Old Man Still running

Hills and dirt roads above the school.  Did a 2.4-mile loop three times and then some roads.  Took it easy about 9-minute pace.  Felt good and strong.

Hills and Heat....that is training ticket.  Ran up Lott canyon, a steady tough climb from my house.  Brought the dog.  I was impressed, she hung with me the entire way and didn't complain, her toughest climb.  I'll just keep the light training going without a taper.  Seems like the ankle does better with work.  Days off makes it hurt more.

I'll may write a more detailed report later.  The Squaw Peak 50 is a very tough 50-mile race held in the mountains above Provo, Utah. It has huge climbs and decents.  This was my sixth finish in six years.  I have never run it faster than 11 hours.  That was my goal this year.  Conditions were good.  The snow really melted fast last week on the course.  It probably slowed my down only about 10 minutes or so compared to dryer years.  It was a little hot for my tastes, but I reached Hobble Creek canyon road a little earlier than usual, so it wasn't too hot.

Here's my results and split times compared to my goal pace.  Pretty sick how close I was to my goal.

	miles	Goal	2010
Start	0	0:00
Hope CG	5.6	1:04	1:01
Rock Canyon	8.5	2:04	1:58
Kolob Overlook	14.6	3:04	3:01
Pole Haven	20.9	4:04	3:58
Top Hobble Crk	26.1	4:55	4:45
Sheep Cyn	30	5:50	5:44
Little Valley	33.5	6:45	6:40
Windy Pass	41.5	9:20	9:15
Big Spring	46.5	10:25	10:25
Finish	50.9	11:00	10:56:59

So I did it!  I really don't think I can run that course much faster.  Today was a near perfect day.  I had no issues at all.  The ankle held up well and didn't really slow me down much.  I knew that I had a little time cushion when I arrived at Little Valley, that my goal was still real.  The toughest section of the course to Windy Pass would be the decider. Two runners ahead of me were in my sights and they had a nice strong pace, so instead of trying to catch and pass them, I just hung with them.   I set a milestone in my mind.  Reach the bottom of the huge climb by 8:15 mark to give me an hour to get up and over the hill. 

I beat that and then quickly caught up with runners ahead pushing up the steep hill.  I did compression breathing to find some extra oxygen.  One of the runners noticed I was doing that and did the same and later thanked me.  I was stuck behind another runner who was holding me up a little, but I didn't ask to pass, because I wasn't sure I could hold the lead.

I did try scooting up the snow portion, but that didn't seem to be much faster, but it did get me by all the other runners.  I then kicked it in gear and after I reached to top of the first ridge, I couldn't see anyone on my tail, so I ran harder.  Once I reached the very top, I was pleased that I had left the string of other runners pretty far behind.

Once at Windy Pass I had a bunch of friends running the aid station there.  They all cheered me.  I was the only one there and they took care of me fast.  I stayed one minute and told them I needed to try to break 11 hours.   I knew it would be very hard.   I had to cover the last 8.5 miles in 1:45.  I knew a course PR was in the bag, no problem, but beating 11 hours was going to require some fast running.

There was a bunch of deep snow to go through for a half mile, but after that I cranking up the pace.  I saw LuzyLew with about 6.5 miles to go.   About a mile later, it happened.  I went down with a bad face plant.   My left leg cramped up and I could hardly walk.  But after about 3-4 minutes delay I was off running again.   Now my goal was in big jeapordy.

I hit the last aid station with 35 minutes to go.  Could I run the paved road down the South Fork of Provo in 35 minutes, 3.4 miles?  I've done it before to finsh this race, so I would try hard.  At the aid station I ran through it and only took an ice cold drenched towel that I used to cool me down.  It was very hot.   I tried to visualize that I was just finishing up a Marthon.  All my crazy marathon experience this year payed off.  I ran that stretch in 32 minutes.    ran the entire way on the road, no walking.  I almost caught up to the runner ahead of me, but when he saw me, he started running.  His pace was good.  I had no desire to race, just to wanted to beat the clock. I did it!   I finished in 28th place overall in a very competitive field of about 250 runner.

I beat my previous course PR (Personal record) by 43 minutes.   A huge improvement.

Back to training before tapering next week.  Did a rather easy recovery run, not a lot of hills but plenty of miles to work out any kinks in the legs.  They felt good, no pain in the muscles left over from Squaw Peak 50 on Saturday.  The tendon problem is still there but managable.

I was out the door at 2:15 a.m.   What a wonderful morning for running. Perfect temperature.  Heard an owl hooting at me as I approached Eagle Mountain.  Once on the flat dirt roads and pavement, I turned out the flashlight and just ran in the dark, letting my feet feel the road.  I didn't push the pace too hard, just kept going.  Long bathroom break at Pony Express Park.   Aid station stop at the convenient store in the Ranches and then I ran on the new road, newly paved, still closed, Pony Express Parkway that connects Eagle Mountain to Saratoga Springs.  Very nice.  That will get the traffic of narrow back roads and will be a nice quick way to run out to the Ranches.

Ended up with a little more than 20 miles.   http://www.mapmyrun.com/route/us/ut/saratoga%20springs/624127609359570277

Decided to benchmark my fitness by timing a tough hill climb route I've done many times.   My previous best in 2007 was 1:08:17.  The route starts right behind my house, across Redwood Road.  It is a seven-mile out and back that climbs a total of 1500 feet.  The last half mile up is very rugged and steep, so it is a tough seven miles.  It first goes up almost a mile of pavement, up Grandview Blvd, goes into a gravel pit area and continues up a dirt road straight into Lott Canyon.  The road narrows and winds up the canyon until it finally arrives at the top of a ridge where you can look over to top to Eagle Mountain.

I pushed it pretty hard, at race speed, but didn't red-line.  To my surprise, I crushed my previous PR by nearly five minutes.  1:03:30.  I made it to the top in 39:26, and 24:04 down, for a 6:52 pace average coming down (had a terrible headwind slowing me in stretches).

I'm starting to think despite my advancing age, that I better set my sights a little higher this year, that I can do better than I think.  In each race that I have really pushed since Feb, I've either set a course PR or a distance PR.  So, something is working this year.

Splits: 1st Gate: 8:21, 2nd Gate: 19:15, Top: 39:26, 2nd Gate: 49:39, 1st Gate: 57:16, Bottom: 1:03:30.

A day off today for a one-day taper before Utah Valley Half Marathon tomorrow morning.  I'm hoping for cold and rain with a tail wind.  Looks like I have a 70% chance of getting my wish, should weed out those that never run in poor conditions.  The goal is: win my age group, and break 1:30.

Focusing on Bighorn 100 in a week.  My best time on the normal course is 29:00:16.  In 2008 I did much better on the altered snow course, 26:45.   But that course is much easier because it avoided the most difficult slow section that slogs through mud and snow.  This year I hope to make a huge improvment and mentally be ready for the most difficult sections of the course.  I showed at the Timp Marathon that I could blast through the mud and snow, so I'll just repeat that at Bighorn.  It looks like we will have some snowy sections near the top of the course, probably with some drifts of about two feet deep that involves a little post-holing, pretty typical.

My wild goal is for 26:00 and a top-20 finish.   I'll be careful not to kill myself on the huge initial 5,000 foot climb. Last year it wiped me out and I ended up dehydrated. I'll probably be in 30th place at the point and then just be content to pick of runners for the next 25 miles and then hold my position. 

I ran the Utah Valley Half Marathon and kind of also ran the marathon too (we’ll get to that).  I decided to run the half marathon, instead of the marathon, because I have Bighorn 100 next week and didn’t want to do anything stupid just six days before that race.  But, I also was determined to race this half marathon hard.  I knew it would be a fast course and that a PR was possible.

I had two goals, break 1:30 and place first in my age group.  I had looked at the entrants list and didn’t see any of the top distance runners in the state faster than me in the race, so I thought there would be no reason why I shouldn’t push for the win.

The course starts up in Provo Canyon near the tunnel before the turnoff to Sundance.  It followed the highway all the way down the canyon, with one of the lanes closed off for the runners and then went straight down University to the Provo Town Mall.  It was straight and fast.  There were a few hills, but the most significant one was at mile 2.

Rain was the big concern.  At the start it looked like we would get lucky and race during a lull in the storm.   To warm up, I ran up the canyon and a little way up the Sundance road.  I then positioned myself among the top 30 runners near the start, looking at all the fast, skinny young Sojourner runners.  The start was late, it waited to start at exactly the same time as the marathon, 13.1 miles behind us, further up the canyon.

It was still somewhat dark as we started, dark enough that I had a problem seeing my watch clearly for a few miles, but I could tell I was doing fine.  I started running right behind Maryann, but before the end of the first mile she kicked it in gear.  Going down the canyon I was passed by quite a few runners as we settled into our pace.  My splits in the canyon (miles 1-5) were 6:13, 7:15 (hill up), 6:22 (hill down), 6:37, 6:53.  I knew that I needed to keep my splits under 6:50 to reach my goal. All was going pretty well. I was breathing hard as usual but the legs felt fine.

However, the weather turned bad around mile three.  A soaking rain started to fall.  I had to slow in order to put my phone/mp3-player in a ziplock bag.  Thankfully, the soaking only lasted about a mile, but we had great fun avoiding puddles.  The course would be wet the entire distance.

I don’t remember any runners passing me for miles, probably the last one did around mile 4. But ahead of me a large gap got longer and longer.  I could see one of the Sojourner girls far ahead.  The gap probably got as wide as 1/3^rd mile or more.   I never stopped at any aid station along the way, just used my handheld bottle with Ensure and that worked great, giving me the energy I needed.

By mile 8, I finally felt warmed up and felt super so I pushed the pace a little harder.  I could see that the gap was closing ahead of me, especially on a long gentle hill.  My splits for miles (6-11) were 6:51, 7:00, 6:56, 7:05, 7:08, 7:00.

With a couple miles to go, a guy (Kerry Brock) finally caught up with me.  His first question was, “How old are you?”  I didn’t want to tell him, so I asked how old he was.  “49.”  I let him know I was 51.  He was relieved and so was I, we were in different age groups so didn’t have to really race against each other to the finish.  We both felt confident we were leading our age groups. He said he had been working very hard for the past several miles trying to reel me in. (At the finish another runner said he tried and tried for many miles to catch me, but couldn’t and he finished about 40seconds behind me). We had fun talking for awhile and he was interested to hear that I was un ultrarunner and doing this race as a long tempo run.  I pushed ahead again, feeling energized from the conversation, but by mile 12, he caught up and passed me.   I was watching my watch carefully and could see I had a very realistic chance of breaking 1:30, but then I saw the steep overpass ahead and knew that would slow down my last mile.  We were reeling in the girl ahead but never did catch her.   At the top of the hill I almost caught Kerry but he pushed ahead strongly and I didn’t really want to sprint.

My final two mile splits were 6:59 and 7:07.  The last hill slowed me down too much.   I crossed the finish line in 1:30:14. I crushed my half-marathon PR by over 4 minutes!  My friend was about six seconds ahead of me.  Close enough, I was very pleased.  The finish area was pretty deserted because I finished 26^th overall.  I indeed did win the 50-54 age group by over five minutes.  In fact, Kerry and I were the top two finishers for all those age 35+.  Not bad for a huge race with 900 finishers.

I rested and warmed back up in my car for about 40 minutes and then decided to head back on the course and run it very slowly backwards to cheer everyone and see friends.   North of the bridge I was able to watch the winning marathon runner cruising to his finish.  I said hi to Sasha who was in 6^th place.  It was great fun to clap and cheer for hundreds of runners and many recognized me.  I planned to run back until I found Smooth and company, but somehow I missed her.  I did stop to help a couple runners who were cramping and maybe missed her during one of those times.  But that was OK.  At times I reversed course and ran awhile with friends.

I ran clear back to the mouth of Provo Canyon and then turned around when Mark Sanderson arrived.  (It was about at the 4:00 mark) I calculated that my total miles were now more than the runners around me.  So now it was time to finish my marathon.  I kicked it into gear to finish the final 6.5+ miles.  It did look rather odd that I was running 8-minute miles while the others around were running 15-minute miles or walking.  People gave me lots of cheers, I felt rather embarrassed.  At each aid station, I stopped and feasted.  I figured since I didn’t use them during the half, why not use them now?  I had great fun and finished my marathon+ at about 4:55.

I congratulated some ultrarunner friends at the finish. I had missed the half/marathon awards, but went  up and they gave me my plaque. It looked nice.

Six easy miles with the dog in the foothills.

Lunch power walk up Yellow Fork Canyon.  Never have gone up that canyon before, very nice.  I've run across the top of it before several times coming from Cedar Valley up and over to Butterfield Canyon, but never come up from the east.  Next time I'll bring running gear.  Just staying loose for Bighorn 100 on Friday.

It was a rough day.  To get a jump on the terrible wind storm that would hit Wyoming, I decided to do much of the driving today.  I went to change the oil at Jiffy Lube in Riverton and they offered to replace my bad battery.  Boy was that a mistake.  They did something that fried my car computer or security system.  Afterwards the security system had the car locked up, it wouldn't start.  It had to be towed to a dealer and they let me know it would be $512 repairs and they don't have the part.  So much for using that car.  My wife rescued me and I went back to Jiffy Lube to let then know clearly that I was firm that they would pay for it all.   I guess they heard me because later in the day they called my wife and let us know they were covering the repair costs.  Lesson learned, never let those oil change places get near the electrical system.

So, with a four hour delay, I was on the road and made it to Casper, Wyoming for the night.  Had a nice tail wind for some of the trip.   The race isn't until Friday, but they make you get here on Thursday to check in and deliver drop bags.

Checked in and resting all I can now, just watching US Open golf and NBA finals.  Great way to rest.  I'll go to the prerace dinner soon.   Lots of good friends in this race, it is always fun.   Looks like it will be a muddy year and three miles of snow near the top of the course.   I just need to mentally not let it get to me and plow through it fast.  100 miles here we come!

I'm at the Bighorn 100, just resting until the start.  I enjoyed the pre-race dinner last night.  I ate with Beat Jegerlehner and his friends Steven Ansell and Harald Walther.  All four of us are Plain 100 finishers.  There are only a couple handful of runners who have ever finished that race, so it was unusual to have four of us in one place.  Between us we had 6 finishes in that tough race in Washington.  We had a great time talking about our crazy tales in that race.  Beat is a tough runner who finishes multiple 100s each year.  In September he is going to run a 200-mile race in Italy that has about 70,000 elevation climb.  Harald is going to run in the famed the UTMB 100 (Mont Blanc).  That race goes around Mont Blanc, Switzerland and has thousands of runners in it.

After eating with them, I ate with Matt and Ann Watts and Sue Norwood and Jim O'Neil.  Sue and Jim are stalwarts on the ultrarunning circuit.  They spend their summers going from race to race in their camper.  I first got to know Sue when I read her massive day-by-day journal of her run on the entire Appalachian Trail.  After that fun I went back to my room, rested and watch the LA-Boston game.

I had about six hours sleep last night, far more than usual before a 100, so I'm good to go.  I'l watch some of the soccer game and then go to the pre-race briefing.

My 5th Bighorn finish and my 32nd 100-mile finish. A quick report before I get some sleep.   I had a good race.   The race starts (at 11 a.m. on Friday morning) with a huge climb of more than 4,000 feet in 4 miles.  I purposely held back a little, although it turned out I did my fastest climb of the 5 years.  Go figure, it didn’t feel like I pushed it super hard.   I came into the 13-mile aid station in 30^th place.   I hoped for a top-20 finish, so my strategy was to just be patient and pick off runners one by one.   My strategy hit a snag when I needed to take a 10-minute bathroom break at mile 22.   I probably fell to about 42^nd place.  

At mile 27 the course takes a dive, losing 3,000 feet in under three miles to cross over the Little Bighorn River.   I believe that I passed 8 runners, back in 34^th place.   However, I spent a long 10 minutes at this aid station to fix a problem shoe and was again passed by several runners.

From mile 30 to 48 the course does another huge climb of more than 4,800 feet but it is spread over 18 miles.  I discovered that many runners who beat me on the morning climb no longer had an uphill running gear.  I passed runner after runner as I ran probably 75% of that climb.   My pace was personal record pace.   The leader of the race, Mike Wolfe, came running toward me, already on his way back, at about mile 39, 18 miles ahead of me.  I was stunned because I knew he was on course record time.  (He did break the course record, finishing in 18:43, when I still would have 30 miles to go.)

I had never before reached the 43.5-mile aid station in the daylight.  Usually I have to turn on my light at about mile 41.  On this day I didn’t need to turn it on until mile 46.  So I was very pleased.  From mile 42 to the top at mile 48, the course is muddy, snowy, and swampy.  I did my best to not worry about wet muddy shoes and just plowed through the problem areas.   Near the high point, we slogged through about a quarter mile of icey, swampy water.  Our feet really got cold. I reached the turn-around at mile 48 at the 11:38 mark at 10:38 p.m.   I didn’t stay long and headed back out into the cold.  It was below freezing near the top (about 9,000 feet).  I reached the turn-around in 24^th place.  So I had passed about 18 people since my long pit stop.

Doing the turn-around is exciting because you could see how your friends are doing behind you.  But the 18 miles back down are frustrating.   Now in the dark it is very hard to push a fast pace.  Much of the trail is pretty technical with lots of rocks to trip on and I just didn’t want to face-plant.   Oddly, my split times going down in the dark were a little bit slower than my split times going up in the light. (I did spend a little more time in the aid stations)  I returned to the footbridge aid station (Little Bighorn River crossing, mile 66) at the 17:02 mark. (4:02 a.m.).   Despite my slowness in the dark, I was now over an hour ahead of my best time.   Usually, I’ll spend about 20 minutes at this point recovering, eating, and perhaps working my feet.  But today, I decided to make my stop very fast, probably about 4 minutes.   When I jumped up to leave, I noticed that about 5 other runners were surprised and had concerned looks on their faces as they were still taking their time.   Away I went.

Next was a climb of 3,000 feet out of the river gorge in under three miles.   I just did a steady pace and in under 1:30, the climb was done.  I had passed a runner in the process who I had never seen before.  I was probably in 16th place.   Dawn arrived at about mile 68, but the sun didn’t shine on me until about mile 74.  It was pretty nippy.   At times I could see a half mile behind me.  No other runners were seen. At the aid station at mile 76.5, I chowed down on bacon and potatoes fried in bacon grease.   It really hit the spot and gave me new energy and calmed down my stomach.  

From mile 76.5 to mile 84 I got lazy and took the foot off the gas.  I was passed by three runners.  But at the aid station at mile 82.5, I made a six minute stop.  In past years, my stop there is usually 20 minutes to wash my feet, lube them, and get clean socks on for the finish.   Not this year, I decided to save time, stay with my muddy wet shoes and hope that my feet didn’t hurt too much for the finish.   At this aid station, I was in 19^th place.   I arrived there at 9:32 a.m.   The 30K race started at this point at 10:00 a.m. and followed the rest of the 100-mile course.  So at mile 85, the 30K runners caught up to me.   It was odd to have company around me because for the past 9 hours I had seen very few runners because we were so spread out.  The front packs were fast and I just couldn’t keep up, so I would step aside and let 30K runners pass me.

But at mile 88 after a final steep 1,000-foot climb, I really put it into gear for the massive 4,000-foot descent.   I passed about 20 30K runners as I blasted down the hill.  They gave me stunned looks and comments because they knew I was a 100-mile runner.   But after mile 92.5, they all passed me back as I eased off.  The last five miles is dirt road pounding.  The course doesn’t finish where it started, that would make it only 96 miles.  It continues for another 4 miles into the town of Dayton, Wyoming at a park.   I was passed by two 100-milers.  I did my best to keep a strong run going and re-passed one of those runners.  All my road races were helpful.  I knew how to keep the legs moving on flat roads.   The heat was pretty bad for the finish, but I came into the park and crossed the finish line at 26:38.   My previous best time on that course was 29:00. 

I finished in 19th place, 2nd in my age group. There were 154 starters.  There were 95 finishers.

Still pretty drained today.  Last night stomach recovery was having challenges, but I'm eating again now.  Muscles feel OK.   I can tell that I pushed this race pretty hard because recovery seems like it is taking a little bit longer.  My energy should bounce back by tomorrow, but running again is probalby still 3 days away.

The race results are at: http://www.bighorntrailrun.com/results/2010FINISH.HTML

Recovery is continuing.  I no longer feel ill.  You just gotta love a sport that makes you physically ill for a couple days after you do it.  Great fun.  I still went into work on Monday because I feel guilty staying home because I know my illness is self-imposed.  I can jog downstairs now, but the calves are a little sore.  Nerve endings have reawakened, any swelling is gone, so now and then the nerves throw a pain here and there.  But all is going well, and I look forward to training again soon. 

I came away with just one blister, on the outside right heel.  Very common for me in any shoe I wear.  I should try to figure out how to prevent that.  Also, my muddy gaiters rubbed on the back of my legs so much that I have scapes on both legs that are pretty cool.  I didn't notice the pain there much.   Some other scapes and cuts here and there from running through brush.

The next big race is Tahoe Rim 100 in 25 days, the 100-mile national champtionships.  I'll be defending my grand-master's championship from last year.  I'll need to run at least an hour faster than my Bighorn time.   Last year I did 25:43.  The course will be different this year, probably a half hour harder.

Back running again.  After a business meeting at Park City, I hit the trails up there.  I've never run the trails there below the tops of the ridges.  I've skied those slopes many, many times so it was fun to run across slopes I knew very well.   I took a pretty direct route up to Scott's Bowl and then ran down almost entirely on single track.  Bikes are not yet on the upper trails I was on because there is still snow in places.  The run down was great fun winding in and out of the aspens, forest, and fields.  Its great to be in the mountains again.  No better place to run.  Great to be away from the roads.   It was nice an peaceful.  Plenty of thoughts about Wasatch 100 came into my mind.  Amazing that it is just 2 1/2 months away.

What an adventure.  I decided to try to do my first Timp summit for the year.   I was on the trail at 1:30 a.m.    I noticed the first snow near Scout Falls....not good, that is way too low for snow.  Well, I've been up and down that mountain many times early in the season when in still had tons of snow.  I knew the safe snow routes to take.

I caught up and passed a couple groups who were trying to keep their feet dry in an area where the runoff was flowing down the trail.  After the rock slide, I caught up to another group wandering around in the giant snow field slope.  They couldn't figure out where the trail continued.  I gave them stern words that they should not be attempting the trail this early in the season if they had not ever been up it before, and certainly not in the dark.  That could be disaster if they went off track. They wanted me to guide them, but I told them I would be going too fast.  So, I took off, but they kept following.   So after awhile I looked out for them, warned them whent they were off the trail.  We had tons of snow fields to cross.  There was more snow than trail.  When we reached the huge snow slope below the basin, I explained where the trail was under the snow but said I was going straight up the slope.   They watched me go and didn't follow my route.

When I arrived in the basin (10,000 feet), I could see that it was still almost totally covered in 1-2 feet of snow.  In some places the snow was six feet or more.  Wow, this was the most I have seen up there.  I was wearing my micro spikes on my shoes, and they were doing super.  I had great traction.

I crossed the basin with no problem and then looked up to attack the slope up to a shelf under the saddle.  The trail was totally covered in snow, it would be of no help.  In the past I just headed toward the sound of the water fall and found the safe route through the cliffs.   But this morning I heard three water falls.   I just couldn't see well enough in the dark to find the right route.  I made my way up and was probably only about 30 yards from being on the shelf, but the final yards would involve a rock climb.  I probably was in the wrong place.   I knew once I got by this area, I would face one more steep snow slope to get up to the saddle and then it would be clear trail to the summit.  But I decided this just wasn't worth it.  This wasn't running, it was slow mountain snow climbing, so I headed back down.  I wimped out, I've done this before in the dark going up snow slopes, but I felt nervous in the dark. It didn't look like anyone had yet gone up above the basin this season. Oh well, I made it up to 10,500.   I could do this in the day, but it will be much easier in a couple weeks.

I crossed back over the basin and then found the group just arriving.  I warned them not to try to go above the basin since there was no trail and they had no clue where the correct route was.   I had a nice fun run down and dawn arrived.   We had tramped down a pretty good trail in the snow all the way up to the basin, so I expect lots of hikers to start making their way up to that point.

I decided to go for some real running in the beautiful morning with all the aspens.  As I was about to start, I ran into Thayne Clark and Scott Holmes out for a run up and over Alpine Loop to Aspen Grove and back.  I asked if I could join in.  We had a great run.  Thayne knows all those trails very well and took us on all sorts of nice routes.   It was great fun and I had a nice workout.

As I was driving home through Lehi, I saw several runners on the road.  I thought, "I wonder if Smooth is out running?"  Sure enough, in another block I drove by Smooth.  I rolled down the window and yelled and hello.

Long pavement run this morning.  I wanted to run the new Pioneer Crossing highway end to end that is nearing completion.  I'm probably the first to do that, because you need to do it in the dark when the workers aren't around.   I was out the door at 3 a.m.  The road is really nice.   A runner's paradise because they have porto-potties all over the place.  They are putting finishing touches, landscaping, sound barriers, traffic lights, side walks.  It was very peaceful running down the wide road in the nearly full moonlight.

Once in Lehi, I ran up State Street to Thankgiving Point.  I went as far as the golf course clubhouse, ran along the 10th hole, through a neighborhood and then jumped down on the path along the river.   The Montainview Corridor is making some progress.  They are starting a bridge over the river, probably first a small construction bridge.   I ran the path all the way home.  It is now essentially open as it now goes under the new Pioneer Crossing where it crosses over the river.  Very nice.    The run was about 22.5 miles and I did it averaging 9:30 pace.

Map: http://www.mapmyrun.com/route/us/ut/saratoga%20springs/543127773463920566

The focus is now on Tahoe Rim 100 in less than three weeks.   I'll try to get some good training miles in before a taper.  I've run the race three times before.  My best time is 25:43 and I've been in the top 20 all three times.  I believe I'm the only three-time finisher in the race.  The course is changing about 24 of the miles, at least an additional 2,000 feet of new climbing.  I'm not sure what my goal should be yet since I have no idea what the new section is like.

Out again at 3 a.m.   Ran over the foothills to Eagle Mountain, into Cedar Valley, back through the Ranches to home.   The cold air sure sinks and stays in Cedar Valley.  Seems like it always is 10 degrees colder or so there.  Stopped at the convenient store at the Ranches.  Overall pace average fairly easy at 10:15.

Map of run: http://www.mapmyrun.com/route/us/ut/saratoga%20springs/723127783401497606

The geek that I am, I measure my improvement in races by my percentage finish against the field.  Here are a couple charts.  I've thrown out races where I didn't really race (fun runs), and also threw out races where the field was too small or not competitive enough.  Generally races of 40 or more people.   Here is the chart for my ultras over a six year period.

The improvement trend is pretty noticeable, especially during the past year.  Next, let's take a look at my road race finishes.   I finish in a higher percentage because generally the field is less competitive with far more less serious runners.   But the trend here is even more dramatic.

I think the biggest improvement factors for both charts is probably mileage base.

Alarm went of at 2:45, but I couldn't do three days in a row that early, sluffed off and slept in.  But the good news it that there was some activity going on over at American Fork Hospital.   My first grandchild was born three week early, a yet-to-be-named grandson.  I am now officially very old.  Mother and baby doing just fine.

In the afternoon ran in the canyons to the west of Herriman, a very nice network of horse/bike trails that then connect with 4wd roads up on the ridges.  Did a 10+ mile loop going up Yellow Fork, the left fork, connecting to what is called City Canyon and up to the top of the ridges climbing up 2,000 feet to 7,700 feet with very nice views of the valley and copper mines to the north.   I've been on the 4wd roads up there before several times.   I could not see evidence that any runners are using those wonderful trails and roads way up there.  I ran along high ridges and then descended down into the upper portion of the right fork of Yellow Fork.  I then blasted down the rolling, soft bike trails to complete my loop.

I would like to do more training there.  The trails are wonderful.  I like it better than the heavily used Corner Canyon across the valley because it is much less used.  Now that I know the area pretty well, I can run it in the dark.  I'll probably run there before work some days.

Map of my run: http://www.mapmyrun.com/route/us/ut/herriman/795127793930733663