Unofficial race held in Smithfield up to a tree the locals call "Whistle Dick", hence the whistle dick challenge. 3 times up to the tree climbing different ridges. Brutal but sweet. Finish is at the tree. Erik took off and was long gone, that dude can climb! After the first climb I was in 5th/6th. I worked really hard to catch up on the 2nd and 3rd climbs but Mike beat me, so I ended up third. Nate was 4th and Fan was 5th. There were about 30 people there. Sweet chance to socialize with the local skimo guys who don't usually do the ultras. This is their type of race. Fun stuff.
Kind of a test to see how the leg handles the road for 8 miles. Seemed to do ok. I did run on the gravel on the shoulder where possible though. Minor achy-ness (sp) is all.
Got to test out the waterproof shoes (Altra Lone Peak 2.0 with Polartec) in mud and snow today on the Crimson Trail. Turns out they work great. Lots of traction, which was good considering the cliff and all. Midfoot is sloppy but otherwise its a good shoe. Fun run with Seth Wold (haven't seen him in years) and Zac and Fan. Made fun of Zac the whole time (like usual).
Went up to Whistle Dick Tree then down to Birch and up the Ridge Between Birch and Smithfield canyon. Back down the ridge and over to Dry for a short stint before I ran out of time. Had to go to Stacey Brown's wedding. Happy for her!
Quad Baldy Adventure with Mike, Erik, and Zac (for half) -
Quite the route...just a bit of vertical. Started at Providence Canyon, easy running to Dry Canyon, up the ridge to Temple baldy (8114') then up to Little Baldy (8763'). Down a cool ridge to providence off trail to "Flag hill" (turns out its called saddle rock by the locals) and down to providence canyon.
Break at the cars for a refill and snack
Then we headed up to Baby Baldy (7838') in the twighlight and Big Baldy (8858') in the light rain and heavy winds. It was a blast coming down off the mountain until Erik superman'd it. I bet that hurt.
