Old Man Still running

Intended to do more miles, but the ankle was a pain.  Did hill repeats on a soft desert bushwack above Saratotga Shores school.  Up and down a ridge, a 66 foot climb over 0.15 miles, so an incline of about 440 feet per mile.  Can blast down pretty fast because the surface is nice and soft.  Did it ten times and by that time I was pounding out a distinct trail in the desert floor.  Times for the 0.31 laps were: 3:13. 3:08, 2:58, 3:02, 2:58, 3:01, 3:02, 3:35,3:22, and 3:33.  Nice tough short workout.  Then did some cross country and road running.

This week it is all about hills and heat.  Squaw Peak 50 will be hot this year and I need to get a little used to the heat or I'll suffer in Hobble Creek Canyon.  I don't need a bunch of miles this week.

Thinking about running some of the course on Thursday, the section from the top of Hobble Creek road to Little Valley.  I usually crumble on that section and get lazy.  I would like to run it on fresh legs to inform my mind how easy it really is.  If I could stay strong on that section, that could carry me to the finish better.

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.