Dream Catchers

Family Easter hike!

 It is one thing to write fanciful memes about pursuing dreams on your walls, but if the words aren't backed by actions they will remain lifeless script. The best way to teach a child to chase their dreams is to let them be a part of chasing your own" -Stephanie Catudal

If there is one thing in particular I wish I could teach James, instill in him it's to chase his dreams. No dream is too small or too big and every dream is worth chasing. A banner hangs on James' wall that reads "Dream Big" but just like the running quotes that line my computer screen won't make me faster or help me finish a race that banner won't make James dream big. It's just a simple reminder to him when he wakes up that today is a great day for dreaming.

Flying J

I also don't want James to think that Dan and my dreams of crazy long runs up mountains have to be his dreams. But I do want him to see our passion. I really believe that seeing your parents' passions helps create the drive within you. There are definitely days when I worry that running for hours on end is taking time away from James, but I also know that as he gets older he'll learn from our passion, our adventures and our dreams.

I think too often parents think they need to devote their entire life just to their children to be good parents. This isn't to say they aren't good parents, but often they give up their own dreams and goals, they don't make time for themselves. Maybe I'm delusional, I'm sure I must be to run 100s, but I honestly think you can have both. You can have dreams and be a good parent. Or maybe I'm just rationalizing my need to spend hours running trails.

Hoppy Easter!

This is also why we take James running with us. He doesn't have to be a runner, but when he's out there he gets to experience what we experience. And based on his cheers and laughter I'm pretty sure at least right now he's loving it! 

Dan and I had off Friday and daycare was open so we took advantage and headed to Buffalo Creek for a long run. Dan had just ordered a new water filter and we were looking forward to trying it out.

The filter is the Sawyer mini filter. It's super lightweight and small so it fit in our vests easily. You basically fill the bag and squeeze it through the filter into your bottles. The bag is a bit small so we had to refill it several times to get enough water.

Filtering water

Filling the bag for the filter

We headed up Buck Gulch out of Pine Valley and wound our way down Sandy Wash to Nice Kitty. We really like that new trail. It's really runnable and give spectacular views. We re-filled our water bottles before we headed up Nice Kitty, there's a great spot right by the bridge.Then we headed down Shinglemill and Morrisson Creek, re-filling again before heading up Baldy and back to Pine Valley for just over 30 miles and about 5000 ft vertical. We both actually felt really good after the run and managed 10 mile runs on Saturday for somewhat of back-to-back runs. I definitely feel better about Quad Rock after getting that run in. It really felt good to get in a solid week of running with relatively high mileage. Bring on race season!

Sandy Wash

Week April 13 - 20

Miles Running: 61.1
Hours Hiking and Running: 12