Old Man Still running

One of the rewards of doing a very long run on the weekend is taking time off.  I did and have enjoyed the rest.  Went out to do a quick recovery road run with the dog and and the legs felt great and strong.   Plans for Saturday are to first run the Provo River half marathon with its fast downhill course...PR in the cards.  I'll get up to the start early and put in some warm up trail miles.  After I finish, drive up to Hobble Creek canyon, run in seven miles to Little Valley and then pace Mark Ellison in the Katcina Mosa 100K for his last 24 miles.  I'll probably run backward on the course until I find him.  So I'll do 50+ miles for the day.  Should be fun.  My wife's out of town, son at youth conference, so what else is there to do but run?

For the 1/2, I wear my Boston Marathon shirt to impersonate a hot shot road runner, and then I'll get into my true persona and wear my trail garb with handhelds and to head up into the mountains.

What a wonderful day of running.  Got up bright and early and headed to Provo to catch the buses up to South Provo Canyon for the Provo 1/2 marathon.  I took one of the first busses so I could get in some trail miles in the hills far above the start to get away from the chaos there.   Dawn arrived as I was running up the Great Western Trail.  I also did some laps around the massive field up there.  As I came down I stopped at the top of the hill and watched the total chaos with a couple other guys laughing and the sights down below.  As happens every year a guy with a bull horn tells people the wrong place for the start location and people go up and down the road as busses keep trying to come into the very tight dropoff place.   It is sadly very funny to watch.  You just have to wonder why they don't learn from the mistakes and just repeat them over and over again every year.  I need to remember to never do those races again.  They are just too silly.  The awards are silly, the shirts are silly.

I started out fast as usual hoping for a PR, but the hill they added last year and this in the middle of the race just saps the energy and at that point I backed off, knowing that I still had big miles to do the rest of the day.  Still I did fine.  The cyclists going up the Parkway were pretty rude.  Some were determined to ride as fast as they could in their lane dispite the flow of runners coming down.  I tried to let then know that hundreds were on their way.  One guy who almost hit me screemed at me.  Strange that they just couldn't realize that something was different today and they needed to be more cautious.  Bikers get a bad rep at time and many times it is justified.  I hope they changed their ways once the entire parkway became clogged with runners/walkers.

I reeled in a guy that looked like he was in my age group, caught and passed him on the last mile.   My splits were: 5:54, 6:22, 6:22, 6:44, 6:23, 7:23, 7:30, 7:48, 7:19, 7:55, 6:44, 7:51, and 7:55 to the finish.  Had fun seeming friends there.   They do a nice job at the finish, loved the pancakes.  Results were posted very fast.  I was 60th out of 1,395 runners.  Finished in the top 5%.  That is now my goal for all road races.

Well, from there I drove straight up to Hobble Creek canyon to join in with the ultra race, Katcina Mosa 100K.  I ran in 7.4 miles (big climb) to the Little Valley aid station where I was to meet Mark Ellison and pace him 22 miles to the finish.   I first spent a half hour resting there and trying to help Heath Thurston continue his race.  He ended up DNFing there.  It was great fun though as many other friends arrived.  Mark still wasn't there so I ran backwards on the course about 1.5 miles until I found him.  He was running OK but was having stomach issues.

The rest of the day was a complete blast!   I love pacing during ultras because you are fresher than your runner (I had run 14 fewer miles).  I just played all day.  Sometimes sticking with Mark, helping him and other runners near him, and I made some new friends.  Other times I blasted up and down trails.  My energy level was very high and I felt very strong and fast.   At the aid station I could camp out there and feed my face like crazy, again giving me plenty of energy.  I had no stress of racing, just the fun of serving others, sight-seeing, and running like crazy.   Mark finally found his second wind with ten miles to go and I was able to get him to run pretty fast on the wonderful single track in Dry Canyon.  I love that section and at times blasted along the rolling trail then waiting for Mark to catch up.  When we dumped out on the pavement, I discovered that I could run at a 7-minute mile still if I wanted to.  It was funny finishing the 48 miles I felt much better than I did finishing the half marathon in the morning.   At the finish, were so many ultra friends, I knew practically everyone.  We had fun swaping a few stories before I had to leave.   The weather turned out to be perfect.  A thunderstorm rolled in during the early afternoon that really cooled things off and the cloud cover and breeze kept in nice and cool.  Usually this race is blazing hot and uncomfortable.   So ends a perfect day of running.  It feels like I put in a great training day, tempo run, hills, and trails.

Strange how that 48 miles Saturday really wore me out.  I must be getting old.  Yesterday I slept a ton and was pretty sore.  Today I've bounced back, gazing up at the mountains, longing to be there.  That is a good sign.

Here is my update graph on my percentage finishes in road races for the past five years.  (top x percent) Note the tread line. Saturday I finished the half marathon in the top 4.3%.   I enjoy this chart because it is evidence what old dudes can do.  I see too many guys in their late 40s and early 50s who are convinced they are just too old to take up running or do very well.  Look at the trend line, when I started the trend line was in top 20%.   20% on Saturday would have been about a 1:47 half marathon.  Not bad, but it shows that you can reach so much higher if you want.  Age won't shut you down as much as you think.   For much of the afternoon on Saturday I ran with a 61-year old who took the two-hour early start in KM100K.  He was doing great, staying at Mark's pace.  He was really questioning if he could finish Bear 100 next month.   I hope I convinced him that he could.  He improved on his KM100K by nearly three hours this year over last year.

Here's my updated ultra finish trend.  It isn't quite as steep a slope, but I'm recently staying ahead of the trend line.  Started at about a 48% finish which is back of the pack (given usually lots of DNFs) to top 15% which is usually quite a bit better than mid-pack.  The ulta graph is tougher to get down because the slope is based on the competition.  In my ultra races there is almost always national competition, not just local.  In my road races, except for Boston, it was all local competition.  Another factor, the local road races probably have an average age of 35 or less.  In ultras it is closer to 45 year old.

Early morning run, 3:45 a.m. out to the ridge between Saratoga Springs and Eagle Mountain.  Its been a couple years since I ran that ridge.  Some massive construction on top, put in some sort of huge tank multiple stories high burried on top.  Interesting.   Had a great run in the meteor showers, saw a bunch of shooting stars.

Not worried about doing many miles this week.  Next week should be huge mileage.  I'll backpack the entire week in the High Uintas.

I backpacked all week in the Uintas with my brother Bob and other friends who I have backpacked with for the past 15 years.  I really looked forward to getting in some serious training this week above 9,400 feet.  I put together the route this year and convinced the group to do more than usual, around 50 miles.  My pack started out at 39 pounds and ended up at 32 pounds (minus food and fuel along the way).   We had a wonderful time, one of our best trips and only saw a handful of people in the high wilderness.

Day 1: We got to the West Fork Blacks Fork trailhead later than planned, so we only put in a little over four miles.  We camped in a nice location north of Bucks Pasture.

I got up early to do a run.  Went out of the tent around 3:30 a.m.   I ended up running up the West Fork just one mile short of Deadhorse Lake.  It was rather slow going in spots because of all the marshes and mud bogs to cross.  I then ran back, timing my run to finish at 6:30 a.m. when everyone got up, so I didn't cause any delay.  It was a beautiful early morning run.  I ran in a big herd of sheep sleeping near the trail.  They made a racket and ran away from me.  I then woke up the shepherds dogs going up and coming back.

Day 2:  We backpacked up to Deadhorse Lake (nearly 11,000 feet).  Pretty funny that I nearly covered the route three times today.   It was nice that I knew the route and could help everyone know what to expect.   We hoped to do more miles today, but Carl from Virgina was having difficulty with the altitude and really slowing down, so we decided to just stop for the afternoon.  

We did fishing (caught many trout and kept six for dinner).   Bob, David and I did a run up to Deadhorse pass  (a 600 foot climb to 11,530 ) and really enjoyed the views there.  When we got back to camp, I discovered that my camera was no longer in my pocket.   I dropped it somewhere while blasting down the trail.  Well, why not go back up?  So I did.  I searched and searched but no luck.  Oh well, it was old.  Time to buy another one.

Day 3:  No early morning run because I knew it would be a tough day.  We first climbed up to Red Knob Pass (nearly 1,000 foot climb).  I was surprised the Brad's 18-year-old son kept up with me as I pushed it hard up the trail.   We then all dropped out packs there and all but Carl (still slow because of altitude) went and summited Mount Lovenia (13,219).  This is one of the toughest high peak in Utah and rarely summitted.  We saw no evidence of recent visitors.   It was lots of steep boulder climbing and loose scree.  When we were aproaching it, I had fears that it would be too tough, but once we were at the base, I could see it was doable. 

As we approached, far down below in the basin we could see over 1,000 sheep.  We could hear them and at times it sounded like they were cheering us on.  They were about 700 feet below us.  We ran into a loan backpacker who had come up from the East Fork Blacks Fork.

The guys did great, we learned that the best route is right up the steep ridge where the boulders are bigger and more stable. At the top the views were spectacular.  We could see all the way to Timp and Mount Nebo.  We could see views of Kings Peak and Gilbert and many other peaks I could name.  It was an amazing view totally worth it, but it really wore out everyone.   I led the group down very fast and Carl recorded a funny video of my arrival back to Red Knob.

We retrieved our packs and then decended down into the Lake Fork basin.  The weather looked threatening, so I pushed the group to make it down into the forest.  A couple were worn out and wanted to stop very soon, but I pushed them to do at least another mile.   We found a beautiful camp next to the Lake Fork River.  After we had our tents set up it rained for about an hour or so.

I got up early again today for a run.  I was out of the tent at 4:30 a.m. and made my way up to the spectacular Crater Lake, two miles away from our campsite.  I didn't use and trail, just used my GPS and went through some thick forest.   I eventually did link up with a trail in the dark for about a mile until I lost it.  That was helpful.   I saw the lake at early dawn and then headed back to camp, arriving just as the group was cooking breakfast.

Day 4: The weather was cool today, mostly overcast.   Our goal was to make it to a lake below Squaw Pass, 12 miles away.  We made very good time along the Highline trail.  I really enjoyed the trail, because the last two times I was in this area, it was dark.  I finally could figure out sections of the trail include the trail up Red Knob Pass and across many meadows.

We reached the lake around 12:30 p.m.  Perfect timing because we saw a big rain strorm coming.  We franticly put up our tents as we watch a thick cloud come down from Squaw Pass racing toward us.  It turned out to be perfect timing because for the next three hours or so it rained and even snowed!

Once the rain stopped, I got out of my tent and explored the area.  David and I climbed up to Squaw Pass (400 foot climb to 11,760).  At camp for the rest of the day, we were cold and our feet were wet.  We all ended up going to bed early to stay warm.  Near dusk, all the clouds raced out of the sky and we now had clear skies and a spectacular high mountain sunset.

Day 5:  I didn't do an early morning run because it was just too cold.  It was below freezing and I had a rough night sleeping.  Bob's water pump even froze.  But once the sun came up in the clear blue sky we finally felt warm again.

We climbed up and over Squaw Pass and decended down Little East Fork Blacks Fork all the way to the trailhead and campground.  The lower sections of the trail were very rough and not pleasant.  Lots of trail boulders and mud bogs.  At one point I could hear Carl scream from 100 yards back, "Boulders, I want more boulders."   Cracked us up.

Once we got to camp, Bob and I hoped to do 20 more miles to summit another 13er, Mount Tokewanna, but we arrived too late and were worn out.   Instead, after a couple hours rest,we did a trail run on the Bear River - Smith Fork trail that runs east-west on the North slope of the Uintas. 

I pushed it very hard on the 1,000-foot climb,  arriving at the top in only 49 minutes where I waited for Bob.  We then ran across the ridge in the forest to the point it starts decending into the Middle Fork.  We then turned around and ran back.  I really pushed the downhill hard and at one point ran a 6:30 mile on a great section of trail.  I was very pleased with my strength and speed, even with the long backpack today.

The weather was perfect today, no rain and nice and warm in the evening.   Many people arrived at the trailhead because the bowhunting season starts Saturday.  We were glad to finish before the hunters came.

Da7 5: Bob, David, and I left camp at 7:15 to do a trail run to retrieve the cars parked back at the West Fork (we were camped in the East Fork).   We did a nice tough run with 1,800 feet of climb along the way.  I really love that trail, it is in good shape and doesn't have the millions of boulders in the trail like others that go up by the rivers.  This trail (Bear River - Smith Fork) trail runs cross-wise up and down into the valleys.  We ran up and over into Middle Fork and then up and over into West Fork.  The descent into West Fork was long and fast on wonderful switchbacks.  It was a blast.   I ran the stretch fast, at my pace, but stopped several times to wait for Bob and make sure he didn't take wrong turns.  David did great and pressed on ahead.  He completed the run in about 3 hours.  My "running time" was 2:16.

We then drove the cars back to the East Fork, picked up the rest of the guys and headed back to civilization after a wonderful week in the wilderness.  We pigged out on pizza in Kamas.   Funny how this week I ate far more than I usually do, but still I lost about five pounds or so.  This was a great training week for Wasatch, high altitude and dragging a pack around for about 40 miles or so.

I put in 95 miles this week.  I had hoped to do 100, but the poor weather Thursday shut down doing more runs.

After that amazing week in the Uintas, I'm dreaming about returning.  My new favorite trail in the Unitas is the Bear River - Smith Fork Trail, at least between the West and East Forks of Blacks Fork.  It is much better than trails like Henry's Fork, etc, that go up drainages with boulder infested trails and mud bogs.  This trail has much tougher climbs because it goes up and over high ridges.   I'm contemplating returning this season to give the section between Bear River and West Blacks Fork a try.  No idea how far that is, probably at least 12-13 for a marathon out-and-back with about 7,000 feet of climbing.  Another wish is to run the trail from Bear River to East Smith Fork and back, maybe about 70 miles total, probably 17,000 of climbing.  I'd also like to bag Tokewanna, another 13er I didn't have time to do last week.  I've now done 10 Uinta 13ers.

Back to training.  Wasatch 100 in only 16 days.  Out the door at 3:30 a.m.  Out to Eagle Mountain, through the Ranches and back.  Nice full moon, much of it without my light on.  Perfect cool temperatures.   I will need to start some heat training next week.

4 hot miles up Lake Mountain in 95 degrees.  The flies were horrible so I gave up.

Detailed version here.

I wanted one more long training run before my 100s next month, Wasatch and Bear.  I thought it would be good to do lots of climbing at an easy pace with plenty of time on the feet and get some altitude.  So, back up to the Uintas.

I'll give more details on my blog with pictures, but I ended up running the Bear River - Smith Fork trail from West Bear River to the slopes of Mount Tokawanna. This trail is very different from the other trails in the Uintas.  It crosses up and over ridges down into the North Slope canyons, so it is constant climbs and descents. The trail was pretty rough and hard to find from West Bear to West Blanks Fork.  This is mainly due to the tragic June 2002 fire caused by boyscouts that wiped out three of the canyons.  The trail is still there and I can tell gets some maintanence, but looks like not for a couple years.  Hundreds of dead fall to jump over.  Most were small, but they were fire dead fall with spikes on them where the limbs were.  One wrong move and you get a spike in your leg.  I was lucky and careful.

Navigating in the dark was very hard.  I lost the trail for at least a total of 1.5 hours and I was stubborn, tying to find it.  I eventually found the entire trail, probably the first person to be on the whole thing in years.  Some of it is now used for cross country skiing, other portions are now ATV trails.  Most is just neglected.  The Boy Scout camp should go do some trail work. on the trails near their camp.

Anyway, I had a great time.  The 20 miles going out, much in the dark and wandering around, took me 8 hours.  I gave up twice but then found the trail.  Coming back it took under 6 hours.   I didn't quite summit Mount Tokewanna, the 10th tallest mountain in Utah.  With under two miles to go and 2000 more feet up, a bad storm blew in.  I had a head wind of 30-40 mph and when the hail started to fall on my, I aborted.  I didn't have winter clothes and was a little chilly.  I felt uncomfortable about completing it solo today.  If I feel axious about it, I just don't do it.  So I turned around and had tons of fun bounding down the grassing slope for three miles.  I'll do it another time.  The proper ascent is from the Middle Fork.  Easy stuff.

I saw plenty of wildlife.  On the way back I saw my second wildcat.  It was ahead of me on the upper Mill Creek area where the trees were sparse.  It didn't see me and I could have got closer, but I decided to make noise.  It then ran away up the hill.

I had a great time.  It was a very tough training run with about 9000 feet of climbing, tons of hopping over dead fall and my feet were wet nearly the entire time.  The weather in the lower lands was pretty good, just a couple of short showers.  But those weird dark clouds were on the higher peaks all day.

So, Goodbye Uintas for another season.  I had great fun up there this year.  TOday was good, above 9000 all day and nearly up to 12000.

I wrote this without reading glasses, pretty blind.  Maybe I'll clean up all the typos later.  Time for sleep.

Recovered well from the grueling adventure yesterday.  Funny how my only soreness is in my left wrist, don't know why.  Either from gripping a bottle too hard or a fall.

I'm having fun tracking Chad Brackelsberg on the Highline Trail.  I think he is trying to break my record.  He has a good advantage in that he's backpacked the entire trail before and has 300 actual waypoints.  He's carrying a SPOT receiver and so far, so good.  He's at mile 13.4 (Chepeta) about 40 minutes ahead of my pace. He started at sunrise, I started in the dark, so was slowed in the first part.   Chad will hit high winds and cold tonight.  I hope all goes well.  I really, really hope he breaks my record because then I will be highly motivated to do it again next year.

Chad is a much faster runner than me, I like his chances.  Last year he ran Wasatch in under 25 hours.  I gave him a bunch of advise for this Highline run.

His Spot it at: http://share.findmespot.com/shared/faces/viewspots.jsp?glId=0TuBeqI9VSR3L7mqDbyaD2eHn2hveakCf

Stayed up late following Chad online as he ran the Uinta Highline Trail.  Then I dreamed about it all night.  I kept expecting him to falter, but he didn't.  He crushed my record by over five hours.  28:08.  Granted, I didn't really try to race it this year, but still...  Now there is a time very challenging for me to try to beat.  Very impressive.  He had three GPSes running and they showed 83 miles.   Wish I could try to best his time this weekend, but that would be stupid, so I'll focus on a real race, Wasatch 100.

I need to do some tempo runs, heat training, and some more weight loss.   I know I'll be tempted to do another Uinta run next weekend because the weather is looking good.  We shall see.

Treadmill miles.  WHAT IS UP WITH THAT?   Yeah, I know.  First time on the crazy machine in months.  Here's my crazy thought process.   For Wasatch 100 as I start tapering, I need to work on footspeed.  The treadmill helps me do that.  It even helps me get used to a power hike pace of at last 4.5 mph.  And, I can crank that incline way up, was doing powerhikes at 35%.  Woa, baby.  Also, in the 75 degree+ room, I'm doing heat training, sweating like crazy.   Also did weights and core....yuk, yuk, yuk, yuk, yuk, yuk, gag me with a spoon.

Felt good after the crazy workout.  I know others in the room think I'm insane running at huge inclines and grunting and groaning like I'm killing myself.

p.m. 4-mile tempo run in the heat.  Boy that was hard.  Haven't done fast runs like that in over a month.  Interesting how fast you lose it. After three miles it felt like I was starting to warm up and I felt better.