Summit junkie!

Draper trails with Rob:

It was a bitter cold morning and once again snow was falling as I drove to meet Rob at the Orson Smith trailhead. We started on the BST, hit the Gasline, Ghost Falls and Canyon Hollow and back. There was a ton of fresh snow and we spent a lot of time breaking trail and slogging along. It was slow going, but a lot of work and a great workout. We chatted and laughed a lot and just enjoyed the incredible scenery and solitude. It was a great way to start the year. Now I need to spend some time and think about my goals for 2013. So far I'm signed up for the Buffalo 100 and I have my name in for Wasatch 100 as well. I have a lot of adventure runs planned and I can't wait. 

Weights at the gym for an hour. I had a really good session working my upper body/core.

Ave Twin peaks with Jun, Dorsimus, MVH and Je10.

We met at the Capitol building at 5:00 am where my car said it was 5 degrees. It was wicked cold, so after standing around for 5 min waiting for MVH we decided to get moving to warm up. Je10 was joining our crew for the first time and she is really cool and fit right in. Running the road to the trailhead was bitter cold, but by time we reached the TH I had warmed up and never felt cold again for the rest of the run.

The trail was snow covered the entire way, but it was packed in and not slick at all. Perfect. As we made our way up the trail we saw several large falling stars that were incredible. Just before the big hill MVH showed up and we all pushed it up to the summit. I think we hit the second twin in 1:05 which isn't a bad time. We snapped a few pics and didn't stay too long.

The run down was a blast. The trail conditions were perfect and I only slipped a few times when my foot hit some softer snow, but for the most part it was awesome.

I took this photo at the finish to show my ice beard:

PM Speedwork at the gym with some weights mixed in.

6 on the TM.

Ave Twin Peaks with Jun, MVH and Je10:

Another early start on the Ave Twins. It was cold, but not as bad as last time. The trail conditions were once again almost perfect with packed snow and very little ice. Once above the inversion it warmed up and I really enjoyed the run. Great views and laughs on the summt and a sweet run back down. It was another fun run and the perfect way to start my day. I also had a nice ice beard at the finish.

Monday = Weights at the gym. It wasn't as crowded as I was expecting and I had a really good workout.

Yesterday I was selected by Altra to be an ambassador for 2013 and I'm pretty stoked about that. The Altra Lone Peaks are the most confortable trail shoe I have tried and the traction is incredible, so I'm psyched to get to represent such a great company.

Also, I posted a recap of my 2012 peak bagging exploits if you're interested. Check it out here: 116 in 2012

BST marathon with some peaks, with Jun and MattVH:

Our original plan was to run 30 miles on the BST starting at the zoo. We were going to run all the way to City Creek Canyon and then hop onto the trail on the west side of the canyon and climb up to the radio towers and then run all the way back to the zoo. With several peaks on the way we thought we would tag those as well. We did most of that, but ran out of time and didn't quite make 30 miles, but I'm totally ok with that because I am wrecked.

We started out early this morning on the Mt. Wire trail. Dorsimus joined us for the first section and it was fun chatting away and climbing up Wire. We saw several deer and elk and the views as always were really good. From Wire we traversed over to Red Butte Peak and tagged that one too. The ridge on RB gets more technical with a lot of rocks and ice and from the summit back down to the BST is actually the most challenging part of the whole run. I was a bit slower here as we made our way down to the living room (chairs made out of stone). We hung out there for a few minutes and then Dors took off on a side trail back to the BST, while we continued on into Red Butte Canyon.

The trail down into Red Butte was snow covered and awesome. It was probably my favorite part of the whole day. At the bottom we crossed over and hit another trail that would take us up Mt. Van Cott. We slogged our way up to the summit where we again enjoyed some killer views. The run back down off of VC was a blast. It was fast, steep and fun. Back down to the BST we went up Dry Fork where we had to climb all the way back up to the Ave Twin Peaks. There was a ton of climbing today and my legs started to feel it on this climb.

We finally topped out on the Ave Twins and took a quick break. I took my 4th gel and Jun asked if we wanted to go tag Little Black Mountain too, but that didn't sound appealing to me at all, so we stayed with the plan and ran back down to the BST again, where we ran all the way back to the trailhead in City Creek Canyon. My legs were now pretty hammered and it was tough to make them go fast. The other guys put some distance on me and for the rest of the run I was trying to catch up.

We were hoping to get water at the City Creek trailhead, but it was shut off which meant I would for sure run out on the way back. MVH was pretty low too. The hike/run back up the BST was pretty brutal. I was shattered. My legs were worked and my energy low. At the top of the climb we had about 6 miles to go. Every step the rest of the run was tough and I felt really out of shape. With about 5 miles to go I ran out of water and I was starting to feel dehydrated, so I knew the final miles were going to be a total death march and they were. I stopped a few times to eat some snowballs, but otherwise I would have to wait to the finish to rehydrate.

All of the vert was now taking its toll on my legs and I'll just say it wasn't fun running it in. I have a lot of work to do before the Buffalo run. Jun and I both said this run felt more like 35 miles. It was tough, but we did have a total blast out there. There were a lot of laughs, the views were super good and overall it was a pretty sweet day. Jun and Dors both put up some cool pics on their blogs. Here is a pic of Matt and Jun on top of one of the Ave Twins:

The weather was pretty shizzy, so hit the gym for 30 minutes of core work and ran 4 easy miles. My legs were a bit fatigued, but I felt great running. Here is a sweet video that MattVH did of our marathon above SLC. I think it is his best one yet.

BST run

6 miles on the treadmill. I tried to take Je10's advice and imagine that I was trail running, but that only worked for about 20 seconds. I did however manage to clear a few episodes of "The Daily Show" out of my DVR backlog.

Another vid to watch

5 degrees outside and snowing means there is only one workout for me on a Mondee night: Weights at the gym. Tonight it was extra special because I got to workout with all of the ‘New Year resolution folks’ that haven’t quite learned or don’t remember proper gym etiquette, like wiping off gobs of sweat on the machines and farting in the weight room.

I went to the gym with my wife and did weights/core and also did some speed work. 3 miles track.

I coach a U13 competitive girls soccer team. I took my girls to the gym for practice, but first we ran the track to warm up. They all took off at about a 6:00 pace and it wasn't long before they started to lap me. I told them to slow down, but they didn't listen and half of them had burned out after about 4 laps. haha. After about 1.5 miles they were all spent and only a few ran the rest with me. Then we had a great practice.

BST and Ave Twin with Jun, Sam and Dorsimus:

I met the fellas at the Capitol at 4am. It was bitter cold at the start and running up City Creek Canyon. It seemed to warm up once we got on the trail, but it was pretty frosty for most of the run. I wasn't feeling great this morning (3 hours of sleep) and I fell at least four times. I kept taking gels, but never seemed to get my steam. Sam took off at the BST cutoff and we tried to go all the way to Dry Fork so we could run to the zoo, but the trail was horrendous, so we backtracked and went up to first Ave Twin instead. The inversion was sick from up there and it is only going to get worse.

I had to deal with a leaky hose from my hydration vest for most of the run and it was a total pain. I need a new one fast. The run down was ok other than hitting the deck and doing a face plant in the snow. At the trailhead we hopped on the trail on the north side and ran up that for just over a mile before the conditions became crappy again, so we hit the road and ran until we knew we would hit 15 miles. It actually felt good to get on the road and out of the snow for the run down. We got back to the car and the temp was 4. Frosty. I think I just barely warmed up 3 hours later.

Grandeur Peak loop with Jun:

This is one of my favorite running routes in the Wasatch. We met at 5:30am and started at the Grandeur Peak West Ridge TH. It was cold and dark at the start, but within 10 minutes or so we were breaking out of the miserable inversion and were greeted to a starlit sky and fresh air. It was also a lot warmer as we made our way out of the muck and up the west ridge. The trail wasn't as packed in as we had hoped and it was frustrating at times when there would be footsteps going off in 2-3 directions and we had to guess on what the best route would be. It was slower than we thought, but we still made 'decent' time up to the top where we had an incredible sunrise and amazing views in every direction. The Salt lake Valley fog/smog is just atrocious right now. After a gel and some pics we took off down the other side of the mountain (Church Fork)

The Church Fork trail was absolutely amazing! The best trail running so far in 2013. The trail was well packed in, there was zero ice and the usual loose rocks were buried under the nice packed trail. Awesome. Of course the views are always sweet, the sun was out, the sky was blue and we were cruising down the trail. It doesn't get much better than that. Just before we got to the Pipeline junction we crossed a creek where we stopped to take some pics. I had an excellent idea that I would jump the creek for a glory shot and after packing down some snow I attempted the jump. The packed snow gave out and... FWAP! BAM! UM OUCH! That sucked. Hello large sharp rock, meet my hip. Luckily Jun didn't capture it with his camera. After that my mojo was gone and my hip/shin/leg hurt the rest of the run.

The Pipeline trail wasn't in great shape, but it wasn't horrible either. We slogged it out all the way to Rattle Snake Gulch where we decided to head down and take our chances with the infamous Millcreek Flasher instead of hitting Bambi Hill. Unfortunately we missed the flasher, but we did start to enter the inversion again and we would smell, taste and feel it. SICK! COLD! So cold. Within about 5 minutes we were completely frozen. Frost on the gloves, hats and beards. It had to be below zero. The run down the canyon road and back to the car wasn't as enjoyable and we were happy to get out of that crap back at the trailhead. As always it was worth losing some sleep to get out into the Wasatch.

A few pics from the summit:

Ave Twin Peaks solo:

I tried hard to get someone to go run this with me, but it ended up just me at the trailhead. Because of the terrible air I decided to start at the trailhead and skip parking at the Capitol building like I normally do. This cuts out a few miles, but gets you out of the sheety air quicker. The trail was in phenomenal shape and I had an enjoyable run. I put some Depeche Mode on my iPod and got into a good groove. It took about 15 minutes to get out of the gunk and into the blue sky and fresh air. Ahh...God's country. I passed a few hikers on my way up and when the Ave Twins came into view I could see a couple of guys on the summit. I pushed it hard from that point all the way to the top.

When I got onto the ridge a helicopter flew right over me and buzzed the ridge and then hovered for a few minutes. I thought they might be filming, but I wasn't sure. Eventually it buzzed the summit and then hovered for about 5 minutes next to one of the peaks. I ran hard because I wanted to get up close and check it out. Just before I hit the summit of the first twin it landed on the second twin, so I took out my camera and got a few pics. It was a medical chopper, so it was probably SAR running some drills. When I hit the peak there were two guys in their seventies on top. Awesome! We chatted for a minute and then I started over to the second twin and the chopper took off and headed over by Mt.Wire.

It was quite obvious that only a few people have been dumb enough to hit the second twin recently and it was pretty sucky making my way over in the deep snow. There were tracks, but the trail wasn't packed in at all. I hit the second summit and took a break, snapping some pics and taking a gel. The chopper started coming back but just flew by and then went back down into the valley.

The run down was fun. I enjoyed the weather and my music. The only negative was my hip was still sore from my little fall from the day before, but it wasn't anything serious. Running back down into the inversion is just horrible. HORRIBLE. Other than that it was an incredible day.

PM: Weights at the gym for 45 minutes.

Here are a few pics from my run:

6 at the gym. No big woop. My boss is in town and has been dragging me to steakhouses and meat establishments the last few days and I have been eating like total crap. Meat hangover. Meat sweats. Meathead.

5 on the track at the gym. It was kind of a tempo run. They are doing a biggest loser competition at the gym and some of the contenstants were walking around the track. It was crowded and stinky, BO and gas. SICK.

Ave Twin Peaks with Jun, Dorsimus and Bryan:

We met at 6:00 at the trailhead. There was already freezing rain falling and on the way in Jun got rear-ended and I just about slid off the freeway. The roads were atrocious. I thought the weather might be bad, but we really lucked out. It rained some, blew a little, but overall the conditions were great and once we got above the inversion it was warm. We had an excellent run up to the summit just chatting and goofing off. Just before the BST cutoff we saw a herd of elk making their way up the slope. Awesome.

When we hit the summit of the first twin we decided to go tag #2 as well and the trail was in much better shape than when I hit it on Monday. Up on #2 we took a break and checked out the city. Bryan is from Boulder, so we were showing him all of the nearby trails and landmarks. On the way down I got a little behind the other guys, as Jun picked up the pace a bit. At times I hung with the crew, but a few times they gapped me and I had to catch up. It seemed like Jun was pushing a pretty fast pace the last mile or two, but I have no idea what we were running. It was a great morning.

Lake Mountain with Jun:

Sunday mornings are perfect for a run. The kids are all asleep and nobody seems to be out on the trails, so Jun and I have been hitting it every Sunday recently and it is the perfect way to start my day. We hadn't been up Lake Mountain for a few weeks so we decided to get on it. The track up to the top was softer than we had hoped, so it was slow going and both of us were lacking our usual energy. It was quite windy in sections, but overall not bad and I was pretty hot most of the run.

We hit the summit in 1:16 which is pretty slow for us. The views were sweet and the air was fresh and clean, something we haven't seen for about a month. The run down was better, but we were punching through the snow in some spots which slowed us down, but it wasn't terrible. We settled into a nice pace and just chatted the whole way down.

Weights at the gym for an hour working my upper body/core. The gym is soooo stinky these days.

Ave Twin Peaks with Jun, Dorsimus and Je10:

When Jun texted last night about running the Ave Twins smornin' my first thought was "No way the weather is gonna totally blow", but after thinking about it I decided I could make the drive in early before the massive traffic jam that I knew would happen because of the storm, so I decided it was a brilliant idea to get out and run to avoid the crappy commute. We met at the state capitol building at 5:30 am and it was already snowing. It snowed on us the entire run, but we didn't care. The trail wasn't as good as it has been, but it made for a better workout. Our pace wasn't too fast and we just chatted all the way up. The ridge was kind of a mess with deep snow and that slowed us down a lot.

As we approached the first peak Jun and I were making excuses as to why we didn't want to tag the second peak, but Je10 basically called us out and I knew we would end up slogging over to #2. Ah well, it sucked, but it was still fun. We were laughing most of the way over. On #2 we all ate something and I took my glove off and after a few minutes my hand was completely numb. I couldn't even turn off my headlamp for a picture. More laughs and then we slogged back over to #1.

The run/slog down was just as much fun. The conditions were pretty bad, but it didn't seem to bother us at all and we had a blast. I'm not sure what our time was, but I know it was slow. It was a great crew and a really fun morning.

8 on the track at the gym. I started out with 3 easy miles and then I started feeling really good and picked up the pace for 3 miles, running between 7-7:30 with some dips into the 6's. I felt really good. Finished it off with two easy cool down miles. So hungry.

Mt. Wire with Jun.

SLOG

We were hoping to tag Wire and then do more miles on the BST, but that was assuming some dummy or dummies had been up to the top since the storm. Well, nobody was dumb enough to do it until us today. It was a total slog in deep snow all the way to the top. Yes, it was an excellent workout, but we didn't get the miles we had hoped for. Down lower it was warm, but as we made our way up it cooled significantly and the wind picked up. It was cold.

We saw at least 30 head of deer and also a big herd of elk that we watched for about 15 minutes before they took off. Awesome. Just before the second saddle the deep snow was ridiculous and I was happy to have Jun break all the trail. Crotch deep! We finally made it to the summit ridge where it was actually in pretty good shape because it was windblown and we ran it up to the top.

The run down was fun, but the deep snow just sapped my energy. I did take a graceful fall that Jun captured on video. See it here FACE PLANT.

The conditions sucked, but we still had a great time as always. Check out Jun's blog for a few pics.