Sugar House Park

Once upon a time Bishop and I lived in Utah for just a short time.  Then we moved to LA.  Four years and 2 kids later we moved back to Utah for a glorious 14 month stint while he did his internship year.  Even though it was a killer year training wise (for Bishop) it was a lovely year for many reasons: family, Utah, mountains, seasons, mountains, etc.  One of the best parts of that year is where we lived.  It was this idyllic, charming historic district of Salt Lake, within a few miles of both of our parents, easy freeway access, minutes from the temple (and other downtown attractions), and right next to this huge park near the high school we both attended called Sugar House Park.  I've spent a lot of time in that park over the years and a trip to Utah wouldn't be complete without ample visits there.  Usually my mom goes walking with a friend there once a week, which works out great for me because anytime we visit Utah the kids and I will tag along.  Even better is that my mom and her friend always offer to push my kids and let me have a solo run!  AND, this particular visit we catch my mom in her 3 month post-hysterectomy time which means she takes it easy during her recovery.  Translation: park walks almost EVERY DAY.  Score!  Not to glory in the fact my mom's recovering from surgery, of course, but when life gives you lemons make some lemonade, right?

We've only been in Utah a few days and we are loving these park walks (among so many other things).  Sometimes I'll bring all three munchkins, sometimes only two depending on the availability of pushers.  I've been loving running up some REAL hills - in the park there are 4 hills on the road: 2 down and 2 up so doing two laps can get me 8 hill repeats (magic 8!) and I can finish at least two laps while my mom walks one.  OR I can run the perimeter of the park and get a small taste of trail running, just enough to whet my appetite for the real deal.  There are a couple of huge grass hills in the park where I can do some serious hill sprints/plyo circuits.  Not to mention 30/20/10 is really fabulous when you add hills in...those 10 seconds seem oh so long up a hill.  The smell of summer mornings in Utah is just exquisite and is only amplified at the park where the sprinklers have all recently shut off, and all the while my beloved, familiar mountains stand protectively in the background of it all.  Plus we can run at 8am and not melt, unlike August in Houston where you've got to be done before 7 at the latest (don't get me wrong, it's still hot here, but losing the humidity makes a huge difference).  It's also nice to have my mom's DVD collection.  My week without them was nice, but I'm glad to get back into a schedule.

We might have to make this August exodus an annual thing, though I don't know that Bishop likes having us gone so long.  Looking forward to some time with family, time in the mountains, a couple of races and definitely more mornings in Sugar House Park!