The sun is up, the air is fresh, the stone is old

Hard trail day. Jardine Juniper trail, 10 mile loop, 2,000 foot gain. 9:03 average pace up, 5:33 avg down. 100% effort this morning.

Same trail with the headlamp late evening. Slow.

Nice run Des Plains River trail.  Just over a week now on antibiotics and feeling good.  Settling into the routine.

Nice morning run along the Des Plains trail in Chicago, 10 miles. Then an evening urban run in Philadelphia. Beautiful summer day.

Abrams Lake to Isaac Lake trail loop, Cleveland.

Another one of those sweet long runs on the Des Plains River Trail. I ran into a herd of five deer tonight. Running into the wind, came around a corner and right into them. Could have touched several as they scattered around me.

Awesome run in the Cook County Forest Preserve, Chicago.

Not a race, but when one of us on FRB gets a chance to run a R2R2R in the Grand Canyon we usually post it as such since it's a better way to share the experience.  I've always kind of felt I was cheating the Canyon a little by running the R2R2R in early Spring, late Fall, or at night.  Today I ended up with a day off without kids which is unusual so I took the chance to run the canyon.

This run was from the Grand Canyon North Rim campground, North Rim to the South Rim via Bright Angel and back.  Full sun all day but with a great temp/dew point spread which really helped.  In a change from previous years I started the descent down the North Rim slow, just below 10 minute pace.  In the canyon base coming through Cottonwood the temps were already noticably different from previous years.  Forcasts were 78 F at the Noth Rim, 103 F at Phantom Ranch, and 85 at the South Rim.  They didn't dissapoint.  Phantom Ranch was 94 F on the first pass through and 104 F coming back.  I stayed soaked as much as I could but it would pretty much evaporate in 15 minutes.  Up the South Rim via Bright Angel and still going fairly conservative.  I reached the Rim in 5:12 including breaks to refill water four times.  The trip back was hot as I expected and I ran carefully.  My stomach was having difficulty taking in enough water to stay hydrated.  Went through some pretty queasy miles in the heat.  But my pace stayed pretty much the same mostly because I was running so slow to begin with.  Reaching Cottonwood I knew the hardest part was ahead and jumped in the swimming hole in the river.  I will never run across the canyon again without doing this.  Incredible deep pool.  I soaked until I was shivering and my legs were numb.  I knew it was a sure way to get my core temps down quick.  The climb up the North Rim kicked by butt completely.  It always has.  One day I will be in shape to just run up this thing instead of a total suffer fest.  I had a 100 ounce Camelbak and was soaking myself completly every chance I had.  I basically never ran dry on the run back.  Came up the North Rim and ran the last mile to the campground.  The first R2R2R that I have ever ran faster on the way back than the way over. 

Insane fun day of running!  Couple of notes on the run today.  There were 4 emergency evacuations today, one helicopter one our of Phantom ranch that happened while I was there.  The hikers up the South Rim were shot.  I could have spent the day helping people try to get up and sharing my water.  I have never witnessed so many people just crashing.  The caution signs all over on the South Rim make a lot more sense now.  I never saw a single runner in the canyon either way, a first in my experience.  In the middle cooridor I only ran into three groups of hikers the entire day.  Last, at the trailhead on the North Rim a ranger came up to me as I was prepping for start and asked about the run.  He gave me a high five and was really excited with a lot of questions.  Talked through the water stops and asked if I needed anything. 

Total stats from Garmin GPS:  49.4 miles, 15,330 feet elevation gain, 15, 427 feet elevation lost.  Net elevation during run 30,757 feet.

Chilled out at Newton Dam with kids. One hour swim, probably just over a mile.

Spent the day in Left Hand Fork, Blacksmith Fork Canyon with family. My daughter climbed and rappelled a 110 foot cliff with me today. She unbuckled at the bottom, took a breath, and gave me a high five. Best moment of the month.

What a beautiful trail today.  Walter B wanted to get some trail and mountain time in this weekend so I told him to meet me in Ogden and we ran the Skyline Trail up to Ben Lomond peak.  9,700 feet but a gradual long trail.  I didn't want to climb 3,500 feet in three miles after a R2R2R a few days ago.  We passed a lot of bikers today on the trail and saw some mt goats.  We blazed it down hitting one 5:41 mile but mostly around 6-7.  I was wearing Hokas which have to be the biggest POS shoe on the planet. 

Day off.

Humid run in Jersey.  I start the second stage of more intensive antibiotics tomorrow for Lyme.  First two weeks kind of sucked, the next four are probably going to be worse.  I'm going to stick with the long slow running through all this.  It's still fun and doesn't seem to be crashing me like speed work or tempos do.

Nice run along the Delaware River Trail.  Hot and very humid today.  Ended with the best sandwich on earth, the Bobbi at Capriottis.  This beautiful creation has shredded turkey, cranberries, and stuffing. 

Nice headlamp run up Dry Canyon after getting home. Totally sold on trail miles. Not a single ache or joint twinge at all during runs this summer. Course that might be because I'm running so slow too.

Mountain/trail training today with DNR, Forest Service, and Cache Search and Rescue. A last minute exceptional opportunity to run trails and practice speed assist with the special teams in Forest Services. There are an intense upper level of guys that I never knew existed. Today I met the park ranger who holds the FKT on Longs, Grays, and Grand Teton. It was good to shoot a few ideas by about our summit of the Grand tomorrow from Jenny Lake and over to Table Rock.

Everyone likes to find a niche in running where they can give back a little. I'm hoping this will be one of mine. I've joined Cache and Wasatch Search and Rescue trail response team. A new idea of OSSR with all the increase of trail runners.

We ran today on North Fork out of Mantua up to Willard Peak and back down.

Today was about pushing the limits and could be the hardest single day run effort I've ever done.  While running the Skyline Trail last week over Ben Lomond Peak I noticed a trail race sign at the North Ogden Divide.  I contacted the race director Friday since the race was already closed and the race was in the morning.  In total opposition from usual trail/ultra races he got me an entry.  I felt it would be a great opportunity to run a single track race on mountains, gaining over 5,000 feet, with some of the best trail racers out there.  I knew Steve S is in awesome shape right now, Nathan P had just won the Wasatch and Jupiter Steeplechases, Pablo G had won this race three times already, a group of ultra guys including Shane M would be there, and the serious local guys.  It would not be the backyard easy run.  Historically my weak points have been heat running and anything with hills, and I have been focusing on those as I slowly crawl back into shape.  But I also knew that we were running a 23 mile attempt late afternoon of the Grand Teton which was honestly on the edge of my ability.  If we hauled butt, it would just all fit in...

Starting line of the marathon I had some decisions to make.  Most runners had serious gear, Camelbacks, fuel, etc.  The race director had sent us an email the night before that the trail was now .4 miles longer and aid stations few and far between.  But when Steve S stepped up to say Hi he only had a hand held water bottle and regular running gear so I made the choice to run with just a 20 ounce bottle of water and a good size bag of gummi bears.  Hopefully I'd hit the aid stations.  I got off quick right behind the lead pack as the race hit the single track straight up the switchbacks up the mountain.  Right away the 6-7 guys were going much faster than I wanted, or probably was capable of.  I just got my head down and dug in since I knew we had 3,000 feet to climb.  I was already exhausted since I'd been up until 2am waiting for my son to get home from a date.  I was cussing him the whole way up.  I hit the small aid station at 9,000 feet and asked the crew how far behind the lead pack I was.  Three minutes behind one group and over six behind the leaders.  In seven miles.  So I knew they were climbing today over a minute faster per mile than I could.  I had averaged just over 10 minute pace coming up.  So I hauled down the hills to the next climb.  Very rocky and narrow and I found that I couldn't go as fast as I wanted.  I was limited by technical ability/trail instead of fitness.  Not what I expected and a good lesson from the day.  The trail forked all over and was marked at those forks by a yellow ribbon on the right trail.  Very difficult to see at six minute pace with your head focused on the trail.  Coming out in Ogden divide and crossing the highway I made a bad mistake.  Looking across the road there were three trails, one had a yellow ribbon on it and a volunteer who I yelled at which trail to take.  She pointed at the one climbing up and I simply started up it.  It shortly turned and began going down and soon I knew that wasn't right because we had a 2,000 foot climb up to the next ridgeline.  I turned around and ran back.  The volunteer was freaking out  she was getting cussed out by the race folks.  Apparently they had stepped away to stock the aid station and left her there.  (Found this out after the race)  It was a sucker punch and as anyone knows who races, going off course can wreck a race for you if you let it. I didn't want that to happen.  I had a hard time getting back in the game.  It was now mile 13 and my next mile climbing up was 17 minutes!  Crap.  Once again I had to get my head down and just focus on turnover.  My next climb miles were 13 and 11, and I was getting stronger.  Pretty cool to experience.  As I crested the saddle I could see a pack of guys ahead climbing Lewis Peak (I believe).  I hit the aid station and started the downhills again.  No more hills to do.  Sweet.  It started coming back and miles 18, 19, 20, 21 were at 5:53 pace.  I felt pretty good.  This was just a different kind of race to run.  I could tell my feet were blistered up and tried to just ignore it.  I passed three guys ahead of my now and dozens of weekend trail runners going down.  Lots of cheering and high fives from local runners who stepped aside for us.  Very cool.  I also began weaving around half marathoners and bikers.  Two miles along the lake and it was over.  I thanked the race director and talked to the guys who kicked my butt for a while about how the &%$# they could run up hills that fast.  I think Steve S would have won the race had he taken that first climb just a notch back.  Then I had to bust out of there for my drive to Jackson Hole.  Long race report today but I want to remember the feeling of this race.  The first 100% effort trail run I have ever done.  Lessons; You cannot gain time back if you are not conditioned enough to run fast uphill.  You simply cannot go fast enough downhill on narrow, rocky, single track.  Also, know the trail.  Read the maps and know where you are going.  Run it beforehand if you can.  Good experience for me and even though I could not keep up with the fastest guys, I was encouraged that I was getting stronger and negative split a mountain, trail  marathon.

My son picked me up and had three cheeseburgers ready.  We drove fast up to Idaho Falls and picked up my brother and a few of his older kids.  We drove to Jenny Lake, Jackson packing and planning along the way.  I knew it was a singular day for an afternoon attempt at the Grand.  High pressure system and clear radar meant a significant chance of missing the afternoon thunderstorms that are the norm in the Tetons.  We were running west across the range from the Wyoming side to the Idaho side.  But looking at the time we changed plans and nixed the climb up the Grand, accepting that we would run across Hurricane Pass 10,700 feet through Cascade Canyon instead.  I didn't want any risk of staying the night along the trail.  The kids dropped us off and we took the ferry across to hit the trailhead.  They drove around to Tablerock Trailhead on the other side of the range to meet us.  Incredible trail.  Impossible to describe.  We stopped as ran eating handfulls of huckleberries the entire run up.  I had some serious rubber legs and was getting very nervous about a 4,000 foot climb and 20 miles.  I was eating the whole way up now, sweeping the Huckleberry bushes and drinking from the glacier waterfalls.  Five miles in I was starving anyways and had to ask my brother to stop running and speed hike for awhile so I could down a few packs of peanut MMs.  Very surprised when it all came back and we ran right up through the 8,9, and 10,000 foot levels.  Super cold above 10,000 feet and my bro was very dizzy now and had tingly, numb hands from the altitude.  The wind was roaring through Hurricane Pass above 30knts and we just had to push it fast through.  We stoped once we hit the sun going down the other side so I could ductape all my toes and the blisters from the morning.  But man we were loving it.  What mountains!  Every now and then going down we would swing by small campsites and say a quick Hi to the campers.  Soon it was headlamp time and I discovered that my headlamp batteries were dead.  How stupid could I be?  Very technical trail down following my bro ahead?  Jello legs as well?  Luckily I had my cell phone, turned the light on and taped it to my hand.  We had to drop pace significantly because I just couldn't see the trail.  Neither of us cared about that by this point.  Five miles from from the trailhead we met my son running up.  What a cool feeling!  The plan had worked and he was having a blast.  He had lost his headlamp coming up and was on an adrenaline high.  Just as it was getting dark he had jumped a pair of bears on the trail a few miles below us and was a bit freaked.  He had ran in the dark after that two more miles up until seeing our lights, sure that they were chasing him down.  Those last five miles were some of the best runnign miles that I can remember, the three of us running down, sharing the light, talking and singing as loud as we could so those bears would stay away.  My brother would stop us every now and then to show us fresh bear tracks in the trail and a few mountain lion tracks.  Bear were all over and I was glad to have a very familiar trail guy along.  We finally reached the trailhead at 10pm and had to hop in for the drive back.  This was an unreal day.  

My son and I slept in until 11 after our day yesterday, barely made church, and hit a trail run in Providence Canyon. Wooden legs today but no soreness. Good sign.

Evening run Cooks Forest Preserve, Chicago. Fireflies everywhere.

Run in the rain along Des Plaines River Trail, Chicago.

Pavement running today. 7 miles in the morning in Trenton then off to work. 8 miles easy in the afternoon after work. Six weeks on meds, actually the first prescription meds in my life, and it's over this Friday. So excited to be done with this.

After prepping for weeks to run with Almost Dead Jocks at Hood to Coast, I have to stay in Logan for family reasons. Every time I plan something out months ahead something happens that makes it impossible. I'm going to stick with jumping into things the night before.

Ran 20 miles of the 66 miles of the Raraitan Canal south out of Trenton towards New York.  Great day to run, one of many this summer that just seem to be flowing for me.  Brought back memories of a good TED article a friend sent me a few years ago about "flow".

http://www.ted.com/talks/mihaly_csikszentmihalyi_on_flow/transcript?language=en

Only a one hour break all day from work, at Trenton airport in between flights. Ran around the airport twice. Very sore which felt great.

The best race for me in a year and a half. I couldn't make it to Hood to Coast as planned this weekend buy since I would be in Logan I might as well run the Half. The kids and I got home at 3:30am and I caught an hour nap before heading down to see if I could get an entry. Up at the start I ran a few miles for warmup and was as exhausted as I could ever remember being at the start of a race. But once we got going I relaxed and had a good time. My legs were pretty dead today but if I slowed back to 5:45 they would recover fairly quick so I ended up surging a lot, just being limited by tired legs. But they held up! Pretty stoked about a good run on dead legs today and training is right where I need it to be. Awesome morning talking to Sasha, Fritz, Matt, Steve, Jaren, Mel, and other runners I haven't seen for a while. I always leave these races feeling like I have a months worth of new knowledge to sort through.

Ran Dry Canyon with my son and Mandi. Awesome afternoon.

Lazy day on call in Chicago.  Watched the entire Season Eight of House and made a whole Little Ceaser pizza disappear.

Intervals in Schiller Woods, Chicago. 4 mile warmup, 10X1 mile repeats, 4 min jog in between. 10X100m strides on the grass, 4 mile easy.

Had fun doing these one mile repeats along the dirt trail in these oak woods today, at least until interval 6 or 7 anyways. Hit 3 or 4 5:40s, the rest were about 5:50 to 6:05. Pretty much balls to the wall on the trail for me. Sad to have to leave the long easy run base phase behind. I really like that kind of running. Suits my old age.

Trails through Robinson Woods, North Chicago. Good recovery from yesterday.

North Cook Forest Preserve trail system. 6 mile trail run, 15X400m repeats. Did these by running 90 sec at 90% effort with a 90 sec jog in between repeats. Smooth, hard dirt trail. 1 mile cool down. Too much fun to shake a stick at. Love running right now!

Quick run on Dry Canyon trail behind my house. Heading to St George to run with my southern brothers.

Got down to St George at 9:30pm and had a few hours hanging out with friends before I found out I had to go back to Logan for some family stuff. Whole weekend called off. Oh well, that's what family is for.

Skipped a night of sleep but didn't seem the worse for wear. Spent morning in BF Canyon rock climbing with the girls and late afternoon ran Willard Basin trail up to Skyline trail with my son. He's now 8 weeks into training for a R2R 25 miler in November with me, and today was an 11 mile trail all above 8,000 feet with 2,000 feet of easy climb. We did three miles downhill at the end in just under 6 min pace. The fastest mile he's ever ran. I'm actually very surprised he's keeping up already.

BST trail behind my house.