Like the canyon

Same Snowbasin trail 1/2 marathon as last Monday.  Ran it a little faster tonight than last week, 1:49 for 13.1. 1940 vert.  About got killed by two mtn bikers on Green Pond , luckily I had a feeling it might be coming and stepped to the right side of the trail just as a guy came flying around a blind corner.  He almost put it in the dirt to avoid hitting me, and I had to jump sideways to miss his handle bar, just as I caught my balance his buddy came around the corner even faster and about took us both out.  Explatives and apologies exchanged, and all was good agian in few seconds.  Other than that, not another person out.  Really pushed the downhill hard tonight, had splits from 6:40 to 6:58 for 3 miles and my Ice Box split was 7:20, last mile down Wheeler was 6:41.  I'll take it for technical single track.  Route was Wheeler/E.Fork/Green Pond/Down Little Cat at Snowbasin/Maples/Icebox/Wheeler.  A little rain tonight made it nice.  Great run, I expected a little more fatigue after last week. Calves are a little tight, me thinks its time for some more ART.

Lewis Peak tonight.  11 miles, 3150 vert.  2:00 hours. Tough and I'm tired.  I took my camera tonight and would have some great shots but the battery was dead. doh! Unbelievably cool sunset, dropped below the clouds just as it went behind the horizon, turned everything red and orange, nothing like summer alpenglow, an awesome view in every direction and a camera in hand with a dead battery.  Nice! 

A little side story:

Parking lot had one car in it, trail was empty, thought I was all alone out there until I turned the last corner headed to the peak, and there, on the peak sat a very tired, out of shape and inexperienced looking father and 3 boys, guessing ages 12, 7, and 5. We talked for a bit, the older boy asked how long it took me, I said an hour, he said they started at 3:30.  Well, it was currently a little after 8:30 (that's 5 hours to go 5.5 miles)  and getting dark fast.  I asked if they were headed all the way down or spending the night?  They said all the way down.  Ever been up here before? nope. Geeze, maybe I was wrong, but they sure didn't look like they were prepared, or had planned for what would end up being close to a 10 hour day in the mountains by the time they got back to the car, in the dark, with thunderstorms all around the valley.  The trail is not straight forward in the dark either, lots of side trails and unmarked forks. I asked if they had lights? yes, and they showed my 3 small flashlights like you would by at a dollar store.  I asked about water, they said they had a little but thought it was enough.  I had nothing to offer them, one light, 2 gulps of water and I was out of gel.  I wished them luck, told them to be safe and headed down.  I worried about them all the way down and on the way home I saw a cop parked on the side of the road, I pulled over and explained the situation, that they were fine when I saw them, but somebody might start to worry  (there is no cell service up there so if they were way over due they couldn't let anyone know) and call it in, and I wanted to let him know where they were and that they were o.k.  Right now its 11:00 and I'm sure they are still on the mountain, hope all is well. 

Easy paced 5 with 850 vert on the bench above home.  Loving these monsoon evenings.  Cooler temps, a little rain, a lot of alpenglow, even a gray rainbow that popped out right as the sun was going down, never seen that before. Geeze I love living here!

Good old Indian Trail ount-n-back tonight.  I haven't run through here since early spring.  Made me think about how long a summer of runnig it has already been and brought back good memories of the magic of first early spring runs on dry trail through the moutnians.  Why is it that every run this week I have watchted the sun sink below the horizon? Are the days getting that much shorter already, or am I just getting out later? Noticed fall colors starting to show on the low brush, some bright reds and yellows already.  Hard to belive its only a month or so from going into full color change on the higher ridges.  It was a hot one out there tonight, but I was reminded to enjoy these warm nights and good trail because it won't be long 'till runs are on icey single track with 2 foot snow banks on each side and I'll be dreaming of dirt under my feet again.

9 mile sweat festival, car said 91 when I got out and it was very humid, baked all the way up the West slope. 2700 vert, stopped short of the canyon TH on the out-n-back.  Easy pace, but felt hard.

I love running through the mountains in the dark.  There is something to having the world reduced to the 20-30 ft of glow on the trail in front of you and a huge starry sky overhead.  But running mountain trails alone in the dark comes in degrees of intensity for me.  Starting in the dark and knowing it will be light when I finish the run is a piece of cake and regular fare.  Starting in the light and knowing it will be after dark when I finish is a little more intense, (or freaky) starting in the middle of the night and knowing you are doing a solo long run to a remote mountain top and back is always high on the intense/freaky scale.   Its always really hard to step out of the truck at a trailhead in the dark, turn on the lights and head off alone into the black knowing it will be more black and more alone when you return.    

With the higher degree of freak, comes a higher degree of reward.  Last night's Ben Lomond run will no doubt go down in memory as one of the best of the summer.  Running alone in the dark across high mountain ridges definatly tunes up your senses.  Knowing I'm out 7-8 miles from the nearest person tends to make me pay attention.  Being on the peak at 1:30 AM was serene.  No wind at all, totally silent, watching lightening storms way out west of the GSL and far off to the east, meteors streaking across the sky and a bright half moon lighting up the surrounding peaks. I signed the register and noted the time.  Under my name I wrote a hello to a friend I knew would be up there arond 7:30.   

Only one notiable animal encounter.  About a mile from the peak a big mountain goat walked out on the trail about 30 feet in front of me.  He stood there acros the trail, looking at me and not moving.  The stand off went on for a bit too long and next thing I know I'm talking to him, "sooo, are you going to move, or what?" "don't make me huck a rock your direction" Nothing.  Fianlly I turned out my lights, and he was off, full sprint up the trail. 

If you are wondering why the middle of the night? well first, out of schedual necessity (my wife and 10 year old were entered in a triathlon Saturday morning and wife and I needed a night out together  Saturday night equals no time for a long run. On the tri reuslts, I'm happy to report they both came home with hardware, wife 3rd place age group, 10 yr old 3rd place overall in the kids tri out of what had to have been 150 kids competing.  It was awesome to watch that kid get after it.  He swam like a pro, tranistioned like he had been doing it for years, and ran down the only runner in front of him, made papa very proud! And I don't think my wife has ever come home from a triahlon without a place medal, made hubby proud again) second, the adventure of it, 3rd, 100 miler training. I need a couple more good night runs like that to tune me up for the Bear 100 in September. 

 Run stats: 16 miles, 4000 vert. Day started at 6:00 AM, worked 10.5 hours, run start time 11:30 PM, Peak 1:25 AM, car 3:10 AM, bed 3:45 AM.  Sleep of the dead unitl 6:45 AM.

Last two week totals: 138 miles, 28,500 vert, most of it over 8000 ft in elevation.  Add in 50-55 hour work weeks each week on top of it, and well, I (and they) needed a little family time today.