I'm retired from racing. Really.

AM- I scrubbed my BW after yesterday's debacle.  But I ate like a pig last night and today, so hoped I would feel better on the run.  I did.  But I didn't feel like venturing far from home, so I ran PW.  Or, more accurately, I ran PW PW PW PW PW.  That's a whole lotta PW.  12 miles, 1:30:30.  I'll add a few more miles tomorrow.

AM- 5.5.  I got within 20 feet of a deer before he startled and ran away.

PM- 10.5 miles up Green Canyon.  Hot.  Nothing too exciting to report, other than the fact the Forest Service put a new big map of the Naomi Wilderness Area at the start of the upper singletrack.  5.25 miles up with 1700 ft climbing in 49 min, then down in 34:27 (6:33 pace, so I'll count it as MP just for kicks and giggles).  I love Green Canyon.  Lots of campers and cars, but only saw 4 people on the trail the whole time, all biking.  1:23:27 total, 7:56 avg.  Good start to a long weekend.

Happy 4th of July weekend, everyone! 

AM- Marci was running a 15k race up Blacksmith Fork, so I dropped her off and hurried to the nearest trail- Leatham Hollow.  Ran 4.25 miles to the trailhead, gaining 2700 ft in the process.  Most of the trail is wonderful.  I saw the most beautiful scene, and will have to go back to take a picture of it soon.  The trail was cutting across a steep mountain with a shady pine forest.  The forest floor was completely and brilliantly green, covered with some small, leafy ground cover.  Pure white columbine flowers peppered the entire hillside, too.  Gorgeous.

49 min for the ascent, 33 for the descent.  Then I drove to the race course and found Marci a mile from the finish, so ran in with her.  Spent some time at the finish with my family and all the racers (FRB sweep on the women's side, Paul won the men), then ran back to my car with a bunch of bananas in each hand.  I'm sure it was a funny sight.

PM- 4 more with my dad, PW. 

AM- Long run on the Bear 100 course with Cody.  We ran the last 30 miles, including the only parts I had never previously run.  I have now run the whole thing!

We started at mile 69 of the course, immediately crossing the Logan River (I didn't want wet feet the whole time, so I wore an old pair of shoes for the crossing and threw them back across, to be picked up later).  Ran up the very nice but far too short Peterson Hollow, then climbed and descended a rough trail into Beaver Mtn lodge.  From there we went up (and up and up) to Sink Hollow and Gibson Basin, then to Beaver Creek campground, where we saw our first people on the trail- a bunch of ATV-ers.  Then a very steady climb to Ranger Dip, followed by the incredibly steep climb to the last summit above Bear Lake.  One final, minor descent (only 3500 ft of elevation loss), a stream crossing (which included me sitting down in it for a bit), and a little road got us to the finish.  Last mile was sub-7, so we still had some legs left.  A good run with Cody, as always.

Our families met us in Bear Lake for some beach time.  The run was rather slow- 30.3 miles in 5:16:03 (10:26 avg pace).  Cody's Sporttracks recorded 6072 ft climbing, 7206 descending- wow.  The Bear 100 website says we only did 4800 ft climbing and 5800 descending, which I know is wrong- I think they underestimate by 20%.  My arms and head are absolutely burnt, so no warm showers for a while.  Feel good otherwise.  It's nice to finally have done the whole course so I know what to expect in September.   

PM- PW 4 by myself, then PW 5 with the family.  No soreness- I think it would take a pretty monster run these days to give me any soreness.  Legs were a bit sluggish the first mile, but then perked up nicely.  

AM- 9 miles, with 2 faster.

PM- 10.5 miles with Cody and Joe up Green Canyon.  A local biking store had set up a demo tent, so there were lots of mountain bikers on the trail.  Otherwise, easy and uneventful.  8:31 avg pace with almost 1500 ft climbing. 

My all-time record for most Mon to Wed miles is 59.  I'm at 58.5 so far this week... not bad, supposing I've only run 4 times.

We were discussing trail runs, and I commented that it had been a while since I had done a long run on roads- I'm doing all trails these days.  I reviewed my blog to see if this was true- sure enough, it's been even longer than I imagined.  My last long run (i.e. 18+ miles) that was mostly on roads was October 24, 2009, when I ran the Ogden Valley 50 miler!  In other words, I haven't done a long run on the roads for almost 9 months!!! 

AM- 9 in and around the golf course.

I still can't believe I haven't had a long run on the roads since October.

PM- PW 4 with family.  Sore hips.

I turned in my 2 weeks notice at work today.  My last day is July 23, then I'll have 4 weeks before I move to my new job in South Carolina!  It will be a huge change, but we are excited.  However, I will definitely miss the mountains of Utah, especially how close they are for trail running.  But having a job is more important than staying in Logan, so off we go on a new adventure.  And you better believe that I'll be running the trails every day until I leave! 

AM- 6.5 easy xt, cause my hips need a break.

PM- 8 

AM- Long Run with Paul.  I left at 5:15 am for Paul's, so only 4 hrs sleep again- tired this week.  We drove to Cherry Creek canyon in Richmond and parked at 5300 ft to do a run Paul raves about- High Creek Lake, a long loop with a bit of road running.  We did the road running first, knocking out over 7 miles in the first hour with some climbing.  Then the trail started up High Creek, which was quite nice.  It climbs only 2800 ft in 5 miles (yes, I am now used to steep trails), with increasing steepness towards the top.  The pace was fairly easy, with the 6.5 mile climb taking about 1 hr 45 min.  There was a beautiful, Colorado-ish high mountain meadow at about 8000 ft (I have many pictures but can't figure out how to post them- I'll update later).  Lots and lots of wildflowers everywhere.  The lake itself is at 8800 ft and rather small, with a perfectly smooth surface.  Beautiful.  After a brief rest, we climbed to a saddle, enjoyed the views, then descended and climbed to another saddle at 9400 ft.  From there, it was all downhill on Cherry Creek canyon.  The going was still slow due to steep trails, rocks, and overgrown bushes.  The trail drops over 4000 ft in 6 miles, which took up about 70 min.  There was a lady partway up who was trimming plants, which helped with trail visibility- thanks!  After a few creek crossings and a bit of road at the end, we were finished.  19.6 miles in 3:59, for a whopping 12:10 avg pace, with about 5200 ft climbing and descending.

Beautiful run- probably one of the top 5 I've ever done in Cache Valley.  Thanks for playing tour guide, Paul.  The trail isn't great for regular training runs (too steep and slow), but is amazing for a once-in-a-while scenic runs.  Amazing, amazing scenery.

This is my highest mileage week ever- 105.5 miles, with 60 miles on the trails.  It is also my most elevation ever in a week- 12750 climbing and 13900 descending.  I intend to break both in the coming weeks.  Finally, I'm guessing it is my most ever time spent running (other than during an ultra race)- just under 17 hours.  Then add another 5 hours driving to trails, a few hours sightseeing on the trails,  and time getting ready before and showering after... probably 25-27 hours, in all.  Lots of time.  I'm just glad I have a very understanding, patient wife... thanks, babe!

Pictures from yesterday's run with Paul:

A view of Cherry Peak from the climb: 

Paul running through his favorite part- a high meadow with lots of flowers:

Approaching the lake from below:

Crystal clear, smooth water- beautiful and peaceful.  We didn't see anyone for hours:

Paul and I taking in the view:

View of Logan and Cache Valley from the high point:

Mt. Naomi, the highest mtn in the Bear River Range.  We were only 500 ft below it and could almost reach out and touch it:

 Running between saddles:

Logan Canyon and Mt. Logan in the distance:

A waterfall in Cherry Creek canyon, one of many:

AM- 6 easy.  Family is out of town, so lots of trail mileage the next 2 evenings.

PM- Drove to Richards Hollow for a nice trail run.  Got started a bit late- 7:30 or so. Quite a nice trail- the first 2 miles climb 1400 ft, but then it flattens out in a nice meadow, with low mountains on either side and a meandering stream.  The next 4.7 miles climb only a net 1100 ft, though there is a lot of undulating.  I made it to the road at the top (6.7 miles, 72 minutes = 10:45 avg pace) and had hurry down to not get caught in the dark (47 min = 7:00 avg pace down).  Not a single person on the trail the whole time, though I did startle lots of deer that were eating at dusk, including some nice bucks.  Lots of mosquitos to eat me, plus other bugs that wanted to suicide kamikaze-style into my mouth and eyes (ouch).  Easy pace, but nice run.  Added a bit on the road at the end to make it 14 miles even in 2:07:28, with 4000 ft climbing and equal amount descending.  Good start to the week.  I enjoy this trail, though not as much as Jardine... partly because you have to drive almost 4 miles on a rough dirt road, which is very hard on my poor Toyota Tercel.  Finally got home after 10 pm for dinner.

Cody, for the record, the trail crosses the stream 18 times in the first 4.8 miles (before the junction), including 5 times in .25 mile.  Although a few of the crossings were dry.  And there are 9 more stream/water crossings on the Elbow, meaning 27 total water crossings!  Each way!  But the stream is low enough I never got more than my toes wet. 

A few photos for enjoyment- the first is the meandering stream and singletrack:

Nice open meadow for running

A very impressive beaver dam:

The builder and proprietor of said dam.  He enjoyed loudly splashing his tail to startle me: 

AM- 5.

Some idiot took the photos of our home listing on MLS, and made a fake Craigslist add saying our house is for rent, very cheap, fully furnished.  They even made a fake email address Jonathan21A@yahoo.com, or something like that, and asked renters to wire him some money to reserve it.  The listing included our real home address- so people are showing up at our house wanting to rent it.  It's got me pretty agravated.

PM- Sometimes it only takes one mile to realize that you've been pushing yourself real hard, you've got a few niggles bordering on getting worse, and you haven't been getting near enough sleep to recover.  The smart thing to do is bag the run and get some extra rest.  Today was one of those days for me.  1 mile. 

Cody and I ran up Franklin Basin on July 5.  Looks like we should keep our eyes open for some new adventure...

PM- 10 with Cody up the Logan canyon trail.  Nice to have him back in town and hear about his Yellowstone adventure.  No time, but I felt 100 times better than yesterday.  I got 6.5 hours of sleep last night, which is a ton more than the 4.5 to 5 hrs the two previous nights. 

AM- 9.  Only 5 full days of work left... not that I'm counting or anything.

PM- 8 miles with the kids in the jogging stroller while someone looked at our house.  The kids were very well behaved.  Although I have slowly realized that it is a lot harder to push the 60-65 lbs of kid weight now than it was to push 30 lbs two years ago. 

Went camping last night, so didn't get my run in until 12:30 pm.  Hot, hot, hot- 95 when I finished!  I've always wanted to do North Syncline when I could enjoy it, since I have only run it as part of Logan Peak Run.  So I ran up Dry Canyon to North Syncline, then down to Inspiration Point.  The run up Dry was hot and slow (3100 ft climb in 3.6 miles), with lots of pictures.  North Syncline is rather enjoyable and mostly shaded, and rolls between 7800 to 8600 ft.  I was able to enjoy lots of nice views of Logan Canyon that I've never had time to look at before.  Once I hit the end of NS, I ran down the ATV trail to Inspiration Pt, which is a peninsula (of sorts) with wonderful views of Spring Hollow and Logan Canyon.  It took me 1:45 to run the 8.5+ miles to the overlook, so pretty slow.  The run back was enjoyable but hotter as I descended down Dry.  I saw 3 people on my way up Dry, but no one the rest of the day- very isolated.  And did I mention hot?  I drank 32 oz Powerade at the start, all 70 oz in my Nathan pack, and a 32 oz Jamba Juice afterwards, and still lost weight.  I pushed it a bit on some of the downhill, with some sub-6 pace, but generally relaxed.  Total time was just over 3 hours for 17.5 miles, with 5100 ft climbing and 5100 descending.  I enjoy North Syncline, but it would be much better if you didn't have to run up Dry to get to it!  I was also sad to see a ton of cow damage to the trail and surrounding bushes- they really did a number to the plants.

I was looking at last Sat's run with Paul and noticed it was similar to today's run- pretty close, actually.  19.5 vs 17.5 miles,  4 hrs vs 3 hrs, and 5050 ft climbing vs 5100 ft.  I'll post pictures later.

Yesterday's run-

Dry Canyon rock art was everywhere:

View of Logan from North Syncline, just above Dry Canyon- yup, I started down there:

 Lots of yellow and blue flowers, with Mt. Logan in the background:

 Did I mention there were lots of flowers?

 Looking at Spring Hollow  and Logan Canyon from Inspiration Point:

 Self portrait, with Cache Valley in the background:

 Ah, singletrack, how I love thee...

AM- 8 at around 7-ish pace, I think.  My hips feel better than last week, which is part of the reason I did low mileage last week.  This week I'm going to push Mon and Tue, then do a 3 day taper before the Grand Mesa 50 this Saturday, a first-time race all abover 10,000 ft.  There are only 20 people in my race, but one is Zeke Tiernan, a former University of Colorado, 2 time NCAA All-American, plus 2008 Leadville 100 3rd place finisher.  Should be fun.

PM- Trail run with Joe and Cody.  Kind of.  We drove to Right Hand Fork together and ran the Ricks Canyon to Steel Hollow loop, a very enjoyable 12 mile run with good climbing and descending and quite a bit of shade.  I've really been in a slump recently, especially on my downhill running, so wanted to push the workout today to mentally prove to myself that I can still run fast.  I haven't done this trail much recently, but seem to remember my fastest time previously being 1:35:30, though the trail used to have a 1/2 mile shortcut (4 min) that is now closed.  I started off fast and Cody and Joe hung with me for a few minutes before deciding to relax a bit.  I felt great on the 2300 ft climb up Ricks- everything was effortless and I did the 4.5 miles about 3 minutes faster than ever before.  My stomach wasn't happy, so I had 2 potty breaks, which let the guys pass me.  But I was moving very well at a tempo-like pace.

The rest of the run I would slowly catch up to them but then have to take another potty stop right before passing them- and they didn't know I was behind them.  5 potty breaks in all.  I felt great other than the stops, though.  I really pushed the downhill, staying aggressive, which I haven't been able to do for over a month.  Even had a 5:55 mile on technical singletrack.  Finished the 12 mile loop with 2300 ft climbing and 2300 ft descending in 1:32:21 running time- accounting for the longer course, that means this is 7 minutes faster than my old record.  Wow.  Good mental boost for my race on Sat.  And I'll have to come back one cool morning to go even faster.  Good to do this trail again- it's an old classic.

AM- 9 mi ez.

PM- First Dam to GMC, plus a hair.  Easy pace, 11.5 miles.  Nothing interesting except that I ran into a pole.  Literally.  I wasn't paying attention and ran my left shoulder directly into a pole on a car gate across the trail, impacting hard enough to jar my teeth.  That's gonna leave a mark- my shoulder hurts so much I can barely raise it.  First time I've ever done that. 

PM- Opened the garage to grab the jogging stroller just as Cody went by with his, so we did a stroller caravan for the first time in a while.  Ran to the high school or something.  4.5 easy miles.  Although slow might be a better description than easy, since pushing a stroller is never easy.

AM- PW5, tptp.

Most years, my lowest racing weight is around 134-136 lbs (on my scale, which is about 4 lbs too light).  I weighed in this morning at 133- so I am skinny and ready to go!  

Finally, I've added a few thoughts about leaving Utah on by blogspot page.

AM- PW 3 with strides.

Now I am heading to work at ATK for the last time ever.  After, I am driving staight to Colorado for the Grand Mesa 50 mile on Saturday, then driving from Colorado straight to SLC on Sunday morning to fly to South Carolina for a 4 day house hunting trip.  I'll return home Wed night.  So don't count on seeing my race report until Wed night or Thursday sometime.

Quick report- Pulled off a win at the Grand Mesa 50 (actually 54) mile race. Very fun, beautiful race, all above 10,000 feet. Hotter and more difficult with more climbing than expected (including the longest, steepest climb of my life). Good competition from Zeke Tiernan (29 min 10k-er, 2xNCAA All American and Univ. of Colorado, 2009 Leadville 100 3rd place finisher), but edged him by 10-15 min. Great crewing by my parents. Fun and challenging race, with the expected snafus for a first time race. Highest mileage ever in 1 week.  Already feel recovered- no soreness, other than the nasty sunburn all over. 

[7/29 update] Full report has been posted on my blogspot page. 

House hunting in South Carolina.  I felt great today, no soreness other than my sunburn.  But I chose not to run- this is a super easy recovery week before some very hard weeks.

AM - 3 easy XT miles in SC.

PM- Back in Utah.  Ran 6.5 miles with Marci up Green Canyon in the heat.  Legs were predictably very sluggish after a long plane ride.  My wife is hardcore.  She is trying to decide if she wants to do a 25k trail race next month.  

AM- Considered a challenging run today, then decided to just go easy again.  10 miles on the river trail, starting at Stokes.  22 cars in the parking lot, which ended up belonging to the Mountain Crest cross country team members and parents, out for a run on the trail.  

Grand Mesa 50 mile race report has now been posted.

AM- Crazy trail run.  I enjoyed sleeping in and got a late start at 8:45 am.  Already warm.  Ran up the wonderful Jardine Juniper for 3.3 miles till the intersection with Cottonwood Canyon, spotting one moose along the way (he disappeared into the trees in the 5 seconds it took me to grab my camera).  I have never done Cottonwood before and decided to conquer it today.  

It was immediately apparent that Cottonwood would be a lot slower than the very-runnable Jardine- the trail was overgrown and very steep, both up and down- the first mile alone had 800 ft climbing and 700 ft descending.  I dropped from 10 min miles to 20 min miles.  Then, I reached the meadow.  Normally I enjoy high mountain meadows, but not this one.  The trail was so overgrown it was almost impossible to see the trail, and the plants were so wet from dew that I was soon soaking wet from chest level down to my now-squishy shoes.  And there were literally hundreds of downed trees across the trail, which I could not see until I was almost on them.  More than once my shin very painfully observantly made me aware of downed trees- my shins are now covered with big, bloody swollen bruises.  And the undergrowth was so thick that I had trouble moving my feet forward at all.  I was moving at 2 miles per hour, when I wasn't sprawled on my face due to grabby branches.  It was very annoying and slow, not trail running at all.

There is a trail in here... honest.  Believe it or not, it's straight ahead in this photo.

No, really, I swear there is... 

Ok, now I'm not so sure.  Hard to see with 5-7 foot high plants!

I pushed onwards through the 5-7 foot tall plants, finally reaching the end of the meadow after just under a mile.  I found the (very faint) trail and pressed onwards for a few more minutes before deciding the trail was impassible.  I turned around, cursing the meadow the whole time.  Shortly after leaving the meadow, I heard something very large in the ravine just below me that seemed to be following me for a while.  Worried, I lobbed several large rocks in its direction to no avail.  Thinking it was likely another moose or even a mountain lion, I found a stout, 2 foot long branch to use as a club.  With adrenaline surging, I ran with the club (first time ever in my life).  Fortunately, I reached Jardine trail 2 miles later without incident- the 5 miles on Cottonwood took me over 90 minutes!  I ran up the trail on the typical tree route, taking a picture of the tree before returning the 5 miles back to my car.

 Cottonwood Creek

Cody, I took this picture of Logan Peak just for you.

Requisite shot of the 3200 year old Jardine Juniper tree

Total run was 15.5 miles with 5000 ft elevation gain and equal loss, in about 3 hr 10 min.  Slow.  Joe and Cody, I cannot recommend ever running Cottonwood Canyon in any form- it is not at all suited for a trail run, unless you enjoy 2 mph treks through head-high weeds.

Last year I hit 2000 miles on Aug 12, while I just reached that milestone today for 2010.  And this whole "no job, just trail running for a month" gig rocks!!!

PM- 5 miles pushing the stroller on the river trail while Marci ran to the end of the singletrack and back.  We made it to the start of the singletrack, then back to the car, then back up to a little ways past Stokes.  The stroller is rather hard to push up gravel hills, but absolutely flies on the downhills. 

AM- I decided to do a trail run I had never done before this morning.  I drove up the canyon to just before the turnoff to Tony Grove and parked near the USU Forestry Station.  The route is known as Turkey Trail-Peter Sinks-Stump Hollow, and was a delightful 22 mile run.  Unfortunately, I felt very tired and hungry right from the start, and only had a few hundred calories with me, so ran most of the way bonked.  Slow and painful.

Turkey Trail is an ATV route that climbs 2100 ft in the first 3.8 miles, topping out at Peter Sinks.  The next 4.3 miles were all between 8200-8400 ft as I skirted Peter Sinks and reached the singletrack at the top of Stump Hollow.  Peter Sinks had a very desolate feel, and I never saw another person up there.  Stump was a very delightful, generally smooth and soft singletrack that descended about 1400 ft in about 3 miles.  It strikes me as very comparable to Jardine Juniper, and I highly recommend it (unlike Cottonwood, from yesterday).  I would have enjoyed it more if I felt better and knew I wouldn't have to run back up.  I saw 2 horse riders near the turn around, my first people in 2 hours.

The run back was painfully slow as I was out of energy and dehydrated.  I even had to walk a few of the flats and downhills due to lack of energy.  I eventually made it back to the car in 4:03:57.  Total run was 22 miles with 4600 ft climbing and 4600 ft descending.  

I highly recommend Stump Hollow, and plan to do it when I am fresh and can run more of it.

More pictures- I'm taking lots of pictures so I can remember all this for myself.  Hope you don't mind.

Turkey Trail ATV

Peter Sinks- it is the sight of the 2nd lowest temp ever recorded in the continental US, -69.3 deg on Feb 1, 1985.  The bowls trap air that is so cold that trees can't grow in the bottom of the sinks.  Even in the summer, they never go more than 4 days without freezing.

Stump Hollow

Lots of flowers

Did I mention it was dusty?  This is right before I jumped into Logan River.