Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow

Ran some with the dog, then drove out to the Logan Canyon River Trail and ran to Spring Hollow and back. It was a good run, definitely my best run of the week. Did some up-tempo running on the way back. I think I'm just about recovered from my cold and frisbee/backpacking, and will be able to proceed with real training next week. But no races until Wasatch Back.

(Adrenaline black: 501 miles)

Did an afternoon trail run with Jon, Dan, and Cody...and my new Toy, the Garmin 205. We drove up Logan Canyon and ran the Beaver Creek-Sink Hollow loop, which starts at 7100 ft and peaks out at about 8200. So its a run that makes you work, but still mellow enough to hold a decent pace. We did 8:25/mile pace for the uphill portion, then some mid-7's on the flatter spots up top. Going down Sink Hollow, we got motivated to catch the 8:00 guy, and did so by finishing off the run with a 6:40, 6:15, and 6:30 miles. Not too bad for dodging rocks. I'm not a good downhill runner on technical terrain, but had a lot of fun on the last half of the run today. Temperature was perfect up at 8000 ft, and I can't get enough of that pine smell. Good day. 7:50/pace average for the entire run.

(Cascadia: 125 miles) 

Did the Planet Walk and then a little bit with the dog. 7:09/mile average. My bashed my knee pretty good against my desk yesterday, and it will quite stiff and sore in the evening. However, after icing it last night and taking some ibuprofin, it's a lot better today.

(Adrenaline black:  506 miles)

Back at it today with the tempo runs. Ran out to Millville and back, doing a 5-mile tinman tempo along the way. I had a hard time getting going during the first half, and splits were 6:09, 6:05, 6:05, 5:52, 5:56. After the tempo, I ran over to the LHS rec fields and did 4x200m barefoot in the grass in 34, 34, 32, 32. I ran these very hard. The garmin consistently said that the distance was actually 0.14 miles, which is 225 meters. If this is true, it would put my splits more in the 29-30s range. But the garmin may be rounding up as well. Either way, I'd like to get my speed down to under 30s on these grass 200's by the time Draper Days rolls around. I figure if I combine that with my standard training, I should be pretty fit to run to a good 5K/10K.

(Adrenaline blue: 129 miles)

Providence Hill loop, 6:44/mile average pace. Held 7:00 pace up the hills, and 6:15-6:30 on the downhills. Good run. Did a mile with the dog afterwards.

(Adrenaline orange: 345 miles)

Rain rain rain. I put off running until after work, hoping to catch a break in the precip at some point, but no luck. I finally got out at 5:30, and did an 8-mile loop around Logan. It let up quite a bit while I was out there, so I guess timing wasn't too bad. Plus, I felt fantastic, and had a very enjoyable run, daydreaming about St. George the entire way. 6:29/mile average pace. Did 6x100m striders in the middle. Finished out the run with a block with the dog.

(Adrenaline black: 515 miles)

Workout day. Again, I waited until after work to run, and this time my patience paid off: no rain. I wanted some hills today, so did a 6-mile tinman tempo on the Millville Hill Loop. Did a few 6:30 miles to warm up, then mile splits were 5:54, 5:52, 6:24 (all uphill), 5:46, 5:40 (all downhill), 5:48. I felt pretty good for the most part. I had some 200's on the track scheduled for afterward, and although I really didn't feel like doing them after 6 tempo miles, I forced myself to go home, put on the racing flats, and head out to the LHS track. Did 4x200 hard (31, 31, 31, 31), with ample recovery. I couldn't go much faster than 31s, but that's okay because it's still early June. I tried to focus on form and turnover.

My flats felt pretty funny. It's been 14 months or so since I've worn racing shoes.
 

(Adrenaline blue: 140 miles) 

AM - easy 4.5-mile recovery run on Planet Walk. Bumped into Cody, who ran with me for a while. Didn't wear a watch, but pace was very slow, as I was a bit stiff and tired from yesterday. Plus, my bruised knee that I had bashed into my desk last Saturday was a bit flared up, which made things uncomfortable. Ice and ibuprofin when I got home.

(Adrenaline black: 520 miles)

PM - easy 7-mile recovery run on Canal Trail Loop. 7:37/mile average pace. 

(Adrenaline orange: 352 miles) 

Ah...Saturday. Slept in until 8:30, then puttered around the house and yard for awhile before running errands. Eventually ended up at the Cache Gardeners Market, which is usually the place to be on Saturday morning. It's worth your time, if you're ever in Logan between 9AM-1PM on a Saturday. After working for awhile, I finally got around to doing my Saturday trail run by mid-afternoon. James was the only taker this week, and the two of us headed up Logan Canyon to the Right Hand Fork trailhead. From there we did a big 16+ mile loop: started up the Willow Creek Trail, then turned onto Steel Hollow and took it to its terminus at FR 056. We turned north onto FR 056 (Long Hollow) and paid homage to Old Ephraim by visiting his grave memorial. Old Ephraim was a legendary 9'11" grizzly bear that terrorized sheep during the 1920s, until a brave rancher repeatedly shot him to death with his gun. Pity. Now there are no more grizzlies in our area, but we seem to be overrun with livestock, most of which trample and poop all over my trails. Anyway, after stopping at the Ephraim memorial, we continued on Long Hollow, and then turned west onto FR 007 and headed toward Mud Flat. We then took Mud Flat all the way around to Cottonwood Spring and then Little Cottonwood Creek. And then we were back at the car. It's a great loop, and I've never done that particular variation of it (I usually come down Willow Creek instead of Mud Flat). The views are splendid on this run, particularly the second half, and everything is very very green right now.

According to the Garmin, our average pace was 9:07/mile. Total time 2:29:10. Fastest mile was 7:40, slowest was 10:31. Also according to the Garmin, total ascent/decent was ~4250 ft, which maybe why we ran so slow. it definitely kicked my butt. Good run, though. I enjoyed yakking with James the entire time.

(Cascadia: 141 miles)

Did some barefoot running while throwing the frisbee around at our church picnic this afternoon. That loosened me up. After a good long nap, I ran the dog around the block then jumped in the car and went out to the River Trail, which is always a great Sunday run. Went a little past the end of the single track and back for 6 miles. According to the Garmin, it is exactly 3 miles from the parking lot to the gate after the single track (end of single track is 2.8 miles). Good things to know for future reference.

(Adrenaline black: 526 miles)

AM - forced myself to roll out of bed, put some clothes on, and hit the road. I strongly considered just sleeping instead, as no single part of my body felt very good this morning. I went on to run 5 very very slow miles on the Planet Walk, plus some with the dog. Felt pretty bad. I'll try again this afternoon.

(Adrenaline blue: 145 miles)

PM - 8 mile North Logan out-and-back. Felt better than this morning. 6:53/mile average pace. Did 4x100m strides in the middle. Nice and cool still for a June afternoon.

(Adrenaline orange: 360 miles)

CV fartlek this morning. I did a couple miles at 7-minute pace to warm up, and then started the session: 4 repeats of 4 minutes hard, 3 minutes easy. The last two intervals felt a lot better than the first two. Results:

0.71 miles - 5:36/mile pace (gentle uphill the whole way)

0.74 miles - 5:24/mile pace (rolling) 

0.75 miles - 5:21/mile pace (rolling)

0.76 miles - 5:15/mile pace (gentle downhill the whole way)

Not my most stellar workout, as I was running this fast or faster back in February, but at least I got it in. I seem to have trouble getting moving in the mornings, but it's getting too hot to do hard workouts in the afternoons. Oh well, I suppose that effort matters more than anything.

After the fartlek, I ran brisk pace (6:20/mile or so) to the LHS rec fields, and then did 5x200m barefoot in the grass (33, 33, 33, 33, 33). Nothing blazing, but at least they were consistent.

Cooled down a mile with the dog.

(Adrenaline blue: 150 miles) 

AM - easy 7 miles on canal loop, plus a block with the dog. 7:19/mile average pace.

(Adrenaline black: 533 miles)

PM - easy 4.5 miles on Planet Walk, and a block with the dog. 7:00/mile average pace.

(Adrenaline orange: 365 miles)

Traveling and meetings all day. Then bed. No running.

Got up at 5:15AM and ran from the Days Inn near Golden, CO. Ran about a mile down Hwy 40, then jumped onto a paved trail that paralleled Hwy 6 going north into Golden. I was warmed up after about two miles and started easing into a Tinman tempo. Terrain was very rolling, so I was averaging around 6:20/mile during most of it. Eventually I made a right turn (19th street?) and I passed the School of Mines (homage to Jon Allen) and got into downtown Golden. I found the Coors plant right when it was time to turn around, so mission accomplished. No time for a tour, though, as I had to turn around and run back. Good overall run with a good effort. 6:32/mile average pace for the entire run. I liked Golden, as it felt rather cut off from the the rest of the Denver metro due to topography.

(Adrenaline blue: 160 miles)

Reluctantly rolled out of bed at 7:30AM in to hit the trails. 6AM would have been better due to the heat, but I was exhausted from traveling (didn't get home until 10:30 last night). I met James at First Dam, and we started the run, which I call the Wind Caves-Green Canyon Loop. We went through the Hydro Park, then up onto the Pipeline Trail, which spit us out onto Hwy 89. We then crossed 89 and jumped on the River Trail and took it to its terminus at Guineva Malibu campground. Then we crossed 89 again and started up the Wind Caves trail. Heard (and saw) a rattlesnake, which literally startled me enough to jump halfway off the trail. After about a mile, we took a little side trail that takes us up to the ridge. Here, things got tough. This trail is is a bit less-traveled and has poor footing and a steep gradient. Plus it was getting pretty hot. We did the best we could and run/walked up to the ridge, at 7300', where we were treated to panoramas of Logan Canyon and the Bear River Range. From the ridge, we then dove down into Green Canyon on the Bierdeneau Trail, which was in much better shape, plus was shaded. We made it to Green Canyon Road (dirt road) and ran out of Green Canyon and then linked up with the Bonneville Shoreline Trail, which took us back to our cars at First Dam.

1 loop, 4 different trails, 16.5 miles total, with 4400' total feet of climb/descent. A mark of a good Saturday morning. Average pace was right around 10:00/mile. Cache Valley is really a quite a trail running mecca, but no one knows about it. I encourage you Salt Lake folks to come out and run our trails sometime. Some people want to guard them and keep them a secret, but in order to protect them, people have to know that they are worth protecting. So I say the more the merrier.

(Cascadia: 158 miles)

Laid around most of the day and took naps. Hammocks are a wonderful invention. Went up to Green Canyon in the evening with our Bible study group and did a hike up to the cross that is on the ridge at the mouth of Green Canyon after our study. About 10-15 years ago, some guys from my church lugged some huge wood beams a couple miles up the ridge (about 2500 vertical feet), and constructed a a cross. It's a great place to go and look over Cache Valley. Everything is very tiny from up there, but the cross is very big. Quite symbolic and meditative. It is also very very steep, and I ended up running most of the way down in order to keep from fall out falling down the mountain. I'm not counting it as mileage though. Gorgeous day today, in the upper 70s and breezy.

Ran from my office during the early afternoon. I figured today would be the last mild day for awhile, so I decided to take advantage of it. Mid-70s is nice running weather for a June afternoon. Ran the North Logan-USU loop. Warmed up for 3 miles, then did a 6-mile tinman tempo. Mile splits were 5:38 (downhill), 5:56 (uphill), 5:48, 5:40, 5:44, 5:44. Felt quite excellent. After about a half mile of cooldown, I did 4x30-second hill charges up the Boulevard Hill. Cooled down for another mile or so and called it a day. This is probably my best workout since the marathon. 6:18/mile average pace for entire run.

(Adrenaline blue: 172 miles)

AM - easy 8 miles on Canal Trail Loop, plus a few blocks with the dog. 7:22/mile average pace.

(Adrenaline orange: 373 miles)

PM - easy 5 miles on Planet Walk. Hot out. 6:55/mile average pace.

(Adrenaline black: 538 miles)

Met with Jon and James at First Dam in the evening and ran the entire River Trail to Gueneva Malibu and back. 8:09/mile average pace. Did more talking than running. It was hot at first, but became very pleasant by the second half of the run.

(Cascadia: 169 miles)

AM - wanted to avoid all hills, so I did the flattest run I know of: Landfill Loop via Planet Walk. With a block with the dog, it came out to about 8 miles. 7:05/mile average pace. Also did 4x100m striders near the end. This run could be described as "beh" or perhaps "sna".

(Adrenaline blue: 180 miles)

PM - easy 4 miles on Planet Walk. No shirt. No watch. No dice.

(Adrenaline black: 542 miles)

AM - got up and ran over to the WBR start line at Merlin Olsen Park to check things out and drop off my Marathon GIS banner for them to put up. The start line was pretty much constructed by 6:30AM, including what I've been calling "The Four Pillars of Ragnar". If you've seen the start or finish line, you'll know what I'm talking about. From there, I ran a little bit on Leg 1, up into River Heights, and then back home.

I'm glad to have this race starting 5 blocks from my house now, in the middle of Logan. Not only is it incredibly convenient for me, but it will be good for the town of Logan to host an event of this magnitude. This event is now twice the size of Top of Utah, and is the 3rd-largest relay in the U.S. It is growing so fast, that I expect it to exceed Reach the Beach by next year and become the 2nd-largest. Pretty cool. The race directors have worked hard and have earned it.

Our team (MarathonGIS.com) starts at 5PM this evening, with Weber State, BYU, Runners Corner, and 26.2 Running Company. It will be a very good competition.

(Adrenaline orange: 376 miles)

PM - Wasatch Back Relay. Did Leg 5 in 46:17 (7.4 miles, 6:16/mile). Considering 3% uphill grade and 1200' of climbing, I was pretty happy with it. Splits were 5:42, 6:05, 6:11, 6:01, 6:16, 6:27, 7:00, 2:31 (0.4 miles, 6:31 pace). First 5 miles were great, but the gradient plus the distance/duration of sustaining that effort got to be too much for me. Will write more later.

(Burn: 184 miles)

Day 2 of Wasatch Back.

Started Leg 17 at exactly 1AM. I felt like I had recovered pretty well from my first leg, and was looking forward to running on rolling hills and asphalt rather than straight uphill on gravel. Felt very good, and finished the 5.4-mile leg in 29:58 (5:27/mile - the garmin measured 5.49 miles). Mile splits were 5:21, 5:32, 5:31, 5:25, 5:26, 2:41 (0.49 miles, 5:29 pace). Not necessarily an easy leg (~200 ft of net climb), so I was happy to get my goal of sub-5:30 pace.

Caught an hour of quality sleep at Exch 24 (Rockport State Park). My legs felt surprisingly rejuvenated after that short rest. Started Leg 29 at 7:49 AM, so it was light out again, and starting to warm up. I had been looking forward to Leg 29, as it is only 4.1 miles and virtually all downhill, with an average downhill gradient of nearly 4%. Most of the drop comes in the first 2.5 miles, then it levels out over the last 1.5 miles, so the first half felt similar to the Alta Peruvian Dash (Little Cottonwood Canyon), with several stretches of 6% and 8% downhill gradient. My projected pace based on our magic spreadsheet (which uses elevation gain/loss) was 4:47/mile, which seemed a bit ambitious, but I decided to give it a try. Total time was 19:41 (4:49/mile), so I came very close. Mile splits were 4:50, 4:40, 4:46, 5:00. I was very pleased to hold 5:00-pace when the downhill diminished.

I was feeling pretty good after my last leg and ran to Exch 30 (3.6 miles) with Sasha to cool down.

(Burn: 192 miles) 

This race was a big confidence booster for me, as I was able to come very close to my projected times on each leg. Since the Ogden Marathon a month ago, my training quality has been up-and-down; I've been getting the miles in, but haven't felt so good about all my workouts. However, this race proved to me that I haven't lost any fitness and can still push myself to run well.

Weber State ended up winning with 17:40:40. Congrats to them. BYU was second with 17:51:51. We were a distant 3rd with 18:29:29 (6:16/mile), with Little Team Provo behind us (without us knowing it) in 18:50:09. 26.2 Running Company rounded out the top 5 with 19:18:18. Full results are here.

Jogged a block with the dog to loosen up a little. My quads are a bit sore from the last downhill leg of WBR, but not too bad. Definitely tired though.

AM - easy 7-mile recovery run on canal trail loop. Quads still a little sore, and hamstrings were very tight. SI is sore too. I think it's about time to start paying my massage therapist some more visits to see if I can kick this chronic SI issue. 8:02/mile aveage pace.

(Adrenaline black: 549 miles)

PM - easy 5.5-mile recovery run on the landfill loop. Didn't wear watch.

(Adrenaline orange:  379 miles)

Started my run around 11:30AM, so temps were getting a little warm, but still pretty nice. I ran out to the start of the River Trail single track and back, via the Canal Trail. First couple miles were around 7:15, but then I started to pick it up a little and started working the uphill section of the River Trail. I probably got in 4-5 miles at Tinman tempo effort, including a couple sub-6's on the downhill. I tried to keep it pretty relaxed and mellow though, as my legs are still a little tired from the relay. Did 4x100m strides on the way back. Average pace for run was 6:48/mile.

Tomorrow I fly out to Montrose, CO for  a couple nights for a meeting. I should have plenty of spare time to run, so am looking forward to that. 

(Adrenaline blue: 192 miles)

AM - ran from my house up to Dry Canyon, and then a mile up the Dry Canyon trail. Quite a bit of climbing; 1500' in 4 miles. On Saturday I am doing the Logan Peak Trail Run, which goes up the Dry Canyon trail (among others), and has over 7000' up cumulative gain/loss over 25 miles. It will be challenging, but I also intend to walk much of it, and am doing it "just for fun" and to support our local trail scene. Today's run was kind of a prep for Saturday and to see what sort of pace I can do up Dry Canyon comfortably. The answer is: about 11:00/mile pace.

On the way back down, I ran into my friend Kelly, who is the race director. She and some volunteers were lugging up water to the 4-mile mark, which is the 1st and 4th aid station. Aid stations for single-track trail races definitely take a lot more work! Chatted with Kelly for awhile, and then continued my run back down the bench and into the netherworlds of Inner Logan.

8:13/mile average pace for entire run.

(Adrenaline orange: 388 miles)

PM - ran aimlessly through random streets in Montrose, CO. 7:08/mile average pace.

(Adrenaline blue: 197 miles)

AM running in Montrose. I had a CV fartlek scheduled for today and decided to give it a shot. I warmed up for a couple miles, heading east, at about 7:15/mile pace. Then I wanted to do a mile at tinman tempo pace to prime my body before the fartlek. However, all I could do was 6:40 for that mile. I figured it might have been due to a slight headwind, the higher elevation (6000'), and not being awake yet. I started the fartlek, and all I could do was hold 5:43/mile pace for 2 minutes, then I quit. Took a 1:30 break and decided to try again. 6:03/mile pace for two minutes, then I went anaerobic. Quit again. I decided to turn around to see if I'd have better luck. Turned around and saw the city of Montrose several hundred feet below me. The problem was that I was going uphill (about 100'/mile)! It was such a steady incline, I just didn't notice, other than pace. And the headwind didn't help either. Now with a decline and a tailwind I was able to really get going. 4 minutes hard at 5:12/mile pace (0.77 miles). 2.5 minutes recovery. 4 minutes hard at 5:07/mile pace (0.79 miles). 2.5 minutes recovery. 4 minutes hard at 5:04/mile pace (0.79 miles). Ran a few miles easy and then found a large grassy park. Here I decided to take my shoes off and do 4 strider repeats in the grass. They were all about 32 seconds, but start and stop point was not constant. According to the garmin, my pace splits were 4:31/mile, 4:08/mile, 4:15/mile, and 3:57/mile. So the equivalent of running 200's in 31s or so. I'm not sure how accurate the garmin is at those short distances though.

(1120: 12 miles --yeah, new shoes!) 

Easy 6-mile run in Montrose. It was a warm morning with strong winds out of the east (again). Needless to say, I preferred running west! 7:27/mile average pace. Logan Peak 25-miler tomorrow...

(Adrenaline blue: 203 miles)

This morning I did my first trail race: the Logan Peak Trail Run. It is a 25-mile semi-loop up in the Bear River Range in Logan. Actually, it was more like 26.5 miles, but whatever. Start elevatoin is about 5000'. Max elevation (Logan Peak) is about 9700'. Total elevation gain/loss is around 7200'. Course map is here. Course profile is here.

The race started at 6:30AM from a park up in the Logan Cliffside neighborhood. I have never been to this park because I am not rich enough. There were 27 runners, which was a good turnout, because the race director's goal was only 20 for this first year. But several of the participants were seasoned, decorated trail runners, so I knew stealing a win would be out of the question, especially since I wanted this race to be a "fun run". Cody and I were planning on running the entire race together, and I was looking forward to the trail, the scenery, and the company.

Start to Mile 4.5 -The first part of the course leaves the park and hits the Bonneville Shoreline Trail. There were some immediate rolling hills. Cody and I found ourselves in 4th or 5th place by the time we departed the BST at the mouth of Dry Canyon, around Mile 1. At Dry Canyon, the race really begins, as there is non-stop climbing to Mile 4.5 on rocky single-track.

We started ascending Dry Canyon and caught a few people. However, we would get passed whenever I stopped to take pictures. It was a slow grinding climb (3000' in 3.5 miles), and we were glad to see the first aid station. Mmmm...trail mix and pretzels. Mile splits were first 4 miles were 9:45, 12:31, 14:41, 16:02. This includes stops, as I wouldn't stop my watch when we took breaks.

Mile 4.5 to Mile 11 - After departing the aid station, the course turned off of Dry Canyon and onto the south portion of the Syncline Trail. Finally, we got some relief from the constant uphill. Terrain was variable - flat, up, down. But in general, this portion of the race was really nice. I had never been on this trail, and was treated to some good views of the Cache Valley and Providence Canyon. We were holding steady somewhere near the Top 5 for position. After a couple miles of single-track, we got on the Welches Flat jeep trail, which wraps around the north side of Providence Canyon. Around Mile 10 we were spat out at the top of Providence Canyon, above the old rock quarry. Terrain was still quite variable, but there was a lot of uphill that we were walking. Once again, we were quite glad to see the second aid station, near Mile 11. This station had even better food, and we took a 5-minute siesta where we focused on cramming food down our mouths.

Mile splits for this stretch were 16:50 (includes stop at first aid station), 9:05, 7:59, 13:55, 10:09, 14:23, 16:45 (includes stop at second aid station). I accidently stopped my watch at the first aid station and didn't realize it until 0.6 miles into this segment, so that threw things off a little.

Mile 11 to Mile 16 - This segment was an out-and-back to the namesake of the race: Logan Peak. We faced a 1000 overall vertical ft climb in 2.5 miles to reach our destination, which for all intents and purposes served as the halfway point of the race. As usual, we were walking the uphills, and running the best we could on the flat and downhill parts. The hardest thing was that we could see Logan Peak the entire time (big radio towers), we had to circumvent a ridge to get up on it first. I was planning on doing the Rocky thing at the very top of Logan Peak, but after the final quarter mile shuffle up to it, I didn't have the energy to jump around, make jabbing motions, and yell "Yeah! Yeah!". Instead I just filled up my water, ate a Gu, and talked to the volunteers. Several people passed Cody and I up here, since we were once again eating, chatting, and taking pictures. Everyone else seemed focused on running or something.

Finally, we started back down Logan Peak, back to aid station #2. We passed back several people, and also got to see the people behind us, who were going up on the out-and-back. It was nice to see the whole field and give them encouragement. Trail races are laid-back events, and it's cool to give and receive smiles from your competitors. We noticed that the first woman (Sarah Evans, a Wasatch Running Center teammate) was about 10 minutes behind us. The downhill was very good to have after the long climb, and we made it back pretty quick to the aid station at the junction. Once again we stopped for trail mix, cookies, drinks, etc, etc. Several people passed us back. I took their picture.

Mile splits for this segment were 14:36, 19:53, 8:07, 8:52, 14:02 (includes aid stop).

Mile 16 to Mile 22 - We turned right at the aid junction this time and continued on the jeep trail. Terrain was undulating (a pattern for this race). Walk, run. Walk, run. I was still feeling pretty good, thanks to the frequent and long aid stops. Around Mile 18, we turned left onto the north segment of the Syncline Trail, and started traversing the south rim of Logan Canyon. Views were fantastic, and I had never been on the stretch before. US-89 was about 4000' below us.

After a couple miles on the Syncline Trail (on which we were moving pretty good), we caught up to runner ahead of us, who had come to a stop at a junction in the trail. We soon saw the dilemma. There was a race sign pointing right, and some flagging on the right junction, but all common sense told us "go left". We decided that someone was playing a mean trick and that going right would take us off a cliff, so the three of us agreed to go left. We soon saw flagging again on our chosen course, and were 99.9% sure we made the correct choice. We found out later that some random jerk turned the sign around and messed with the flagging to be a wise guy. Ah, Cache Valley.

Cody and I ran with the other runner for several miles and chatted a little bit. He was from Salt Lake, that's all I remember. This stretch of single-track dragged on and on, and I kept expecting to see Dry Canyon again "any time", but it never came. Cody and I passed the other runner, who had decided to walk more than we wanted to. Finally, we came to the nose of the ridge and started winding back down to Dry Canyon. Hurrah, no more uphills! On this stretch we passed a guy that I'm pretty sure was in the Top 3 earlier in the race. That was satisfying; we were tired but not slowing down at all. We soon made it to the Dry Canyon aid station, the same station that was our first stop nearly 4.5 hours earlier.

Mile splits for this segment were 12:01, 9:58, 11:37, 13:41, 12:04, 14:24 (includes aid stop).

Miles 22 to 26.5 (finish) - I wasn't intending to spend much time at this aid station, since all we had left was 4.5 miles of sheer downhill, but then we got incentive to take off even faster: the top woman (Sarah Evans) came into the aid station while we were still eating. I didn't say anything, but gave Cody the universal telepathic signal of "We can't get chicked." I don't care that it was a "fun run", it just wasn't going to happen, especially on my home course. I was actually quite impressed with Sarah, though; she must have been hauling over the last 8 miles. Myself, Cody, and Sarah started down the trail, beginning our 3000', 4.5-mile descent. We just pointed ourselves downhill and went. We soon lost her within a mile or so. Crisis averted.

With about 2 miles to go, I was really smelling the barn, but momentum was halted when I hit a big rock at 7:00/mile pace. Gravity + steep downhill + lots of rocks is a bad combination, and I took quite a tumble. I think I absorbed most of the fall with both shoulders, as they really hurt afterward. My left palm got bloodied pretty good, and my right calf cramped up at same time. I peeled myself off the rocks and took a quick assessment: scraped hand with a flat of skin hanging, but nothing deep. Shoulder hurts, but not dislocated. Calf is starting to unlock. Nothing to do but start running again. We found our groove again within a few minutes. I was happy to draw a little blood in my first trail race.

Somewhere in there we passed a runner who had been quite a ways ahead of us. Always a good thing. Some hiker at the botton of the canyon yelled at us we were 4th and 5th. We didn't believe him. We exited Dry Canyon with a mile to go, and climbed up onto the Bonneville Shoreline Trail. The rolling hills of the BST were most unwelcome, but we were almost there, and my legs still had some pop. We made the turn off of the BST, back onto the grass leading back down to the park. I missed the flagging for a turn and Cody corrected me, but got out in front in the process. There was one last very steep downhill going into the park, and Cody looked back and told me he wanted to beat me while I was still stumbling down the grade. I told him he better start sprinting if that was the case. Cody started sprinting. He finished a couple seconds ahead; Cody was indeed 4th overall and I was 5th. The random dude was right. The winner (Leland Barker) was a little more a half hour ahead. Third place was only 5 minutes ahead, and 6th place (the top woman) was two minutes behind. According to my Garmin (SportTracks) we spent about 42 minutes stopped. I suppose if we hadn't have taken so many breaks we could have placed higher...or we might have run slower. In any case, I think I'll recover pretty well due to all the breaks, food, and water I took during the race.

Mile splits for this segment were 9:01, 7:33, 8:30 (with tumble), 7:56, 3:06 (11:08-pace).

This blog entry turned into a book, but it was my first real trail race, and was memorable to me. I enjoyed the vast majority of it, and had a lot of fun running with Cody. It definitely beat doing chores. The race organization was quite good, the course was well-marked (except for vandalized areas), and the aid/food/voluteers were all awesome. Shirts were very cool too. And Cody won a huge vat of HammerGel. Good times. Again, I must say that our Cache Valley trails rock, and I encourage people to come up and run them.

(Cascadia: 196 miles)

Some pictures are below (in chronological order). They are reduced to fit the blog, but you can see full resolution by right-clicking and selecting "view".