Summit junkie!

8 on the track. I wanted to run outside, but the wind was blowing too hard and I can't stand the wind lately, so I opted for the gym.

JRP with Craig and Brent:

We had a really fun run on the JRP from 106th going south into Draper and back. We pretty much chatted and laughed the whole way, the sun was out, the sky was blue and we were all in shorts and most of the shirts came off. Flex flex.

Highland/Alpine loop solo:

With another busy Saturday planned I decided to get out early before the madness and hit the streets for some more flat miles. My legs felt a bit sluggish, but when I turned onto the Alpine Hwy another runner Dude was right behind me and I think made it his mission to either hang with me or check out my butt from a very close distance. I could tell he was right behind me, so I picked up my pace and I was hoping to drop him, but I would have been ok if he would have just passed me, but he stayed right on my hip for about a mile. I finally got a good song in the ipod and a little frustrated hearing him grunt in my ear, so I picked it up even more and finally dropped him, but he lingered for the next coupla miles and it looked like he was following me even after I made a few turns, but maybe I was just being paranoid. Haha. 

View Benchmark with Craig and MVH:

I have been dealing with knee pain since running the Buffalo 100 back in March. I'm pretty sure it was ITB related and the pain was only there when I would run hills and typically got much worse going downhill. I have been holding back with my training for several weeks now trying to baby this thing, while at the same time rolling, massaging and stretching the ITB daily. Today was my first run with a hill in two weeks and it could not have been any better.

I met the fellas in Draper for a new route up to View Benchmark. We took a trail that starts in a neighborhood that is lower than where we normally start and it added in over two miles and 500 feet of vert. The new trail (I can't remember the name) eventually connects to Ann's trail above Vintage View where we normally start and I really enjoyed this new section. The other guys had a bit more pep in their step, but overall I was happy with how I felt moving up the hills. They hit the top a few minutes before me and we enjoyed a killer view on a nice morning up there.

I was very worried about the descent, so I took it easy on all of the steep stuff and luckily my knee held up and felt great the whole way. The guys had to wait for me to catch up every mile or so because they were blasting those hills. Back down on Ann's I picked up the pace a lot, but I was still lagging a bit behind the other guys. I think I was running about a 7:30 pace, but MVH was pushing it out there, but I wasn't going to push any harder today. I was ecstatic that the knee held up, and I completed the run with zero pain and no soreness afterward and I'm now getting a bit more optimistic about the Bryce 100 at the end of the month.

Bubble week at the American Fork Fitness center means the weight room is closed while they remove the bubble from the pool. I'm not sure why, but it is, so I hit up the Lehi Legacy Center for an hour of weights, working my upper body/core. Lots of beef, testosterone, sweat and stink in there. Not as fun as my gym, but I'll take it.

Pipeline double with Neasts, Craig, MattW, MVH, Je10, Leslie, JimmySg and Zac.

We started at the Birch Hollow trailhead in Millcreek Canyon at 4:30 AM this morning. I set my alarm for 3:20, but I woke up about 10 minutes before, so I just got up and got ready. I only got 3 hours of sleep and although I felt great at the time I am dragging big time now 12 hours later. Caffeine!

I was the first person at the trailhead and after 10 minutes everyone but Zac was there and we were off. We waited close to 10 minutes for Zac and he eventually caught up to us just before the turnaround. We did an out and back to the view point twice. It was a ton of fun and I think I spent some time chatting with just about everyone at some point during the day. The temps were perfect, I really love this trail and I totally enjoyed the morning. I got back to the car about 15 minutes later than I had hoped for after lap two, so it was a quick drive to the office, with a Nalgene bottle shower mixed-in in a random parking lot, threw on the suit and tie and made it almost in time. :)

Picture at the view point turnaround:

View Benchmark with Craig:

We had a perfect lunchtime run to the summit of VB via Ann's in Draper. The weather was perfect and it felt so nice to have the sun on us. The trails were in perfect shape and we had fun chatting the whole way up and down. I was up in 45 minutes and our round trip time was 1:21. It was a great way to get my weekend started.

View Benchmark solo:

I spent 6 straight hours in the sun at baseball and soccer games and then hit up VB during the heat of the day. I didn't see any other runners up and back, but saw plenty of mountain bikers on the Maple Hollow trail. They are really doing some damage to that trail.

Dimple Dell gullly with Craig:

We ran the gully during the hottest part of the day. At times it felt great out there and then it would be wicked hot in stretches. The last few miles seemed a lot tougher than they should have with the heat and I was happy to be done. I have not sweat this much in at least 7 months.

PM: Weights at the gym for an hour. After getting pretty worked a few of my friends were throwing/dragging/lifting these massive tires in the parking lot, so I joined them for a few minutes.

We landed a high profile account at work, so my boss wanted to take me out to celerate. I got home late and ate waaaaay too much. I had just enough time for a quick workout at the gym. Did some tempo miles.

Francis Peak with MattVH:

I had a late night last night and ended up getting 3 hours of sleep (up at 3:00 am). I met Matt just after 4:00 in Farmington and we had a really fun run up Farmington Canyon to the summit of Francis Peak. We parked at the end of the paved road and ran the rest of the way up. We were both feeling like total poo at the start and it took me about an hour of slogging to finally start feeling better. We had some great laughs and ran it up to the top. It wasn't fast, but that was a lot of vert.

On the way down my legs were hammered. We stopped to fill our water bottles in a flowing spring that was cascading over some rocks and both of us felt a little sluggish the final few miles. It was a really fun morning and I loved the route.

A few pics:

Matt with the summit balls in view:

Me on the way up:

Summit jump:

I have been trying to do more cross training lately, so I did some weights and core work at the gym.

View Benchmark peak with Craig:

I thought that a singlet and short shorts would be perfect for this run and for the most part they were, but when we reached the upper mountain it started to rain and mist and then after we hit the summit it rained quite a lot until we had about a mile left in the run. We were both totally soaked, but we had a blast just chatting and enjoying being out there. Great day.

Grandeur Peak fun run:

The GP fun run is a race, well sort of. It is a fun run where several Wasatch Front trail runners gather each May to run/hike to the summit of Grandeur Peak followed by a run down Church Fork to the Pipeline trail, up and over Bambi Hill and then run back the West Ridge trailhead in the east side foothills above Salt Lake city. The course is one of my favorites and one I do several times per year with friends, but I have only done the 'race' one other time back in 2010. The last two years family commitments kept me from participating, but this year worked out and I was able to do the run with most of my trail running friends.

The forecast called for rain and as I drove to the start it rained pretty hard at times and I was thinking it was going to be a messy slog on the mountain. I met Craig, MattW, MVH, MarkK and Andrea at the elementary school parking lot and we walked the half mile to the start where the usual ultra suspects were getting ready, mostly looking lean, strong, tan and fit. I chatted with some friends, signed in and gave my $10.00 donation and within a few minutes the race organizer, Eric gave us a GO and we were off running toward the mountain.

I stayed with Dorsimus and Mark for about the first half mile, but I wanted to move and my legs felt relatively good, so I pushed it past a few other guys and made my way up the mountain. I wanted to push as hard as I could without ever maxing my heart rate and I did a pretty good job of it. I really had only one goal going into the race and that was to go sub one hour to the summit, something that I have never done before. My PR was 1:06 set the last time I ran this race back in 2010. About two thirds of the way up the mountain we came into a thick cloud that provided mist, rain and some slight snow. The typical grand views were nowhere to be found. As I made my way up the final summit ridge I knew sub-one-hour was totally doable, so I pushed it hard passing another guy just before the top and hit the summit in 59:40. There was another dude up there standing and I just kept running back down the other side.

I ran faster than I normally would down Church Fork, but took my time going over the slippery rock sections because I didn't want to fall. The run down to the Pipeline was pretty magical and I enjoyed every step. Just before the Pipeline I stopped to pee (I had been holding it since the start) and some fast dude blazed right by me. I didn't stop at the small aid station, just yelled thanks and kept on moving. On the Pipeline I had planned to run a sub 8 pace the entire way, but my legs were tired and it was tough trying to go fast. I dipped into the 7's, but mostly ran it around 8:10 pace.

Just after Rattlesnake Gulch the course breaks off the Pipeline to climb a few hundred feet straight up on Bambi Hill. The mud was atrocious and it wasn't possible to make it up without using tree limbs to pull yourself up. At some point I got off the route and ended up going up a game trail. I started to question myself because I wasn't seeing any footprints and then after a few minutes I could hear other runners in the distance and I knew I was off route. #$&!!!! I now had to quickly decide if I wanted to go back and try and retrace my steps or bushwhack straight over to where I could hear the voices. I just started plowing through the thick bushes and trees and after a few minutes of gnarly whacking I came back out onto the trail and met up with Andrea and MarkK. At least 10 people passed me here and it was really demoralizing because I felt like I was running really well up to that point. I slogged it up to the top of Bambi Hill and then on the other side the trail descends a few hundred feet back to the Grandeur Peak trailhead over the next few miles. At times it was steep and very muddy. I went down pretty hard once, but landed in mud, so it didn't hurt much. My shoes were caked with mud and I had a few rocks in them, but I didn't want to stop, so I just kept running. With about a mile left I came across a friend, JeremyS and we ran in the final mile together chatting about upcoming races.

My body was feeling great when I finished, but I was still pretty mad that I had gone off course and when I finished I forgot to stop my watch until Craig told me to go tell someone my time. I think I came in around 2:21:50 which was about 27 minutes faster than what I had run back in 2010. I'm pretty sure that going off route cost me a minimum of 5 minutes, but who knows?  All of the runners were soaked and our legs were covered in mud, but there were a lot of smiles and laughs as we enjoyed pancakes, eggs, donuts and drinks provided by Erik Storheim who puts on the run. It was a total blast and I will definitely be back next year if I can.

Weights at the gym for an hour. It was so stinky in there that I spent the first 20 minutes with free weights out in the hall with a couple of friends. I finally braved the stank so I could do some work on the bench .

Went to boot camp at the gym with my wife. This is circuit training where they focus on core, upper body and leg strength. Did a circuit of 6 different workouts and worked up a pretty good sweat.

On the track at the gym. I didn't have time to get in a run until late, so I just hit the gym. I felt great other than some tummy issues the last few miles.

Sunrise Peak via Tanners Gulch with Craig and MattVH:

2:45 AM wakeup call in order to meet the guys at the LCC park n ride at 3:45 for a mountaineering climb to the top of Sunrise Peak. Sunrise Peak is one of the more difficult peaks to climb in the Wasatch and with spring conditions it made for a technical and challenging morning, but we had a total blast.

We were hiking up the Tanners trail by 4:00 AM and after about 5 minutes the trail dumps you into the gulch where we found a lot less snow than in previous years when I have been up there. The gulch is a drainage for a few of the higher peaks on the Cottonwood Ridge, so in the spring there is a river that cascades down with a few waterfalls that spill over off of the rocks high above. The river runs under the snow, but in the lower section there were only small patches of snow, so we had to cross the river a few times and then after about 10 minutes we were on the snow going up. The snow was hard and firm and after only 10 more minutes we stopped to put on our crampons and we would keep them on the rest of the way up and down.

Going up the gulch was tons of fun and I was really enjoying it. There were a few spots that we had to take care to get around waterfalls and snow that was about to collapse and it took us a little extra time, but we made it up without slipping into anything (or off of anything). We finally gained the upper portion of the gulch as it started to get light and we had to go back and forth from rock and snow in a few spots and it slowed us down, but the views down the gulch were spectacular and it was awesome being up there. When we finally got to the steepest section we stopped to grab a quick gel and get out the ice axes. I left my poles in a rock outcrop and we made our way up the steepest part of the climb.  

There was one section that was rather sketchy going up with a gaping hole in the snow and it had melted out on the ends, so we had to make our way over this hole and onto a rock and then make it up and over before falling down the hole. It was a bit sketchy, but I finally made it over and then made my way up to the top of the where we got blasted by the wind that was coming through the notch. The views were stunning looking down into Broads Fork to the north and back down the gulch and over to the Pfeifferhorn and the Alpine Ridge to the south.

Going up the summit ridge we had to move onto some 4th class rock and I really slowed down as I made my way up the spine. There were brief sections of steep snow that had to be traversed as well and a fall here would not be good, so I took my time and the other guys really got ahead of me. I made my way up the ridge and finally came out onto a steep slope that looked scary and when I went out on it the snow was bullet proof. I could see that the other guys had gone down below, but I didn't want to go back and around, so I started kicking steps and moving across the slope. I would slam my ice axe into the slope for protection and then kick in steps with the front points of my crampons. Again don't slip. As I made my way across the slope the other guys got way ahead and went on up to the summit. I was about 20 minutes from the top, so I figured if I kept going I would end up being about 40 minutes behind them by time we got back to the notch because I was moving so much slower and they would have to wait, so I called it a day right there and turned around. I have been on the summit before, so there was no reason to push it up there and make the guys sit and wait because both of them were moving a lot faster than I was through the technical sections.

I made my way back down toward the saddle and both of them ended up catching me as we got back there. From the notch we made the long tedious descent out of the gulch. When we got back down we ended up going on a different route than on the way up and we ended up getting into a pretty sketchy down-climb. This section narrowed and there was a waterfall on one side and a steep rock that had to be down-climbed on the other. It was definitely 5th class climbing (vertical rock using both hands and feet) and there were not many hand or foot holds. We were all still in crampons which made it even worse and at the bottom of the 20 foot rock was a gaping chasm that went about 6 feet under the snow. If you fell in it wouldn't be good. The water from the falls was going under the chasm on the side of you and it was pretty unnerving. While I was on the down-climb my calf started cramping too and luckily I made it down without incident. I'm really not sure how. That was the scariest part of the day. Haha.

Just after that little climb we had to do a similar down-climb again next to the falls, but this one wasn't as bad and we ended up jumping down the last few feet onto the snow. Just after that my other calf started to cramp as well and I went down onto the snow in pain. I realized that I was dehydrated and needed to get some salt in me as well. I normally keep water accessible, but since I had my backpack on I just had a Nalgene bottle of water and it wasn't easy to get to and I only had about 12 ounces of water in 4 hours. Dumb! So now both of my calves were cramping and I had to limp out of there the rest of the way. Man, that was the toughest 4 miles of the year, but probably the most fun too.

The upper section of Tanners Gulch:

Boot camp at the gym again with my wife. It felt good to work our my calves that were incredibly stiff from our climb yesterday. Check out these vids by Matt and Craig from our adventure yesterday.

Tanners Gulch video

Tanners Gulch #2

Weights at the gym for an hour. I dropped the weight down a bit like I have the week of every 100 I have run. I just want some good muscle maintenance without straining anything. After that I did an easy 3 mile run. I have opted for rest the last 10 days or so to make sure that my body is ready for 100 glorious miles in Bryce Canyon on Friday. I'm fully psyched.

3 easy.

Bryce 100:

Wow, what an incredible experience. I'm not writing up a full race report on this one yet, but I had probably the best running experience of my life at this race. I was able to run the entire 100 miles with 3 of my best friends and we had an amazing journey together on one of the most beautiful courses in the world. My only goal going in was to stay with Matt Williams, Josh Greenwell and Craig Lloyd for the entire 100 miles. I didn't think it would be possible for us to do it, but I was going to do everything possible to make it happen. I thought there was a good chance I could stay with them through 50, but things just worked out perfectly and none of us had any major issues. We all crossed the finish line together and it was probably the best feeling I have ever had in my running life. Craig did a fantastic write up with a video and some pictures here. Check them out for more details.

Here are a few thoughts from the race:

-The course was much tougher than anyone imagined. With 22K elevation gain there were a lot of big climbs and it was a tough sucker. Also the course elevation average was somewhere between 8-9K ft. and it was much tougher running at altitude for that length of time than most people planned on. It was not an easy race and it swallowed up several veteran runners.

- I had an absolute blast running with 3 of my best friends. There were hours of talking and laughs as well as hours of quiet grinding together. We all had low points along the way and we also each took turns leading and pushing the pace.

-I had some issues with my lungs that got progressively worse as the run wore on. By the finish I felt like I had only half of my lung capacity and after I finished I coughed out some major phlegm for several hours. It was far worse than any cough or cold I have ever had. I think it was partially running at the high elevation and also because we breathed in so much dust along the way.

- This was by far my best performance in a 100 mile race. I finished in 20th (tied) out of 197 starters. I felt really good most of the way and my legs felt fantastic the whole day/night. Although I had some low points I was never miserable, something that I can't say about my past 3 100 milers.

-This is by far the best recovery I have ever had from a 100 miler. I didn't even get very sore and feel like I could run today although I will hold off for a few more days to make sure my legs are recovered.

I can't wait to do it again.