Like the canyon

Easy to moderate 1:10 on the 'mill at the gym.  Treadmill at home is down for a bit, running at the gym.....not so great.

Just a bit over 2 hours on the trails tonight.  Cold, but not bad until the sun went down, not a soul out at all, well, except one of the go fastie kids. Turns out the out-n-back I've been running is just under 14 miles, a mile longer than I thought, love it when that happens.  Easy pace, felt alright, legs feeling a little heavy, guess the miles and time are adding up over the last 4 weeks. 1.5 weeks to an easy week. heel/calf feeling 85%, I'll take it. 

Pretty obvious cat tracks in the new snow on and around the trail south of 12th street.  Been hearing about, and seeing alot evidence of those big kitties in that area latley.  Tracks toninght left me kinda feeling tense through the run, got over it by the end, wuss!

Check out this cool pic taken a couple of years ago right above the BST on the North side, that's a big ktty cat.   

http://gazelem.files.wordpress.com/2008/03/canyouseeit.jpg

Nice little run up Malan's peak tonight.  Legs felt better than expected.  Deserted up there, only saw the butt sledder, but he's up there full time I think.  Top half of the trail is a mess from all the wind.  Drifeted over and rough, but the knee breakers are gone.  Bottom half is buffed and fast.  Good times. 

Nice little 6.4 running in circles between 27th and Rainbow.  Funny how you can run for almost an hour, get in over 6 miles, and really go no where.  There are so many trails spider webbing all over the boulder field that I probably only ran a mile of the total over the same trail.  775 vert. Mostly easy pace.

Oh, and I saw the butt sledder again.  Kinda freaking me out, I see the guy every time I go out up there, no matter the day or  the time.  Butt sledder will be refered to from here on as "the ghost"

No luck at Wasatch!.....Signed up for the Bear....might need to find one more 100 this year.

Repeat Saturday run.  Malan's to the BST, head north as far as I can go, turn around and run back. Trail at the top of Malan's is improving though it's still western up there, hard to keep the rubber side down for the last 1/2 mile or so. North BST is pristine, no mud, very little snow, just lots of fun runn'en. Ran into Aric and Les at Rainbow, hope their lottery went better than mine.  Last long run before Red Hot in 2 weeks, really looking forward to that one, though I have no idea where my race fitness is as I haven't had my heart rate above 150 in over a month. Given that, I dont think I'll taper much, slightly easier the week before is about all. Be fun to see if I can shake off the lazy, slow legs. 

Heel and calf are a little tender after today's run, hope it's not an issue for much longer.  Miles and vert were about the same this week as the last 2 weeks, but the effot was just a bit higher, pushed it just a little here and there.  Also, I am starting to not use my heel lift  in my shoes as much so that's putting a little more strain on things, but gotta start to get off the training wheels sometime. 

Today: 19.75 miles, 4420 vert, one gel, one water bottle, not too much bonk. Ghost sighting, yes!

Week: 61 miles, 9300 vert.  Ghost sightings: 4

45 minutes on the t-mill in the sweat box. Not feeling it at all, too many superbowl treats.

Nice liitle run on the bench tonight.  Managed to run for an hour between 27th and Rainbow and never ran over the same section of trail more than once, well, mabey a few feet or so at intersections.  Kinda a fun way to pass an hour, thinking about how to link it together with no re-tracing. All trail south of 27th in great shape, gonna be muddy when it warms up though.  Bottom part of Taylor canyon is a skating rink, clear water ice everywhere and I hear lower Malan's is glazed bad.

Ghost sighting, yes.

6 miles or so, guessing 800 vert.

Nice little 12 tonight.  Legs felt like lead for the first 5 miles or so, felt better on the way back.  Wanted to make it 14 but it was getting dark so I turned around early, but cruised down to the nature trail parking lot and back for a little extra vert.  good to see Jon out, looks like I'll have some company at the Bear.  Sweet. 

Little over 12 miles or so, 1900 vert, easy pace out, a little pick up on the back.

Easy little 20 minutes tonight.  Achilles and calf acting up.  Ran into Corey at the trail head and he was nice enough to run a gimpy, slow 20 minutes with me before heading out on his longer run.  ART tonight seems to have helped, I'll try and get in 2 more times befroe Red Hot.  Signing up for Big Horn 100 tonight. How's that for thinking positive.

7 miles cruising my boulder field loops.  Pretty easy pace for most of it, picked it up here and there a bit.  Strange conditons on the trails, super muddy in spots, super icey in others.  Calf and achilles feeling much better after some ART, that stuff  must be some kind of black magic.

Just over 7 miles, 1000 vert, 8:40 pace.

Ghost sighting: Yes!

Got out for any early one for me with some of the local stong guys. We had a great run on the usual route from 27th, north on the BST.  Kept the pace pretty easy through most of it, though Corey cranked it up pretty hard on the direct route out of Rainbow going back south.  We all hung on and punched it out though we were all pretty redlined at the top, well except Matt.  Great fun this morning, 3 guys with lots of running experience and fast, and me trying to keep up.  I think we ended up with about 12 miles, probably 1800 vert or so.

Feeling pretty beat up for some reason.  I kicked a tree root on a run earlier in the week and it was bothering me today, some pain in my big toe and up into my foot.  Achilles is better, but still not great, and I tweaked something in my hip, top of glute area slipping on some ice on yesterday's run. Didn't go down but wrenched it trying to stay upright. Cry me a river right? need some good rest tomorrow. 

Week (weak) 45 miles, 5700 vert

Easy 30 minutes on the trails before the big V day events.  Felt good to take a short easy one tonight. 

Ghost - yep.

Perfect temps, perfect trail, great company, awesome run.  Started at Rainbow and headed north, caught up to Aric after a bit and we ran together for a few miles, bumping into Mtn goat and Oreo on their way back, chatted for a bit and went our ways.  Aric turned around a the service road and I kept going to the north end of the BST.  A little muddy past the spring/bridge.  Caught up to Tom, Jamie and Kasey on the way back and ran with them for a bit before they turned around. Got back to the car right at dark.

Lots of folks out, oh and somebody must have left the gate open on the mtn bike pen! out like rabbits!

11 miles, 1:48 run time, 1780 vert, easy pace.

Got an hour in on the trails just as the snow started.  Easy pace again, things feeling better, ART guy really put the fix on my heel, 3 sessions and I'd say I'm feeling 90%.  Still a few few tweaks in my left foot from kicking a root on a run last week but all in all feeling ready to go for Saturday.  Starting to feeling the excitment of running with the heard again.  Not sure what to expect, all running for the last six weeks has been easy, pace base with no speedwork or higher intensity running at all.  We'll see how that plays out, not really a focus race, so really going into it with low pressure/expectations.  A better time than last year is what I'm after, that said, I'll still give it a 100% effort and see what it gets me.

1 hour, probably 6 miles or so, 800 vert. easy pace.

Easy 40 minutes on the trails.  End of a six week running block and a slight taper for Red Hot so not much runnning this week.  I guess I'll end up with a few more miles afer Saturday's long run.  I've run 6 days a week every week for 6 weeks, with all runs but a couple over 45 minutes, feel like it's a start to a good base for later in the spring.  Right now I'd say focus races are Squaw and Big Horn, then a long build up to Bear, so gearing the training and racing that direction.  YeeHaaa! last post until a race report!

(This is a Greg N shot of me and the girl who I ran together through the last half. This is probably mile 29-30)

As I wrote before the race, Red Hot wasn’t a focus race.  Training up to this point and for the next several  weeks  has, and will be,  all been base miles, run at pretty slow paces.  That said, I still was curious to see how I felt picking it up a bit and wanted to give it what I had to give, but really had no idea what to expect.  I knew I had run pretty hard last year and finished just over 6 hours, granted I was nursing a pretty sore knee, but this winter hasn’t been exactly injury free with Achilles tendonitis, weird hip, lower back stuff and the still tweaky knee.  All of it has mellowed out a bit in the last few weeks, but still wasn’t sure if they would flare up during the race.  My longest run since Kalalau Trail in November has been a little over 19 miles, so no big mile long runs and exactly zero speed work.  The last time I had really pushed any pace was at the Up and Over race in October.  I didn’t feel undertrained for this race, but didn’t feel in prime race shape either.

I was late getting to the start again, and jumped in just as they said go.  Things spread out pretty quickly and there was a pack of 20 or so off the front in a hurry.  I found myself running with a group of 8-10 a bit behind the front pack that included Aaron Kennard and Cody.  Things felt a little fast for me, so I told Aaron that I would see him in a couple of hours at the finish.  A few minutes later I watched as he a Cody motored away on the flat road section.   After that, three or four of us settled in to battle the wind and flat road for the first few miles.  Looking around I realized the group included Wasatch and Western States winner Darcy Africa, who I was running just behind, Ian Torrance, and Hard Rock, UTMB winner Krissy Mohel .  Gotta love Ultra running, being in a pack that includes that talent is pretty cool, but also a good sign that I might be a little out of my league.  I felt good, so I stayed with them through the first aid station.  Within a mile or two after the aid station, I started to question my pace, even though I felt ok., but knowing we had a long way to go and not trusting my fitness, I backed it off just a bit.  The talent pulled slowly ahead and a couple of guys closed in from behind and soon passed, which was the only time I was permanently passed in the race. 

From this point and for the next 10-12 miles I was running essentially alone, no one in sight in front or behind.  The first 18 miles or so were tough for me.  With the exception of a mile or two of more technical terrain, it was pretty much flat out road running, I don’t train at all on flat ground or on roads, so it was tough mentally to hold a steady pace.  Also, the wind was ripping! Mentally this was taxing, but I kept telling myself that everyone else is dealing with the same thing.

I started to feel more at home and better as the course took us across Gold Bar/Golden Spike trail.  The climbs, descent s, and more technical footing was a joy compared to grinding it out on the roads.  Within a couple miles I started to close in a couple of guys in front of me.  I caught one at the next aid station and we ran together for a couple of miles before getting caught by a guy and girl.  The guy blew by fast, but I eventually caught and re-passed him,  and the girl settled in with me and the other guy I had caught.  The three of us ran together for a bit, until  the girl started to push the pace, I went with her and we dropped the other guy.  We ran together for the next several miles, pushing hard and closing the gap on a few runners in front of us. 

Getting through the slick rock to the last aid station we were pushing, but as soon as we left the last stop, we really cranked it up.  There were a couple of runners in just in front of us and, looking at the time, I thought I might be able to take more than an hour off my last year’s time.   We ran hard through some deep sand sections and up and over some tough slick rock rollers.  Soon we were on another dirt road section that was relatively flat to downhill, but the wind was roaring through here.  We quickly closed the gap on one of the runners in front and passed, as we passed, he wisely jumped in behind me and the girl, drafting off us as we fought the wind.   I was leading our little group and kept the pace pegged with everything I had.  After a mile or so the guy we passed took the lead and I couldn’t hang on and he opened a 100 yard gap or so.  Looking back, I realized we had also dropped the girl.  I hung on a little back until, with about a mile and a half to go, the guy in front of me started walking.  I caught up, tapped him on the shoulder and motioned to follow as I went by, looking back I saw he had followed, gave him a thumbs up, and we pushed hard for the finish.  In that mile and a half we caught a passed a guy who passed earlier and one more runner picking up two spots.   

I felt great to have enough in the tank to really push those last miles.  I feel like in the last half of the race I really didn’t leave anything out there and put it all on the fire.  Knowing this, I think I could pushed just a bit more in the first half, but feel like I ran smart and had a great day.   I feel like the type of training I have been doing, well just started doing really, is paying off exactly how I want it to, by being able to hold a steady hard effort for an extended time.  I beat my expectations by a good half hour, I was thinking a 5:45 would have been alright, and took almost a full hour off last year’s time, which I feel is a lot given it’s a 50K.  Good start to the season, and hopefully a indicator of more good races to come.

Feeling pretty recovered already.  Actually I felt good enough Monday to ski hard all day in the fresh powder. Glad I did 'cause it was one of the best days of the year. Never really sore, just a little fatigued and some niggles in my hips that attribute to running in my Hoka's on Saturday.  Got out for a nice easy 40 minutes tonight, felt alright, except I forgot how much I don't care for running on snow packed trails, missing dirt!

45 minute cruiser on the snow/mud.  Recoverd? mmm not totally, still feel slow and slug like.  Good 'cause, race or not, this is supposed to be an easy week anyway.  Eating like a horse though. Sheesh!

Got out late for a Malan's run.  Wind was ripping up there, blowing snow and dark clouds hung low in the sky.  No one was out. My legs felt about like the weather.  Keeping a run going was going to be a blue collar slug fest, so I put on my blue collar music and ground it out. Soon enough I was singing along (as no one was out) and enjoying the grind.  Added on a little BST at the end just to get through the playlist. 

Link below is for the tunes, well a good starter song, but like a gateway drug if you like it, you'll be hooked.  HA!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xjdkc14-zwQ

Skied and hiked hard all morning, even winning the 100 yard uphill spirit in ski boots to the sweet fresh lines when the gate dropped.  Skipped lunch and pretty much breakfast too get out early, went to the gym late in the afernoon and ran an hour on the 'mill, felt like 20 miles, tired? hungry? don't know, but bluhh.

Light week, 3 runs of an hour or more and one 45 minutes. Two excellent powder days with alot of hiking and hard skiing  I guess that counts for something.  Not bad for a recovery week I guess.  Back to the good 6 day a week grind on Monday, hoping for some melted out trail.

Sweet Malan's run tonight with some Boulder Field trail add on.  Trail up Malan's was as good as it's been all winter.  Nobody out but me and The Ghost, but he was on his way out so I had the place to my self.  Wore my heart rate moniter for the first time ever on a run up Malan's. Interesting that keeping a run going at a reasonable pace was right at my aerobic threshold.  Kept it right at 150 plus or minus a few beats.  It did spike up to 158 on the two really steep sections, but came back in line quickly.  Felt great, legs, and mind feeling back to 100% recovered.  Peaked out just as the sun dropped to the horizon.  High clouds out west made for some sweet alpenglow, turned everything blazing orange and faded to a sweet pink, absolutely beautiful watching the peaks change colors like that. Even the air around me seemd to be glowing.  Nights like this is why I love to run.  

2700 vert, 7 miles total.