Summit junkie!

View Benchmark with Jun:

This has become our standard Monday run. The temps are perfect and it was a nice cruise to the summit. Jun bought a new video camera, so we were testing it out and I really like it. We kind of messed around on the way up, but still hit the top in 45 minutes. What a beautiful day!

On the run down Jun really picked up the pace and I hung with him until he dropped below a 7:00 pace on the last mile because my hammy was getting a little tight, but I still ran it in fairly strong. It was a really good start to the week.

Jun put this video together from our View Benchmark run yeterday. You can see why it is my treadmill.

View Benchmark

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

Ann's trail solo:

I wanted to run Ann's to View Benchmark, but I got a later start than I had hoped because I was busy at work. The weather was about perfect for running and I did not see another soul on the trail. I ran up to the VB trail and then had to turn around before getting to the top because of time. It was a perfect fall day and a very enjoyable run.

Draper trails with Rob. Gasline, Ghost Falls, Clarks, Ann's:

I met Rob at 7:00 am at the Equestrian park in Draper for a run on the Draper trails. We wanted to do close to 15 miles, but we didn't have enough time. This was the first run of the year that it actually felt cold at the start. My car said the temp was 39 when I got out, but as soon as we got moving I warmed up pretty fast. One thing we both noticed was a lot less mountain bikers on the trail which was nice. The fall leaves were absolutely stunning in several places and it was really a lot of fun out there.

The first part of the run was climbing up to Ghost Falls and then from Clarks over to Ann's trail to the tunnel. From there we were going to go tag View Benchmark, but when we got to the Maple Hollow connector trail Rob was tired of climbing, so instead we stayed on Ann's and ran another mile before stopping to take a gel and turn around.

The run back to the car was fast. Rob wanted to push a fast pace, so we ran close to a 7:00 pace all the way back to the car and my legs were feeling it the last .5. It definitely felt like a much tougher run than the mileage would indicate.

8 hotel TM miles:

After my run on Sat my lower back muscles were pretty sore and on Sun I went outside to play soccer with my girls and while playing goalkeeper I dove for a ball and tweaked my back. It seems to happen about every 6 months when my back muscles are fatigued and I make a sudden jerk or movement. It usually takes a week or two for the muscles to calm down, so I decided to take it easy for a few days.

I spent the week in California and I only ran once the whole week on the TM in the hotel. I wanted to rest my back and also take a little more time off to make sure my body is 100%. I did walk about 20 miles around Disneyland and California adventure, but no running. I also spent some quality time at the beach and taught two of my girls how to boogie board which was awesome. They loved it.

Weights at the gym for an hour. My back is still bothering me, but it has improved a lot in the last week, so I just used lighter weights and made sure I didn't lift anything with my back. It felt good working up a sweat again.

View Benchmark solo:

It has been a week since I have done any running, in part because of my back, but also because I spent last week in Disneyland/California Adventure and at the beach in So Cal. I was a little worried about this run, but I had to get out and get back into my routine.

It was very cold out there today, but it felt good for most of the run. My legs were a little heavy and I felt sluggish most of the way up, but I did manage to grind all the way to the summit running all but the steepest climb on the Maple Hollow connector trail.

The summit was windy and cold, so I didn't stay long at all. I did get into a really good groove on the way down and the last two miles were at an 8:00 pace.

View Benchmark peak solo:

After work I hit Ann's trail in Draper for a run up to the top of VB. I actually felt much better than yesterday and I was cruising up at a good pace. About a half mile in I saw a dude on a mountain bike behind me, so I decided to pick up my pace and see if I could keep him from passing me on the long steady climb.Just before the 2 mile mark the trail flattens out and he finally passed. As he went by he asked me if I was Karl Meltzer and he was serious. Haha. I power hiked the steep Maple Hollow connector trail and after that I ran the rest of the way to the top. 

I saw a lot of wildlife out there today and I startled a couple of deer just before the summit. I hit the summit 4 minutes faster than yesterday and I was happy about that. I only stayed a few seconds on top because I needed to get home. There is a drinking fountain at the Maple Hollow trailhead and it is still running, so I filled my bottle on the way down. The rest of the run was much colder as the sun was going down, but I still felt comfortable the whole time out there. It was a very relaxing run.

Highland/Alpine loop solo:

I only had an hour to run so I did my Highland loop (Alpine Hwy north to Kohlers, west to 6000 W. in Highland- back home) from my house. The weather was just about perfect with sunny skies and mild temps, but from the start I knew this run was going to be a struggle. I had just eaten about 30 minutes earlier and my stomach was pretty POd at me from the get go. For some reason running on the road is just a lot harder for me than the trails and it seems like more of a chore. I did enjoy the run, but it was tough. The last 3 miles were into a headwind and I was happy to be done.

View Benchmark with Rob:

Perfect run! My run yesterday really sucked, but this made up for it. I met Rob in Draper at 7:00 am and we had an incredible run on Ann's trail to the top of View Benchmark. The sun was just coming up and the temps were cool, but really enjoyable for running. We had a nice pace and just chatted the whole way up without seeing anyone. With the fall colors on the trees and the mild weather the trail was just awesome. I couldn't ask for better conditions or views. At the VB trailhead there was a dude that looked like Grizzly Adams with a Garmin that jumped out of his car and started asking us questions about the trail. After about 5 minutes we both had to just start moving up the trail or that dude would have talked all day.

We had a decent pace up to the summit, but when we got up there Rob told me that he had to get back down fast in order to get a lesson prepared for church, so he wanted to push the pace and he did. I pretty much followed him the rest of the way down as he pushed a sub 7 pace all the way back to the VB trailhead where Grizzly Adams was waiting for us and started peppering us with questions, but we had to keep on truckin' along, so we barely slowed down. 

The last two miles Rob kept the pace sub 7 and I kept up until the last .5 because my hammy was getting sore, so I pulled back to a 7:30ish pace to the finish. I think that was the fastest time for me ever on a descent of VB. It was a good day.

Weights at the gym for an hour. My back is finally feeling better, so I upped the weight and cranked out a solid session.

Mt. Wire solo:

I had a meeting with a potential client in Research Park and after the meeting I decided to take my lunch break running up Wire since I was right there. I parked at the zoo, quickly changed my clothes and I ran across the street to the trailhead. I wanted to push myself today, so I decided to go for a PR. My previous fastest time up was 40 minutes and my goal was to go under 40 although I wasn't planning to go ballsout I wanted to push it hard the whole way up.

The mountain was socked in with clouds and it was pretty cold at the start, but I knew I would heat up quickly and I am loving my new Brooks jacket so I knew I would be warm. I have worn it 4-5 times and have yet to get cold. I started off pretty fast and ran everything, but the steepest climbs where I would move to a power hike. As I made my way up the mountain the clouds started to burn off a bit and I could see across the canyon. Perkins Peak had a nice dusting of snow and the views were really cool out there. I kept pushing the pace all the way up the mountain. I hit the second saddle just after 30 minutes and I knew I would be close to getting the summit under 40. I passed the towers in 38 minutes and ran it in hard all the way to the top where I summited in just over 39 minutes. Primal scream. My heart was pounding out of my chest and my core was burning. Awesome. I know I can do it faster, but that was a hard effort.

At the top the clouds had once again enveloped the entire mountain, there was a slight dusting of snow up there and it was cold, so I took a gel and started the run back down. Just below the saddle I ran into a guy and girl coming up which was surprising. They were the only people I saw on the entire mountain during the run. The run down was damp and cool. I was running in a massive cloud and I finally came out of it at the first saddle and had a view of the entire city, so I stopped to take a picture. I had a nice run all the way back to the zoo at an easy 8:30 pace.

Mt. Wire with Jun:

I had another really awesome day on Wire, this time with Jun. He told me he wanted to take it easy, but we still pushed a solid pace all the way up. The upper half of the mountain was covered in snow and with the low clouds the views were spectacular. Jun had his tiny sony video cam and we traded off getting some pretty cool shots. I'll post up the video later after he gets it up. Even though Jun wanted to take it easy we will hit the top in a little over 41 minutes for me and a bit less for him. It was COLD on top and we didn't stay up there long, but the views were pretty incredible.

Even though we messed around on the way down filming I still had a PR for the round trip doing it in 1:03. It was a blast out there today. Mileage was a bit shorter today because we took the short cut on the way down.

Mt. Wire video

Grandeur Peak loop with Jun:

This is one of my favorite running routes in the Wasatch. You start by climbing the West Ridge of Grandeur, then after hitting the summit you drop down into Church Fork and run down to the Pipeline trail in Millcreek Canyon. At Rattlesnake Gulch you can either take the trail down to the canyon road and run back to the TH or go up Bamby Hill and take the trails back.

Temps had been very cold the day and night before and it dumped several inches of snow on the mountain, so I overdressed because the sun was shining and it was actually quite warm most of the way up. The conditions all day were as bad as anything I have ever experienced on this route. SLOPPY! The snow on the West Ridge was a very light fine powder and I was sliding all over the place. I told Jun I deserved an extra 1000 feet of elevation gain because I had to keep re-climbing my steps after sliding back. Slog! It was a slow 1:20 to the top which is very slow. On top I added some snow to my water bottle and took a gel and we headed down into Church Fork.

For about a mile the conditions were actually ok as the snow was heavier and packed on this side of the mountain, but as we started switching back down Church Fork the conditions became treacherous. There was ice, slush, snow and mud and at times the trail was completely covered in water and within minutes our feet were soaked. It just got worse and worse on the way down and it slowed us down a lot.

Down on the Pipeline the conditions were horrible. Water, slush and mud covered most of the trail, so we slogged it out to Rattlesnake where we planned to go up Bamby, but it was so muddy that we turned around after about 5 feet. Rattlensake was also a mess. Back on the canyon road we were finally able to get in some decent running back to the car. It was definitely more challenging out there than we had planned and felt like about 15 miles. We did have a blast though.

Highland trail route:

I started coming down with a cold on Sat and I have zero energy, plus I'm taking a few med including Benadryl, so I absolutely did not feel like running, but I didn't want to take another day off, so I decided to run 5 near my house. There is a trail that goes from 6000 W. in Highland all the way to the Alpine Hwy that I have been checking out for a while now, but I have never run it, so I decided to hit it today. From my house I ran east to 6000 W. and then north to the jump on the trail.

The trail runs throuh some farm land and neighborhoods and it was actually pretty fun. I'll definitely take it again. Next time I will go the other way (east) to see where it ends up. The cool thing about this route is it is almost exactly 5 miles out and back from my house, so now I have a new 5 miler to run.

The run itself wasn't great. I was so slow and didn't have any energy, but the last mile and a half I was actually able to pick it up some when a few good songs hit the ipod.

Jun just bought a Sony action cam and we have been messing around with it on our last few runs. Check out this vid he made from our Grandeur Peak run on Friday.

Grandeur Peak loop

View Benchmark solo:

After work I hit up View Benchmark via Ann's trail. This has been a crazy week for me so far. I worked a 16 hour day yesterday and I have been sick since Saturday and today was the worst day by far. My chest is very heavy and I'm plugged up everywhere. I didn't want to miss another day,so I decided to hit the trail. It was stunning out there today and definitely didn't feel like the end of October. Right from the start I felt sluggish and slow (I'm sure the Benadryl didn't help). 

I saw a biker about 1/4 of a mile back and my goal was to keep him from passing me. I was so slow that I am not sure how it took him until almost mile 2 to pass. I hiked the connector trail and I had already stopped several times to blow snot-rockets, as I am not skilled enough yet to do them on the run. The higher I went the worse I felt, but I was determined to push through and finish it off. Up to the summit in a dreadful 50 minutes. Slow. I stayed for about 5 seconds and didn't even enjoy the view. Blah.

The run down didn't get any better. I was super slow and it was tough keeping a 9 min pace on the downhills. My chest was so heavy, it felt like I had a yak sitting on me and I tried several times to cough out the crud, but it was too tight in there. Slow. Sick. Farmer-blow. Oh and I saw more bikers out on my way back than ever before (at least 15). That sucks because this has been my personal running trail for a year now and it sucked stopping every minute to let them pass. Whiiiiiiiiiiiiine!

PM update: Weights at the gym for an hour. I had very little energy, but I got it done.