Old Man Still running

Did a 67 mile run with the help of jun, Dorsimus, and buddy Josh.  I'll do a full writeup on my main blog.  Jun ran about 50 miles with me.   We had planned to run the entire Skyline Drive, 110 miles, most of it above 10,000 feet, but wet conditions turned about 30 miles of it into a deep mud slog.  At its worst were areas where the mud was clay and would grab on to your shows like cement.  For long stretches I had several extra pounds on each shoe and we slowed to 25-30 minute miles.

We started in the evening.  I struggled with kinks from the marathon on Saturday, but after seven miles felt much better and could keep up with jun.  But then we hit 6 miles of clay mud that turned our crew back.  They would have to drive around and meet up as mile 29.  It took us two hours longer than planned to get there.  But it was great fun running at night.  My headlamp went almost totally dim before I arrived.  At first it was a fun challenge to run with the dim light, but soon it was almost out.

At mile 30, we hit thick fog right before dawn.  It was almost like running with the dim headlamp again because you couldn't see very far down the road.  The sunrise was spectacular and eventually the low clouds cleared out.   The crew had to turn around again at mile 39 because a massive snow slide was blocking the road.  I then worried for the next hour about the crew that was heading down the rough Manti Canyon.  When I worry, stress makes me slow way down and walk.  I just couldn't reach them by phone for a long while.  I didn't haul these guys out here to just get them injured or in trouble.  Jun ran on over a mile ahead of me and then waited at mile 45.

The crew came up Ephraim Canyon and caught up with us about mile 50.  At that point Jun's stomach wasn't working and he had to quit.  I was now fieeling great so pressed on ahead.  The road was muddy, but I was pretty used to it by then and found ways to find some speed by running on little plants on the side of the road.

At mile 53.5, the crew had to turn around yet again because of another massive snow field covering the road.  It was very steep.  They waited to make sure I could get across it.  I crossed under it in the mud, but it was just as slick.  I took two muddy falls and my cell phone went flying into it.  I worried that I had lost my only contact with the crew for the next 15 miles.  I finally got across and then stopped at creeks to try to clean myself up, including the incision on my hand which had broken open in a spot and was all muddy.  I got the phone working and called the crew.

The next ten miles were the worst section of the entire route.  The mud was deep and I was only traveling about two miles an hour.  There was no evidence of any vehicle traffic.  Much of the wetness was due to the wet season this year.  I crossed over a couple mud slides, one that was massive and would probably block the road all year.  Boulders, huge trees, etc.

Soon elk tracks were spotted all over the place, their tracks fresh from the morning.  The crew arrived at mile 67.  I was still over four miles away going very slowly.  Josh got on his mountain bike to ride toward me and caught me around mile 64.  The road was drying out at that point and I could run again, but my legs and feet were thrashed because mud running uses different muscles.  Finally the vehicle came into view.  I had decided to quit so we could all get home before evening and recover for work the next day.   I had a great night's sleep and felt very good in the morning.

It had been an amazing birthday, the toughest adventure run I had ever done, especially those last 15 miles or so.  But I had seen amazing beauty along the way.  Thanks to some good friends for putting up with my crazy adventure.  I forgot to warn them that every single Crockett adventure run I have ever done has always been much tougher then anticipated.

Still recovering. Last evening really felt run down.  Got nine hours of sleep last night, feeling better.  I have a sore left lower hamstring from pulling the foot out of the mud over and over again.  It feels like it will be better tomorrow.

I posted my birthday run report at: http://www.crockettclan.org/blog/?p=855

Thanks jun and Dorsimus for the fantastic birthday, even if it almost killed me.  It takes good friends to punish you on your birthday.

Stayed the weekend with the family at my Dad's condo in Midway.  In the morning ran with my son Kevin.  We did a challenging run, climbing more that 4,000 feet from Midway all the way to the the Wasatch 100 course to Ant Knolls and then to Pole Line Pass.  We had a little of everything, great single-track, dirt roads, good climbs, a little bushwhack, and a really steep descent that got the "this sucks" comment from Kevin.  I laughed.  Great fun.

In the afternoon I went back up, but this time turned left and ran down the road that is above Pot Bottoms and connected to a ATV trail that descended near Soldier Hollow.  That was great fun exceept for the mosquitos.  I then ran roads back to the home in Midway.

Found my journal I wrote as a 18-year-old freshman at BYU.  Read in it how I ran consistantly for a couple weeks.  With just that minimal effort I clocked a 5:30 mile and a 9:00 1.5 mile.  I wrote that going over two miles just seemed too far. I soon quit running.  Too bad that I didn't recognize that I actually had some talent for running.  I could have run some fast 5Ks back then if I really trained.

Got up at 4:30 a.m. in Midway and again did another loop, climbing up to the top of the ridge, running down the road and then going up to the location of the Pot Bottom, following the Wasatch 100 course for the next several miles and then bailing out to head back to the condo.  It was a great morning run.  New route in Blue.

Out at 4:30.  Did a loop run to the west in Eagle Mountain.   Using the Bondi B Hokas as training shoes now.  It will be interesting to see how many miles I can get on them before they totally fall apart.

Out at 3:30 a.m.   Ran on the east side foothills of Lake Mountain along the powerlines almost to Enoch Pass.  Didn't reach the burn area from a month ago, but probably came very close.  It was still dark when I turned around.

Map of my runs today and yesterday.

Details later, time to sleep.

Accomplished a double Kings Peak, trailhead to summit and back twice. I guess I'm the first crazy to do this. Four others tried this weekend but shut it down after one trip. Kings Peak is the highest peak in Utah, 13,528 feet. It is very remote. Each trip was about 26.5 miles, 53 total. Boulder hopping to the summit in the dark was a tough challenge on the first trip.

Took my sweet time since there was no reason to race it and I have a week-long backpack starting Monday.  First trip, mostly in the dark was tough.  Did the cut-off wrong coming back in the dark, had to do a half hour or more extra boulder hopping.  Also got stuck on a very steep snow field that iced up after dusk.  Went out on it and had no choise but to continue across about 100 feet.  Took me about 15 minutes of careful inching to avoid slipping and crashing on rocks below.   Second trip was tough on the body.  Sore lungs from breathing deeply, gut issues, and the summit section took me a full hour with lots of rests. Got dizzy and didn't want to pass out and tumble down a cliff.

But it was great fun and nice to take time to enjoy the mountains.   Thanks jun for getting many runners up there this weekend.

Backpacked and ran the entire week in the Bighorn Mountains, Cloud Peak Wilderness.  Four days above 10,000 feet.  Great altitude training.   I'll probalby write up a trip report and will post pictures to Facebook.  Perfect weather, stunning wilderness.

Knee isn't happy because of the extra weight carried.  Fluid inside.  Hope it calms down fast.

Resting up for Cascade Crest 100 on Saturday in the Cascade Mountains of Washington, where I grew up skiing.  Should be great fun running in the fir trees.

Need to rest the knee, isn't too bad, but I can tell it got hammered with the backpack weight.  Gee, when I backpacked seven years ago, I was more than that weight without the backpack.

Gotta love a lazy week, especially when it is hot.  Just eating, sleeping, stretching.

Cascade Crest 100 weather looks perfect in Washington.  Sunny and cool on Saturday.  Hopefully some great clear views of Mount Rainier and the Cascades.

I'll probably go visit my neighborhood, schools, etc. that I grew up in from age 9 until going away to college and then go camp near the start.   10 a.m. starts are nice.  It should be very similar to Bighorn, both with the later start and the big initial climb.  Been there, done that many times, so have a good idea how to attack this race.   I grew up skiing on the slopes that this race is near, Snoqualmie, Ski Acres, Hyak and Alpental

I'll do a race report later.

This race is crazy difficult.  I believe it is tougher than the Bear, close to Wasatch.  Heat makes it tough each year.  It starts at 10 a.m. when it already is hot. By mile 15 I was dehydrated.  That initial climb took forever.  I didn't pull out the dehydration until the sun was down.  At one point I was in 25th place, but that crumbled as I had gut issues and had to stop to solve.  For the rest of the race I hung out with a group including Chris Gerber that was in about 50th place.  

The second half of the race is much tougher.  There is a long section at night, the trail from Hell.  It had tons of blowdowns, roots, ups and down.  It reminded me of some unmaintained stuff in the Uintas.  Then there were huge climbs without switch-backs.  Man!

I had some great stretches where I really cruised.  I finished with lots of gas in the tank.  But the heat just isn't for me.  I doubt I will do that race again.  Just too hot.   I had mild stomach issues, nothing like Bighorn or Tahoe thank goodness.  But the entire course was below 6,000 feet and most of it below 4,500 which is below my house.  So altitude wasn't a problem and my breathing was fine.

It really is a beautiful course.  Much of it is forest tunnels, but lots is on high ridges with great views of Rainier and the North Cascades.

Still sore and tired.  I think it was pretty good that I was back to work just 18 hours after finishing and made it through the entire day.  Thoughts turning to Wasatch 100 in 10 days.  I think the CCC100 was a great training run with all its climbs.  I didn't push it very hard because of the heat, and I came away without any injuries, so should be all set.

Pondering about shoes.  The Hokas a great for the flats and rocky downhills.  They suffer on the climbs and trails that slope to the left or right.  The toe blisters (sides of the big toes) are discouraging, nothing seems to help avoid them.   But sure love finishing a 100 without sore feet.   I'm tempted to run the first 40 of Wasatch in other shoes because of the big initial climb and the uneven trails through the brush, and then switch to Hokas for the rocky trails after Big Mountain.

Been three days since finishing.  Finally feel human again today after 10 hours of sleep last night.  Calves still sore from all the climbs.  Appetite finally coming back and the adversion to sunlight is gone.