Trails!

Long Trail Run - 

Enjoyed my holiday to the fullest.  Ran 28.5 miles, had a BBQ with yummy steak and ribs, played games, hiked 2 miles with the fam, ate tons of cake and ice cream, played 9 holes of golf.  What a day!

The run was great mostly cause it was off and on raining but never too hard.  It kept things kind of cool.  It was crazy humid though.  The other highlight was seeing way more sheep and cows than people.  That became a problem with footing on the trail though.  Lots of land mines to avoid.  That reminds me.  I ran in a new pair of shoes.  PI EMotion M2's from the St. George Running Center.  I really liked them.  The only complaint was that they have lousy traction in cow pies.  Very slippery.  

I ran from Right Hand Fork (mile 37 of the Bear100) to the bottom of Richards Hollow (mile 23 of the Bear100) and back.  There are two major climbs and descents in each direction.  I think the direction the race goes is slightly harder.  Much longer climb out of Richards.  I ran 2:25 out and 2:31 back.  I wanted to see how today's pace compared to actual race pace.  

T- 4:56 (10:23) 6500' vert

Richards to Cowley

- Today 1:28:30 

- 20 hour pace 1:26

- 22 hour pace (last year's pace) 1:31

- 24 hour pace 1:45

Cowley to Right Hand Fork

- Today 1:02:30

- 20 hour pace 1:11

- 22 hour pace  (last year's pace) 1:09 - probably too fast. 

- 24 hour pace 1:25

Bunchgrass - White Pine trails to White Pine Lake - 

Ran with Mike.  Pace was medium on the way up.  I was feeling good.  Had lots of cows and cow pies to dodge again.  Made it to the lake and turned around.  I quickly left Mike behind.  I guess the pace was too hard on the way up and he was spent.  I stopped at the critical junctions to wait for him.  No big deal.  I was able to add on a half mile at the end while waiting to make it an even 15 miles. 

T-2:18 (9:12) 3300' vert

Hour of ultimate frisbee

Pace Report Wasatch 100 - 

Paced Tyler Shepherd from Lambs (mile 52.5) to Brighton (mile 74.5).  

7500' vert climbing 4800' vert descending

T- 6:28 or so

Tyler came into Lambs in pretty good shape.  He had totally sandbagged the first 2 aid stations in the race and had progressively picked up the pace and also picked off people all day long.  He was shooting for 30 hours and that was looking very good for him.  He came into Lambs canyon right on 30 hour pace but with momentum to be closer to 28 hours by the end.  He was down 10 pounds or so but looked WAY better than everyone else coming into that aid.  It was HOT (96 degrees) and exposed.  Carnage was everywhere.  His father and friend were crewing for him so the three of us got him fed and cooled down then off we went.  

The hike up Lambs over to Millcreek was slow as he took it easy to conserve.  Time was really unimportant as the goal was to finish.  At that point it looked like an done deal.  Little did we know the stuggles ahead.  Right as we left Lambs a huge cloud of dust came and turned day into night.  Very crazy.  I loved the trail and will have to visit it again soon.  We hit Millcreek canyon right before dark and set to hiking up the 3 mile asphalt stretch.  

Ugg, really?  Asphalt?  At least the road was closed to crews so that the cars were at a minimum. We kept it at a hike and as such the road was slow and boring.  Once we hit the aid, we needed to turn on our lights.  Fed and watered we then proceeded to tackle the nearly 3 mile stretch to Dog lake.  Yep more uphill.  We proceeded to pass plenty of folks as we made it to the lake.  The short descent to Blunder fork was rocky and uneven.  Tyler kept things pretty conservative.  He was around 12 min/mile pace on the downhill.  Yet, it wasn't too soon after that downhill that Tyler began to complain of knee pain.  No big deal, pain is normal at this stage.  Try and ignore it and continue.  He did just that.  More climbing up past Desolation Lake and up to Red Lover's Ridge (10,000').  He got things rolling on the flatter stretches along the ridge.  We continued to make decent time, but was generally slowing down.  We continued to pick off a few runners every so often.  One of them was not looking good at all.  Weaving and bobbing and generally looking pale and wasted.  I stopped to chat for a bit to check on him.  He seemed to be ok and coherent but definetly in a bad way.  In contrast, Tyler was still bouncing along and eating well and drinking plenty.  The only issue was the now near constant gritting of teeth and slowing to a walk as his knee bugged him.  

Scott's Peak Aid (mile 70) was a welcome sight.  5 miles to Brighton with most of it downhill.  I figured we could jog it slowly and still make up time on his 30 hour splits.  Normally, that would have been fine but with the knee thing getting worse, it became a battle to keep moving at all.  He ran some, walked some until it finally became too painful to run.  So walk we did.  The last 2 miles into the aid, he was in real serious pain and was not looking like he could continue.  I tried to keep things light and hopeful for a miracle but knew that the acute pain he was experiencing was unlikely to stop until he did.  

Brighton was a zoo.  Bodies and crews all over the place.  We worked to give first aid to Tyler and get the knee better.  Any movement caused pain at this point.  Walking was near impossible.  Poor Tyler, his wife and crew disappointed, but mostly Tyler himself was so sad and mad and just plain irritated that his leg would not allow him to continue.  We tried everything we could think of for about 90 mins before we decided to call it a day. DNF.  Another victim to Brighton.  Only it wasn't for nutrition or hydration or poor pacing.  He tackled both of those perfectly.  It was out of his hands.  

My first "failure" as a pacer.  Technically, I got him to Brighton and Dan was to take him to the Finish.  So, its Dan's failure.  Ok, not true.  Did he run the downhill too fast to mess the knee up?  No way.  I pretty much walked to keep up on that downhill.  I think it was the hours and hours of climbing he did on severly tired and worn out legs.  A doctor visit should shed some light on the final diagnosis. 

Rest well and hope you are back running soon Tyler.  Thanks for the opportunity to experience the joys and pains of another 100 mile run.

Providence Canyon trail 

Saw 0 people on the trail and 4 deer.  Success.  The biggest problem today was that my headlamp was practically worthless with nearly dead batteries.  Made the trip up pretty slow.  

I am now on Strava.  Pretty fun to play with.  Big waste of time.  With some efforts I could really set some sweet times...

T-1:08 (8:30) 1500' vert

Tabernacle - Temple - Canal trail - BST to random sign and back

Felt pretty good and thought I was going faster than I was.  Oh well, easy day.

T-1:12:12 (8:00) 725' vert

Spring Hollow and Crimson Trail loop - 

Really, it was an aborted Spring Hollow run.  The plans changed when the rains completely drenched us.  It was wet cold and windy.  And we were heading higher and higher up the mountain.  Yep, we whimped out.  Once we went down, the rains stopped though.  Figures.  So we hopped onto the Crimson Trail and did the loop.  Pretty serious climbing today!

T-2:08 (11:08) 4000' vert

6 Miles - 

Much needed blah run.

53 mins

Deer Fence - 

Some in the rain some without...Wore a jacket un-necessarily.  Heat training I guess.

T-1:01:50 (8:49) 750' vert

Final Long Run (before the really long run) -

Mike joined me for another awesome run on the Bear course.  We ran from Franklin Basin Aid (mile 61.5) to Logan River Aid (mile 69.5) to Beaver Mtn Aid (mile 76) then back to Logan river aid then down the dirt road (shortcut) back to the car.  

Boring Splits

- FB to LR 1:30 (1:41 = 20 hour pace)

- LR to BM 1:18 (1:32 = 20 hour pace)

- BM to LR 1:10

Total - 4:15 5000' vert

Providence Canyon trail  - 

Little faster this week up and down.  I had batteries for the headlamp.  Good thing cause it was dark for 5 of the 8 miles.  Fall is here...

T-1:06:13 1500' vert 39:40 up 26:33 down

Tabernacle - Temple - Canal trail - BST to random sign and back

Nice and easy pace today.  Watched a nice lightning show over by valley view highway.

T-1:15 (8:19) 750' vert

Jardine Juniper sans tree but with an extra loop at the top.  11 miles - 

Joe and Mike both dogged me today so I was on my own.  Decided to start my taper tomorrow AFTER today's run.  Went pretty hard from the start.  27 mins to first saddle.  38:30 to start of loop.  First loop in 12 mins (1.5 miles), second in 12:12.  Finish last 4 (downhill) in 25:43.  I kept the uphill at 80-90% and the downhill at 75%.  Didn't want to wreck or tweak something.  I figure I have another 5 mins I could shave off.

Now I know this is not as fast as Jon's PR run but I like this version of the run better since 9.5 miles (Jon's version) is too short.  11 is better.  But since mine is now on Strava it's official.  Jon, you should add your FKT to Strava and we can compare.  

T-1:28:25 (8:02) 2100' vert

Tomorrow begins my taper.  I am betting my flat run tomorrow will be 1-1.5 mins/mile slower than this run.

5 Easy miles - FG - PW Loop 

39 mins

Met Nick McCombs at the Tabernacle and took him on a tour of the Canal Trail and BST.  Luckily it was dark and we were on a trail for most of it.  That kept the pace reasonable.  All except for the climb up BST from First Dam.  That boy can climb.  About killed me.  Fun run.

T-1:08:45 (7:38) 750' vert

Short Trail Run - 

Went up Green from King Park.  Nice and easy.  Less than a week until the big day.  Feeling healthy and fit...Knock on wood.

T-1:28 (8:50) 1350' vert

Deer Fence Easy -

No deer today.  Just a big fence.

T-43:40 (8:43) 600' vert

River Trail easy - 43:40 400' vert

Yesterday and today I have had the sniffles.  Gonna rest up until The Bear.  Can't be getting sick.  

-Goals for the race:

#1 - Stay out of the hospital

#2 - Finish while still completing goal #1

#3 - Sub 24 hours

#4 - Sub 22 hours

#5 - Win...yeah right...

Bear100 - 23 hours 37 mins

Second time's the charm (see last year's DNF).  It was hard fought and I nearly dropped, but I fought back and got the sub 24 buckle.  Lots of awesome pics courtesy of Bethany Draper (crew chief and most awesome person in the world).

The drawn out details....

Race day dawned with light snow and lots of clouds.  It was going to be cold all day long.  

Section 1 - Start to Leatham Hollow (~20 miles)

The initial climb up Dry Canyon felt very relaxed and easy.  The lead pack eased away from me and I found myself in roughly 15th.  I was at the tail end of a long train and content to sit in and zone out.  The snowline was about at 8000'.  Basically, it was pretty uneventful until we hit the Welches Jeep trail doubletrack.  Once we hit that, the pace picked up.  I passed a bunch in my train.  Cruised the downhill and then basically maintained position on the climb into the aid at mile 10.5.  I caught Andy Dorias on the climb and we ended up chatting and passing the time until Leatham.  We were in roughly 10th at the aid and I hit the split in the exact same time as last year.  It felt easier this year though.  One thing to note was that I saw maybe 3 course markings from the start to this point.  Luckily, I knew the route and those behind could follow mud and snow prints.  Someone dropped the ball on the first 12 miles of the course with regard to markings.  Things improved once onto the descent and for most of the rest of the course.  

The main thing to note was the immediate pain I felt in my back, hamstring, butt, groin etc on the descent to Leatham Hollow.  I slowed up and made sure to take care of it best I could.  It would not improve for hours....

Section 2 - Leatham Hollow to Right Hand Fork (~17 miles)

My running companions Andy and Ryan Chase would blow through Leatham and I stopped to refuel.  They would slowly pull away.  Andy ran 22:28 and Ryan finished in 23:15.  I was becoming quite worried with my leg.  I figured out it was my nerve pain from my bulging disk acting up.  Perhaps the cold weather, combined with the steep climbs/descents was causing the pain.  It was severely limiting my power.  On the climb up Richards Hollow I was passed by a handful of runners.  I had energy, but no pushoff.  Even though it felt really slow, I only lost 6 mins on my last year's splits from Richards to Cowley and another 8 minutes from Cowley to Right Hand Fork.  Not terrible, but worrisome.  I knew I had a long day ahead so was optimistic the pain would go away somehow.  

This section was the warmest all day long. Maybe in the 40's even.  I wore a short sleeve shirt, "arm panties", gloves, shorts.  I think I even saw the sun too.  A far cry from the hot day we had last year.  

Section 3 - Right Hand Fork to Tony Grove (~15 miles)

My awesome crew was in full-force at RHF.  I had my wife (crew chief) who helped me all day and all night.  My Parents were taking care of the kids who had made cool signs and everything.  Tim's girlfriend was there.  And of course, Joe and Mike were there.  Mike would start his pacing duties from RHF.  It was great to have the boost from friends and family. 

The back/leg issues seemed to get worse with every step.  Every uphill would be harder and harder to even hike let alone run.  Every downhill caused pain and would be really slow until things loosened up.  My M.O. was to walk the uphills and most the flats but run the downhills at a decent pace.  It was something.  

I took a while at Temple Fork to regroup and change shoes.  I was thinking maybe the shoes could be contributing to the back pain.  I was trying everything.  Mike was trying so hard to be a good pacer and help me out.  He suggested running while hunched over (like I was touching my toes), laughing, crying, dancing, singing, peeing, basically anything.  Good man!  

The climb up Blind Hollow was the most miserable hike of my life.  Thick mud, extreme pain, no energy, cold weather, snow, everyone passing me like I was standing still.  It is tough to watch someone hike past you and be out of sight in 30 seconds.  While Hiking!  Ouch.  I couldn't move.  Did I mention the soul-sucking mud?  I did the math and figured I was lucky to be doing 2 mph.  I could finish in 25 hours.  Did I really want to do that?  Would I do further damage to my body by continuing?  We FINALLY made it to the top of the climb and tried to get things rolling on the downhill.  The pain was extreme.  It was very slow at first until things loosened up a bit.  I finally bit my lips and grunted my way down the hill.  I figured it hurt to go slow or fast so might as well go fast.  It actually worked.  I was able to loosen up and actually get going.  I actually felt reasonable pulling into Tony Grove.  

Section 4 - Tony Grove to Beaver Mountain (24 miles)

A long stop at TG to regroup and try and revive was in-order.  I could have easily justified stopping there.  I almost did.  But, I couldn't yet.  I knew I could make it to the next aid.  I had my wife rub my spine and try and separate my vertebra.  Some icy hot and a tylenol and off I went.  I got about a quarter mile up the trail and froze.  The wind was whipping, the snow was falling.  I was cold.  I decided to get some pants on.  Yep, pants.  I made pacer Mike go back and get them.  While he was gone, I tried running.  Uphill.  Amazing.  I could do it!  My body was working again.  The back/leg pain was gone.  I couldn't believe it.  I wasn't running fast, but I was running.  Mike was shocked when he returned.  I had to take off shoes to get my pants on so lost a few mins but before long I was back running.  We met up with Brian from SLC who would stay within 5 mins of us all the way to the finish.  I ran the whole way nearly into franklin basin only losing 12 mins from last year.  Most of that was probably putting on my pants.  

I was so happy to be back!  My wife was happier.  I thought she was going to blow a gasket worrying about me.  She couldn't sit around the aid so she hiked up a mile or so up the trail to meet me.  She was surprised by how soon I arrived.  Amazing recovery.  

At Franklin I ditched Mike and picked up Joe for the final 40.  Mike would continue on with Tim who was only 60 mins behind at Tony Grove.  The climb up Steam Mill was not as brutal as last year.  I had some of my power back and could actually power hike.  I did forget my light and had to send back Joe to get it.  Luckily it wasn't too far out of the aid.  Thanks Joe.  I ran this stretch in the same time as last year.  It felt like I was flying even if I wasn't going all that fast.  It was relative.  

I actually started passing people back.  I could manage a walk/run routine for the climb up Petersen Hollow and could actually run the descent into Beaver Mountain. Life was good again.  I did run the section from Logan River to Beaver Mountain slower than last year, but I don't care.  

I actually didn't have a watch since Temple Fork.  I had no idea how I was doing until I hit the aid stations and asked the time of day.  I then compared it to my 24 hour pace chart.  I actually had a chance to break 24 hours.  I couldn't believe it.  I could do it!

Section 5 - Beaver Mountain to Finish (~24 miles)

So far, no signs of 'Rhabdo'.  I am confident that I will not have the issues from last year.  My wife was not so confident.  I was feeling 'good' last year at Beaver Mountain just like this year.  I took another Tylenol (final one) and pressed on.  I was soon joined by Brian (again) and Shane Martin (Mr. Rocky Mountain Slam).  Shane would move ahead eventually and I would pull ahead of Brian by a few mins.  The climb up Gibson was brutal as ever and I didn't even try to run it.  I was in conserve mode.  Trying not to blow up.  Feeling like I could very easily I opted to stick to a slower pace.  I lost 5 mins on last year's splits but couldn't care less.  I wasn't pooping blood.  My insides were staying on my inside this time.  I could touch my stomach and back without crying in pain.  Success!  

The snowy descent into Beaver Creek was a celebration this year.  I was running and having a great time.  I was absolutely miserable, but loving it!  I was going to finish.  I picked up 4 mins per mile over last year's splits here.

The climb out of the aid and up to Ranger Dip was demoralizing.  I could not climb.  I was weak and my breathing was through the roof.  Barely moving I eventually made it to Ranger Dip.  Only 8 miles to go.  One short, steep climb then the longest nastiest descent to the finish.  The climb about killed me.  I had to stop and stare at my feet for a few seconds contemplating how I could pull off a double homicide.  First kill my pacer who while he has good intentions of helping I am convinced is trying to kill me.  Then end the misery somehow.  Maybe I could shove my gel flask down his throat and he would choke.  Ok, fine I will keep going.  You win Joe.  

The descent was steep and pain-inducing.  My quads were toast.  We were moving pretty well though.  Picked off another guy and were on the hunt for Brian.  We wouldn't catch him even with our 7(ish) min miles on the final stretch. The finish line was glorious!  I immediately asked what my finish time was.  He said 23:57.  I was shocked.  I couldn't believe it was so close.  Either he or I were hallucinating though because my actual time was 23:37.  That's better. Done!  Satisfied.  Could I run it faster?  Absolutely.  Will I?  Maybe.  I got my sub 24 and showed all those people who told me I couldn't/shouldn't that I could.  Ha!  Ok, I'm done gloating.  I was satisfied.  

Special Thanks to my crew and family and friends.  Never could have done it without you.  Thanks for being so selfless in such a selfish sport!  Love you!

Now the pics - 

Leatham Hollow

Cowley canyon

(crew) - Grandma and the girls

The road to Temple Fork

Joe "on watch"

At Temple Fork

My boy at Tony Grove

Tony Grove

The kiddos at TG

Leaving Tony Grove 

Franklin Basin

Joe's and Tim's significant other(s) 

Joe's Jenny - She was waiting patiently for him all night...usually asleep.

Mike and Azusa

Beaver Creek Campground

THE CREW!

The pain!

My personal favorites - Ranger Dip 

The Finish!

The Celebration Burger at A&W

The Buckle