Like the canyon

Got the all clear from the Orthopedic he said something like "well, you probably won't cripple yourself on Saturday" I took that as a go? Really, he said the knee isn't too big a concern, kinda is what it is, he thinks the sharp pain of late is due to the calf tighness and pain changing my stride and  puting more stress on the knee . . .who knows? The 2 ART therapy treatments on my calf seem to have loosened things up a bit. I went out thonight for the first runnning steps in almost two weeks, felt like crap as expected, took 15 minutes to remember how to run and that left me 10 minutes to cruise.  Got in a few strides and a little up and down.  Knee pain . . .on a scale of 1(mild) to 10 . . . 6 sometimes, 2 most of the time, 0 once in a while.  Anyway, I'm in! I'm going to start Saturday.  Maybe me and Oreo can tie our 2 bad legs together and finish in a good old fashion three legged race style on our 2 good ones.  No time predictions, too many health variables at this point.  I'm going to give it what I got, all I got, and hopefully beat my smoke'en fast 13:40 from last year . . .

I have a hard time being on time for races.  This one started at 5:00 AM and living in Ogden, I told myself I had to leave home at 3:15 to make sure to be there on time.  I left at 3:40.  I made it, barely.  Got my number, pinned it on, ran to the porta potty, ran to the start, before I could think, or catch my breath it was GO! I was running down the river path. 

I settled in with Ogden runners Tom Remkes and Matt Connors.  I think I have started every race this year chasing Tom.  We kept a good pace going on the pace path weaving in and out of runners, within a mile or so there weren’t too many in front and we had picked up another Ogden runner, Chad Carson.  All three of these guys are a lot stronger runners than I, first mistake was trying to keep up with them.

We started the climb and I felt horrible, I had first noticed how hard I seemed to be working on the river trail, and our pace wasn’t terribly fast.  My legs felt heavy and my heart rate was pinned.  I stayed with the local guys into Hope aid, and came in right at my planned split, but I felt terrible, couldn’t catch my breath, and couldn’t get my legs to work.  I slowed down here and tried to settle in, but nothing seemed to help.  Uphill grades that should have been easy felt impossible and steep stuff almost shut me down.  The good news was, my knee was holding up and had very little to no pain at this point. 

The suffer fest was torture though.  I felt like I hadn’t trained at all.  I started to seriously consider a DNF.  I couldn’t get my head around what was wrong, but there was no way I was up for 10-12 more hour of it.  I knew my buddy Nick (oreo) would have pacers at aid 6, the end of Hobble Creek road, and made up my mind that if I wasn’t feeling better, I would quit there and take one of their cars back to the start. (whimpy I know) I even came up with a good name for my failure, KneeNF. 

I hit mile 14, the top of the first big climbing section, with my heart rate still pinned and legs that felt like they were 100 pounds each.  My split was within 5 minutes of my plan, but there is no way my effort should have been this hard at that pace. I rolled over the top and tried to relax on the long downhill into Hobble Creek canyon. 

On the descent things started to come around.  My heart rate dropped a lot, my legs seemed to loosen up, my knee acted up, but I knew I could live with that.  I ate and drank a lot and just tried to cruise, not pushing, not holding back.  I came into the aid right on my split time and felt much better, I grabbed a drink and banana and kept cruising.  I knew the test would come on the paved uphill to aid 6.  I hit the pavement, expecting the heart rate to shoot up as it had, but it didn’t and my legs felt like them old selves, loose and much stronget than the morning climb.  I ran strong, and passed about 4 people.  I kept a good run going all the way up to aid 6 and hit the gate at 4:56.  I wanted to be there under 5.  I felt a 100% better, the KneeNF was out for sure. It was good to see the Froerer boys there waitning for Nick to come in.

I’m not sure what switch had clicked in my body, but I felt like it was all working the way it should be now.  The best way I could describe the horrible over worked feeling up to mile 14 is to use a term from my climbing days, flash pump!  I hadn’t run in two weeks truing to get my knee back to running shape and it just took time to get the blood flowing again.  

The rest of the race went as, or better than planned.  I ran 95%  of the dirt road from aid 6-7 and split it in 48 minutes, and ran most of the way to Little Valley aid.  Arriving at 6:40, about a 50 minute split.  I knew an hour between 6-7 and from 7-8 was a good pace fro me so I was happy with my effort.  I got passed only once from aid 6-9, and that was by the 1st place overall girl, who was motoring very strong!  I managed to pass about 5-6 people through this section. 

The weather was awesome, a little hot, but there always seemed to be a breeze to cool things off.  The long technical, muddy, snowy downhill from Windy Pass to the paved section was really tough on my knee and slowed me down a bit.  After what seemed like forever I came into aid 10, grabbed a cup of ice water and a cold towel (thanks aid station folks) and was out for the 3.5 (seems like 8)  miles down the pavement to the finish.  I kept a solid trot all the way down but was passed by the second place girl (again motoring fast) and another guy in the last ¼ mile. 

Finishing this race is awesome! There are always hoards of people cheering and John Bozung puts out the best post race eats out there.  I finished in 11:06 which was a huge course PR for me.  I was two hours and forty minutes faster over my time last year.  2 weeks ago I was hoping for a little faster time, but that course is TOUGH! I don’t know how much faster I could have realistically gone even if everything was 100%.  That’s three 50 mile races in the books (2^nd Squaw Peak, plus Buffalo run this year) I love that distance. Long enough that you can really settle in and enjoy it.  Overall a great day.  I had a blast hanging out at the finish with my family and friends who had raced.  I was great to cheer in all the runners, for some reason I wanted to stay at the finish until after my finish time last year, I couldn't believe I was out there for that much longer last year! geeze that was a long day.  Lookng forward to Logan Peak in a couple of weeks, hoping my knee will let me race. 

40 minute walk on the trials with the dog.  Legs feel o.k. other than sore.  Knee feels pretty good, unless my legs are too sore to notice the knee? 

28 miles on the bike. 20.8 average.  Great ride. Perect weather. Good to spin out the legs.

Nice and easy 4.5 on the trails tonight.  Things feeling solid, legs good, knee good! energy a little low, proabably allergies, gonna take it somewhat easy for another week and keep things on the mend. New pic is a Norrander shot from Squaw Peak comming off windy pass headed into aid 9, mile 40 ish.

Gotta get to sleep, suposed to run with the Big Guns early if I can get out of bed.

Shorty ealry AM.  3.4 miles 1200 vert. 

Geeze this weather is all backwards! It rains on good training Saturdays and is hot and sunny on race Saturdays.  I was suposed to meet a couple of friends early this morning  for a run up Ben Lomand peak. I woke up and the wind was ripping.  Checked the NOAA site on Mt. Ogden and it was clocking steady at 45 mph with gusts to 65-70, ARRHH, looks like another long run on the low trails. 

My friends changed plans with the weather report and were going to do a long out and back on the BST, I couldn't get  motivated to get out the door and running another loop on the BST didn't help spark any fire either.  I headed out solo an hour or so later with no clear plan, but knew I wanted to start with Malan's Peak.  By the time I left the wind was still ripping and it was raining hard, sideways.  I put on a light weight gore-tex shell over a long sleeve shirt, a hat, and some light gloves, (dressed like winter in June???)  With in 5 minutes I had my hood on too, the wind was blowing rain right down my jacket and the trail was a river. Luckily the Malan's trail is very rocky so very little to no mud. 

I maintained a nice steady run, dodging limbs and one tree that had been knocked down by the wind,  all the way up and passed several groups of very wet people coming down and one group of two heading up.  I hit the top in 39 minutes and the wind almost knocked me down when I crested the last little rise.  At this point I figured I'd better stay close to home and get some climbing in.  I ended up running a two more laps up and down from the second bridge in Taylor Canyon.  On the third I continued all the way to Malan's Basin.  I ended up passing the group of 2 I passed on first my lap a total of 5 times, by the 5th I apologized for making them stop and get off the trail so many times.

My Garmin was on some who knows what mode so I don't know exact numbers but from today, but looking at past runs I can say 6000 vertical, 10.25 miles and I know the time 2:49.  I ran pretty easy and took the downs mellow to go easy on my knee, the pace seems slow but there was alot of up, there are no flat sections on this route, except for maybe a 1/4 mile stretch into Malan's Basin, so that means about half of the miles were climbing so that's 5900 vert in about 5.5 miles.  Equals out to about 1100 vertical ft per mile for the climb, give or take a little. Finally, I was able to run a complete 3 laps up Malan's.  I had done 2, but never 3, feels good to have the training paying off.  Knee was a little stiff after and my right calf has a little twinge, but everything seems to be on the mend,  ART is awesome! (thanks Aaron) gotta keep it together and strong for 2 more weeks, Logan Peak baby! (was my favortie race last year) Really looking forward to a fun day, lots of friends running, My best friend's wife, a girl from my ward growing up, 2 of my wife's college friends, lots of Ogden area runners, and one of my long time friends who ran this and Speed Goat with me last year, oh, and I get to chase Twinkies all day too!       

Casual 7.8 miles, 1900 vert. Legs, heavy but good. about 1:20.  6:45 in the car when I left, 8:05 when I got back. No watch, no water, no gel, no rain, no snow, no mud, no wind, nobody but me and a perfect trail. :)

6 miles easy BST south of 22nd street. 

Steady 5 miles, 500 vert.  Legs good on the flats, I don't have much of an uphill gear though, My legs have felt heavy and slow going uphill the last two days. They've got 20,000 vert on them in the last 10 days so I guess I shouldn't expect too much life to be in them at this point. 

Really enjoyed all my running this week despite yesterday's episode (Jun was the privy to the rant).  Aches and pains are subsiding and things feel good.  2 weeks ago when I was walking the dog up Taylor Canyon I wondered how long it would be before I could bomb down that trail agian with my knee feeling as it was.  I feel very grateful that things have come back together as quickly as they have. I have approached every run the last few days casually and set out to go how I felt: up, flat," fast", slow, no real plan, just out enjoying the trail and moving over it.  Looking very much forward to getting out for some high elevation running by the end of the week.  I need to start thinking about winding down for Logan Peak, probably won't slow down too much going into that one.   

Totally dead 7 miles, 1000 vert, started out good chasing and passing a group of mtn bikers, wheels came off shortly after and I survival  "ran" the rest of the way. 

10 miles, 2600 vert, up high, took it easy, perfect weather.

SLEEEP! needed rest was headed for the bucket!

Got out for a nice 8 earlyish.  Just under tempo, BST with varriation.  1250 vert. 

Good solid 6 miles up wheeler to ice box to art nord and back the same way.  Got out late, finished right before dark. Beautiful out tonight.  1100 vert.

Work sucked! some people are nuts! 3 miles at sunset. 500 vert.

Logan Peak was my favorite race last year.  Beautiful, lots of varied terrain, lots of climbing and good, fast downhill.  The course is perfect for a summer run, on the shady side of the mountain in the morning and running in shade through deep woods in the afternoon.  I was really looking forward to this one and everything felt great going in to the race.

I was happy to see the RD had altered the start/finish this year to a more direct route through the park and up to the trails, cut the pavement section down to a ¼ mile or so and eliminated the grueling uphill paved section to the finish. I didn’t realize they had made this change as we lined up and I stood where I though mid-pack would be, which, because we were going the other direction, was actually the front of the pack.   Before I could adjust to my usual spot we were underway.  I quickly found myself running behind a bunch a bunch fast looking guys in racing flats and singlets that said something about St George Running club.   Things shook out quick, with the leaders pulling steadily ahead and a few others catching up. I settled into about the top 10 or so for the climb up Dry Canyon.  On the climb legs felt great, lungs were burning, I started to worry that I had caught a bit of the nasty cold that everyone I work with has had all week.  (felt funky Friday night too, like cold sweat, but I thought it was nerves?)  I held steady and settled in behind BJ and John? both are local Ogden runners and were moving strong.  They slowed a bit and I passed them, but I was working way too hard for the pace, couldn’t breathe.  We all stayed together to the first aid station and I think a couple of others were in our little conga line, but after the aid station I didn’t see them again. 

Bj and John blew through the aid and fired the jets, I grabbed a cup of water and followed but within a few hundred yards caught something with my foot and was face down on the trail before I knew what hit me.  I never fall running (I run too slow) so it shook me a bit and by the time I got moving again the Ogden guys were long gone.  As I came around the traverse to an open section of trail I could see two people in front of me I assumed it was the Ogden guys, as I got closer I could tell it wasn’t.  With the exception of passing one guy on the South Syncline section, the two in front of me at this point would be who I would be chasing for the next 23 miles or so.  Once in a while the gap would close a little, but from the start of South Syncline, through the climbs to the second aid and on to the climb to Logan Peak they would stay a consistent minute or so ahead of me.  I started to wonder, because they looked so casual, if they were just running hard enough to keep me back because every time I closed the gap they would move out again to a one minute gap or so. 

Things felt good for me around the South Syncline loop to the second aid.  The climbs were still there as I remembered them, but seemed much easier this year.  My legs felt good, but my lungs were working hard.  I made a very quick stop at aid 2 and was off to Logan Peak.  Shortly after the aid the trail opens up to a clearing with a long sight distance.  My two “pacers” were still a minute or so ahead, when I got to the end of the clearing I looked back and nothing, no one near at all.  Up to this point I hadn’t see a soul behind me.  I was in a weird gap, right at the end of the faster guys and a ways ahead of the mid pack.  At the end of the clearing is a bugger little climb, and at the top I could see the leaders just getting to the tower on Logan Peak, amazing, I still had a mile or more and 1000 or so feet to climb to get there. About at this point, I passed a guy standing at a jeep who told me I was number 14.  As I made my way up Logan Peak, the Ogden guys passed me coming down, they were killing it! Running in the top 8-9 for sure, pretty good for their first ultra.  As I topped out and rounded the antenna, I looked to see who was behind and still nothing but a lot of clear trail.  I bombed down the snow field and within a minute or so I saw a red streak come over the rise, Twinkies! And he was moving fast.  We passed each other just as I reached the saddle at the bottom of the climb and he was starting up, probably 7-10 minutes apart. I yelled my customary TWINKIES! as I usually do when we pass each other on an out and back in a race.  He said something about being right on my tail.  I would run with fear of being passed by a red streak the rest of the race.

Coming back through aid 2/3 I was surprised to see my “pacer” buddies just leaving as I came in.  Running up the jeep road to the single track cutoff I was slowly and steadily reeling one of them in.  As we made the turn onto the single track I was right behind him, he fought for a bit, then let me by, it wasn’t over though, as he stayed pretty close all the way around the North Syncline loop.  About half way through this section I started to see “pacer” number 2 just in front.  Soon enough he saw me and picked it up and was gone.  Rounding the corner and heading down into Dry Canyon for the big descent to the finish, I looked back and was alone again, no one behind at all.  I blew through the last aid and put the pedal down as hard I had in me on the downhill. Within a few minutes I passed a hiker coming up and he said there were 2 just in front of me.  I cranked it up a little more, and soon could see “pacer” #2 and another guy.  I caught pacer #2 pretty quickly and he pulled over and let me by, the other guy saw me coming and picked up the pace, it took me a mile or so but I eventually caught and passed him.  I was running hard to pass these guys and, after passing them, knew I had to keep up the pace to stay ahead.  It hurt, but it was good to really give it all I had.  The last few miles were hot, but generally uneventful, except the 20-30 cows I had to stop and herd off the trail! and the tongue lashing I got from the rancher, which I ignored with a friendly wave.  Probably cost me a minute or two because the beasts just wanted to stay on the trail and I couldn’t pass in the thick trees.

I finished in 5:20-5:21 and I think was 10^th or 11^th overall.  (looked at current reults and I was 10th) That was 35 minutes better than last year and my best overall finish yet! Finally a top 10.  It wasn’t my best day physically, the cold, which I know by how I feel now is indeed a cold, took a little energy out of me, but I really felt like I gave it 100% and never really took my foot off the gas.  I had very little in the tank at the end and am very happy with the way everything went.  I raced hard all the way through.  At the finish I had a great time talking with friends, hanging with the family, and cheering in the many close friends who ran today. Good to finally meet FRB'er and really fast racer Jon,, we have a couple more races in common this year so at least he'll know who the slow guy is yelling at him on out and back sections. Great race, great day!  Thanks to the RD and all the volunteers.

Things learned: Legs feel better on race day if I run consistantly the week leading up to the race. A carb isnt a carb, eat better the day or two before. Run thy own race.  And something else???I'll have to ask my wife, I rattled it off to her earlier.

Recovery is going great! legs are a little heavy, but no soreness at all from the race? 1st time that's happend.  Out for an easy couple tonight with the dog. Hot!

Really looking forward to a good 6 weeks of hard training.   Lots of long runs planned.  First one up is from Avon to Mountain Green, maybe this weekend?