Running and Wayfare

I suppose the most interesting things about this week were related to running and Wayfare magazine.

On Monday, I went back to the dentist to have them check on my gum graft. I thought they were going to remove the stitches, but I was mistaken; I still have another week with them. But they said everything looks good. 

As my gums heal, I was able to go running again for the first time since the surgery. During the week, I went on my standby trails of Wild Rose and Bonneville Shoreline (from Tunnel Springs Park). But Saturday was the day for a long run!

Now that there are so many new trails in North Canyon and Mueller Park, I have lots of options. I decided to go on a run where I hadn't done the exact loop, but I'd been on all the parts of it. 

cutleaf balsamroot

I started at Mueller Park and headed up to Elephant Rock, and I saw three women in my ward as I was heading up. But I didn't stop at the rock itself, because I've been there so many times. I began leapfrogging some bikers. At four miles, I was disappointed to realize that I still had two miles uphill to go. At five miles, I was surprised to see a makeshift bench made of an old tree. (It had been six months since I'd been to that portion of the trail.) 

At 5.5 miles, there was a couple that ran past me. That makes me feel like I'm lacking. Oh well, I can't be the best at everything.

I reached Rudy's Flat just after six miles, and I was glad to know it was mostly downhill from there. I ate an energy bar, then I kept going down the trail till I reached the Mahogany Ridge Trail, which I first went on last year. This trail has very little shade, so I hoped I put on enough sunscreen.

Glacier lilies

At almost ten miles, I reached the Bonneville Shoreline Trail, where I ate another energy bar. I was disappointed at all the invasive dyer's woad growing along the side of the trail. 

The BST is not very steep, and technically most of it was downhill. I was surprised at all the muddy spots I encountered—I've done this trail several times before, and I don't remember it being muddy in those spots. 

It's always nice to get into the shadier spots again

After thirteen miles, I got back to the main Mueller Park Trail, and I saw another person I know. (That trail is so busy.) Once I returned to the trailhead, I had gone 14.59 miles. This is the second farthest I have ever run! (I went more than fifteen miles in September 2022.) 

It's hard to go on such a long run. But if I run 13/14/15 miles, then the 9 and 10-mile runs are comparatively easy. And of course, the ultra runners will think my fourteen miles is nothing.

There were actually three things about Wayfare this week. First, I started the week copyediting articles for a special Advent issue. Of course, if there ever was a Wayfare task meant for me, it's a special holiday issue. And it was fun to be working on it, because I still feel a little cheated out of a Christmas experience, since we had such little snow and I didn't get to spend as much time with my Christmas playlist as I might have liked.

Also, copies of issue 7 arrived this week. This is the issue that needed to be proofed right as I was leaving for Taiwan. It's always good to see another issue out—but I'm not going to read it, because I already did so.

And also, I copyedited an article for issue 8. Some Wayfare articles don't have footnotes, but this one did, which is always the most time-consuming part of any edit. My role for Wayfare is simply as a copyeditor, but in this case, my historical background was really useful (and I would say important).