Summit junkie!

Draper BST with Jun, Jacob, Je10 and Neasts:

I met the group at 5:00 am at Hidden Valley Park. It was warmer than I thought it would be and I got hot after about a mile. We had an excellent group and I was really enjoying the conversation up to mile 3 where we stopped for a break. I started feeling some soreness in my left knee after about a mile and by mile 3 I could really feel it. It is the same knee that started hurting on the Buffalo 100. I don't think it is serious because I just walked about 15 miles in Vegas with my family and it didn't flare up at all, but I want to make sure that it doesn't turn into anything serious, so at mile 3.5 I decided I better turnaround and I was really bummed because we were having a great time.

I took it very slow on the way back and the pain did get progressively worse, but it was never terrible. I think I will be taking it easy for the rest of the week to make sure this calms down.

PM: Weights at the gym for an hour.

Bootcamp at the gym for an hour. Worked core, legs and arms and ran ladders. I worked up a good sweat and my knee didn't hurt at all.

2 easy easy TM miles. Resting the knee.

3 very easy on the TM. No knee pain.

View Benchmark peak with Jared T.

Last week was not a very good one for me. I spent a lot of time resting my sore knee and not very much time running. I met Jared at Chevron at 7:00 am and we ran VB via Ann's off of Vintage View in Draper. The trail was in incredible shape and there were only a few patches of mud all the way up and back down. The weather forecast called for rain showers, but instead we had some excellent running weather the whole way. Unfortunately my knee started bothering me about mile 3 and hurt on all of the hills, so we were pretty slow after that. It didn't hurt as bad as my Wed trail run, but there is lingering pain there from the 100, so I'll be taking it easy again this week as well.

If you have been following my blog at all over the last few years you know that Monday is lifting weights at the gym or as Jun would affectionately call it- Arms n back. I hit the gym for an hour with my wife and had a great session. Nate, my pacer from 50-69 at Buffalo was there and it was the first time we have talked since the race. It was fun to hear his perspective on how it went and he reminded me of some things I had completely forgotten in my 100 mile memory fog.  

7 on the TM. I felt a slight twinge in my knee about mile 4, but it didn't ever hurt. The last mile I could feel it getting tight, but there wasn't any pain like there was on Sunday. I'll stay off of the hills for a few more days and then test it out on VB to see if it is getting better.

Alpine Hwy solo:

I had a little more than an hour and I wanted to get as many flat miles as I could, so I just ran from my house to the Alpine Hwy and ran north until I hit 4 miles and then turned around and came back. My knee felt great the whole run and this was the first pain free run I have had since the Buffalo 100, so I was pretty happy about that.

View Benchmark with Neasts and Jun:

Once again the Sunday forecast looked iffy and with the likelihood of mud we definitely took a chance with VB and I'm glad we did. We had a really enjoyable run all the way to the summit where we saw some killer views, but it was cold, so we didn't stay long up there. On the way down I had some GI issues and Jun and I both hit the deck within about 20 seconds of each other, so other than that it was a perfect run. The best part was my knee feeling great the entire way, so I think I am over my ITB issues. I also just signed up for the Bryce 100 in May, so that will be my focus and I am really excited about it.

I had a very solid weight session at the gym with my wife, working my upper body and core. I am just sick about what happened at the Boston Marathon yesterday. I'm grateful that all of my friends are safe. The initial report that I heard said the first bomb went off in front of the famous running store in Boston and I knew that the Altra crew had set up in front of one of the running stores near the marathon route, so I was relieved to see that they were all ok after one of them posted on Facebook, but I am very sad about the loss of life and those that were injured. My thoughts and prayers go out to all of them.

At the gym after the kids were in bed. Nice and easy.

View Benchmark with Je10:

I met Je10 this morning at 5:30 am for a run up VB via Ann's from Vintage View Ln. It was pretty cold this morning, but as long as we were moving it wasn't bad. We had a very enjoyable chatty run all the way to the top where there was a breeze and the cold was biting, so we didn't stay long at all. On the way down my knee started to hurt after the first hill, so we scrapped our original plan to tag the sub peak and just ran back the way we came. My knee got progressively worse, so we were slow, but I still enjoyed the run. Looks like I'll be running more flats the rest of the week.

An hour of elliptical with some weights and core mixed in as well.

7 on the track at the gym. With my knee still having issues I need to keep my miles flat, so I hit the track for 7. I did pick up the pace and pushed it more than usual and everything felt good.

Pipeline trail with Jun:

I wanted to get back onto the trails today, so the Pipeline trail in Millcreek Canyon seemed like a great choice because there isn't a lot of elevation gain and it is one of my favorite trails. I wore my new Altra Lone Peak 1.5 trail shoes for the first time and they were incredible. The upper is softer than the original and they're just super comfortable and felt fantastic the whole way.

The weather was almost perfect and we had a very enjoyable run out to the point and back, chatting most of the way. My knee felt great most of the run, but it did start getting tight with about a mile to go, so I know it isn't 100% yet, so I'll stick to the flat trails, road and track for the next few weeks.

I was out late entertaining clients on Monday night, so I didn't get in my usual weight session at the gym, so I got up early (too early) to hit the gym for some weights. I had a really nice session for about 50 minutes working my upper body and core.

PM: Hit the gym for a fast 6. I felt worked.

6 on the track at the gym right after I had deposited two Navajo tacos into my tummy. Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeooooooooooooooooooh!

Gut. Bomb. Kaboom.

4 at the gym. Flat and boring.

Highland/Alpine loop solo:

I had a very busy day with 5 soccer/baseball games and a gymnastics meet for my kids, so I only had an hour to run. I did my Highland loop from my house to the Alpine Hwy, to Kohlers (I think they changed the name), west to 6000 W. and then south back to my house. The loop is exactly 7 miles and I ran it faster than normal and felt solid the whole way.

Early Sunday run with Craig on the JRP:

I met Craig at the JRP off of 106th for an early morning Sunday run. The temps were near perfect, but there was a breeze that we ran directly into for the first 5 miles. We had a great time just chatting and enjoying the views. I wanted to get 7-8 miles, but my knee was feeling really good, so we kept going for a few extra miles. We stopped for a quick break at the turnaround and then had a very solid run (7:30ish) pace all the way back to the car. My knee felt great the whole time and it wasn't stiff or sore at the finish and I was happy about that. I still plan on running flat miles for the rest of the week and then testing out my knee next weekend on some hills. It is very difficult to try and stay in shape for a 100 mile run (Bryce 100) while injured. On the one hand I need to make sure I am healed up in order to be able to complete the run, but if I rest too much I won't be in the kind of shape I'll need to be in to complete it either.

A good hour of weights at the gym with my wife working my upper body/core.

6 at the gym. Mixed in more weights and core. Yeehaw.