and other things made Nuclear medicine next to impossible right now so I am a substitute teacher and a stay at home mom. And guess what?! I cook more, I spend less, my house is cleaner more often and we are so much happier as a family.

Chris teaches in Priesthood and is a cub scout leader. I am now teaching the 5 year olds in Primary. It is close to my nursery class reincarnate!

Hope to see you soon! Until then life, love, liberty, and the prusuit of running!

My Closet

Look at this stuff, isn't it neat! Wouldn't you think that my bedrooms complete? My closet almost is. The picture with all my blankets showing is the center closet and the two other sides will eventually have a clothes rack put in. There is a close up to the handles and then showing you one unit of drawers. I have three units total so there are six little drawers and three big drawers. My bedrom is almost done but I still have all the stuff to put back on the wall still through the whole house piled up in my corner, but I am working on it and it should be done ......well sometime. I did hang one thing up today.

Chef Natalie

Natalie was such a good help making no-bakes the other day. She is so cute. Also look around her, check out my new island and my new cabinets and countertops. I love my kitchen. I am still waiting for my new microwave though.