December Running

December running has been tons of fun! My goal is to be able to run outside all winter long. I've tried to go to all the group runs to make it more fun. It's easier to brave the cold, snow, and ice when you have other people doing it with you.

Chicken Springs:

Mark, Steph, and I decided to run to chicken springs. It got hard past the lower lake with the snow. We wanted to keep going, but we needed to make it home in time for the BSU football game. We got to the lower lake just in time to see a bald eagle fly over it! Awesome sight!

There was a lot more snow than when Bailey and I did it a couple weeks earlier.

The last bits of fall were hanging on before the force of winter hits.

The lower lake.

Chicken Springs!

Run Your Ice Off Group Runs:

We've been enjoying the Wednesday night group runs from The Apple. We did a couple group Christmas light runs this month, and those are always fun!

The first Christmas light run was super fun! There are a couple really great houses in the area, so we made a big loop to see them.

This first house was awesome!

They had a sleigh big enough for a whole group to get in.

The second house was amazing too!

The following week we had mostly different people, so we repeated the run from before to see the lights again. Bailey and Mark got to come to this one. We didn't even plan it, but we were Santa, an elf, and a reindeer.

IFTR Early Morning Runs:

I'm still loving the early morning Thursday runs. I'm learning lots of good options for winter running in town or fairly close to town.

I got Mark to come to an early morning run at Freeman Park!

The week before Christmas we ran 6 miles up and down all the downtown streets. In that 6 miles we only retraced out steps for about 2 blocks. Our Strava maps looked cool!

The Butte:

The Butte is becoming a winter favorite. The hills are hard, the snow is hard, everything about it is hard, but we love it!

Mark and I did a Butte snow run with just the two of us. 

The rocks looked like big frosted cupcakes.

I love this picture that Mark took of me running down the butte. It's a good depiction of how I feel most of the time when I'm running; free and at peace.

We ran the butte again in December because Margaret had a challenge to get a half mile of elevation gain in one week. So off we went to help her out. This time, we went up the face of the butte, around the normal loop, and down the backside. We came back up the backside and then turned around and went right back down again. We knew doing that big hill twice would get her a lot. We finished off the loop, and then went back up the face again. Whew! Twice up the face and twice up the back side was a lot of climbing! I love a good challenge!

Mat and Jenn started out with us, but they had to leave early.

The part by the chain was pretty slick, so we'd just hold on and slide down.

Upper Palisades Lake:

 Mark and I decided to run to Upper Palisades Lake so we could see it in the winter. We made it to Chicken Springs a few weeks earlier and the trail was snowy, but still great conditions to run in. We ran to the lower lake but noticed the snow was a lot deeper than last time. As soon as we got past the lower lake things got crazy! No one had been on the trail at all, and it came up to our knees. We thought maybe it was just drifty, so we carried on to Chicken Springs. Once we hit Chicken Springs, it was up to our thighs, and our butt in some areas. It was so exhausting breaking through it. We would each take a turn in the front breaking trail for 100 steps and then switch off. It was crazy! But at this point, we were so close that we decided to trudge on and make it to the upper lake. It just got worse as we went. It was brutal and pure NUTS! We made it to the lake, and I wasn't sure if I should laugh of cry knowing that we had to repeat that whole process to get back. We were on the trail for over 7 hours to go a little over 14 miles. It was exhausting! Would we do it again? Absolutely, but we'd make sure we had our snowshoes next time.

Making shadows right before the lower lake. We were still full of energy at this point.

The lower lake looks beautiful in winter.

This guy was napping next to the trail, and he got up when we came by. We went by him, but it was way to close for comfort for me! Instead of going away from us, he went into the bushes right next to the trail to eat. I've had my share of face to faces with moose to last me a lifetime. I prefer to see them from a distance.

Past my knees by Chicken Springs!

It was so deep!

At the bridge right before the final climb up to the lake. One step off the trail and this is what happened.

We were so close, but it still took us FOREVER to get there!

The final stretch to the lake!

We made it! I was so tired I didn't even care. The lake was frozen over and covered with snow, so it just looked like a meadow. Two weeks earlier and it would have been perfect! 

As hard as it was, I still couldn't complain about the views.

Women's Runs:

The women's runs are my favorite! We did an awesome Christmas light run! We ran into the light display at Freeman Park and ran around the whole park looking at the lights.

The week before the Christmas light run, Georgina, Angie, and I did a 10 mile run around the river, Snake River Landing, and Freeman Park. When we were at Freeman Park, Angie tripped on a rope holding up a huge snowman (that they were going to use in the Freeman Park light display). I heard her hit the ground, and when I tuned around I watched, in what seemed like slow motion, this giant metal snowman fall on top of her.  It was huge! I tried not to laugh, because I know it had to hurt, but she was lying on the ground with a giant snowman on top of her! We got it off her, but it was so big, the two of us couldn't stand it back up.

Fast forward to our Christmas light run, and we will meet the snowman again!

Starting our Christmas light run!

Here it is! The giant snowman that fell on Angie! It doesn't look as mean with it's light up smiley face! This time they had ribbons tied to the ropes holding it down so no one else would trip over it during the day when the park was open.

Amanda-Angie-Georgina-Stacey-Tricia-Michelle

Trail of Bones:

The day after Christmas we finally got to run the Trail of Bones. I've wanted to do this one for a long time, so Dan gave us a tour of the area. Fun trail! You'll know from my pictures how it got it's name.

We took a short detour to the overlook. 

Dan, Jenn, Tricia, Mark

The sunrise was so pretty on our way back to the cars!

I don't remember who took this picture. It was either Jenn or Dan, but I love it!

We finished! A fun 9 miles to work off all the Christmas eating.

We did lots more snowy runs in December too! I've decided I love running in the snow (as long as it's not too deep), I don't mind running in the cold as long as I'm dressed right, and I really enjoy running in the dark. For some reason the miles seem to tick by faster. I also love running with groups of people. December was a super fun month of running to end the year on.

Here's hoping 2020 is full of lots of outdoor adventures like 2019 was!