Back With a Capital Vengence!

AM: Hiked the Highland Mary Lakes Loop in the San Juan Mountains. Pretty much the most bang for your buck hike I have ever done. The views were incredible in every direction for the entire hike, we're talking absoultey AMAZING. A majority of the hike was over 12,000 feet, which is the most time I have ever spent that high. The photos barely do the area a justice.

PM: 2 miles on the dirt roads of Silverton with the JAJA crew. I think there is something to these shake-out runs :)

Chill day in the mountains...

AM: 6.5 miles on the Colorado Trail from Molas Pass. Most of the run/trudge was over 11,000 feet and I certainly felt it!

PM: 1 x 400 on the Silverton town track (elevation ~9,300 feet) and FIRST TRACK "WORKOUT" EVER. I just wanted to beat James' estimate of 97 seconds for my first 400 and I did it in 87 seconds, so yay! I thought I was going to hyperventilate after and my lungs burned for the next two hours but were eventually soothed by an icy cold Fat Tire. I am psyched for more TRACK work!

So much for easy days in mountains... 

My first 14-er!!! Climbed Mt Sneffels (14,150') via the SW Ridge. Lots and lots of scrambly fun plus a few minor freak-outs in some fairly exposed sections. Been a while since I climbed things, but SO FUN!

The six hour hike followed by a 7-hour solo drive home made for a good endurance training day!

Don't fall - eeks! Photo courtesy Jake.

Rest day after returning from high altitude training camp.

Spent the evening helping a friend prep for the Wasatch 100. He is making all of his own food using this Feed Zone Portables book - neat idea! He is a 5th grade teacher and got a card today from one of his students that included a GU and the following quote: "100 miles is really not that far to run." ~Karl Meltzer. Not sure if that is a real Meltzer quote or if the kid's parents are just having fun, but cute nontheless.
 

Another rest day of sorts. Couple mile walk around the Ave's. Came home with five boxes of popsicles. Why is it still so darned hot?

Good Luck Wasatch-ers! Track FRB'ers (and former FRB'ers :) here.

ScottW (70), Matt VH (227), Craig Lloyd (275), My Friend Kev-o (171)

Did I miss anyone?

AM: Paced Kevin Q from Lamb's to Brighton, from 10pm to 6:30 am. Can't remember the last time I was up for 28 hours straight, kinda fun! Took a really long time so I am counting all those miles because it was hard and I had to be happy the whole time! Climbed 6300 feet, which is just a small pecentage of the entire Wasatch 100. So happy he was able to finish the race, an incredible feat with all that heat!

Can't hardly wait for the Peruvian Downhill this afternoon. Going to wear my roller shoes...

PM: Thought it would be pretty stupid to run the Peruvian after 22 miles through the night and 2 hours of sleep, but then all the coffee kicked in and I was overly deliriously stoked! It ended up being worth it even if I can't walk for a few days since I won a FREE NIGHT at the Peruvian Lodge, which is going to be awesome come ski season - yay!

I had planned to run the first mile as fast as I could and then meet up with Jake and Abby. The first mile was 5:58 (ha, ha, ha!) and then I physically couldn't slow down due to gravity and inertia aka ridiculous downhill and the next one came in at 6:08. Around mile 4 this honest downhill course turned into an adventure race with speeding cars, torrential down pours, and crazy lightening strikes - so, so very frightening, I cannot believe they didn't stop traffic! Was so happy to be finished! Then an absolutely wonderful evening with great food, lots of fun with FRB-ers, and SLEEP!

I think my 2 runs today balanced each other out so I am pretty sure I wil be okay.