Trails!

Happy New Year!

I am in SLC again for the festivities.  I left the in-laws for a run down to the Parkway.  The roads were deserted and everyone seemed to be sleeping off the effects of partying.  I liked it.  

T-59:00 (7:23)

* I officially signed up for the Poky 50 Miler.  It is suppossed to one of the hardest 50 milers in the country.  Not a great choice for a debut, but tough beans.  Who said 2010 was going to be easy?

Long Run -

Adam Wende was kind enough to meet me at the Parkway for a run today.  I was planning on the old IPOD to keep me company, but he is much more entertaining.  The time flew by.  That is until the final 5 miles where my wheels came off.  It could have been as a result of my fueling from last night (2 crab legs, a lobster tail, and a few jumbo shrimp to top it off).  Very yummy home-cooked meal if I do say so.  The trail today was covered in about an inch of fresh stuff with patches of hidden ice lurking under.  The weather turned out awesome as I drove through sleet to get there, but ended up running under clear skys the whole way.  Today's run was a great way to finish out a long tough week of long work days, and lots of festivities.  I need a vacation now.

T-2:14:00 (7:27) 18miles

8.5 Miles - Providence Hills loop.  

6 degrees today.  I do have to say that it was much colder at my house than up on the East Bench.  I guess there is something to be said about the expensive lots up there.  Warmth.

T-63:30 (7:28)

8 miles - ICON - Young Ward out and back.  

Today's run started off with good intentions.  The plan was 10 miles with 5 at MP.  My stomach had other intentions.  After multiple pit stops and some dry heaving, I threw in the towel and went home early.  Not a fun morning.  I figure it was the Famous Daves leftovers I ate last night. 

T-57:15 (7:09)

AM:

Warm (32)

Tired

Slow

Stomach Felt Better

Von's Park

7.25 Miles

8:30 pace

PM:

Basketball 90 mins full court

10 - Providence and Millville

So, I dont know if it is the training or the -3 f temperature or the 10 lbs of clothing I lug around with me on my runs, but I have not been able to run fast lately.  Today was supposed to be a harder workout but I couldn't get the body moving.  I have been in slow motion lately and it irks me.  Yeah, Yeah, I know winter training is hard and things will get better if I ever see the sun again, but still....

T-73:00 (7:18) 159

-11

Treadmill

17 Miles - 2:00:05 (7:03) 163

Today we took a quick excursion to SLC for another family gathering (last one I swear).  Since I was running alone I figured it would be nice to wait until I arrived in SLC to run in the warmer weather and in the daylight.  That was a good call as it was 20 degrees warmer by the time I ran.  I hit the road leaving from my parents house in Cottonwood Heights and headed up to Big Cottonwood Canyon.  Once I hit the mouth, I headed south on Prospector Dr and continued on Top of the World drive to Wasatch Blvd.  I followed Wasatch past Little Cottonwood and past Bell canyon until just past pepperwood neighborhood.  My plan was to make it to the 8.5 mile mark in an hour and then turn around.  It was close 60:40 at 8.5.  

The way back was colder as it was into a headwind, but I tried to push it to try and make it home in under 2 hours.  I was doing ok, until mile 13 or so and got pretty tired.  Two hard miles right at the end almost saved it, but I was 5 seconds slow.  I was ok with that though as there was lots of tough hills in this run.  Great workout.

Cold and Dirty - 

Providence - River heights Loop

T-60:50 (7:36) 148

4 degrees and in a thick soup.  I was able to escape the soup by running up into Providence and Millville, but as soon as I dropped back down off the hill it was nasty again.  Not fun at all.

T-1:20:20 (7:18) 155

AM: 7 Easy Miles

T- 54:10 (7:44) 148

PM: Didn't get out

Warm but pretty slick from the skiff of snow last night.  I was dragging up the hills, but felt better going down to finish with a decent pace.  Providence Hills 

T-73:05 (7:18) 155

Landfill loop in the fog

Long Run - 

I was finally home for a saturday.  First in a long time.  That means my Honey-Do list is long, but at least I get to run with the guys.  I started at 6:35 and went out for 3.25 by myself.  I headed back home and picked up Paul and we went out for 7.5 before picking Jon up for the final 8 miles.  I was tired before I even started running with Paul.  That transformed to "completely dead" before Jon even started.  Poor Paul was forced to run slower than 7 min pace for the first time this year.  I feel real terrible.  Really, I do....

T- 2:15:05 (7:18) 154

Providence Hills loop with extension to Providence Canyon.  I had some more stomach issues and was glad to make it to the POP.  Other than that, it was uneventful as usual.

T-69:00 (7:28) 150

AM: Very stupidly, I attempted to run on the ice rink outside.  Yes, it was stupid.   Pure ice with the few random slush puddles.  I was lucky to break 9 min pace on this run.  Should've stayed home. 6 miles

AM:

Today's weather and road conditions were much better today so I took advantage. I ran up to Lundstrom Park via Old Main and back.  I tried out my new shoes the Books Launch and loved them.  Good old Brooks, always putting out a good shoe.

First 5 were ~7:10 ave

Last 7 were ~ 6:30 ave

T-1:21:30 12 miles (6:47) 160 ave

PM:

Full Court Basketball for over an hour.  I got few blisters on the bottom of my feet from all the lateral motion.  Shoot. (Pun intended) - Count as 5 xtrain miles

AM: Too tired and sore from basketball to run this morning.  Plus it was snowing hard.  Slept for an extra hour instead.  

PM: 5 miles on blistered feet on the Dreadmill.  

400 W Route - 

It was windy and warm (37 degrees).  No snow yet, but it looks like it might start soon.  The blisters were much better today, but I was super tired.  I failed to re-fuel after running last night and I felt it.

T-63:25 (7:56) 148

Long Run - 

Today's conditions were less then ideal, but you gotta do it anyway.  The road was either pure ice or if I ran where cars had been, it was a ice-slush mix.  It reminded me of running in sand.  Good trail running training.  I jumped onto the TOU course at mile 21 and headed back to mile 14 (top of hollow road) and back home.  7:30 pace out and 7:05 pace back.

T-2:11:20 (7:18) 155 ave

PM: 5 slow miles on the Treadmill too soon after dinner.  

I came down with a head cold today, but I dont think it affected me that much.

Warning, the following is PG rated....

In other news, I went to the doc today to discuss my diverticulitis I had last year and to discuss why I have the squirts so much lately too.  I get it pretty bad 2-3 times a week with it getting worse with stress or a difficult run.  The general theory is that since it is mostly running induced it could be something simple, like being dehydrated in the mornings before and during my runs causing my blood flow to drop and leave the intestines lacking.  A low thyroid could do this too.  I ran some blood work and hopefully that will tell us something when we get the results back.  Another theory is that I have IBS (irritable bowel syndrome) and that is causing the problem.  Some stool samples (yet to be taken) will rule out giardia or parasites or things like that.  Other theories needed further testing (read Colonoscopy) before diagnosing it.  I got some meds for the IBS so I can experiment with that to see what happens.  Tomorrow, I will try the hydration theory first.  Needless, to say, my runs have been eventful for a few months now (even since TOU) and its time to figure it out.  What a crappy deal....

Small Workout

Providence and Millville Hills loop.  I decided to go out and just give it a solid effort on both the ups and the downs.  I only had 3 miles sub 6:30, but I still felt pretty strong.  I had to make only one #2 break so that was nice.  I drank probably 12 oz of water right before leaving the house but had nothing on the run.  I mean really, who wants to carry around a water bottle in the snow?  It was actually snowing today too.  

T- 1:16:00 (6:55) 160 ave

8 really slow miles.  My cold must have caught up with me and it didn't want to run.  The 8 min guy embarrassed me pretty good. 

T-67:00 (8:22) 138

-I took a pill today and had 0 stops.

PM: Basketball.  I played much better today and avoided the blisters as well. (5 miles)

Didn't get out until the evening today.  Work turned me into a stress-case so I hit the road to clear my head at about 8:15.  Just me and my Ipod (Muse and Franz Ferdinand) and the smothering smog.  I climbed up into the tops of Providence to try and escape the gunk, but I couldn't quite get out of its grasp.  What a dreadful day.  The winter inversion depression.  The run was nice though and I just ran without even thinking about my pace.  Ended up with 1:20:20 for 11 miles (7:18) 155 ave.

-0 pit stops and no pill (I am sure running in the evening helped)

* Oh, and the Doc (actually the nurse) and I guess the only red flag raised from the blood work I had done was a high bilirubin count.  About the only common issue with this wold be a blockage to the bile ducts.  Possible but tough to believe as the root of the problem.  The doc wants to do an ultrasound to be sure of no blockage, but I am not convinced yet. 

It just didn't happen today.

Long run - 

The inversion very nearly has made me suicidal and I think Paul was worse off, so we headed up Blacksmith Fork Canyon to try and escape it.  Before we left, I made it to my church basketball game.  I played hard and scored 8 points so that has to be worth 2 cross-training miles, right?

I drove up the canyon a bit before Paul so I could get in 4 extra miles.  I started at the Hydro Park and ran down to Left Hand Fork.  I headed up the snow packed road until I hit Leatham Hollow.  I ran a few feet on what would the Bear 100 course just so I could say to Jon that I have run more of the course than him this year.  Ha.  I got back to the car just in time for Paul to show up and together we blasted up the canyon.  He was pushing the pace nicely and I suffered  the whole time.  We were rewarded with mostly sunny sky's and no inversion.  The warmth of the sun was sweet.  The only drawback was that there were 10 people for every elk that were at the elk refuge at Hardware Ranch.  Lots of people everywhere.  The run down the canyon was nice until I bonked and hit the cold headwind filled with smog coming from the valley up the canyon.  I gave it everything I had for the last 5K and arrived at the car shaking and completely frozen and exhausted.  6:36 then 6:20 for the final 2 miles just about killed me.  Paul finished a good 20 seconds ahead just jogging.  A very solid run with lots of hills even just barely tying the 7 min/mile guy at the end. 

T- 2:20:00 (20 miles) (7:00) 164 ave 176 max

Providence Canyon -

My legs still had massive amounts of fatigue left in them from Saturday so today's run was a slog.  The weather was awesome though.  20's with clear air and the moon shining the way.  Loved it.  

T-69:40 (7:44) 148

AM: 4 miles on the Treadmill 

Received an ultrasound of the abdomen organs today.  The doctor wanted to do it to see if I had any blockage in the gallbladder since my bilirubin was twice the normal level.  Everything checked out normal and my fears of the ulrasound being a waste of time and money were correct.  At least I now have medical proof that I am normal (or at least most of my organs are).  

PM: 5 more on Treadmill watching Dirty Jobs

AM: Had a rough night waking up with the kids pretty often and I vaguely remember shutting off the alarm and going back to sleep.  I eventually woke up with only enough time for 6 miles.  So I ran the Landfill Loop at 7:45 pace.

PM: Basketball for 90 mins.  Good times

Easy 8 untimed on the 400W route.  Not a bad morning to be out for a run. 

Now off to Texas tomorrow with Jon and Paul for Jon's Rocky Raccoon 100 Miler.  We will be meeting up with Crockett there too as he is running it as well.  Wish them luck.

Travel Day-

Rocky Raccoon 100 Pacing/Crewing Report - 

Bottom Line - I have never had an opportunity to witness firsthand something quite so amazing as a few hundred people skirting the line between death and success.  I have seen many great runners and many great races, but I now more fully comprehend the mental fortitude of the few crazy runners who decide to race a 100 miler.  Jon and Davy have my complete respect.  It was a weekend I will never forget.  Well done!

The nitty gritty -

1600 miles by car and airplane on Friday

24 hours of following Jon (and to some extent Davy) around on his 5x's 20 mile loops

1 free breakfast of waffles (2), hard boiled egg, danish, oj, etc, 1/2 pizza, bag of twizzlers (I shared with people I swear), 4 banannas, 1 gallon of gatoraide, bite of grilled cheeze sandwich, a cup of apple pie, handful of m&ms, 0 frosties, 1 wendy's chicken sandwich with cold fries and rootbeer, 2 oz of energy gel, 2 cookies and yes, I still had room for a full IHOP meal for breakfast the next day. 

I was fortunate enough to have Paul with me for most of the crewing to keep me company.  We had a lot of fun writing down Jon's splits, running on the trails, driving (pretty much idling) back and forth on the state park's road.  We met some cool people who were crewing for runners who were leapfrogging Jon.  We even made up a game of winning points for doing things right for Jon.  We would award points to ourselves if we were able to anticipate things that Jon would need at the next aid and have it ready for him.  We got points for being on-time and getting him back on the trail ASAP.  We also deducted points every time he asked for something we didn't have handy.  Major negative points for things still in the car 1/4 mile away.  I made too many trips sprinting to the car.  I think I was in the hole by the end of the race.  I would think that I won them back though with my awesome pacing skills.  But Jon's slowest lap (by far) was the lap he ran with me.  More negative points.  My stories were putting him to sleep but I was just plain out of material.  I got to run some of the course with Paul in the daytime, but all of my lap (20 miles) with Jon was in the dark.  I imagine that it was scenic, but I wouldn't know.  The weather was perfect for running and much nicer than the 15 degree weather I returned home to.  In all, it was a tremendous success for both Jon and Davy as Jon was able to break 20 hours and hit my 19 30 something goal I threw at him.  Davy was able to PR by a huge margin and even stay ahead of Jon for a good chunk of the race. 

1600 miles by car and airplane again on Sunday. 

Well done gentlemen! 

Way too tired from this weekend for a morning run.  I did get out right after work when the sun was still setting.  My butt muscles are sore, but other than that, things seem to be in order.  

Small Workout - 12 mi

Up to Lundstrom Park and back.  The goal today was to keep it close to 7 min pace going up and closer to 6:40 pace coming down.  I held my own, but had to work really hard to do so.  It did feel pretty good though especially since it was only a one pit stop run.  

T- 1:21:25 (6:47) 165

8 on 400W route

Tired and cranky.  Put in the ipod and just shuffled along.

T-62:44 (7:50) 144

PM- 5 basketball equivalent miles

tiny Workout-

Providence Millville hills short loop.  I hit the uphills hard today. 

Random Story - As I was running through Providence I got pulled over by a cop.  I quickly thought back to what I could've done wrong.  Headlamp - check, reflective vest - check, running against traffic and not down the middle of the road - check.  Hmmm wonder what he wants.  It turns out that a vandal was seen in the area wearing a striped beanie running around possibly jumping into a vehicle.   I guess I warranted a closer look.  I didn't get arrested so he must have believed I was an innocent runner.  No I haven't seen anything matching his description.  Phew. 

T-69:30 (6:58) 159

6 slow miles on Landfill loop.  I ran into a skunk out there but was able to escape without incident.  

Long Run - 

I was by myself today and had a full day ahead of me, so I took off early and hit the TOU course starting at mile 21.5 back until about 15.  Things went well and I pused it pretty hard for most of the time.  I wanted to average around 7 for the first 8 then hit the gas for the return trip.  Things went to plan, all except for the gas part.  And I mean gasoline and not gas.  I successfully made it an entire long run with no pit stops.  Success.  Actually, all I care is that another tough week is in the books and the legs definitely agree that it was tough.  

T-1:49:42 (6:51) 160 ave

Half Marathon in the snow.

Things started out ok today with just a tiny bit of snow to start out in.  Things got progressively worse as the snow picked up on my North Logan Loop (short) course.  By the time I hit Lundstrom Park, I was blinded by the snow flakes.  I will blame my faceplant as I ran down old main hill on the snow as well.  I slipped backwards on hidden ice under the snow,but still somehow fell forward onto my face at 6 min pace.  My gloves took most of the fall for me.  I suppose the snow cushioned it as well.  That crash slowed me down considerably for a while.  The kicker was the two unscheduled #2 stops even with taking a pill this morning.  Not sure if the pill kept to down to two from five or if it just didn't do anything.  You just never know. 

T-1:33:47 (7:10) 152

8 slow and luckily untimed.  I would guess I wasn't breaking 9 min miles today. 

Providence Hills - 

Uneventful

T-67:00 (7:27) 149

PM: 5

Providence - Millville Hills short

Today's run was uptempo with a solid effort on the hills.  Life is just too busy to waste effort on thoughtful entries.

T-65:45 (6:55) 158 ave

Slow Six

Long Run - 

Horray, I made it through a long run without bonking!  Its been a long time since that has happened.  It sure feels good. I ran up to mile 13 of the TOU marathon course and back.  I made it to the turnaround in 71:30 back in 67:17.  I didn't throw in too many fast miles, but kept the average sub 7.  That is all for now....

T-2:18:47 (6:56) 158 ave 169 max

Saturday's run tweaked my foot and it still hurts.  I figure it was either some tendon getting stressed or another bruise (I have had my fair share of both).  I decided to take it easy and stay close to home and on soft terrain to pull the plug if it got out of hand.  Therefore, the treadmill was at my mercy.  I made it 8 but it hurt during the run, although I would call it a 3/10.

No Run to rest the tweaked foot.  It definitely improved throughout the day of rest.

I woke up to the foot feeling great so I got in 8 easy miles pain free. 0/10.  Looks like I am in the clear now.

T-60:00 (7:30) 144

PM:Basketball 5

Small Workout - 

It was pretty icy out on the roads so this turned into a run involving faster sections and slower slippery sections.  Whatever, there was some faster stuff in there.  Millville Hills Loop

T-1:23:40 (6:58) 160

Easy 7 

T-54:40 (7:48) 143

Long Run - 

It has been a crazy 2 weeks capped off with a nasty weekend.  (I am writing this the monday after).  Crazy work projects are killing me.  11 hour work days during the week then 13 hours on sat and another 14 on sunday gave us the time we needed to pull it off.  Things are still hectic as the demo started today and concludes on Wed.  I am enjoying a rare moment at home before 8 pm.  I don't know how some people can handle 80 hour work weeks.   You just never see your family....Anyway, the end is near....

Back to the run.   I got up early enough to get in a long run before the long work day began.  I decided to head up to the BST trail over to Green Canyon and wander around over there.   I took the scenic route through the island and on the Sumac "trail".  The shoreline trail was solid ice that early in the morning and was slow but I liked it anyway.  I went on a short jaunt up to the start of the singletrack in Green before heading down to 1600 E and taking that north for another mile or so.  That gave me 11 miles in 1:23:30.  Good enough.  Turn around and go home.  I decided to push it at the end to get under 2:45.  It sure felt good to be home and to get some fluids and food in me.  I was famished. 

T- 2:44:13 (22 miles) (7:28) 157 ave 170 max

8 miles late

9 miles up to Providence Canyon.

T- 1:06:23 (7:22) 156

Final day of the big project at work.  We are putting an LED sign on the side of a bus with the potential of thousands of future sales based on this one sign.  It was a rush job to say the least.  I started writing code for my two pieces of the project about a month ago.  I wont bore you with the technical details, but I do have to say it is cool.  Well, I wasn't ready.  Partly my fault, but mostly due to circumstances out of my control.  I had to pull an all-nighter to get it perfect.  I made it with 20 mins to spare. What a day! 28 hours straight at work getting home at 11:30 on Wed.  That was after 13 hours on sat and 14 on sun.  Ok, I am done whining. 

Here is a shot of the sign with my phone camera-

Lundstrom Park at night

It was too soon after Texas Roadhouse.  Rough.

7:20 pace up and 6:40 down catching the 7 min guy at the end.

T-1:23:55 (6:59) 157

SLOW 8. 

I never went sub 9 min miles the whole way.  And not by choice.

Dry Canyon with Jon - 

A very fun run in some rough conditions.  The weather was perfect but the snow...  The snow was deep enough that if you wandered off the trail even the slightest bit, you sunk in up to the hips.  We both took some great spills on the way down.  Nothing like running sub 6 min pace and then ending up on your stomach buried up to the waist.  Good times.  The time flew by and before too long we had to turn around.  I am glad though because the legs and lungs were sure getting a workout in.

T- 1:10:55 ~2000 feet of vertical (4867 to 6818ft)

Super Long Run - 

Longest run I have done since my last marathon, and probably my longest training run ever.  And it came the day after some deep snow mountain climbing.  My legs were sure not happy today.  The day started out rough as I had an alarm clock malfunction and woke up at 6:30.  That meant that I missed the Paul and Walter run I was planning on. That put me in a bad mood right off the bat.  My plan B involved running 2 miles to mile 24 of the TOU course and spending some quality time on my feet.  The plan was 24 miles in under 3 hours.  I completed the first 8 in 58:30 and had built up a cushion of 1:30.  The middle 8 were rough, but I made up a bit more time coming down Hollow Road.  16 miles in 1:56.  So I only have to do 8 miles in 64 mins to make it.  I am going to easily make it.  Better make my goal a little harder.  How about 7:20 pace (2:56).  I would need to do 7:30 pace over the last 8 to make it.  I had some good sections and other sections where I thought I would die.  I stopped at a church to get a drink at mile 20 and that revived me enough to actually make it the full distance.  I was able to keep chugging along even dropping down to 7 min pace for the last mile.  I was totally spent.  Goal Exceeded I collapsed on my floor never to move again.

T-2:53:56 (7:14) 155 ave (7:20 pace out, 7:10 pace back)

I feel like my hammies and quads were put through a shredder.  Ouch. Slow and easy to try and work it out.

T-63:00  (7:52) 143

AM: Severe stomach cramps and bloating hindered me today.  I did manage 5.5 and was proud of that.  Whatever I ate yesterday is now no longer on the approved list.  Ouch.

PM: Finally felt better in the evening.  4.5 on the treadmill.

Medium Workout

Lundstrom Park out and back. Kept the effort up the whole way with the second half at MP or Tinman Tempo pace.  Finally felt pretty good.

T- 1:20:00 (6:40) 163 (42 min up, 38 min down) 12 miles

PM: Basketball 5 equivalent

- 8

Providence hills 8.5

T-65:30 (7:42) 147

Long Run - 

I decided to go exploring today out west.  I headed out to Mendon on the Mendon Hwy stopping briefly at the Little Bear River access area.  I wanted to go explore on the (unimproved) trail next to the river but it was pretty icy so I decided to head back to the road.  I will save that for another day.  I hit mendon only 6.5 miles into the run so I needed to add a good 6 miles in the area before heading back.  I headed straight to what looked like the biggest hill in the area.  It was called Deep Canyon Drive.  It looked like it went straight up the Wellsvilles.  Unfortunately, it dead ended into a driveway.  I did get 700 feet of vertical in just over one mile though.  Super tough hill.  After that experience, I stuck to the flatter sections of Mendon before heading home.  I didn't feel too good today and things got pretty tough at mile 13 but I actually felt better later on and finished with a decent pace.  Another week in the books.  *Highest mileage week since the end of August 09. 

T-2:27:50 (7:23) 153 ave 169 max (on big hill)

After the run, it was time to host my son's 5th birthday party.  It was transformers themed but most of his friends are girls who had no clue, but they all had fun.  We played lots of games and got them overloaded with sugar in time for them to leave.  Good times...

Providence Canyon 9

Easy run to let the body continue its recovery.  My butt is extremely sore.  I figure the big hill on Saturday kicked it pretty hard.

T-68:30 (7:37) 150

Medium Workout - 

Hilly workout today as I ran up to Dry Canyon and did 1.25 up the canyon.  The trail was pretty icy and the footing was tough.  I was doing 12-15 min/mile and about 8 coming down.  Not exactly blazing fast.  I did enjoy being in the mountains though. As I went by the entrance to the BST, I decided to follow the trail for a bit to check out the condition of the trail.  I would say it is about 60% ice and 40% dirt.  It needs some time to thaw out.  As I started heading home, I saw it was 6:57 and I was 5 miles from home. Time to get going.  I put the hammer down and got home in just under 30 mins (downhill).  Good solid workout that I am sure I will feel tomorrow.

T-1:38:00 (7:54) 158

AM: 8 slow boring miles

PM: 5 full court basketball "miles"

Small Workout - 

Today I did the first official tempo workout of the year.  I have done plenty of faster stuff just not an official go for x number of miles at x speed planned tempo.  I did start out small and manageable.  The plan was 3 miles warmup at 7 min pace then 5 miles at 6:30 pace followed with 2+ cool down at whatever pace.  It worked out well, but I did stick to the flat Young Ward Loop course (nice and flat). 

• 6:22
• 6:30
• 6:28
• 6:26
• 6:24

Easy 6 on Planet Walk

Trail Run - 

Er, it was actually more ice than dirt, but I am not complaining.  I did 2 laps of the River Trail.  The first one with Jon at a nice and slow but slippery pace.  The second lap was 1 mile shorter and Jon ditched me 2 miles into it due to misc. pains.  One was a pain in the butt.  The run was great even if it was a bit cold and windy and icy.  Its too bad we did it so early as it is sunny and nice out now.  So, I had better get out and enjoy it then....

T-2:03 (8:12) 148 ave

* One week until my 50K.  I am going to treat it as a marathon.  I began my taper today with a few less miles then normal.  Next week should be pretty easy, especially thursday-friday.

Deer Fence Loop - 

Today's weather was finally warm enough to head out without tights on.  No, I wasn't completely naked as I did wear shorts and a long sleeve shirt, but man, it was warm, even at 6am (like 40 degrees).  I REALLY enjoyed not wearing tights.  I headed up the foothills to Dry Canyon and hit the Deer Fence Trail over to Providence Canyon and on home.  The trail was in pretty good shape 90% clear with 5% mud and 5% ice.  Not bad at all. I think I will hit that trail quite a bit in the next 2 months before it gets too hot (can't believe I just said that, it never gets that hot in Logan).

T-1:29:46 (7:10) 155

* new course PR, but only the 5th time I have done that exact loop.  I will kill that PR later this spring

Landfill Loop 6

Got yelled at 2 times by passing cars and got a friendly good evening from a nice kid.

Planet Walk

Basketball

I did not feel good at all this morning.  I decided to bag the early am run and get more sleep.  I then tackled a nasty day at work. I felt better in the evening and decided to get a few miles in the clean out the junk.  Planet walk was calling.

I will take tomorrow off to rest up.

Buffalo Run 50K - 

I have so many mixed feelings about this race.  It was a disaster and I feel really proud that I was able to finish the thing. Period.  It was a combination of things that lead to my demise.  It was ugly, but I am getting ahead of myself.  Lets start at the beginning.

The race is put on by Jim (ultrajim) and was a well run 25K, 50K, 50Miler and even had Davy running the 50Miler 2x's for an even 100.  I have been planning on the 50K for some time and really was looking forward to this race.  It would be the longest run in my life and also the toughest.  I really didn't want to die a miserable death so my plan was to take it easy the first lap of the 2 lap course and save some for later.  More on that later...

The race started out fine with me settling into the second pack.  The top 3 guys all took off together and there were about 6 of us that ran more or less together for the whole 1st lap.  I chatted with Karl Jarvis and Taha M. for entertainment.  I was comfortable running with them but was a bit alarmed at the pace we were going. 6:45-7 min pace on the flats and 6 min pace jogging down the hills.  The uphills were even sub 8:30 pace.  It was hard but not "race effort" yet so I went with it.  BIG MISTAKE!!!  I am now looking at my Heart Rate data my watch logged (I didn't look at my HR even 1 time during the race) and I was over 170 and even 180+ for the entire first 2 hours.  The course is basically a large figure 8 for each 25K and the 50K runners do it twice.  I really enjoyed the course and thought it was difficult but not overly sadistic.  Very runnable if you have the strength.  I loved it during the first lap and really enjoyed myself.  For a while... As I was nearing the halfway point of the course, I started to slow down a bit and dropped from 4th place overall to 5th place overall (when the faceless ghost passed me then proceeded to take a wrong turn).  I was ok with having him pass me and instead focused on conserving what little strength I had left.  

I was only .25 of a mile from the end of my loop 1 when the 25K runners began.  Not good.  That meant there were 300+ runners all running on the trail the opposite direction as me all excited and full of energy.  They were not paying attention and I had to run 10 feet off the trail and yell at  people to watch out as they were not looking up and didn't see me coming.  I was only 2 mins from being ahead of all of them but since I was not, I had to pass them all going the opposite direction then turn around at the aid station and pass most of them again.  Not fun at all.

I spent a min at the aid station swapping my waterbottle and taking off my warmer clothes.  I was back running again at 2:03 min into it.  I knew that I would slow down this lap but figured that a 2:30 lap was reasonable to reach my 4:30 goal.  Things went ok for about 1 mile before I realized I was in trouble. I was in the middle of the 25K runners and as I started to slow, I was getting passed by the same people I had just passed a quarter mile earlier.  Trying not to panic I tried to keep moving as fast as possible.

My stomach violently cramped up at this point.  I could not get it to relax.  It hurt to touch it with my hand and it felt like a side ache that took over my whole torso.  That brought me to a crippling walk.  It hurt to even walk.  What am I supposed to do now?  I tried everything from massage to hunching over to burping and even had some vomiting/dry heaving.  I felt dizzy and was losing all motivation to continue.  I had been taking 1 S! cap every hour and keeping up on my fluids (I thought) and I also took some energy gel (1-2 oz per hour).  I think that some combination of that really messed me up.  I was able to talk myself out of quitting and finally made it to the aid station at mile 21.5 at the 3 hour mark.  I had to do a lot of walking on the downhills as well as the uphills to even make it there. 

From that point on, it was pure misery.  There was nothing that was good about this time in the race.  I was getting passed by everyone and I had given up on racing miles ago.  It was purely a mission to finish.  It was a battle to maintain 11 min miles on the flats.  Seriously!  I loaded up on water at the last aid and tried to flush out my stomach of the gu and stuck to pure water and S! caps for salt.  I think it finally started to work as I sped up to a sub 9 min mile on the downhill after the aid at mile 27.  The final 3 miles were the best of my second lap and I was able to actually run the whole time and was again passing people.  The final 3 miles were 8:38, 8:29, and 7:48.  Yes there was a large amount of downhill, but at least I was running. 

The finish line has never looked so good.  I had just completed the hardest thing I have ever done and lived to tell the tale.  I was the most miserable I have ever been in my life, ever.  Luckily Jon was there to fetch my clothes and keep me from curling up in a ball and whimpering like a baby.

Mistake 1:  Went out at a pace that felt ok.  Don't do that.  It should be EASY, not moderate to hard, even if you feel like you belong in that group.  It will come back to haunt you in a bad way.  Use the heart rate monitor to give you feedback.

Mistake 2:  Energy Gel + S! caps + gatoraide + running hard = stomach cramps  Find another fueling solution if running beyond 2 hours.

Other than those 2 major issues, the rest of the execution went well.  I am proud of my 2:02 min first lap.  I know I could have shaved 10 mins off that lap if I went all out.  I am not proud of my 3 mins per mile slowdown I had the second lap.  That is sad. 

T-4:47:25 (8:58) 32.08 miles 166 ave 186 max (did 1 mile warmup as well)

• Aid 1 - 42:22 (mile 5.55) (overall pace = 7:38)
  
• Aid 2 - 1:21:55 (mile 10.71) (overall pace = 7:39)
  
• Aid 3 - 2:01:28 (mile 15.96) (overall pace = 7:37)
  
• Aid 4 - 2:59:00 (mile 21.45) (overall pace = 8:21)
  
• Aid 5 - 3:57:43 (mile 26.63) (overall pace = 8:56)
  
• Finish - 4:47:25 (mile 32) (overall pace = 8:58)
  

Off

4 Slow miles on the Planet Walk.  The recovery is going ok.  Today's run was nice and easy.  I may have broken 8 min pace somewhere in there.  It was nice to get out even in the stormy weather.

AM: 4 - Serious stomach issues today.  Not sure if it is leftover from sat or something else but I earned 6 stars since 5am. Including 2 stars in 4 miles.  Yuck

PM: 5

Nice and easy run up to providence canyon.  I checked out a half a mile of the deer fence trail slushed my way up to the big star on the hillside.  I would say the recovery is 90% there.  No rush though.  I am enjoying the easy week.

T-1:15:30 (7:33) 152

8 slow and steady

Long Run - 

I slept in today so that I could avoid the nasty storm that hit us last night.  It seemed to work as I only got snowed on a bit.  It was super windy though.   Glad I wasn't at Striders Half in that weather...again.  I ran up to Providence Canyon then hit the deer fence trail over to Dry Canyon.  The trail was about ankle deep in snow but it wasn't too bad.  The trail up Dry Canyon was much deeper but since I only went up .5 mile, it wasn't too bad.  I then returned home the way I came.  9 miles of road, 7 miles of trail.

T-2:11:45 (8:14) 157

Medium Workout - 

Lundstrom Park in the wind and the rain.  I went outside and noticed the downpour and went back inside to get a jacket (striders WRC jacket).  I came back outside now properly dressed for rain and it had slowed down to a drizzle.  Figures.  I decided to wear the jacket anyway since it was still raining after all.  In 2 miles, the rain had stopped and I was hot.  I stripped off the jacket and tied it around my waist and didn't wear it again the rest of the run.  Things did get pretty nasty up on campus though and I was soaked.  I never got cold though, so I guess a jacket is just not necessary if you are working hard.

T-1:27:40 (6:45) 159

8 snowy miles. I wandered onto the Planet Walk and out past ICON.  The PW had snow up to the ankles.  Luckily, I wore my NB800's and they gave me plenty of traction for my 8 min/mile pace.  Beautiful morning

AM: 8 easy.  Tired from staying up late to catch up on 24.

PM: 5 slow.  WP/PW

Aborted Small Workout - 

Just wasn't feeling it today.  The body is not adjusting to the bump in mileage yet.  I did feel better after the first 8 miles though.  Providence - Millville hills

T-1:24:00 (7:18) 148 11.5 mi

Easy 8 on Planet Walk.  Did 3 laps.  Didn't see a soul.

Long Run - Trails

2 miles with Jon before meeting Paul and Carson (it has been a long time since I ran with him). We ran on the BST from Paul's house over to Logan Canyon overlook then up Green canyon singletrack for a mile (Jon and Paul whimped out when it got snowy), hit some road then canal trail back to Paul's. Good long run with lots of time on the feet. 1700+ feet of elevation gain too so it wasn't easy.

T-2:44:30 (8:02) 151 ave

AM: 5 - PW

PM: Med Workout with Jon.   We met up a the fairgrounds and headed up to Providence Canyon.  It was windy and warm, but the rain held off until we finished.  We decided to do some trail running and hit the deer fence trail between providence and millville canyons.  We started our 6 mile tinman(ish) tempo starting once we hit the trail. 

• 6:39
• 6:33
• 6:10
• 6:21
• 6:17
• 6:01

The rest of the miles were cool down on back home.  Good run, at least based on my tiredness.

  T-1:40 (7:14) 155 14 miles 900' vertical

8 slow tired miles.  Tried a few pickups to 8 min pace.  Sweet.

AM: 7

PM: 7 (6.25 with Jon then did 1 lap around the fairground's grass)

  After dinner, I borrowed my neighbor's distant relative's tiller to turn over my garden.  It started right away, I used it for 5 mins, then shut it down for a minute.  It refused to turn on again.  Seriously.  45 mins of trying everything I could think of including taking a break to eat a piece of cake.  No go.  In fact, I pulled so many times I pulled the pull cord right off the tiller.  Shoot.  After having to drill out the 4 rivets and pry them out with brute force, I was able to tie the robe back on.  Now, to find a riveter and some rivets.  A few phone calls and a trip to millville to see Dan (and to borrow his tool), I had it all fixed.  After fixing everything, I gave it a good dozen tugs without the stupid thing starting and gave the tiller back just as it got really dark.  Project failure.

Medium Workout - 

Lundstrom Park out and back 12 miles.  5 mile warmup, 6 miles Tinman tempo, 1 mile cooldown.  Felt decent for a thursday.  

T- 1:22:30 (6:53) 155 ave Vertical 650'

Easy 8 up onto Von's park trail.  It was a good way to recharge the system.  Too bad that trail is so short, its fun singletrack.

-Writeup courtesy of Jon

"Long trail run with Cody JON.  We parked at First Dam and ran up the river trail to Guinivah Malibu (trail is very passable the whole way), averaging 8-8:30 miles.  Then we ran up to the Wind Caves- the trail is in perfect condition.  It climbs 1000 ft in just under 2 miles, so we averaged 11:50's up.  Then we turned around and ran back to the start of the river trail.  Last week I JON bonked hard at mile 16- this week I HE felt GREAT the whole way.  We even had a few sub-7 miles towards the end.  We turned around again at Stokes parking lot and ran up 2 miles (onto the singletrack), then finally ran back to First Dam.  20 miles in 2:48:31 (8:24 avg) with about 3000 ft climbing.  The weather was gorgeous, the trail was in great condition, I had a good time talking to Cody Jon, and I felt fabulous TIRED.  I can't imagine a better start to a day."

That about sums up the run.

Vertical 2600'

* First 80+ mileage week of the year.

81 miles - 4150' Vertical

I am working on the second Bus project at work and it is arguably a bigger pain than the first.  This sign goes on a double decker in England.  So far I am up to 23 hours of time at work in 2 days.  Another full day tomorrow.  I did make lots of good progress today, in spite of slipping out for a tad to watch Paul run his 5K at USU.  Nice Job Paul!

Providence hills up to the mouth of the canyon.  

T- 1:05:15 (7:15) 150 Vertical 500'

Afterward I spent 16 hours at work before calling it a day.  Yuck.

Big Hill Workout - 

One of the toughest big workouts ever and only 11 miles on the books to show for it.  Which means that I loved it.  I was able to escape work at a decent hour to meet Jon at first dam.  We drove up to 3rd dam and ran up the trail to the wind-caves trailhead (1.75 miles).  From there we ran up the wind caves right fork trail to the saddle (5050 ft to 7350 ft) in 3 miles (11:49, 13:27, 16:40).  Brutal.  Jon was not slacking either.  We cruised down to the fork (7:52, 7:05) and headed back up the other trail to the actual wind caves (10:38 pace).  Finally, we could stop climbing and go home.  That inspired me to go fast and so I did.  Now I am sore.  (6:44, 6:59).  The last 2 miles heading back to 3rd dam were not easy and not fast.  But I was spent.  Great workout. Thanks Jon

T-1:49:00 11.1 miles (9:49) Vertical 3000'

AM: 8 miles - 

Legs pretty fatigued.  

PM: 6 miles -

Legs stiff AND tired  (whine, moan, complain....)

10 - Young Ward

Legs still unhappy, but getting better. The pace was at least decent today.

T-1:14:10 (7:25) 149

Too much to do and so little time.  Just didn't happen.  Figured I would more than make up for it Saturday anyways.

Long Trail Run - 

Jon joined me for a long nasty trail run that was designed to get us ready for the Pokey 50 miler in may.  It the was the second longest run of my life and only a mile short of the Buffalo Run 50K+ I did last month. We started at Dry canyon and headed south  on the shoreline trail (aka Deer Fence Trail) until we ran out of trail at BSF Canyon. After returning to the car, we drove a few miles to first dam to resume running on the north section of BST.  We ran all the way to Paul's house to get some water and so Jon could use the head (again).  I just waited and ate most of Paul's yummy grapes.  The final section was tough but I felt surprising good.  Yes, my legs were tired, but no more than a 20 miler would do.  I was feeling frisky enough to hammer the last mile on the trail and blast my way down to the car (6:07 pace) for the last mile.

Great training run and one that should help with the nasty 50 miler before mentioned.  Thanks Jon for the company and for keeping the pace very even. 

I tried different foods today with the hope that my stomach would cooperate better than the Buffalo run.  I went with Water, 3 S-Caps, 1 camelback elixer, 1 granola bar, 1 snickers marathon energy bar, 1 small power bar, 30 grapes, 1 bananna, orange juice, no gu, no gatoraide.  No issues.  I think solids are the way to go for me.

 Boring Stats-

• Dry Canyon to BSF 7.57 miles (1:08:46) 9:11 pace
• BSF to Dry Canyon 7.57 miles (1:10:23) 9:18 pace
• First Dam to Paul's 7.87 miles (1:09:49) 8:52 pace
• Paul's to First Dam 7.87 miles (1:09:44) 8:52 pace
• Overall 31 miles (4:37:57) 8:58 pace
  
• 149 ave HR
  
• 171 max (last mile)
• 3700' vertical

* I had about 9 mins to run one more mile to tie my buffalo run 50K race from last month.  The vertical was almost identical with today's about 100 feet less than that race (according to sport tracks).  I felt 100,000x's better today than during that race.  (Not so) Funny  how that works.

* Weekly summary

75 miles - 7200' Vertical

AM: 8 @ 8 min pace.  Von's park out and back. -300' vertical

* bike commute 8 miles ( I decided NOT to count cross-training miles this summer so that I can better keep track of my running only miles)

OK, I lied.  I am going to still do it.  Its my blog and I can do what I want.  I like to keep track of total effort and it makes it easier to see why I am always tired even if I am only running 60 mpw.  Its that extra 50 miles of bike riding that is kicking my butt.

AM: 5 easy

PM: Was planning on a big bike ride but the 30mph winds discouraged me.  I decided to do a medium workout instead. Probably not a good idea either.  The wind blew!  I can still feel some major fatigue in the body from Sat.  I feel like I am just breaking down at this point.  I need to take a few easy days to regroup and renew the energy.  Today's run was a total death march.

Providence canyon - Deer Fence - Dry Canyon (.5 mile up is all) - home via River Heights.

13 miles T- 1:42:00 (7:51) 151 ave

1000' vertical

8 Easy miles in the Evening.  Tired, of course.

10- Providence Canyon to the Star on the hill and back.  I felt better today so I went a bit harder as the run progressed.

T-73:00 (7:18) 153 750' vertical

8

Trail Run - 

Jon and I set off for an adventure today.  The mission was to run new sections (to us) of the Bear 100 course.  We started off at Leatham hollow and right away, I was hitting new terrain.  The 3 mile stretch to Richards hollow is all dirt road and super rocky, but reasonably easy.  We made it a whopping .25 mile before Jon made us go back and change shoes.  That became a problem as the nasty snow storm that we had started to outrun now engulfed us.  Bad start. 

Once we hit the singletrack at Richards Hollow, things improved.  No rocks, no storm.  Nothing like chugging up singletrack to liven the mood.  The problem (much bigger one this time) was that it didn't take long to hit the snow line.  We only made it 1.5 miles up Richards (just past the waterfall) before the snow became too deep to run in.  Oh, yeah, did I mention it had started to snow again?  Back down Richards and back to the dirt road we went (and back into the sun).  We decided to head up the road for a ways since neither of us had been up it before.  Definitely not as cool as the singletrack.  We went about 3 miles before the snow storm caught up with us and we got to turn around and run directly into a blizzard.  The flakes were so big and wet we were soaked and FREEZING!  I was very miserable running the 3-4 miles down the road until we escaped the storm.  I was very miserable!  Really, did I mention misery?  Yep. 

Once the sun came out again I warmed up nicely and actually enjoyed the final 2 miles or so back to the car.  Jon, he was tired and quiet (rare).  I wanted to get 16+ miles and saw we would be short so I took off with Jon's blessing to venture up Leatham Hollow for a tad to check out the mud.  Yep, it had lots. But no snow (didn't go high enough).  We were short on time so I turned around before long and found Jon and we made our way back to the car.  In full sunshine.  Yep, this run sure had its ups and downs..

  T-2:18 (8:22) 2500' vertical

* Weekly summary (recovery week)

71.5 miles - 4550' Vertical

AM: 10 Providence Canyon to the Star.  

T- 1:14:15 (7:25) 147 *750' Vert

Bike Commute -

Bike Ride - 

I joined Corey, Braden and about 20 other guys for the tues night ride today.  Bad choice for the first real ride of the year.  I do not have my biking legs yet, that is for sure.  I was 25 miles into the ride, riding around Newton Lake when I realized I am bonking.  Not good.  I had brought only water on this ride as I was in a crazy rush to make it on time and didn't grab anything.  Oops.  Anyway, my butt is sore, my legs are still twitching from the effort and I am still cold from the cool weather.  Insane workout in the wind though.  Luckily Braden died as well so the last 10 miles we limped in at 15mph.

T-2:30:00 ~18mph 46 miles or so

AM: easy 7  felt decent.  Saddle sore

I just found out that I did NOT get into Lotoja.  Bummer.  I guess I can revisit my fall schedule now. 

PM: easy 4 planet walk

Its my Birthday!

Since I am turning 30, I decided to do my birthday challenge and run 16.25 miles.  Isn't that what you do?  No....I didn't even go 30K.  Too bad.

I did take a day off of work today and have enjoyed having some time to kill.  Trail Run!  I started at Providence canyon and hit the Deer Fence north to Dry Canyon.  I proceeded up Dry as far as I could go.  I only made it 2 miles before the snow made the trail impassible.  It will take some serious warm weather to get that trail open.  Lots of snow up high (6000' and higher).  4.7 miles in 49 mins

My birthday self portrait at my turn around point - 

I headed down and back to the car.  Instead of getting in, I kept going on the trail south to Millville Canyon and proceeded to run up that canyon.  I didn't even make it 2 miles before I had to head back to the car.  It was steep but runnable.  Very comparable to Dry, only it is a dirt road instead of singletrack.  I had to turn around before the snowline so I am not sure how far I could have gone.  Another day maybe. 

16.25 tough miles in 2:29:00 (9:10) 152 ave *3300' vertical

Planet Walk 6  

My stomach hurt from all the junk food from yesterday.  It was so worth it though.  

Long Trail Run - 

I am a lucky man to be able to spend the weekend without kids with my wife in Lava Hot springs.  That is pretty nice of her, but the really nice thing was that she let me go running for half the day Saturday with no complaining.  I figured since I was only 30 mins from the Pocatello 50 Miler course, I had better go do a recon run of it.  Jon joined me and also tour guide local Luke Nelson showed us around.  We did the first 1/3 of the course with a 5 mile loop added onto the end to get us over 20 miles for the run.  

The course is not easy.  It started out tame enough with nice singletrack heading up a hollow. 10% grade or so for the first climb.  We leveled off more or less and sat back and enjoyed the nice muddy trail.  Soon we dropped down a canyon and lost all the elevation we had gained.  No big deal but the next 3 miles we were to climb about 2000' with most of the climb off trail straight up the side of a mountain.  Not easy. 

First Half Done -

 Second Half -

I soon realized I was feeling sub-par for the day and settled into my grandpa pace up the hill.  Things perked up for me at the top as I had the energy to run down hills just fine.  Other than some serious stomach cramps (side aches) things were looking up.  That is until Luke took us back up another 500' hill. I didn't have a decent uphill gear and got dropped (even with their easy pace).  It took a while on the downhill to catch back up but I more or less just survived the rest of the run.  Oh well, gut it out and just put in the effort. 

The course is sweet with nasty vertical and lots of mud and snow (hopefully most will melt in the next 3 weeks).  I was amazed to see the huge network of singletrack that is available to Pocatello-ins (Pocatins?)...people who live in Pocatello.  They are very lucky to have so many trails available year round.  I am stoked and scared for the big race as it will be nasty-hard.

T-3:28:30 (9:53) 21.1 miles 155 ave 178 max

SportTracks showed the Vert at 4100' and Loss at 4700'

I finished off the day relaxing in scorching hot pools and working on my tan. 

*Weekly Summary

Vert = 8150'

Miles = 82.25

AM: 10 Providence Canyon to Star.  Same as last monday.  Only today it was raining so I ran faster to be done sooner.  That turned out to be unnecessary as it stopped at the halfway point.  Legs felt good.  40 min up 33 down.

T-1:13:00 (7:18) 150 *750' Vert

PM: 6 easy miles in the light rain/wind

AM: 5 Planet Walk

PM: I opted out of the scheduled bike ride this afternoon as the rain would have made things unpleasant both for me and for the bike.  I spent some time with the family instead then as it got later, I headed to the hills.  I decided to do a big hill workout.  I drove to Providence Canyon and hit the deer fence trail south to millville canyon.  I wanted to re-visit that canyon and this time make it to the top.  Today was the day.  No amount of rain was going to stop me.  Actually, it only rained for the first and last mile of the run.  2 miles on the trail and I was at the canyon.  The canyon itself is a dirt road that is currently closed to all vehicles.  Made for nice running.  However, all the rain has made the road a soupy mess.  It was way muddy and downright nasty at the top.  But getting there was half the battle.  Before making it to the top, I had to first climb 2500 feet in 3.5 miles.  I was in a cloud the whole way until the last quarter mile and I could see the blanket cloud covering the valley below.  The last quarter mile also provided lots of snow to wash the mud off the shoes.  It is still about 2 feet deep at 7300'.  But aside from the last quarter mile, the road is clear of snow, but not of mud.  The way down was more ice skating than running as I slid/clumped down the hill.  Super fun, but the mud was out of control. Nevertheless, I made it down and back to the car for a total of 11 miles and quickly decided I wanted 12 so I did a quick out and back on the Deer Fence North of Providence Canyon.  For the workout portion of the run, I ran the uphills hard and where I could, the downhills hard too.  Things felt pretty good today and I absolutely loved the run.  I even took a "bath" in Providence Stream and it was actually quite warm and gave me the chance to scrape off all that mud off my body.

T - 1:57:00 (9:44) 154 ave 168 max 12 miles * 3300' Vert

AM: Sick of the rain so ran on the treadmill - 5

Lunch: Over an hour of Racquetball.  More of an interval workout.  Lost 5 pounds of sweat

PM: 5 more- Had a Jon sighting on the Planet Walk

Small Workout - 12.5 miles

House - Dry - Deer Fence - Providence - Home

Felt crappy all around.  I was finally able to push it a bit the second half but it was forced.

T-1:33:30 (7:28) 150 ave - 1000' Vertical Gain

Easy 8.5.

I am still sore from racquetball on wed.  The upper body is so stiff I cant hardly move.

Long Trail Run - 

Last Long run and the last of the heavy mileage until the Pocatello 50.  Next week will be easier, (at least that is what I keep telling myself).  Today capped off my highest mileage week ever with a tough 22 miler.

I started my run at Providence Canyon and headed on Deer Fence Trail to Dry Canyon.  I chugged up the canyon until I hit the snowline at 6000'.  That trail is frustrating since the walls of the canyon are bare of snow, but the bottom (aka the trail) is covered.  This time it was pure ice.  There were lots of footprints in it which gave some traction, but it was slow going.  I made it maybe .25 past where I went on my birthday run. I could have kept going on the ice, but it was not very time productive so I turned around.  Before long, I was back at the car changing water bottles and eating a banana.  10.35 miles in 1:38.  Slow.  Oh well, it may still get worse.  I continued on the Deer Fence trail all the way to Blacksmith Fork Canyon.   The sun was out now and warming me up quickly.  I thought about the runners doing Ogden Marathon and though that the weather was ideal today for that race.  No wind, cool.  Hopefully the weather is the same in Ogden Valley.  Anyway, fatigue set in and things got tough, but I merely continued on using my "run all day" gear.  I was back at the car at mile 20, but wanted to get 22 and hit 90 miles for the week so I pushed on past the car and did another 2 miles.  I sure have spent a lot of time on the Deer Fence trail this spring, and now have it memorized, but I sure like it.  It kicks my butt and is tough, but very runnable and clear of pesky cars and people. 

T- 3:20:40 (9:07) 150 ave *3600' Vertical gain

Weekly summary -

90 Miles

8650' Vertical Gain

-PR for both of those items

Providence Canyon 10

This run has become my standard monday morning run.  I still love it.  Good pace today, probably my fastest. 

T-1:12:24 (7:14) 150 ave *750' Vertical Gain

Bike Commute - 3 miles equivalent x-train.

Small Workout

House - Dry - Deer Fence - Providence - Home

Pushed it hard in sections and medium in others.  My bottom of my foot started to hurt after some 5:40's on the downhills.  Better keep an eye on it.

T-1:31:00 (7:17) 156 ave 1000' Vertical

8 Easy

Medium workout - 

Lundstrom park and a bit beyond.  Sluggish and tough until I hit the huge tailwind coming out of the canyon.  It about kept me at a standstill on the way up, but on the way home.  Glorious.  That kind of woke me up and I hit the miles home hard.  The last 3 were 6 min pace.  

T-1:29:30 (6:53) 151 (13 miles) 650' Vert

* bike commute today - 3 miles cross train

5.5 miles.  Stomach issues made the run less than fun.

Went camping last night with my son.  It rained the whole time, that is until it started to snow.  It was quite miserable.  Amazingly my son still loved it.  Even when he was crying cause he was so cold and wet.  I spent much of the night on the John and puking my brains out.  Loved it.  Spent the rest of the day recuperating and hosing the camping gear down (from the mud not puke).

* weekly summary 55 miles, 2400' Vert

I started to feel better saturday night and by today I felt 100% again so I was back at it.  I figured a trip to Providence Canyon would be just right.  It was raining pretty steady, but I was committed.  I am glad I went as I felt great.  The legs were fresh and the run was very therapeutic.  I believe this was a PR for the course.  Now to continue the taper and to hope that the trails dry out some by saturday.  Everything is water logged.  

T-1:09:55 (6:59) 156 *750 Vert (38:30 Up (7:42) , 31:25 Down (6:17))

7 Easy Miles.  That's all.

Landfill loop 6 - no watch

Planet Walk 5 with strides.  Legs feel good.

1 brisk mile to prime the engine.  Yep, that's it.  Only 1.

Epic Race!

One that I will remember for quite a while.  Where to begin?  This run was to be the toughest/longest run of my life and it still lived up to both of those, barely.  It is one that I have been planning on running since January 1st.  It is a tough course with 13K+ feet of gain over ~52 miles.  One of the toughest in the US. 

It turned out quite different than everyone expected.  The weather forcast looked good with only a small amount of rain for the start.  It turned out that the first 2 miles were the only 2 miles that were dry.  Jon and I decided to stick together and help each other out until the final 1/3rd of the course and then it would be a war.  We didn't get that chance.  The rain grew in intensity over the first 8 miles of the course with the trail becoming a goopy mess where people were sliding all over the place.  I was feeling great and keeping everything in check and pacing myself perfectly.  We had a nice group of 4 runners and we passed the time chatting.  The leaders were long gone as they flew right from the get go.  No worries as I was not in it to win it.  A quick stop to top off my hardly used water bottle at the first aid station (mile 8.5) and we were off climbing the first huge mountain.  The rain was steady and the cloud over the mountain that we had to summit was not looking good.  For the next 3 miles we climbed up 2000 feet with most of that over the last mile.  The hike was brutal, but Jon and I had scouted it out a few weeks ago and knew what to expect.  Good thing because we couldn't see 100 feet in front of us.  The rain quickly turned to sleet/hail and the winds picked up to 30-40 mph (who knows?)  It was bad!  My hands were frozen and my face was unhappy, but I kept a steady pace up the hill.  Jon, on the other hand was worse off.  He was in a bad way and was saved (literally by someones extra jacket).  He needed a little extra attention as it was questionable whether he would make it to the top and be able to descend the 5 miles to the aid station.  After some time, it was clear he would make it and we descended out of the blizzard and into the rain. 

3 hours on the nose to mile 17 aid station.  Right on schedule in-spite of the horrible weather and sloppy trail.  I quickly stripped off my wet shirt and put on a dry one and then put on Jon's dry one as he had decided to DNF at that point (don't blame him as he is lucky to be alive) .  It took me a bit to get situated but 4 mins later I was heading back uphill and back into the same storm to summitt the mountain right next to the one we just went over.  Smart? Nope.  In-fact, only 30 mins after I left, they kept everyone else from leaving and doing was I was about to do.  5 miles of climbing from 4600' back to 7000'.  It was slow but steady and it got progressively steeper and snowier as I went.  By the top, there was 3-4 inches of fresh snow/sleet and the winds had not let up.  It was over a mile exposed on the ridge until I could follow the trail down the other side.  I quickly did the best I could to speed up that process and by doing so dropped the group of 5 or so runners I was with on the climb.  The back side had less wind but no shortage of snow.  It was a complete whiteout and I was luckily able to follow the tracks of those who went before me down.  I was really starting to wonder about Scout Mountain (the final mountain the summit) as it is 1500' higher that the one I was on.  Could I survive it.  My body was feeling ok, I had energy, I had warm and dry clothes to change into before setting off.  Would I do it or would I drop at the next aid station?  I had 10 miles to mull it over as I splashed my way through endless mud and snow.  There was no where to step that was not 4-6 inches of liquid mud.  Whatever, I thought and continued on down the hill.  I hit the next aid and as they filled my bottle, they said that they closed the course and are making people stop.  Hmm, my decision just got easier.  I decided I had better not save anything then since I only had 7 miles left so I picked it up and started chasing down people.  Some were relay runners but I was clicking them off one at a time and was having a blast flying down the trail completely disregarding my safety.  The trail was horrible and was so covered in mud/snow that I was sliding all over the place.  I ran off trail, on trail, who knows where the trail is?   It was crazy.  About a mile from the aid station, a guy came hiking up the trail telling everyone that indeed the race is over.  I put on more speed to catch the next guy but couldn't do it.  I did get a final mile split of 6:41 as the snow turned to rain and started to finally let up.  Figures. 

I finished 33.1 miles in 5:48:38 (10:31 ave)  I am not sure of my place as everything was in chaos and they were more worried about people dying on the mountain than who finished in what order.  I will post it once I know (maybe 11th?)

*Post Edit: 10th Place Overall (4th in 30-40 age group)

I made my way back to my car and found out that Jon had gotten a ride from where he dropped to the car, but then proceeded to lock my keys in the running car.  He was sure having a bad day.  He had gotten it all resolved in time for me to arrive.  I was quite covered in mud but quickly rinsed off and tried to warm up in some dry clothes.  I was tired and glad I was not slogging through the snow once more to summit another mountain, but disappointed because I thought I could still make it.  Another day I guess.  I just hope everyone makes it off that mountain in one piece and with all limbs still working. 

T-5:48:38 (10:31) Ave hr 158 (only wore it the first 17 miles) (33 miles with .5 mile warmup)

*6800' climb 6700' descent (sport tracks)

 Elevation Profile of what I ran -

Profile of the entire course.  I ran the red and yellow sections with the Purple section being the big mountain that nobody got to run.  Smart choice.

Recovery is coming along nicely.  Yesterday, the stairs were my enemy.  Today, they are no big deal.  I had some major soreness in the tendons around my knees and the hammies and quads were unhappy.  They are both doing much better today.  

I decided a bike ride would be the best recovery method.  I went 25 miles (Wellsville - Oak Ridge Hill - Mendon - Home) in 1:15 (44 min to top of Oak Ridge).  7.5 equivalent cross training miles.

Providence Hills via Von's Park with Jon.  I am still tired and sore.  Mostly tired though.  Felt good to shake the legs out a bit.

T-1:04:30 (7:37) 149 ave *450' Vert

Providence Star 10 

T-1:14:30 (7:27) 154 *750' Vert

Small workout - 

Home - Dry Canyon - Deer Fence - Providence - Home

some hard, some not

T-1:32:00 (7:22) 156 *1000' Vert

Recover 8 on Young Ward Short Loop.  Admired the raging Logan River on Planet Walk.  Melt snow melt!

Trail Run - 

 I was really looking forward to FINALLY making it up Dry Canyon today.  I was stopped by snow in every other attempt until now.  Sort of.  I started the run at Providence Canyon and enjoyed a nice 2.75 mile warmup on rolling hills before getting to dry canyon and the nasty climb that ensues.  I made my way up the canyon with no issues and no snow on the trail until right before the aid station for Logan Peak.  From that point on, it was major snow.  The slushy kind that you fall into with no warning.  I first took the right fork and tried to make my way around the mountain as I figured once I hit the south slope on the South Syncline trail, it would once again be clear.  Unfortunately, I had a 1.5 mile trek across a snow field many feet deep.  Amazingly, I was able to find and stay "on" the trail the whole way.  I had post-holed my way about a mile when I finally gave up.  I headed back and decided to try the North Syncline trail.  I knew the south slope would be dry, but it took a bit more snow treking to get to that section.  As soon as I crested and was heading down the other side, the snow was just too deep to continue.  It had better start to warm up and melt as Logan Peak race is in 3 weeks and I would say that 15 miles of the course is under 3+ feet of snow.  Crazy.

I took a break at the ridge to admire the view and snap some photos and then descended like a maniac back to the car.  I didn't get to run as much of the course as I wanted, but at least I finally made it to the aid station (mile 4.5 of the course).  I think I survived my recovery week and am ready for a big 2 weeks. 

T- 3:00:00 (10:54) 152 ave * 4200' vert

Week summary - 63 miles 5650' Vertical

Pics from the day:

Picture 1: Aid Station Looking Right

Picture 2: Aid Station Looking Left

Pictures 3,4,5:  South Syncline Trail right after leaving Aid 1

Yep, the trail is under there somewhere.  Better start melting!

Picture 6: View of Logan from North Syncline Trail (about mile 22 of course)

AM: Big workout - 

Ran to Second Dam via Sumac Drive and Hydro Park.  I wasn't feeling awesome but managed to get some faster miles in there somewhere.  

T- 1:48:20 (7:13) 150 15 miles *550' Vertical

PM: 5 miles after my son's t-ball game.  Slow (8:15 pace)

AM: Landfill Loop 6 

PM: Jardine Juniper with Jon and Joe.  It was great to catch up with Joe again after so long.  He is lean and fit!  I led the way up with just an average pace, but with Joe in the lead and Jon right behind him on the way down, the pace was super fast.  I was going all out to keep up with them.  The final 4 miles were 5:57, 5:48, 6:08, and 5:39 on some mildly technical trails.  Crazy fast, but oh so much fun.  I love that trail. 

T- 1:22:53 (8:16) 10 miles *2050' Vertical (including the small bit down to the tree)

8 - Providence River Heights Loop.  Lucked out and ran between rain storms.

Home - Dry - Deer Fence - Providence - Home

The body didn't cooperate with me today and decided that I would have one gear.  Slow.  I decided to not fight it and resigned myself to a slog.  At least it didn't rain.

T- 1:41:00 (8:05) 142 ave HR 1000' vert

Young Ward Short Loop

Untimed, but it was slow

Long Trail Run - 

Excellent day for another epic long run.  I met up with Jon up Logan Canyon at Right Hand Fork.  I drove through a huge wind tunnel and some good rain and thought we were in for a crazy run.  It actually only drizzled off and on for half the run and turned out to be a great day to hit the trails.  My only complaint was the mud.  There was a lot of it!  

On to the run......We started up Ricks Canyon and followed the bear 100 course back to Richards Hollow.  I don't know what to say about it.  Some of the most beautiful mountains and trail I have ever been on.  Absolutely amazing.  I am sad I didn't get any photos today until I got back to the car to get the shot of the mud all up my backside. 

T- 4:13 (9:55) 152 ave *6000' vertical

Weekly Summary - 90 Miles 9600' Vertical - Good/Hard Week

AM: Standard monday morning 10 mile run.  I did have a bit more fatigue this monday compared to others.  It took a while to get the body rolling, but towards the end, things were better.

T- 1:14:56 (7:29) 146 ave *750' vert

PM: T-ball then Landfill Loop (6) then Mowed Lawn.  Tired

Big Trail Workout - 

I joined Jon (joe was a no-show) as we re-visited a classic once a year run that I just have to do.  It about killed me last year, but this year it would be different.  The difference this year, was that we now know very well the trail up to the Wind Caves Saddle (Birdineau).   Last year there was some serious bushwhacking but not this year.   I wasn't feeling terribly well today so took it easy from First Dam to Guinavah Malibu (6 miles in 49 mins).  Things didn't improve on the wind caves trail (3 miles in 44 mins - 2200' climb).  Jon was hardly working the uphills.  He sure felt better than I did on the climbs. 

We stopped at the summit to enjoy the view before blasting down the Green Canyon side hurdling the hundreds of tree roots.  Things suddenly perked up for me on the downhill and soon I was out of range of Jon.  I took a nap waiting for him at the bottom, but soon enough he arrived and it was time to hit the singletrack out of Green Canyon.  He was whining and moaning so I left him again.  Too bad the whole run today wasn't downhill as I could do that just fine.  Before long, we finished the short BST section and we were back at the car. 

I looked back at the run data from last year and this year, we ran the Wind Caves climb 4 mins faster (even though sticking to the correct trail we added 1/2 mile) and picked up another 5 mins over the last 6 miles.  Fun run, but that one time is enough for the year.  I will be back next year...

T-2:17:52 (8:53) 156 ave 180 max

3000' gain according to SportTracks. 

8.5 slow miserable miles.  Providence via Von's park. 8:25 ave pace 450' Vert

I opted to scale back the small workout I had planned for today due to lingering fatigue.  It takes a bit longer for me to recover from big workouts while running high mileage. It is a bit ambitious to run 2 big or even 1 big and 1 small workout PLUS a long run.  So, today I just ran.  At times it was fast, at times it wasn't.  I did the providence star loop plus an extra mile on Deer Fence for 11 miles.  

T-1:21:30 (7:25) 148  *875'

Long day today.  It all started with a Ragnar speaker system blaring into my house from the start of the relay at 5am.  Seriously.  I heard "5 minute warning".  I thought the neighborhood was being evacuated and we had only 5 mins to get out.  That woke me up good.  Never mind that, it is just a silly relay race thingy.  Anyway, I couldn't get out of work until 6pm so I rushed over to the start line to attempt a world record vertical climb contest thing on a treadmill, but by the time I got there it was all taken down so dejected, I decided to run the first leg of the course.  For those lucky enough to run as runner 1, you probably didn't take much notice, but you entered hallowed ground as you ran on the "Planet Walk" today.  Congrats on that achievement.  Anyway, I followed the course until Zollinger Park in Providence and decided I had enough and headed home.  

Long Trail Run - 

Today was another day I have been looking forward to.  I love exploring new trails and being fit enough to cover so much terrain in one swoop.  This is why I run...  Today's expedition was another section of the Bear 100 course.  This time it was almost 80% (total guess) of new trail for me.  We started right where we left off last week at Right Hand Fork.  The first section was up Willow (not new) over to Temple Fork (new) down Temple Fork (not new).  This spit us out to where we met up with Jon's car that we stashed and the start of the Out and back up Blind hollow to Tony Grove (all new).  I was feeling great after this first section but it was a good thing because the fun was just starting.  Time to climb 2400' in 5.25 miles then descend 500' to tony grove.  It was made more challenging by the rough ground, rocky footing, 20 fallen tree crossings, moose blocking the path, etc.  Very eventful section.  I was quite grateful to finally made it to the lake only to be surprised to see that it still had ice on it.  In mid June.  Crazy.  The snow on the hillside (that we found our way through) was quite substantial too.  Too much for this time of year (IMO).  By the time was finally made it back to the car I was pretty tired and glad to be done, but what a run! 

T-3:48:12 (10:33) 5200' climb

Weekly summary: 82.5 Miles 9825' Climb (big week for climbing - PR)

AM: Easy 6 on Landfill Loop.  Heading out to Orlando now.  I am blogging this at SLC airport waiting for my delayed flight.  Should get in some good heat training in...

AM: 7 easy but sweaty miles near my hotel.  I found a dirt road 3 miles from the hotel that looked like it had alligators all over it, but I didn't see any.  I did see some deer though. Weird.

PM: Late 4.5 mile run around International Drive.  More concrete, but not many people or cars.  I ran with carl who did WBR for his first time last week.  We jumped directly into the pool following the run. 

This trip has been a good use of time.  Lots of informative classes and all you can eat food.  I even ate sushi for dinner. 

7 miles with the alligators

7:30 pace counting stopping for pictures.  Did some 6:30-7:00 pace stuff in there.

Easy but hot 3.5.  8 min pace

Fly home today - Yay

Great to home to nice and cool Logan.  I celebrated by visiting the Planet Walk.  Easy run to shake out the travel and flush the junk out of the system.  I am still pretty tired from the long days and lack of sleep.  Better get some good rest tonight, big day tomorrow...

Logan Peak Trail Race - 

What a race!  Where to begin?  How about I mention the fact that I have been planning and dreaming about this race since last years was over.  This is my single most favorite race for many reasons, including the home course advantage, amazing views, tough technical trails, snow, mud and lots and lots of hills.  Needless to say, I was pretty excited for the 2010 edition of this race.  

The morning began with a nice jog around the starting area with Jon and Joe working on earning a few stars.  By race time, I was feeling good and ready to roll.  The weather was nice (50's and clear).  The race started near Logan Dry canyon and headed out of the park and towards the mountains.  Before too long, we were on the Deer Fence trail and then heading up Dry Canyon.  Its a nice steep canyon climbing 3000' in the first 4.5 miles. Before long the lead pack included Jon, Joe, myself and 2 others.  Things were relaxed but not slow as we climbed the canyon.  We were ahead of CR pace by a few mins when we reached Aid Station 1 at mile 4.5 and held that gap for the whole race.  Things were looking pretty good, but we were working hard to maintain that pace. 

Mile Splits:  9:06, 11:31, 14:15, 15:29, 14:25 (including aid 1)

The big question this year was how much snow we would encounter.  A week ago, about a 1/3 of the course was covered in snow.  The warm weather took care of that this week and we were lucky to experience roughly the same amount of snow as last year.  It was weird though as the snow patches were in different locations this year.  Things were moving along nicely as we ran on the South Syncline Trail heading around the mountain. 

I was chasing a guy (I forgot his name already) with Joe right on my heels and Jon and (some other guy) behind him when I got a bit carried away on a tight downhill corner(mile 7.5).  I stepped on a rock that threw off my balance and before I knew it, I was flying face first into a rock.  I banged myself up pretty good even getting a cut upper lip.  I layed there in pain until I got some sympathy and then decided to run again.  No, seriously, it hurt.  After that, I didn't feel too good and had a really hard time keeping up with the pack.  This was the hardest section of the course for me.  Mentally and physically. 

Splits: 9:49, 6:54, 9:39(fall), 10:20, 11:35, 10:01

By mile11, we hit Aid 2 and started an out and back section to the summit of Logan Peak (9710').  The pack was still very fluid with  lots of position changes.  The snow at the summit wasn't too bad and was way less than I expected which helped us maintain a good pace.  The celebration at the top was shortened this year as we had some chasing to do to catch the first place guy (name forgotten again).  We blasted the downhill closing the gap, but man, it hurt.  The nice thing through here was that we get to see the people who are behind us on the course and give/receive praise.  Fun section. 

Splits: 11:06, 15:50, 11:00, 8:21, 7:31 

I made a quick aid station stop to fill my bottle and moved on.  I was hoping to get ahead at this point so I could run slower.  Weird logic, but it worked for a min until Jon caught and passed me.  At this point, he was in the lead with Joe and myself running together behind him.  Jon stretched out his lead, but we kept him in sight.  I was still feeling tired and worn out.  Miserable, but that meant that I was doing something right.  Joe and I worked on closing the gap to Jon and by using the singletrack downhill, we were able to do that.  We ran the Northern Syncline trail section together and figured that the winner would come from one of us as we had dropped the other guys.  This section of trail is absolutely spectacular.  Amazing views, beautiful singletrack.  I would enjoy it more if it weren't for this pesky race.  I started to feel better through here and took over the lead duties.  I stayed that way until I found a water trough to dunk my head in as I was getting super hot.  More running ensued and before long, we were back at the Aid station at the top of Dry Canyon. 

Splits:9:35, 7:11, 7:07, 9:50, 13:22, 8:58

4.5 miles to go.  We were all together there, but Jon decided to fill a bottle and since I still had a 1/3 of a bottle I decided to not stop.  Joe followed suit and was right on my tail as we flew down the singletrack.  I didn't see Jon again after this point.  This section is brutal on the legs as they are super tired, but you really have to push it to keep a good pace going on the steep/technical downhill.  I worked hard to drop Joe, but he hung with me for a while.  Finally!  I wasn't able to hear his foot steps anymore (he took a nice spill somewhere in there too).  I slowed back off the pace a bit and tried to just survive.  At this point I was amazed I could actually win this thing.  Don't blow it now Cody.

Before arriving at the bottom of the canyon I was surprised to see about a 100 head of cattle climbing up the singletrack.  Great!  I made some noise and got most of them to run into the trees so I could pass.  A few decided to run by me on the trail and for a bit I was right next to a few cows.  It turned out that the cattle owners were following the cows up the canyon on their horses and they were not happy that I was spooking them.  Sorry, but what do you do? 

The last mile was a bear with some good uphills and downhill all exposed to the hot sun.  I looked back and saw Joe not too far behind me, but figured he wouldn't be able to get me so I enjoyed the run-in to the finish.  My first win in 3 years and my first ever trail race win.  Sweet!  Joe finished strong less than a min behind with Jon struggling the last 4 miles and losing about 3 mins to us.  But very solidly taking 3rd place.  A 1-2-3 sweep for the blog and all of us sporting our Saint George Running Center shirts, we got some nice publicity.  

Splits: 7:23, 5:55, 6:15, 6:31, 6:05 (course measured to be 27 miles, but whatever).

Awesome course, well run event that I hope to be able to do for many years to come.  The cash prize for first was pretty sweet too.  Who can argue with that?  Results should be posted shortly HERE

T- 4:22:52 (9:52 by my watch) 7200' gain

* Weekly summary 60 miles 8000' climbing