Summit junkie!

Weights at the gym for an hour. Worked biceps, triceps, delts, lats, chest. I spent a good amount of time on the pull up bar as well.

View Benchmark Peak with Jun and Dorsimus:

We had another amazing run on Ann's trail in Draper up to View Benchmark Peak. It was a really nice day for a run. The first 1/4 of a mile I was chewing/trying not to choke on a frozen Powerbar that I pulled out of the mess in my trunk. I was in need of energy so I choked the whole thing down. I'm not quite sure how.  At about 2 miles Jun kicked it into a gear that Dors and I didn't have and he powered up all of the hills all the way to the top. I just tried to stay with Dors which wasn't easy because he was running most of the steep hills as well. There were some icy sections to deal with and Jun beat us to the top by 3 minutes.

We stayed on the summit for a few minutes and Dors gave me some nasty tasting chalk crap that stuck to my teeth for about 10 minutes. It wasn't worth the 30 calorie boost. We blasted down the hills below the summit on some technical terrain and then had a nice run back to the switchbacks that take you back to Ann's trail. There was a lot more ice to deal with and I think we all slipped a few times. At the trail junction Jun and Matt took a different route and I hd to get back to go meet with a customer. The last few miles were a lot of fun. It was almost a perfect run and another summit in the bag.

5 on the TM. Half the time I spent watching my kids play Wii and the other half I watched the Broncos/Vikings game. I'm not sure why I sweat so much on the TM, but I do.

Weights at the gym for an hour (upper body/core).

This was the first time in at least a month that I was able to do my complete workout because of my back. I have been trying to make things work with lighter weights and altering a lot of my routine, but tonight I was able to do everything without any issues. Skull-crushers!!!

I brought my girls with me to the gym because they wanted to run on the track while I worked out. It was really fun having them there. They ran for about 45 minutes and after they asked me if they could come with me every time. Sweet!

"Big to small" (Mt. Olympus, Grandeur Peak, Mt. Wire) with MattVH

About a year ago Matt and I talked about doing this climb/hike/run which would give us 3 summits and about 10,500 feet of elevation gain. We thought it was a really cool idea, but it took us a year to get to it. We decided to do Oly first because it is the most difficult and we could get it done while we were still fresh. That was a great idea.

We parked our car about .5 from the trailhead in a neighborhood and we did that at every peak. After our trailhead break-in last week we were both a bit paranoid about leaving the vehicles at the trailheads. I think we ended up starting around 6:30. It was very cold, but we knew that once we got moving it wouldn't be bad, but I was worried that it was going to be bitter on the summit. Once we reached the trailhead we both felt great and within the first mile we stopped so Matt could shed some clothes. We hiked most of the way up because Oly is steep, but we did run where we could. There was snow/ice on the trail for the last 2500 feet, so I put my micro-spikes on and they seemed to help a lot.

From the saddle you have a nice rock scramble through a steep chute that leads you up to the summit block and we were expecting a lot of snow and ice, but surprisingly there wasn't much and it was nice because we moved up it quickly. There was some snow/ice to deal with just below the summit which required us to take it a little slower, but we did manage to reach the summit in under 2:00 which surprised both of us because we didn't feel like we were pushing it at all. Matt beat me up by about 4 minutes. After a few minutes on top we both put in our headphones so we could blast down and when we entered the chute I was surprised to see a huge sheep dog running fast on the rocks. After another look I realized it was a large mountain goat and there were 5-6 others within 20 yards. Awesome! We stopped to watch them and it was pretty amazing to see them maneuver around on the rocks with precision so quickly. I lingered for about 5 minutes and then we took a few photos and then cruised down.

The descent was tricky. There is a lot of snow and ice on some steep technical trail and you have to take it slow. I slipped several times, but luckily didn't fall. With about a mile to go Matt pushed ahead and I stopped to take a gel and remove my spikes. The run down was fun and I was feeling great. Matt beat me back and met me on the road so that we could go get #2.

After a break to get some food we parked in the neighborhood next to the Grandeur trailhead and I changed some clothes and put on some different shoes. It was nice getting warm in the car and I really didn't want to get out, but we finally got moving up the trail to get our second peak of the day. The climb up Grandeur was slow. We both felt good, but we both lacked a little steam and it showed in our ascent time of 1:30. There was some annoying snow below the summit that we had to navigate, but for the most part the trail was in pretty good shape. On top I took a gel and we took in the views for a few minutes and then I convinced Matt to run the switchbacks instead of bombing it straight down on the east side. We had decided to do the longer loop into Church Fork which would add about 7 extra miles, but we wanted the miles and to make it more challenging.

The run down to Church Fork was much more difficult than I had anticipated. I left my spikes in the car and that was a mistake. It was very icy and snow covered almost all the way to the Pipeline trail. I slipped a few times and even went down twice, nothing serious, but enough to make me go much slower than I would have liked. On the plus side it was absolutely beautiful and I was thankful to be there enjoying the trails. Matt was waiting for me at the Pipeline where we picked up a decent running pace considering our legs were now pretty tired. The sun was out and it was actually quite warm and we could see the dirty dark cloud hovering in the valley below and it was nice being above it. At Rattlesnale Gulch we went down and again I was expecting more snow here, but it was pretty clear. Matt got ahead of me and on one switchback I turned the corner and was shocked to see him wearing only one glove. Haha! The Millcreek Flasher?? So funny.

We had a nice pace running out of the canyon and I was happy I could run a 7:30 pace 16 miles in with all of that vert on our legs and still feel great. The only negative was when we hit the inversion as we entered back into the valley. It was noticeably a lot colder and the air wasn't as fresh. We kept up a solid pace all the way to Foothill, but when we hit the hills my legs were definitely protesting. We slogged back to the cars and quickly made our way to Wire. We parked about .4 from the trailhead and both of us were feeling pretty tired, but excited to bag #3.

The slog up Wire was actually quite fun even though I felt kind of crappy. Matt was joking all the way up and we chatted and laughed. About half way up I really started feeling bonky and I realized I had not been keeping up with my energy or salt like I should have been so I downed a Gu and an S-Cap and after about 20 minutes I felt much better. One guy passed us going up and looked very pleased with himself. Little did he know that we were 20 miles in with about 8K+ of elevation on our legs. We were both ok watching him move up ahead. At the last saddle Matt moved ahead of me and actually started running near the top and he kept the run all the way across the ridge to the summit. Awesome! My legs were totally wrecked at that point and it was inspiring to see. I picked up my pace, but only slightly. I joined Matt at the summit where we celebrated a little and enjoyed the views of our third summit of the day.

The run down was tough. My legs and hips were sore and I was so ready to be done. I was slow, but ran just about the whole way down. Matt got ahead of me again and I finally joined him at the trailhead where we ran back to the cars together. We did it. Almost 23 miles and just under 11K vert for the day. 3 summits, a lot of laughs and an incredible time outdoors on the trails.

Now we will have to think about Matt's aspirations to bag Oly, Twins and Lone Peak in a day.

A few pics:

Matt scrambling up the chute on Olympus

Matt on the summit of Oly "Tights club"!

Mountain goats

Mountain goat

#3

I took my girls with me to the gym again. They ran on the track while I lifted for 45 minutes (upper body/core). I had an excellent session.

I had a very busy day and I was lucky to sneak in 5 on the mill. Sweaty!

Nothing exciting at all. 5 on the TM. My quads were still a bit sore from my summit X3 adventure so the last two days I took it easy and it helped a lot.

Weights at the gym for an hour (upper body/core). I took my girls again and they ran on the track for about 45 minutes and then made friends with one of the personal trainers that showed them a few things. They loved it. I also did a mile on the track while the girls tried out the elliptical.

Mount Wire solo:

I had a very fun run to the top of Wire. I parked in the zoo parking lot, which is where I will park from now on when it is open and it only adds a few minutes each way. I was the only person on the trail. It was snowing slightly with quite a lot of thick fog, but the temperature felt good. I was feeling strong today, so I pushed it pretty hard all the way up. It was cool because just after the first saddle I came out of the fog for about 10 minutes and I could actually see some blue sky. As I ascended the fog started to move up the mountain and it was really cool to watch it moving up and it eventually swallowed me at the second saddle.

The wind and snow picked up on the summit ridge and I ran it up to the top. It was cold, so I didn't stay long. The fog was pretty thick, but once in a while it would open up and I could see the peaks sticking out in the distance. Very cool! I ran hard all the way back to the car and didn't see another soul on the trail the entire way.

Life has been busy lately. I was hoping to get out during the day, but that didn't happen. I had to fit in some TM miles after everyone was in bed. I got to catch up on some of my DVR shows. I knocked out a few of the Daily Show with Jon Stewart that have been stacking up.

I was desperate to get in a trail run yesterday, but it just didn't happen for me. Between the kids school Christmas program and a customer appreciation event at work it just didn't happen. I did manage to eat Cafe Rio for lunch and about 2000 calories at the customer event for dinner. Awesome.

I woke up early to make sure that I could get in a workout. I hit the gym and lifted for close to an hour. I had a very good session, but I was annoyed that a guy stayed on the pull up bar for about 45 minutes. He pulled a bench under it and managed to hog the area not letting anyone else in. He also chewed on his fingernails the entire time. Gross.  I am hoping to get out for a run at some point today.

View Benchmark peak and Lake Mountain with MattVH. Summit #76 and 77 for the year: 

I was frustrated that I couldn't make it out on the trails the last few days and with a very busy Saturday coming up I decided to do a late night mountain run and I was happy Matt wanted to come along. I suggested View Benchmark via Ann's trail and Lake Mountain as possibilities. Matt said why not do both. I like the way he thinks. 

We met at Ann's at 11:00 and we were running up the snowy trail a few minutes later. It was bitter cold and it took about 5 minutes to start to warm up. After that I felt fine, but whenever we stopped it would chill me within about a minute and I had steam flying off of my head. We were having a blast though. It took us longer than I had hoped because of the snow, but we made it up to the summit in about an hour (That included breaks for Matt to move some product). On top we checked out the views, but after a few minutes we were VERY cold, luckily there wasn't much wind.

The run down was a lot of fun. We laughed pretty much the whole way down and had a decent running pace most of the way. Back at the cars we decided to add in Lake Mountain as well, so we drove to Lehi and after taking a break to eat, warm up and change some clothes we parked and were on the trail just before 2:00 am. It was COLD!

We had both changed into our Altra Lone Peaks and after running the first 1.5 miles we could feel the extra strain on the calves and tendons. After the first mile we were in snow the rest of the way. After two miles we settled into a nice fast hiking pace for the rest of the way, but we would still run the slopes that aren't quite as steep. 

About a mile from the top the nice 4X4 track we had been following ended and we had to break the trail the rest of the way which did slow us some. There was a slight wind after the saddle and the snow was very light powder and you could see bright crystals sparkling in the headlamps. It was pretty cool. We reached the summit a little before 3:30 am. It was cold, so we didn't stay long. We tried to snap a few pics, but they didn't turn out so we headed down.

The run down as incredible. We picked up the pace with each mile and the Lone Peaks provided plenty of traction on the steep snowy grade. We were singing to various songs that were blaring on my ipod, laughing and just having a fun time. The last two miles were in the 7's and felt really good. We both had an excellent time and I made it to bed just before 5:00 am and it was definitely more fun than sleeping. 

We had just under 5K elevation gain for the night and we were able to run all but about 2.5 miles of the 16.2.

3.5 shakeout on the TM. No big woop.

Weights at the gym:

I took my girls with me again and they ran the track while I lifted. After about 45 minutes they were done, but they wanted to play racquetball, so I kept lifting for another 45 minutes until I couldn't lift anything, I was worked, so I just waited for them to finish. They loved it.

Pipeline trail with Jun and Dorsimus:

We had a really fun run today on the Pipeline trail in Millcreek Canyon. It was cold and breezy at the start and I was wishing I had the hat I left at home, but by time we finished it wasn't bad. The trail was actually in pretty good shape and we had a really fun run. We just chatted the whole way. It did snow some, but we didn't mind that at all.

Draper BST with Jun

It was cold and windy out there, but we had an excellent time. The trail was snow covered almost the whole way and I really noticed that the traction on my Cascadias is pretty much gone. We just chatted the whole way and enjoyed the day. I really love that trail.

Weights at the gym for an hour.

BST to Ave Twin Peaks with MattVS:

I met Matt at the Capitol building and we headed up City Creek Canyon in a stiff cold wind and it took both of us several minutes to warm up. We had a really good time running up to the Avenues Twin Peaks above Salt Lake City. We just chatted the whole way and never pushed it too hard. We hit both peaks and then on the descent we picked it up a bit until we stopped at mile 6 to take a 'break'. What happened next is now known as the '6 mile incident'. Matt did an excellent job of describing the events on his blog, so I won't go into the details, but it was definitely memorable.

After the incident we pretty much laughed the rest of the way down. Another fun adventure out on the trails.

Easy 3.5 on the TM to loosen up my legs.

City Creek BST to the radio towers with MattVS:

Matt and I did another run up City Creek Canyon this morning. The first thing we noticed was it was much warmer out there today and Matt was shedding shirts before we hit mile 1. We took a new route (for me anyway) heading up the west side of the canyon on a nice trail that you can maintain a pretty decent run as you gain elevation up to the ridge. We chatted the whole way up. The views are stunning. Once on the ridge we went right and headed up to the first peak that had a radio tower and then we continued on to the next two peaks that both had towers as well. We could see the entire Salt Lake Valley, Bountiful and out to the Great Salt Lake. It was pretty awesome.  Just after the last set of towers we almost ran right into 3 deer that were only about 20 yards away. They looked surprised to see us and bounded away quickly. After going east for about a half mile we turned right on a faint trail that took us back down to City Creek Canyon and then we had a nice cruise back to the cars.

Weights at the gym (upper body/core) for an hour. No big woop.

I had an hour so I figured the best bang for my buck would be to run on the street near my house. I ran down the Alpine hwy south all the way to the end and then back up north. My only goal was to run a sub 9:00 on the large hill near the cemetery and I was able to do that. I finished in 58:00 in a t-shirt.