Today was my last day in Bend/Oregon--until next year (i.e., I had such a great time, I hope to be back in 2011)--so I thought I would get in another race before I caught my afternoon flight from Redmond to Salt Lake City. Shortly after waking up, I jogged 2.1 miles across town from Cumberland to my Aunt and Uncle’s house on Hawthorne. On the way there, I went through Drake Park and across it’s wooden footbridge over the Deschutes River, a picturesque setting to say the least. I met up with my support crew--that is, my aunt, uncle, and father--then we headed over to Pilot Butte State Park (a 1.4-mile jog) for the one-mile time trial race to the top.
When I arrived at the park and after picking up my bib number and packet, I quickly discovered that the race was along the Butte’s dusty dirt trail and not the paved trail and road that I’m so accustomed to running. Actually, ever since I was a kid, I hiked the Butte with my father and aunt and we always took the road (which is very restrictive to traffic) and never once went up the trail. So this was going to be a completely new experience and I was lucky I brought along my Brooks Cascadia trail running shoes. Taking the dirt trail also adds another 50 or so feet in elevation gain. In addition, I discovered they were going to have four start waves for the race even though the trail is only double track (at best) all the way to the top; therefore, this was going to be a fun experience.
Starting in the first wave, we were off at exactly 9:00 am. The first 0.2 of a mile was relatively flat then it got extremely steep until the half-mile marker (so steep I was wondering, as I fought for air an position on the trail, why I got myself into such a race). Since this 0.3 of a mile was an extremely ascent, the second half of mile seemed relatively nice even though it was a continuous climb to the top. There were Forest Rangers shouting encouragement to the runners along the trail, which kept you going and made for a fun experience. In addition, this race was really well organized in that there were shuttles at the start for family and friends to take to the top. As a result, my support crew was at the top to cheer me in across the finish line in a time of 8:54 (my Garmin showed a distance of 1.05 miles with an approximate elevation gain of 490 feet). Being a marathon runner, I’m not use to one-mile races and this is the first one that I have done since high school; however, The Pilot Butte Challenge was great workout and a fun experience that ended with an amazing view of the Cascades!
In addition, before catching my flight back to Salt Lake City, I jogged 1.8 miles down the Butte and back to my Aunt and Uncle’s house. After I arrived at home (by the way, it always feels great to fly back into Salt Lake City), I went out for a late-evening 4.2-mile run up to the Smith-Kiln Chimney at the Brickyard Shopping Plaza and back. I was originally planning for a longer evening run, but my left Achilles tendon was feeling extremely tight and sore. As a result, I figured it best to makeup the mileage tomorrow in exchange for getting some sleep in my Zoot Recovery socks.
Finally, for my non-running workout, I was able to complete my standard routine of 300 sit-ups and 30 push-ups. | 