First off, great job to all St. George finishers. It sounded like absolutely terrible conditions, but persevering through tough weather makes a runner stronger. That said, I'm not sorry I missed it. I found full results on active.com. Not sure if the St Geo web page has it posted yet. http://results.active.com/pages/searchform.jsp?rsID=70542&orgID=234624&pubID=2
I think I am the only person on the blog who did not run a marathon this weekend. But if it's any comfort to St. George runners, the weather in Logan was just as (if not more) miserable than what you had down south. Today I did a forced march from Blind Hollow up to Tony Grove and back. I call it forced, because it was my job to take down the flagging and glow sticks from last week's Bear 100, and I had 7 days to do it, based on Forest Service permits. Today was Day 7. Needless to say, with the cold, wind, and rain, plus my bum shin, I was not looking forward to it. The route is 2700' worth of climbing on single-track trail, 6.5 miles each way. I was not sure if my shin could handle more than just a few miles of running, so I was envisioning hiking 13 miles in the rain, and taking up my entire day. I considered shuttling my bike up to Tony Grove and riding back to the car, but in the cold and rain that sounded worse than running. Well, the run turned out well. I managed to run all the way up and all the way back (except for walk breaks on steep stuff). I made it up in about 1:37, much faster than the last time I did it, and then down in about 1:15. The trail was an absolute disaster: total MUD PIT. I chose to wear my Montrail Hardrocks, which was a mistake. By their namesake alone, they are much better on rocky terrain, and completely useless in muddy terrain. I should have gone with my other trail shoe, the Brooks Cascadia. Like their namesake suggests, they have massive tread, and good for soft, dirt trails. The mud was gooey and thick, and going down was flat-out dangerous. It was more of a slide than a run. I manged to avoid any superman dives, which is good for me. But the descent was much slower than it should have been. Nothing faster than 10-minute pace. But hey, I was able to run, so I was happy with that. No shin flair-up, and that alone made it a great way to end my week. My other regrets were not bringing more dry shirts and more gloves. I brought an extra long-sleeved shirt and 2 short sleeved shirts, and one pair of gloves. All were soaked by midway. Did I mention that it rained the entire time, and I was out there for 3 hours? And it was under 40 degrees? It took me over a minute to take my camelbak off and open the car at the bottom because I couldn't get my thumbs to work. Then I just sat in my car with the heat going full blast for about 5 minutes before my hands were functional enough to drive. Then I went grocery shopping and tracked mud all over Fred Smith's. Being woefully unprepared for this kind run shows that I'm both out of touch with trail running (I used to do it a lot more), and not mentally ready for fall and winter. I like 80 degrees better. I hope my shin will be ready for a full week next week. I have a 90 minute massage tomorrow, and will also be getting my compression sock and a portable ultrasound machine soon. Along with the improvement I've already had, I'm pretty optimistic.
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