Red Cliffs Desert Preserve Run

Yesterday, I ran across the trailhead which led me into the heart of the Red Cliffs Desert Resereve. The first section took me high on top of hard packed red rock with amazing views of St. George. The urban sprawl in this city has truly ruined the charm of this historic and lovely little town, but once you turn your back and start down the trails, you disappear into never, never land. I had no map and no agenda, so I just took a trail and ran. Within minutes I was surrounded by mountains. Most of the trail was hard packed red earth, but some of it was red sand, which made footing a bit more challenging. I stopped occasionally to take pictures and was struck each time with the peaceful silence of the mountains. I was out for several hours and saw only one figure, far off on an adjacent trail. I'm not comfortable running in these remote locations alone, and so eventually turned back, wishing for a dog. I think part of the lure of ultra running is seeing an immense mountain range and looking into a distance that appears remote, and knowing I have the power to get there, by foot alone. My legs were feeling better than they had all week. I have been training on very tired legs. I took Friday mostly off so yesterday I felt better. The run got me pumped up for the 50. When I got home, I picked up the kids and brought them to the trail. We jogged a couple miles before they were exhausted by the heat. The kids are slowly getting used to the heat, but it has been tough for them. Little bodies don't acclimate as quickly as adults. We went out to a drive up ice cream joint and then headed off to a splash park. Great day for everyone.