Date: July 26, 2018
Distance: 12 miles
Purpose: rest week
After doing Lone Peak, Twin Peaks, and Mount Superior in 3
consecutive weeks in July, I felt my body needed a well-deserved break from the
elevation. I had spent plenty of time on my feet in the high country. I now
wanted to run some foothills in the low(er) country.
In other words, I wanted to get back on my old friend,
Ensign Peak.
This historically significant peak is only 3 miles away from
City Center. It is where Brigham Young famously “raised a standard unto the
nations” only 2 days after the Mormon Pioneers entered the Valley of the Great
Salt Lake on July 24, 1847. For this reason, a lot of people like to hike this
peak around Pioneer Day (July 24) due to the historic significance of the peak.
It called saints to congregate here in
this valley for many years. It now calls runners, dog-walkers, hikers, and
romantics alike. It is steep, but still runnable. I’ve always appreciated the
full view of the Salt Lake Valley from the short hike to the summit, from north
to south, and from east to west.
Having made it up there in 35 minutes, I wanted to extend the run and log a few more
miles, so I took the roller coaster up to the TV towers. The roller coaster
consists of 3 steadily taller foothills that a runner must go up and down like
the humps on a camel’s back, until the runner arrives on the tallest of the
hills, which I call the TV tower. From there, you could continue on toward
Mount Meridian, or take the double-track road. I chose the latter, which lead
to some portions of the Bonneville Shoreline Trail Marathon I did back in
April. Running down the shaded, winding
City Creek Canyon Road is always a fun place to open the throttle a bit, not
having to worry about any car traffic at all on those blind corners.
My figure 8 was concluded back at my work on 3rd
South and State Street for a total of 12 miles. And my body readily thanked me
for a break from the peak-bagging and downhill-pounding. If nothing else, this
training process has certainly taught me that if I don’t take care of my body
after doing hard things, it won’t take care of me to allow me to do future hard
things.
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