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Trekking Through Penalties and Loses

We opened the new year with an eventful weekend stuffed with the variety of life. From nerdy contests, to gorgeous vistas, to embarrassing punishments: there was something for everyone and a whole lot for us.

I think Ryan must have harnessed the mental prowess of the Vulcans with his Spock costume. I’m sure that’s the only reason he beat me this time.
I made Klingon Rokeg blood pie for our space quest expecting it to look cool but taste gross. Surprisingly, it was pretty good.

Ever since our Star Trek Scene It? competition almost a year ago, which I won, my brother-in-law Ryan has been longing to prove that the outcome of that game had more to do with a quantum singularity than his competence. His long-awaited chance for redemption came during the New Year’s Day weekend in the form of another round of the Ryan vs. Rachel Trek challenge. It was a close match but in the end, when I was only one question away from victory, Ryan initiated his transwarp drive and my overworked nacelles couldn’t keep up. I guess, unlike Scotty, I just couldn’t hold her together any longer.

Wesley looked more like Elvis than Spock with Ryan’s wig on but even space needs a king.
It was a perfectly perfect day for a little snowshoeing adventure.
The clumps of snow in the trees made the sky almost as pale as the ground. I felt like I was swimming through a whitewashed world.

The following day the trekking continued. We hiked up American Fork Canyon on the Mud Springs Trail with Jason’s parents using snowshoes. This excursion was Sue and Keith’s idea and an excellent idea it was indeed. While the temperatures up in the mountains weren’t exceptionally warm, our constant exertion kept us plenty toasty. I think those canyon climbs may have been longer and steeper than what my in-laws were envisioning but they still made it through two miles of powdery calm, with minimal whining, before darkness halted our goings.

The winter haze in the valleys didn’t have the power to invade our outing.
We decided to shoe on the wild side by detouring through a dell of water-infested snow.
The fingers of the river broke this portion of our path into lovely flowing pieces.

Our New Year’s Eve, as usual, was all about the parties. We visited the Rowleys first and played some rounds of Killer Oompi, which is Uno plus penalties, with that crew. I lost once and my punishment was proposing marriage to our friend Penny. Asking a girl for her hand turned out to be harder than I thought; I got a little tongue-tied. Why do females have to be so difficult? Next we were off to the Hughes family shindig. After some sundae action we convinced this group of friends to play Killer Oompi as well. We’ve been trying to persuade them that Killer Oompi actually is a fun pursuit for years but the idea of humiliating penalties has always scared them off so Jason was proud and shocked that his manipulation worked this time. The timing of my pleased hubby’s convincing could have been a bit better for me though. I think playing Killer Oompi that much in one night left me more and more unfocused as the evening progressed. I made a number of dumb mistakes I never would have normally and lost three rounds. Consequently, I had to carry Fran around like a pony and act like a worm-ridden dog. My back was not pleased with its pony duties but at least I didn’t lose the snow angel round. Cam, who ironically was the one pushing for this particular penalty, had to make a snow angel in the fresh powder as punishment for his defeat. Angel duties wouldn’t have been too bad if it hadn’t been nearly 2 AM and less than 10 degrees outside…and if Jim hadn’t been there to take advantage of his friend’s defenseless position on the ground with some ill-placed snowballs. What an angel!

I wish I could blame the way I look in this picture on a beverage but I’m pretty sure apple juice isn’t responsible.
Fran didn’t spare my back; she made the most of her hard-earned ride.

It was a fun weekend. Sure I had to suffer the shame of battling with a blunt bat’leth and the indignity of crawling on all fours but at least I find ridiculousness, even when it’s my own, amusing. And who wouldn’t appreciate naked aspens and frosty pines embellished by the shimmering heaps of fluffy powder clinging to their branches? Laughter and beauty are an excellent way to end one year and begin yet another. Hello 2013! May you be ever as much of an adventure as your predecessors.

Rachel January 15, 2013 1 Comment

The Sum of the Run

Every summer Jason and I end up participating in quite a few races. We welcome these events because they provide good motivation to train a little faster or a bit longer. Plus, they are an excellent way to measure your athletic progress. While we were involved in our normal number of competitions this year, they didn’t exactly proceed normally for us. For one, Jason’s pace throughout the season was curiously faster. I, on the other hand, kept up my middling speed nicely until I hurt my ankle and then sluggish limping was the best I could do. Oh woeful foot! As the weather gets frigid and the races dwindle, let us look back on all the sprinting glories and frustrations that have come to pass these last months.

Jason zipped to the finish line at the Thanksgiving Point 5K beating out all but two of his competitors.

For years Jason has been able to outpace me on the track. Every step his long legs take requires two of my own. It doesn’t exactly seem fair but it does give me a lovely excuse for lagging. My quick hubby has nearly placed in several races before but he’s never quite managed a win until this summer. This year he was third in his division not only in the Thanksgiving Point 5K but the Lehi City Roundup 10K as well and then he won 1st in his age group at the Night of the Running Dead. What happened to make that boy so speedy? He got old. Jason’s last birthday placed him in a different age division, an age category where he’s among the youngest instead of the oldest. That bit of help was all he needed to become a leader of the pack. But hey, the dude finishes a 5K in about 22 to 23 minutes; I’d say he deserves some recognition for that whether he’s ancient or not.

We were enthusiastic at the Thanksgiving Point 5K from fresh start to sweaty finish.

Our racing plans had to be halted mid-summer because of my accidental ankle altercation. Ironically, I completed a 10K just hours before I tore my tendon and various ligaments for the second, and hopefully last, time. Leftie took me out of the competition circuit for about 5 weeks. My first race after the injury, Sandy’s Moonlight Run, was awesome because it started at midnight under the full moon but not awesome because I barely crept along its course with my braced ankle. Although I made it to the finish line, I was well behind hundreds of hardly runners. If they had handed out a prize for the pathetically slow but stubborn I definitely would have won it.

I promise I actually was moving when this was taken.

Thankfully, broken parts tend to eventually mend, even scarred silly parts like my tendon. My ankle comeback felt complete when I won 3rd place overall at Easton’s 5K a little over 3 months after I gracelessly wounded myself. Yes, I already discussed this win in another post but what’s the harm in mentioning it another time or two or three? Surely, it’s not an unforgivable sin to continually call attention to what will probably be the sole running triumph of my life.

Moonlit runs in the wee hours of the summer are my favorite so I wasn’t going to let a grumpy ankle stop me from participating in this midnight adventure.

That pretty much sums up the summer season of races for us. Jason ran fast. I ran sort of okay, hurt myself, hobbled along, and then picked it up a bit. We look forward to the spring when the world thaws and the competitions commence. Then Jason can once again conquer the other old men and I can further my longstanding mediocrity.

Rachel December 19, 2012 No Comments

Summer of the N00bs

I guess it’s time I face the depressing certainty that the mountain biking season is pretty much dead. Sadly, all it took was a little snow to squelch my delusions of cycling grandeur. It seems appropriate during this time of mourning to discuss our pedaling happenings over the last 6 months so, like it or not, here it comes.

Jacob may not have been the most graceful biker I’ve ridden with on the Pipeline but he kept getting back on his seat mishap after mishap and that counts for a lot.

Jason and I have always extended an open invitation for any daring souls that wish to take a shot at mountain biking to come with us on our adventures anytime. In recent years I don’t think we’ve gotten any takers on that offer. As many of our friends have become pudgier, lazier, or more timid their desire to attempt an extreme sport has dwindled I suppose. That’s why we were surprised when several pals simultaneously indicated that they wanted to try their luck in the mountains with us this year. Adam, Jacob, and Abigail rode with us on multiple occasions over the summer and lived to tell the tale…although some of their skin did not.

Millcreek’s terminus overlooks Salt Lake Valley. It’s an excellent spot for gawking and for taking photos of the conquering variety.

We took Jacob to the Millcreek Pipeline for his first singletrack experience. We picked this trail because we thought it would adequately introduce him to mountain biking without killing him. Technically we were right; it didn’t kill him but it sure hurt him more than we were expecting. Jacob crashed his bike and toppled down steep declines, AKA cliffs, no less than three times while we were on the Pipeline. He got scraped up and shaken but that didn’t stop him from happily hitting the slopes again after each tumble. Way to not be a wimp Jacob!

Adam may not have been thrilled about going up Big Spring Hollow but going down suited him just fine.

Adam and Abigail came with us up Big Spring Hollow for their mountain biking premier. This trail, I’ll admit, is a bit grueling in the uphill direction but its downhill bliss makes up for any ascending anguish. Adam didn’t quite reach the top but he made a valiant effort despite his regular neglect of regular exercise. Abigail, on the other hand, loved this path and asked to go down again after our first descent. Jason and I were happy to oblige.

Abigail didn’t let her hybrid bike get her down.
Ridiculousness sometimes speaks for itself.

We also took all three of them to Lambert Park, one of our favorite singletrack biking spots. Lambert Park is pretty technical but, surprisingly, we didn’t end up having to use the first aid kit I brought on this outing like I thought we would. Abigail and I both had little accidents but neither required bandaging anything except our pride and Jacob, miraculously, broke with tradition by not finding a fine precipice to fall off. Nice going gang!

It’s obvious from this picture that I am an expert. In fact, I expertly hit a root and catapulted myself into a tree just minutes after this was taken.

Along with taking our buddies on some awesome terrain Jason and I hit a few of our favorites solo. The best of those rides, in my opinion, was one we took up American Fork Canyon near the end of September on the Great Western Trail. Fall was in full swing and the bright scenery was gorgeous. The aspens formed a bleached blanket over our heads with their gilded leaves as we rode along. Vibrant yellows and reds consumed the landscape like a surging tide. It was an intense mix of color and cardiovascular.

It’s impossible to overstate the beauty of an unbroken sky above a canopy of twinkling leaves.
Rubbernecking is glorious when you’re tunneling through boughs of golden leaves.

Hooray for biking and hooray for some pals that didn’t let the threat of exercise and injury intimidate them. I hope next year they will hit the peaks with us again and not retreat when the peaks hit back.

Rachel November 20, 2012 No Comments
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