Like the canyon

Easy 40 minutes on the 'mill. 8:25 pace. 4.5 miles or so, forgot to look.

1 hour on the trails.  I said I wasn't going to do it this week, but it was so nice out.  Took it easy and enjoyed it. Knee was fine.

Wonderful 11 miles on the trails tonight.  No knee pain at all!!  Ran a solid pace, felt great! Cranked it up the last 2 miles to test things out, ran 'em in 12:58, a 6:29 ish pace, on mostly rocky, twisty, single-track trail. It was pretty much downhill so the speed, even for slow me, is not that impressive, but my knee didn't complain even a little about the extra effort. 

Easy hour on the treadmill. 

I finally put a picture up.  I couldn't resist, the clouds broke this afternoon and Malan's Peak came out in all it new snow glory, so I snapped this picture from town.  I write so much about running Malan's Peak I thought I would put up a pic so the couple of people who actually read this once in a while can get an idea what this run is like.  The image is kind of small, but if you look close I marked the approximae route. The trail starts a few blocks from my door and it is about 2250 vertical in a little less than 2.5 miles, most of the vert comes in the last 1.5 miles, when you leave Taylor Canyon and head south up to the peak.  I've run this so much this winter that I have started to feel a real attachment to the place. 

Great day for running! (it's a long post,  but it was a good day)

I've been kick'en around upgrading to the 50 miler at the Buffalo Run, but looking at the course map and knowing a little about Antelope Island topography, I have worries that the course might tap into the deep seeded hatered (mental weakness) I have for running on wide open,  flat dirt roads.  It's so bad that Pony Express would be my Hardrock and HURT all rolled into one long personal nightmare. (sorry Davey).  Anyway, The RD, Ultrajim, sent an email out this week about a long training run out on the island today.  We would run one 25/50k loop with the optional addition of running part of the 50 mile course. 

Perfect, get a preview, see if I can handle it, and get to bug Jim about letting me change races. Me, and I'd guess 30 or so other  people showed up at the trail head, pretty good for a training run.  I was pleasantly suprised with the terrain on the 25/50k loop. Lots of climbing, not real steep, but we went up for sure, a good section of single track, and some "roady" sections that were a little tough. 

I felt great! such a good run.  I completed the 25k loop in 2:12, which, even with some fade on the second loop, would put me under 5 hrs for the 50k, I felt great and still had pleanty of gas in the tank.  Missed a few turns here and there, one really bad, probably ran an extra 3/4 mile and climbed an extra bit  (picture 5-6 of us standing on top of a hill with no where to go all saying to each other "hey I was following you . . .well I was following you . ." while we looked at the other runners on the correct route far below.) to be fair,  I missed a turn toward the end and shaved a mile or so, but with the other "wrong ways" along the route I came out about even.

When I got back to the car no one else was around, I wanted to get more miles, but I had no idea where to go, so I filled my water and headed north, toward the biggest, steepest hill I could see. Legs still felt great as I started to climb. I ran every step the top of Buffalo Point  (?? I think that's what the sign said when I ran by) I'd guess it was a  400-500 ft climb, not alot of vert, but steep. Cruised around on the plateau on top checking out the amazing views to the west, headed back the long way and ended up with 19.5 miles. 

Everything felt great, no knee pain, no issues at all. The pace was fast for me, but I had tons left for some reason, I couldn't belive I had run 19 miles, it seemed like an easy 5.  Wish everyday felt that way. To cap it off, I ran a hilly 4 tonight on the local trails, still felt like I had plenty of energy. 23.5 miles for the day. 

Good, warm, sunny, hour and half on the trails with my buddy Troy.  11 miles.  I'm loving this weather, it's great to finally be outside running regularly!

Easy 5 on the treadmill.

Sweet Malan's run tonight.  Trail was an icey bobsled run but I managed to keep two on the ground most of the time.  Felt easy for some reason, one of those peak runs where you run out of trail, but wish there was more in front of you. Alpenglow and chilly breeze made it feel like winter again.

Great 30 minutes on the trails at dusk.  Door to door in 35 minutes. I love this place!

Long run the hard way

I’m not usually an early bird when it comes to running, but with family stuff to do today and a pending storm in the afternoon I mustered it up and got out early today.  I wanted to get one more tough, long run in before tapering for Buffalo.  There is quite a bit of dry trail down low around here right now, but most of it has mellow climbs and requires out-n-back-running in circles to get in mileage.  I hadn’t run on the trails below Snowbasin all winter, so I felt like I was gambling a little to try and head that way not knowing if would be packed out.   Should have known those hardy snowshoers  had been hard at it all winter making great, packed out trail.  I started at in Ogden Canyon at the Wheeler TH and headed up! Wheeler to icebox to maples to Snowbasin.    

I have had this idea all winter that running up the ski runs before the resort opens would be a good way to get vertical, so that was the plan today.  I learned a couple of things immediately. One, while skiing on corduroy groomed snow is dreamy, running up steep corduroy groomed slopes is TOUGH like running uphill on slippery sand. Two, hills that seem flat while skiing are STEEP when running up them. Three, running down groomed runs is almost as much fun as skiing them.  I felt good in that I was able to maintain something resembling a run from base to the top of Snowbasin,  ran from Earl’s to Needles lodge, 2300 vert, in 49 minutes, which for me is good time even in the summer.  From the top of Needles I headed South to Strawberry and climbed up a little toward the top of that lift.  Looking at the time, I turned around before I got to the top.  Ran down Strawberry to Penny lane, headed back toward the resort base.  I ended up taking a packed trail down to Snowbasin road and running down the pavement, ( I was looking at all the skiers headed up to where I had already been that morning,  what a great feeling being up there on the hill , just me, the sunrise, good music, and a couple of snow cat groomers) after a mile or so, I dropped  into the East fork trail and making it back down to Wheeler’s and the car. 

Had a great run! Felt a little sluggish.  Miles? I don’t know, about 15-17 I would think, just knowing the miles of most of it from summer runs.  Total vertical, about 4700 ft.  My dog insisted on going this morning, and rather than have him wake up the family I took him knowing he couldn’t run with me on the ski resort, but figured he could sleep in the truck as well as at home.  I felt bad on the way back home and still had a little time, so we ran my short loop in the rain on the trails above my house netting another 3 miles.  Total running time 3:55.  Total miles? 17 or more for sure, vert  5000 ish.  Dog’s happy, wife and kids are happy, I’m ecstatic.  Great morning, love this running thing!

11 on the BST north.  I'm pretty powered down and the legs are heeaavvy from Saturday's snow slog.  Took it easy and just cruised, not that I had alot of choice since apparently someone unlocked the gate on the mountain bike pen, stopped counting at 25 (no kidding).  Looks like the days of having that trail all to myself are gone for a while. Looking forward to a few easy days.

Nice 40 minutes on the trails at dusk.  South BST, to Indian trail until it got too snowy to BST to boulder field trails to service road to BST. Running in circles.  Mountain bikes have discovered the south BST is almost snow free, like ants at a picnic. Jaker dude looking strong though.

Another evening on the trails.  Got out right at sunset, no one around, just me and the dog. 

Finished off with a barefoot session on the hardwood chasing my 2 year old around the living room.  I love to watch and learn from his form, those kids run perfect, quick turn over, head up, straight back, mid-foot strike. Pure Joy!! Wish I hadn't forgotten all of that. 

2.5 hours on the trails today.  Got out late in the afternoon, warm sunshine, cool breeze, just me out there, it was fantastic.  Took it easy, no watch at all, just ejoyed it and let the legs spin. Last long run before Buffalo  . . . .50K/50 mile??? better decide quick. 

The BST north of 12th runs right above a grid bolted climbing crag called 9th street.  Back in my climbing life I used to spend alot of time there and am, for better or worse, responsible for a share of the grid bolting.  I watched, as I ran by,a guy trying a few times to pull through the crux of a short 5.11, each time he would get right there and go swinging back onto the rope.  The most vivd memeories came back of warm spring afternoons pulling on stone.  As I watched him, and having done the route so many times, I could feel the holds he was struggling with, the two inset crimps, the small nub for your left foot, the smooth stong pull of lat muscles as weight shifted to the left foot, hoping it doesn't blow, and make the long reach up and left to the coarse, inset jug, pull through, clip the last bolt and cruise to the chains.  Climbing was such a huge part of my life for so long . ..  I guess I really miss it once in a while. 

Easy 3 miles to spin the legs before the 50 on Saturday.  Hope I feel better Saturday than tonight. Longest 3 miles ever. 

This is long, but I was really excited about how it went.

Going into this thing I was a little apprehensive.  I have only run one official 50 miler, and the 50 mile race course at Buffalo definitely didn’t suit me.  I’m not fast enough to run well on the many long flat sections and was anticipating a suffer fest.   Friday night I was a little more nervous than usual and didn’t sleep much, driving to the race I was a bundle of nerves.  As I got onto the island and was pulling into the parking area, I could see Crocket’s green light on the high on the hill above the parking area.  He was on lap 2 of his hundred mile run, probably about mile 60 or so, out there all night, by himself running, Awesome! For some reason as soon as I saw that, all nervousness went away and switched immediately to huge excitement, I couldn’t wait to get out there!! Thanks for the inspiration Davey!

With a cold breeze blowing, we took off in a train of headlamps and flashlights a little after 6 AM.   I love running in the dark and it was fun to watch as the leaders lights streaked out ahead of the pack.  I felt great going up the 1^st hill and settled into the first 10-15 runners.  We cruised quickly up and onto a flat/downhill section for a mile or two until we hit the first real hill, a short but steep little grunt up to the first aid station.  The 4-5 guys immediately in front of me started power hiking and I settled into my uphill running trot that I have gotten used to from running up Malan’s peak so much this winter.  A friend of mine, Trace Lund, who was behind me here, asked at the end of the race why I choose to run up hills like that in an ultra.  My answer, I don’t feel I work much harder trotting uphill than I do power walking, heart rate stays low, legs feel better at the top than they do making the run/walk/run transition, works for me for some reason?  Smart or not? I don’t know.  What’s good fro me though is I actually ran the entire course except for one little hill before the 3^rd aid station going out,  and I walked the hill back to the same spot on the way back because I was changing out my Ipod and needed stuff out of my pack.  I am feeling all that running today, that’s farther than I have ever run continuously by double. Ouch!

After the first aid there was a 3 mile out-n-back.  On the way back through I passed Twinkies going out, he was probably 10 minutes or so back.  After getting through the out-n-back and heading into a long, straight downhill, I glanced back and noticed Twinkies closing fast.  That would be the theme for the next 4-5 miles.  At the bottom of the hill there was a long section of switch backs climbing back up to the aid station.  At each turn, I’d do a Twinkies check and every time it seemed he had moved up about ½ a switchback, he was flying! I kept thinking, I’m glad he’s going to catch me because I want to run with him, but, geeze I don’t want to try to keep up with him!  We ran together for the next 10-15 miles.  He’s a strong runner and really pulled me along through that section.

Twinkies and I got thorough the hilly section together and headed down to the East shore of the lake for the dreaded long, flat, out and back to the ranch at the south end of the island.  I had expected this section to be wide double track or dirt road for some reason, but was pleasantly surprised to find it nice single track.  The first part was a short out-n-back, and guessing that there were few fast guys we didn’t see, I estimated Twinkies and I were running in the top 20 or so.   We hit the turn around  with Twinkies leading and after we made the turn, I jumped in front to break the wind for a while, I ran for about 20 minutes or so and hadn’t heard from Twinkies, so I glanced back and I was all alone.  I hoped he was alright, but I kept plugging along, slowly reeling in a couple of guys. 

The good news about this section is the aid stations are about an hour apart, so just as the tedium starts to really set in, you hit an aid to break it up.  I was running nice and consistent; it took me 58 minutes from Frary aid to the Ranch and 58 minutes from the Ranch back to Frary on the way back.  The leaders went by on this section going back.  Those guys are so impressive, just haul’en! I could see the grit and determination on their faces. Made me think of the quote in Lance Armstrong’s book, I think it says “it never gets easier, you just get faster” I could see that in these guys, inspiring for sure!

The good news for me on this section is that I came to the conclusion I was making pretty good time! I finished my marathon distance in just a little over 4:00 (about the same time I ran the Ogden Marathon a year ago), 50K under 5 hours (unofficial PR by more than an hour).  I had run splits Friday night, like I always do for every race, not because I’m that analytical, but because it calms me down.  Figuring time between aid stations, assuming pace, and totaling it all, I came up with an 8:45 finish. Whatever! no way!! I figured I’d shoot for under 10 hrs, but wrote down the splits anyway just to see. At the Ranch I was 20 minutes ahead of my 8:45 finish splits, What the . . .no way! But I was stoked! I had also concluded I was in the top 20 from counting runners going the other way.  Much, much better than expected!

I turned around at the Ranch absolutely determined to hang on to where I was at.  I gritted down took off with no one close behind.  I passed Twinkies on his way out looking happy and strong, I knew he was hoping for a sub 10 too, and from where he was at I knew he would make it easily! I was excited for him.  Also passed Crocket on his way out to the Ranch, mile 80 or so for him!, he was keeping a good strong pace and looked great! I gave some encouraging words as I went by.  Passing all the runners on the way out really gave me a mental boost.  As I got to the back of the packers I was totally impressed with these guys. I think it takes a ton of guts to be out there all day, just plugg’en for the finish, every bit as impressive to me as the lead guys.  Maybe because I can relate to them better having been there plenty of times.   

Lot’s of long stretches, lots of lonely running. I passed a guy I had been yo-yoing with all day at Frary aid other than that I didn’t see anyone for a long time until I ran into my good friend Dana  running out to pace a friend in.  She’s a tough marathoner (sub 3 hr I think) and my sometimes treadmill buddy at the gym and a long time friend (we grew up in the same ward) so it was good to see her out there.  I keep trying to talk her into ultra’s, I think today finally convinced her.

The most exciting moment of the race for me happened when 2 HUGE bull Buffalo decided to race me to a 10ft wide opening in a chain link fence.  No kidding.  Just as I was getting to the end of the shoreline trail, Two huge buffalo took off down the hill headed for the same gate opening as me.  They were probably only 20-30 yards in front of me and moving really fast! We were on a perfect collision course. Here I was playing chicken with two 4000 pound buffalo. I lost. I stopped, giving them plenty of room. 

I finished off the last 6.5 miles uneventfully.  There were a few guys closing from behind, just close enough to push me along at a good pace.  The last section of single track was really fun, lots of ups and downs, rocky, kept my mind occupied instead of thinking about how tired I was. Hit the final dirt road, my yo-yo buddy was closing, I gave it all I had, he passed me in the last 1/4 mile, I jumped on his tail and we ended up neck and neck to the last turn where he had a little more in the tank and pulled a head.  It was good though because it got me under the finish banner in 8:29!!

I couldn’t believe it! A PR by over 5 hours! I never, ever thought I had that in me. I was 15 minutes faster than what I thought Friday night was a crazy time.  I was certain I would get my tail handed to me on the flat section by all those fast marathon kind of guys, but I held my own out there, never getting passed until the end and even managing to pass a few folks.   Preliminary results had me at 17^th overall, totally happy with that for my second 50 miler.  I know in the real world of fast it’s not that great, but for a slow guy like me I’ll take it all day long!!

I hung around the finish cheering in friends.  My buddy Trace came in just behind me in a good time.  Twinkies finished really strong and in a great time as well. It was good to meet Jun, who had paced Twinkies.  Hope they both suffered no ill effects from the short ride they took in my beat up Toyota back to their car. 

 Overall, this was a great race.  Seemed very well organized. I don’t know where they found the aid volunteers, but they were the nicest, most helpful and hardest working I have ever seen at any race.  They were out getting drop bags for people, filling bottles, asking what they could get you, helping me get my pack on and off.  So great these guys put so much into that, making everyone feel like a rock star.  The RD Jim (ultrajim on the blog) did an awesome job! There were a lot of people there to manage and it all seemed seamless, and he had plenty of treats at the finish!  Highly recommend running one of the distances at this race!

Easy 40 minute ride to spin out the legs. 

Easy cruise of my short loop on the trails above my house.  Snowing really hard! Legs still tight, but not sore at all.  I might ask my wife to lock my skis in the closet tonight and throw away the key, cause it's gonna be reeeallly hard not to go in the morning. My knee is much better and I reeeaally don't want to screw it up again. 

Signed up for the Logan Peak tonight.  Gonna wait on the 1st 100 unitl Bear in the fall. I decided I would maybe like a pacer and/or crew for my first one, and, for some reason, I couldn't talk anyone into going to middle-of-no-where Wyoming to hang out all day alone, then run all night and listen to me whine then drive me home and listen to me whine all the way about how hard that was. Oh, speaking of whining, I almost pulled the trigger on Speedgoat .  . . .