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.

Dimple Dell Gully trail with Jun and Brent:

The sun was out and it was a perfect weather day for a run in the DD gully. I met Jun and Brent at the park next to the Trax station. The first mile or so was pretty awesome and the trail was in great shape, but the higher we went the conditions deteriorated some and it became more of a slog. Brent turned back 3 miles in and at mile 5 I had to turnaround because I was running out of time. Jun kept going all the way up to the lower Bell Canyon reservoir.

The run back wasn't as fun by myself and it seemed like the trail got worse as it baked in the sun. Sloppy. The last few miles were a slog, but I was glad I got out on such a nice day.

Lake Mountain with MVH:

Matt and I had an excellent morning run to the top of Lake Mountain. I was expecting crappy conditions, but there was a nice hard packed track most of the way up. We never really pushed it too hard because we were chatting and laughing most of the way up. The weather was almost perfect up there with very little wind and not all that cold. I'm not exactly sure what our time to the top was, but it wasn't fast. On the summit we lingered longer than usual taking some pics and enjoying the views. It looks like the inversion is coming back.

Here are a few pics from the summit:

Me:

Matt:

Weights at the gym for an hour:

I was so sleepy when I got home from work that I crashed out on the couch after dinner. I'm really not sure how I got up and made it to the gym, but I didn't feel like working out at all. It took about 20 minutes to get going, but finished strong grunting with the meatheads. Wasatch 100 training has officially started.

5 at the gym.

Lake Mountain with Jun:

Jun and I hit Lake Mountain this morning. The trail is packed snow most of the way and it was in great shape. We went faster than MVH and I did on Sunday and I tried to push it and run more of the steeper sections. We were on the summit in 1:09 which isn't a bad time for the conditions. It was windy and cold up there and the inversion is getting worse. On the way down we noticed a half-eaten deer carcass that we had missed on the way up (probably because I was looking at Jun's electric orange socks). We had a nice run back down to the car just chatting the whole way.

Ave Twin Peaks with MattVH:

I was up at 4:30 am 'smornin to meet Matt at the Capitol. It was warmer than it has been and I was expecting some wind before this storm, but luckily there wasn't any. It seemed to take us a while to get going, but once we finally did we slogged it out up to the summit. The trail was hard and a bit icy, but nothing serious. We did see several deer and also a coupla coyotes. The summit actually was breezy, but it was warm and neither of us really got chilled. I have to say that the views up there were pretty awesome this morning with the sun starting to rise, the city lights and the clouds moving in made for some excellent vistas.

The run down was slower than normal and we had some good laughs and chatted all the way back down talking about televangelists and the evils of pornography. We stopped a few times to check out the dark cloud that was moving in from the south and slowly enveloping the city. Back to the cars in just over two hours and after a quick Nalgene bottle shower in the parking lot I made it into work on time.

8 on the treadmill.

I have been sick for the last 4-5 days with a sore throat, mild fever and lack of energy. I have been getting up every morning feeling like total crap. I had intended to go run Lake Mountain this morning, but I went outside late Saturday night and it was still snowing and the wind was blowing hard, so I didn't set the alarm. I was feeling shizzy again when I got up, but forced myself on the TM. The first 3 miles were like getting a root canal, but by time I hit mile 4 I was feeling pretty good and felt like I could run all day, but I can only take so much on the TM. I was dragging pretty hard the rest of the day, so I'm glad I stopped at 8.

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

Ave Twin Peaks with Jun:

The 4:15 wakeup call was mighty early this morning. I was very tired and not feeling great, but by time I met Jun at the Capitol building I was feeling much better and surprisingly I had a lot of energy for the entire run. The trail is in excellent shape and we had a nice run up to the saddle where the track wasn't quite as good, but not terrible. I think we hit the second peak in 1:10 where we took a quick break and then had a sweet run back down. I really enjoyed the run felt much better than I thought I would. Awesome morning.

5 on the track at the gym. No big woop.

Ave Twin Peaks with Jun:

I had a nice romantic run up to the Ave Twins this Valentine morning with Jun. It was a touch warmer than it was on Tues and after a few miles I was pretty hot. The trail is still in great shape and that is why we keep running it. We didn't see anyone up there today and we had a good day just chatting on the way up. Up higher on the ridge it cooled off and I had to zip up my jacket, but I never got cold. There were snow flurries the entire run, but it wasn't anything serious at all.

We hit the summit in 1:10 again and took a quick break and then had a nice cruise all the way back to the cars. It was a fun morning and a great way to start my V-Day!

Happy Valentine's Day everyone! In honor of Valentine's I'll post a pic of my FRB Valentine.

The Wedge 50K at the San Rafael Swell with Jun, Dorsimus, Warlordblade, Rob, Sam and Crockett:

Up at 4am to meet the boys at the American Fork park 'n ride. We traveled down to the San Rafael Swell to run the Good Water Rim trail around the Little Grand Canyon area. We had a lot of laughs on the way down and hit the Wedge overlook just as the sun was coming up. It was 15 degrees and there was a lot of snow on the ground which we weren't expecting, but that wasn't going to stop us from having a great day.

We took our time on this run stopping at several overlook locations to take pictures and enjoy the views, but we did run at a fairly good pace between stops. The first 4-5 miles we tried to stay on the trail around the rim, but the snow was pretty deep and it was very challenging. There was no way we would have been able to complete the full 31 miles under our time limit on the rim trail, so we decided to make our way over to the road where we were able to pick up the pace significantly. We stayed on the road all the way to our original turnaround point overlook where we took a quick break. It seemed like it was uphill most of the way, but it was all very runnable and never too steep.

The run back down was a lot of fun. At mile 17 we had placed a cache of food and we ran a solid pace all the way there where we stopped to have some lunch. I had some pizza, Reeses sticks and a Mountain Dew and it was awesome, like rocket fuel. It was 4 miles back to car at the Wedge overlook and my muscles were a bit stiff after the break, so it took about a half mile to get going again. The last mile is straight up hill and I ended up running most of it with Crockett as we had dropped the other 3 guys (Jun and Dorsimus were ahead of us). It was fun running that hill and we ran mile 21 at a 9:00 pace on a pretty big long hill climb. We took another break here and then ran a few more miles on the rim in the opposite direction of where we started the day. Running the rim was a lot more challenging with loose rocks, shrubs and the constant cliff and cracks that had to be avoided, but it was a lot more fun and the views were outstanding.

When we got back to the Wedge overlook at about mile 23ish we all had different goals for the remainder of the day. Rob, Sam and I wanted to hit 31 miles for an ultra distance, Craig and Aaron (Warlordblade) wanted to set up a highline and Crocket wanted to keep running near the rim. All of us minus Crockett started running back down the road and within about 10 minutes we started to spread out. We had been running an 8:00 flat pace and Jun passed us like we were standing still. He wanted to get in some solid miles before he set up the highline. Aaron started to fall back a bit and Dors stayed with him and that left me Rob and Sam running together for the next 7 miles. Rob had never been over 26.2 and Sam only one time, so it was a lot of fun running with them. Rob started hurting a lot about mile 25, but we kept pushing strong and ran mostly in the 8's. He stopped a few times to get a gel or a drink, but I told him not to stop if possible, because it is so much harder to get going.

I was feeling really good the whole day and it was by far the best I have felt during a 50K run. At about mile 28 Rob had gone into the pain cave and wasn't talking at all. I tried talking and singing to him, but he only grunted back. Haha. So I put on my ipod to get some juice and I think it ticked him off, so he picked up his pace. From mile 26-28 we were running strong, still in the 8's and occasionally going above 9:00, but everyone was looking good. I failed to notice that we had been running slightly downhill, so I had this genius idea to turnaround at mile 28 and run back the other way, as Dorsimus would be coming to pick us up after he finished his run. Mistake! After a mile it was all uphill for the final two and it was tough. The pace fell off big time, but all of us continued to push it hard to the finish only hiking once up the end of the steepest hill. We all finished within a minute of each other and I was feeling great. It was an awesome day.

We got back to the overlook just as Jun and Aaron had set up the highline and we got to watch jun walk the slackline over the edge of the canyon. It was pretty intense and fun to watch. Crazy! Check out the pics and vid from the run below.

Wedge Vid

Wedge pics

Weights at the gym for an hour working upper body/core and then 1 on the track to shake out my legs. My legs have never recovered this well after a 50K. I only had a tiny bit of soreness.

I wanted to take it easy, so I didn't push anything. I also did 30 minutes of core work.

Ave Twin Peaks with Mark K.

I met Mark at the Capitol at 5:30 and we were quickly running up the road to City Creek Canyon. My legs felt great, so we kept up a decent pace to the canyon. Once we hit the hills Mark was hiking some of the steeper sections and it was slower than we normally go, but I was totally ok with it this morning. We were just chatting away and we came around a bend and both of us saw a set of eyes just off the trail about 50 yards away. They looked exactly like the cougar eyes I saw at the Wasatch 100 and looked about the right height. It definitely wasn't a deer, but looked too big to be a coyote. As we moved up the trail the eyes disappeared and we never saw it again, but as we came around the next bend in the trail there was half of a deer leg right off the trail, so it probably was a cougar and it freaked me out a bit.

We had a really relaxing fun run up to the ridge where we encountered a lot of windblown snow and in places the trail had been completely covered. We actually lost the trail a few times and ended up post-holing in the drifted snow, but quickly found it, although we did have to put in some new track over the drifts. We hit both summits and took a quick break, but didn't stay long. The run down was fun. We just chatted about upcoming races and gear and the time flew by.

Back on the road Mark really picked up the pace and dropped me for a bit, but he waited for me and we ran it in back to the cars together. It was a fun morning with perfect weather. My legs were a tiny bit heavy on the run down, but overall I am really happy with how I recovered from the 50K on Sat.

5 at the gym. On my way home from the gym two guys from my neighborhood texted me asking... ok begging me to come over to the church for a church basketball game, so I went home and changed into my Air Jordan's that feel like cement bricks compared the Altra's and cruised over to the church. I got there just as the game was stating and ended up playing the entire game. It was a lot of fun, but it reminded me my I haven't been playing lately. I took an elbow to the arm, a knee to the thigh and hit the deck twice. It was a ton of fun though and we won the game in overtime.

Highland/Alpine loop solo:

The weather forecast was calling for a huge storm to hit overnight, so I decided I wouldn't get up and hit the trails and that ended up being a mistake. The weather was downright balmy when I woke up and I was wishing I had gotten out to take advantage of it. By 10:00 am it was a complete whiteout and when I finally got around to my run it was still snowing and blowing, but it has settled down some.

I ran from my house to the Alpine Hwy and then went north to the Timpanogos hwy. There was a strong cold headwind and it really wasn't all that fun, but I pushed through it. When I hit Kohlers I turned left onto the Timp Hwy and I was still getting a nasty breeze, but not as bad as before. I stopped into Wendy's to pee and then after I turned south on 6000 W. the wind died down a bit and the rest of the run was much better. The last mile I mixed in some tabata intervals where I ran as hard as I could for 20 seconds and then dialed it back for 10 seconds and then hard again for 20. My paced would dip into the 5's the first two or three and then back to the 7's for the 10 second break. Oh man it kicked my butt.  

7 on the TM:

I wanted to get outside and run today, but I hate the wind and it was blowing hard all morning, so I hit the TM for 7 miles while catching up on my DVR.

Weights at the gym for 70 minutes.

I have been going to the AF fitness center for 7 years and last night was the most crowded it has ever been. The New Year resolution folks seem to be hanging on like barnacles this year, bless their hearts. I actually like to see people stick with their fitness goals, so good for them, I think it is awesome. What wasn't awesome though was the hot, stinky, crowded gym. Luckily I bogarted a bench and set up camp there for about 30 minutes. I had an excellent workout.

Arms n back (of course)

lats

delts

chest

core

4 at the gym.

Millcreek Canyon (Big Water/Pipeline) with Jun, Jsh, Je10 and Leslie:

We had a really COLD, but fun run in Millcreek Canyon this morning. I got up at 3:00 am, slammed some calories and hit the road to meet the crew in the canyon at the gate where the plowing stops for winter. It was very cold at the start and almost painful to just stand around, so I was happy when we started running. We ran on some packed snow for the first few miles as we made our way up the canyon, but the higher we went the less tracked out it was and the running was tough. It also got colder as we ascended and there were a few sections that you could feel the temp drop significantly.

I kept my water bottles from freezing for a few miles, but eventually they froze along with everyone else's hydration hoses. When we got up to Upper Big Water it was so cold that my head started pounding and my body started to ache. I haven't felt that cold all winter. It was definitely below zero, but I'm not sure what it was. We have run in below zero temps a lot this winter, but it never felt like that. We got to the top and turned right around and ran back down. On the run down my left hammy started to get tight and it bothered me the rest of the run.

At Elbow Fork we stopped to get some fuel and I nearly puked up the frozen gel I had because I didn't have any water to wash it down and Je10 was nice enough to give me some of her food. I can't even remember what it was, but it was good. Back at the cars I gulped down about 15 ounces of water and took another frozen gel and then we ran down and jumped onto the Pipeline trail. It wasn't in great shape, but we have been on worse this year. My hammy really started to bother me and it slowed me down a lot.

At Rattlesnake Gulch we took a quick peek to find the Millcreek Flasher, but didn't have any luck. We did see some elk though. The run back was hard. My energy was low and I didn't want to try to gag down a gel, so it was a bit of a slog, but fun. It was a really fun morning and I just barely warmed up in my office after blasting my heater for the last 3 hours.

Here is a pic taken at the finish. Notice the ice beard on Jsh:

Ave Twins with MattVH:

Matt and I met at the Capitol at 5:30 am to run the Ave Twins. I was expecting some icy conditions on the trail, so I brought my spikes and wore them the entire run, but it wasn't that bad. It was slick in some spots and muddy in others, but overall the trail was in decent shape. Both of us were a bit sluggish today and it took a while to get into any kind of groove. Actually I never felt all that great this morning and the entire run felt like a slog, but we grinded it out. Matt told me I look better in my other tights, so I made a mental note of that and I'm not quite sure how I feel about it either. Even though it was a slog-fest I'm happy I got out.

Lake Mountain (the scenic tour) with Jun, Je10, JimmySG and Neasts:

What a brilliant morning on Lake mountain with some of the old crew and a couple of new faces, JimmySG and Neasts. We met at the start of the dirt road at 5:30 am and had an excellent run to the summit of Lake mountain, laughing and chatting away. The snowcat tracks were excellent and conditions were near perfect all the way to the top. On the summit we stopped to snap some pics, witness an incredible sunrise, gag down a few gels, except for Je10 who was eating jalapeno pizza. Awesome. 

After hitting the summit we decided to check out some of the other high points on the summit massif and had fun making our way over to the collection of towers and the stellar views that kept coming our way. On the way down Jun and Je10 opened it up and took off down the steep road and the rest of us hung back and had a good chat all the way down. We ran out of the canyon and then decided to pick up a few more miles on the trail heading south along the mountain. It was icy in places, but never too bad and there were more hills to climb.

We ended up with 15 miles, had a ton of laughs and made some new friends that will hopefully join us on more adventures. It was the perfect way to start my Saturday.

Weights at the gym for an hour working my upper body/core. I had two seperate guys tell me I looked leaner. I'm not really sure if that is a good thing or not. I guess I better start hitting the roids again.

Ave Twins with the crew (Jun, MVH, Dorsimus and Leslie).

It was a fun morning running up the Ave Twins via City Creek Canyon. We met at the capitol at 5:30 am. It was kind of cold at the start, but I warmed up pretty fast and by time we hit the BST it seemed downright balmy out there. The trail conditions were not great, but not terrible either. We had some dirt, but it was mostly hard packed snow and kind of icy in a few areas, but overall not bad.

It was a really good group this morning and we chatted all the way up and watched the sunrise as we crested the ridge. After we hit the peaks MVH had a sweet glissade down the mountain on some frozen ice and I think he might have ripped his tights. The sun came out on the run down and it really warmed up out there. It was a great morning with good friends.

9 on the track at the gym. I hate when my boss comes into town. Typically it is 2-3 days of early morning and evening meetings packed with high calorie meals and today was no different. This means I usually end up running at the gym late in the evening and most of the time while sporting a gutbomb. I hit the gym two hours after a 12" meatball sub from Moochies. While the sub was quite tasty it came back to haunt me big time on my run as it sloshed round my innards repeatedly and felt like I was running with a bowling ball in my gut. I did have some good music on the ipod and at times things felt great, but I did battle the sub most of the time which made for some long uncomfortable miles. I kept telling myself this was good practice for the Buffalo Run because I would have to run while eating at the aid stations, but I'm quite sure I won't be eating 12 inches of meatball out there.

Speaking of the Buffalo Run, check out the most recent Refuse2quit blog post about Buffalo race prep here:

Buffalo Prep

Churchball for an hour without coming out of the game. I showed up thinking I would take it easy because I don't want to get hurt, but a few minutes in some dingle-daggit on the other team got my competitive juices going, so I ended up playing much harder than I wanted to.

After the game I hit the gym for more fun and I was so tired, lacked energy and my legs felt heavy. I was soaked and stinky and starving when I finished.

Lake Mountain with Neasts and Leslie:

What a fun morning running/slogging up Lake Mountain with some excellent company. I was really worried about the weather because it wouldn't take much rain to make that route a slop-fest, but when I woke up everything looked great outside and I could see the lights from the tower on the summit from my house, so I figured we would be good.

We started at 5:00 am and had a really fun conversation about trail etiquette in regards to burps, gas, spitting and snot rockets and the time flew by. Thanks for the tips gals. :) We all had heavy legs today, so we didn't push it too hard, but still made it up to the summit in a respectable 1:11 where we were hit with a cold breeze which made us want to turn around and get the heck out of there. We took it slow on the run down just chatting away in the lightly falling snow and never pushed it too hard, but I was ok with that.

I had such a fun time that I've decided to do it again tomorrow. :)

Lake Mountain with Jsh, Rob, Nate, Jared:

Another excellent group and run to the top of Lake Mountain. I was really worried about the weather and I was up late checking the weather websites and it looked like we would be ok. I was really worried about the trail getting wet, but at 3:00 am I woke up to some pretty strong winds and it seemed to only get worse as the night went on. I was up at 6:00 and it was still blowing really hard, so I thought about cancelling, but I knew that once we got into the canyon we would be ok, so we went ahead and started at 7:00 am.

There was a little bit of mud the first mile, but it wasn't bad at all and once we got into the canyon the wind stopped exactly like I thought it would and he had an excellent run/hike to the top. The wind was blowing pretty hard on the upper mountain, but it wasn't terrible. We hit the top and took a few pics and then got the heck out of there.

The run down was fun. We all stayed together and just chatted the whole way down. My legs felt fresh all day and I was really happy with the run. It was a great morning out with good friends.

Group summit jump- Nate, Jared, Josh and Rob:

Me

Dimple Dell Gully with Jun and Brent:

It was so nice to get out on some dirt today in the gully. Temps were mild and I got to watch Jun in his extra short (and I mean short) shorts the whole way up and back. Great conversation and an enjoyable run. I think we will do the same thing tomorrow.

PM: I'll be hitting the gym to lift for an hour.

DD gully with Jun and Brent:

This was just about the same run as yesterday, pleasant temps, good conversation and plenty of shorty shorts to go around, but Jun's were the shortest. We ran from the Wrangler trailhead to the top and back. Tomorrow we will run the entire gully up to lower Bell Canyon reservoir and back for 13 and then the taper will begin for the 100 next week.

PM: 4 at the gym. I did some speed work and my legs felt better after I finished. I also did 30 minutes of core work.

Dimple Dell gully trail with Zac, Jun, Je10 and Leslie:

We had a really good group this morning up the gully from the Trax station in Sandy all the way to the top and back. It was funny because out of 5 of us Je10 is the only one that had a decent headlamp, so we all kind of ran as close to her as we could. I was surprised at all of the temperature changes as we made our way across the valley. At times it was really warm and nice and then within a few minutes the temp seemed to drop 15 degrees and I would be chilled. It was like that all the way up and back. It was a fun morning.

I'm in full taper mode for the Buffalo 100, so instead of running I hit the gym for some lifting and I found that Friday afternoon might be the best time to hit the weight room at the AF fitness center. I haven't seen it that dead in years. I had a very good session working my upper body/core.

Highland trail out and back with my wife, Kristina:

We had a really fun run from our house to the trail that connects 6000 west to the Alpine Hwy. We ran the whole trail out and back. The wind was really blowing and the first few miles were much harder than they should have been, but once we got on the trail it let up some. On the way back we picked up the pace and had a solid run back. It wasn't fast for me, but Kristina was awesome and kept up a really good pace all the way home.

Highland trail out and back:

Taper run. This was the exact same run that I did yesterday with my wife. The wind was even stronger out there today, but other than that I had a really fun run. This was my second run in my new Altra Torin's and so far I really like them and I think they will be my new road shoe. This week will be really easy with maybe one more run of 5 miles and then the big one on Friday. Psyched.

Weights at the gym for an hour with one of my pacers for the 100. We talked about the race the entire time and had an excellent session.

4 on the track at the gym. This has become a tradition before my 100 milers, so I figured I would do it again. Easy easy.

3 very easy miles at the gym to keep my legs loose. Buffalo 100 is on. I'm psyched. I'll be updating my Twitter from the race if anyone wants to follow. @Scottwesemann. I'm fully stoked. Bring it.

What a ride! I was very excited to run this race and I have been looking forward to it ever since I paced MattVH on it last year. Even though the course is easier than Wasatch 100 it is still 100 miles and I fully respect the distance, so I knew it was going to be a huge task to finish and would take a lot of things going right for me to finish in under 23 hours which was my goal time going in.

Jun and I drove to the start together and we decided to stop and get some breakfast on the way to the island and my goal was to get as many calories as possible to help sustain me during the day and into the night. I ordered a large orange juice and didn't even think that I never drink OJ before a race or a long run and I think that would come back to haunt me later in the day.

We had been watching the weather reports for race day for the past several days and as the race approached the forecast got worse each day. We were driving out to the island in a snow storm and it really wasn't helping us build any pre-race stoke. As we approached the island it was clear that it wasn't snowing, so that was good, but we noticed that the wind was blowing pretty hard and that was by far my biggest concern. We parked and started to get ready for the day and it was windy and very cold, so both of us decided to change our race day apparel and I put on my tights and a light windstopper top along with a hat and gloves. It was very hard to predict what the weather would do, so I made my best guess and went with it.

We met up with MattVH and some other friends and just hung out at the start line for what seemed like several minutes until the start. I was cold and happy to start running. For the first several miles I ran with Kristel Liddle (the women's winner) who is a good friend. I really liked the pace and we ran every step of the first long hill just chatting away about our running plans for the year and I was feeling great until about mile 3 when all of the sudden if felt like an F-16 was about to take off in my gut and I could tell that something was very wrong (curse you OJ!). I rarely have stomach issues when I run and the OJ is the only thing I can think of that caused it and I was just hoping it would pass quick. It didn't. A positive note is that the wind seemed calmer and it wasn't as cold as we hit Lone Tree hill. We passed the first aid station at Elephant Head and ran right through continuing on to the out and back passing Jun about half way there while he was on his way back. At the turnaround we had to take a sticker to prove that we had been there and I picked a Justin Bieber sticker because my 12 year old daughter is a huge fan... and maybe secretly so am I. Come on Justin get me through!

On the way back to Elephant Head aid my stomach was in knots and Kristel dropped me. I caught back up at the aid station, but she stopped briefly and I had to stop to remove my windstopper top because I was getting hot. I hoped to catch back up, but I never did. My stomach was in knots as I ran down into the Split Rock valley and if there had been any cover at all I would have stopped for a bathroom break, but there really wasn't anywhere to go, but right off the trail. All of the sudden Crockett flies by at what seemed like a 6:00 pace and he seemed to be enjoying himself. Awesome. I eventually caught up to him as we approached the switchbacks and we both ran every step up to the top and then ran together for a few minutes before my stomach finally wasn't going to be denied and I barely made it off the trail behind the slight cover of a rock. It felt like a Mack truck was plowing through my innards and I was just relieved that only two other runners witnessed the carnage. The joys of ultra running.

After my pit stop I felt slightly better although the bad stomach would haunt me for the next 30 miles and cause me to stop a few more times. I'll spare the additional horrific details. I reached the Elephant Head aid at mile 13 feeling ok and I stopped quick to grab a gel and then I ran the 6 miles back to the start/finish by myself for the most part. The wind picked back up on the way back and blasted me hard for about a mile and a half. I was starting to wonder how much of that I could take and hoping that it would settle down and give us some reprieve. As I came around the bend and the start/finish aid station came into view the sun came out and the wind settled and I actually started to warm up, so I decided to change into shorts when I hit the aid. I came in at 3:20 and ended up staying far too long in there messing with my clothes and gear for about 15 minutes. When I finally got out of there it was cold, but I warmed up in a few minutes.

There was still a steady wind, but the sun was out and helped to keep me from getting cold as I made my way down to the Mountain View trail where we run a long 12 mile out and 12 back to the ranch along the eastern shore of the island. I was feeling pretty good at this point and got into a really good groove/pace as my stomach finally started to settle and I had the wind at my back. At the Lower Frary aid I stopped to eat some salted potatoes, grab some more gels and then I had a solid run out to the ranch. I passed Jun, MattVH, Kristel, Crockett and others on their way back from the turnaround and they all looked really good. I took a few minutes at the ranch (mile 34) to eat some cookies, more potatoes and half a Mountain Dew. I was feeling really good until I started running back into the wind. The sun started to fade behind Frary Peak and the wind seemed to get stronger as I ran north and it became much harder to keep up a solid pace. Over the next 5 miles the wind punished me relentlessly and started sucking my drive to run fast. I got cold and it became very difficult to sustain any sort of decent pace. On top of that my left knee was now hurting which is odd because I haven't had any knee pain in over 2 years. Low point.

When I arrived at the Lower Frary aid (mile 38.7) my first pacer Nate was there waiting for me to come in. I wouldn't pick him up until mile 50, but he wanted to see how I was doing and it was good to see him. I was cold and decided to change my clothes again, but I was getting stiff and my hands were cold, making it much harder to change. By time I got into my warmer gear I was shivering and couldn't even tie my shoes because my hands were numb. Sarah McCloskey was there and I can't thank her enough for taking care of me. She was grabbing me things I needed and helping me get squared away and then she suggested that I get into the tent to warm up because I was shivering uncontrollably now. There was another guy there too that told me I had to get in there, so I went in the tent and sat by the heater. They put a blanket on me and grabbed me some hot soup. I didn't want to take the break, but I had to get my core temperature back up. I was in there for about 10 minutes and then I felt better and told them I needed to get back out there. That was a 20-25 minute stop that really hurt my time. I picked up my headlamp because I knew it would be dark by time I hit the Mountain View aid station.

The run back to the Mountain View aid station was tough. There was a strong headwind the entire way and the 5 miles seemed like 15 and now my right knee was bothering me too and both knees were sore until the finish. I finally made it and both of my pacers, Nate and Rob were waiting there for me. I grabbed two cookies, some mountain Dew and a few gels and then they walked with me to the top of the hill. It was still breezy and cold, but nowhere near as bad as down by the shore of the lake. At the top of the hill the guys went back down and  I got back into a running pace and made my way over to the Lakeside aid station. As I approached it the wind really picked up and there was an incredible amount of smoke in the air from all of the camp fires at the campground. It was making me gag and it also started snowing sideways.  I didn't stay long at the aid and I started feeling pretty good as I made my way around Buffalo Point, but the wind was really strong here and again I was chilled. I thought for sure that the wind would be at my back as I went around the point, but as soon as I rounded the point I was blasted by another stiff headwind? Headwind you Eff%$#! Unbelievable.  

Some really good music and motivation to pick up my pacers got me back to the start/finish in 10:10 which is actually a 50 mile PR for me, but would have been much faster without all of the stops. I was happy to see my friends and I took longer than I should have in the tent drinking broth and eating and I finally knew I had to get out of there, so I stood up and told Nate we needed to move. Nate was great company over the next 19 miles. We hiked most of the steeper hills and ran everything else, but I was slowing down.  We ran into MattVH and he didn't notice it was me because he was in a 'groove', but he finally did and we chatted for a few minutes and it was great to see him moving well. When we came to the Elephant Head aid station it was again cold and windy and it was nice to get some broth and eat more cookies and potatoes. Bart Greenwell and another guy I know Jason were running the aid and they did a fantastic job up there in those conditions. I actually felt worse for them than I did for myself because they couldn't really move around to stay warm. It was awesome hitting that aid 3 times in 13 miles and definitely helped to get me through that section. Thanks guys, you were awesome.

As we made our way into the Split Rock Valley we could see some massive storms moving across the lake and I was terrified that they would nail us, but they all seemed to be going just south of the island. Those storms dumped about 4 inches of snow into some of the nearby valleys and would have been a disaster if they had hit us. It was a pretty surreal feeling though as we only saw a few other headlamps within several miles of us. After our final stop at the Elephant aid we got into a running pace all the way back to the start/finish. We weren't fast, but we kept moving and finally made it back to the tent where Rob was waiting for me to pace the final 31 miles. I went into the tent for about 10 minutes to eat and warm up and then Nate decided to run down to the Mountain View trail with us because he wasn't tired. Other than my aching knees my legs were feeling good and I had plenty of energy, but the next 31 miles would be the most challenging of the day as the temperature dropped and the winds picked back up.

Down on the Mountain View trail my friend Mark was running the aid station down there and we had a few laughs with him before doing the mile out and back to the causeway turnaround. When we got back to the aid station Mark told us that MattVH had just gone through looking good. We didn't stay there long and within about 5 minutes we ran into Jun who was now running by himself because his pacer Je10 had to drop because of knee issues. It was awesome to see him and definitely lifted my spirits, but I could tell that he was having issues and not feeling great. We talked for a few minutes, wished each other luck and went our separate ways. It was a total slog to the Lower Frary aid stop and both of us were quite cold. Rob would insist that I run whenever I got started walking too much. He was very good at keeping me going and trotting along. When we reached the aid I was now extremely cold and we took about 10 minutes to sit next to the heater to try and warm up. It took everything I had to pull myself away from that heater knowing we had 6 more brutally cold miles to the ranch, but I knew I had to get moving, so we got up and got out of there.

The 6 miles to the ranch were very hard. It was cold and breezy and my knees were really aching, making every running step painful. Rob told me several stories and we had a lot of laughs that kept my mind off of the suffering. The sun finally came up and gave us a little relief, but it was still pretty darn cold out there. Finally we hit the ranch and we stopped for at least 10 minutes to get some much needed calories. I think I ate 4-5 quesadillas and had some Mountain Dew and I could feel the energy coming back almost instantly. We pulled ourselves out the chairs and got back on the trail. Rob would continue to get me to run and after about a mile we passed the first runner that was behind me. So far only 3 runners had passed me since the 50 mile mark and none since mile 70 and I didn't want anyone else passing me the rest of the way, so I tried to keep the pace going. About a mile from the Frary aid we also passed the first 50 mile runner and would continually pass them the rest of the way on the Mountain View trail. We were now running back into the wind again and although it wasn't as bad as it had been it still wasn't awesome.

Back at Lower Frary we stopped for another break to eat waffles. Seth Hales and Jeremy Suwinsky were there helping us and giving me encouragement. We finally got back on the trail and just after the trail crosses the road we ran into Dorsimus and Jsh both looking strong and we stopped to chat with them for a few minutes and again boosted my spirit. The next several miles were just hard. By then everything hurt and I was so tired of running into the wind. The wind became so irritating that I think I shouted every verbal curse I could think of in several creative ways over and over for several minutes. It was maddening.

After what seemed like hours from the last aid (it probably was) we finally finished the Mountain View trail and at that point I knew I had this one in the bag. I fully respect 100 miles and there is never a guarantee of a finish at this distance, but at that point I was pretty sure I would finish, so now I just wanted to get it done.

We made our way over to the Lakeside aid and as we hit the pavement at the top of the hill I saw my Wife's Honda Pilot driving toward me and it gave me such a boost of energy as my kids all jumped out and ran over to hug me. They were all cheering me on and it really was a boost. They watched as we made our way back onto the trail and then down toward the Lakeside aid. When we hit the aid I told Rob to grab me a few gels because I didn't want to stop, so I kept going and just as I got back onto the trail I heard my kids yelling at me to "Run faster" and "We love you". It was awesome.

Rob cracked the whip on me as we made our way around Buffalo point. It seemed so weird that the night before I was in the same place and that I had made it back. It seemed like several days had passed. We saw someone coming from behind and at first I thought it was one of the hundred milers, but he was moving way too fast. From that point to the finish 4 of the 50 mile runners passed me and all of them looked so fresh. Rob and I got into a very solid running pace and pushed it into the finish. I was still a bit worried that someone was going to pass me, but I found out later that the nearest person was about an hour back. I was pretty happy that I had gone 30 miles without anyone passing me and I only had 3 people pass me in the last 50.

That last half mile was tough, but the adrenaline kicked in and my family was waiting form me with signs and I almost broke down and then Jun was there at the finish to cheer me in I kind of lost it. I had to battle several demons out there and it wasn't pretty, but I never even thought about a DNF and I was so happy to get it done. In some ways this was every bit as hard as Wasatch 100. The endless wind and cold that battered us relentlessly were both things I didn't plan on, but had to overcome and in the end made this a very tough 100 miles. I was definitely hoping for a sub 23 hour finish, but it just wasn't in the cards this year, but I am definitely happy for the finish. I think there were 80 starters and only 51 finished, so I know this race was much harder than it normally would be.

I was very happy to hear that MattVH and Jun both went sub 19 hours, which is pretty remarkable and Kristel took first for the women going sub 21. Pretty awesome. Congrats to you guys.

Weights at the gym for an hour working my upper body/core. It is amazing how lifting weights can help with recovery after a long race, even if you are working your upper body. My legs were very sore right after the race, but have felt substantially better each day and I feel like I could go run a few miles, but I'm holding off. Here are a few pics from the race:

Me with Jun before the start.

Me and my pacer Nate at mile 50:

About mile 88:

Finishing with my pacer, Rob and my daughter, Julia:

Hug from Jun at the finish:

Easy easy.

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.

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.

3 very easy miles. Legs were heavy, but not super sore.

Weights at the gym for an hour. It is amazing how much lifting helps with recovery. I felt fantastic after I left the gym. This has been the best/easiest recovery for me after a 100 miler. I never got really sore and didn't have any soreness anywhere really. My legs felt soooo much better than after Buffalo 100.

Easy easy. Everything feels good, but I'm not going to push anything yet.

3 with my wife at night. Temps were perfect and it really felt awesome stretching out my legs.

View Benchmark peak with Craig:

This was my first real run since the Bryce 100 9 days ago. On the way up my legs felt ok, but I wasn't as strong as normal. I still ran most of the hills and only hiked the very steepest section. Craig looked strong and waited for me a few times and hit the summit about 90 seconds before me. Awesome views! It was fun to be out running again. On the way down I could tell that my legs were very heavy, just no juice. We still ran down at a decent pace, but I wasn't feeling fresh or fast. I will take it a bit easier this week and then really kick things up next week.

PM: Weights at the gym for an hour. I was very tired and had to force myself to the gym to lift, but I ended up having a really good session.

Boot camp at the gym with my wife for an hour. Worked my core HARD and had a pretty good sweat going.

Mt. Raymond with Craig:

I was up early to meet Craig at the Big Cottonwood park n ride this morning before work. It was light at 5:30, so no need to use a headlamp as we started at the Butler Fork trailhead. Wow, this trail is just fantastic right now. We were in heaven running/hiking up the steep slopes with wild flowers, pines, aspens and green everywhere. I really need to run up there more often because it was a perfect run in every way.

We were up to the saddle between Raymond and Gobblers in just under an hour and then we decided to tag Raymond first and then we would hit Gobblers if we had time on the way back. I absolutely love Raymond, it has to be in my top 10 Wasatch peaks. There is some scrambling, a fun craggy ridge and some of the best views in the Wasatch. Awesome.

We hit the summit and took our time taking pictures and checking out the view. By time we were back at the saddle we decided to skip Gobblers, but we will probably be back next week to tag it. The run down was prime. I can't say enough about the conditions and views on this trail. We only saw one other person the entire morning and we passed him about 5 minutes from the trailhead. It was definitely an incredible day, one of the best of 2013 so far. I need to get up there more.

Craig put together this short video from the run.

Just before we hit the saddle:

Summit jump:

Well, that was fun! I wasn't planning on doing this race, but I got an entry a few days ago and figured why not. My legs were not super fresh, but I just wanted to have fun and push it as much as my legs would allow. This race starts at the top of Butterfield Canyon and goes straight up 1600 feet to Butterfield Peak and then you run a 4X4 road all the way down to Rose Canyon in Herriman and then finishes at Butterfield Park.

I met Craig and we rode the bus together up to the start. It was pretty darn scary on some of those tight turns going up the canyon and I was relieved to get up to the starting area. It was pretty cold up there, but we only had to stand around for a few minutes and then we were off. Craig went out first and I was right behind him for the first half mile. I kept waiting for one of the faster dudes to run past, but they never did and after about a half mile I wanted to push the pace a bit, so I passed Craig and was actually leading the race for about a half of a mile until 4 faster guys went buy.

I was in 5th just before the summit, but I took a wrong turn and 4 people passed me there. Luckily I only lost about a minute of time, but when I got back on the trail I was now in 9th place and that is where I would end up. I hit the summit and the girl that won the race last year passed me within about 30 seconds. She was the only person that would pass me the rest of the way down.

I got into a really good groove on the road and my watch only went above an 8:00 pace once the entire way on the biggest hill. Even though my legs didn't have a ton of juice I was running 7-7:30 pace very comfortably and felt pretty solid all the way to the finish. I ran behind the woman that won last year for most of the way down, but about mile 8 I had to stop to get a rock out of my shoe and she put some distance on me. At the first aid stop a couple of guys were right behind me, so I kicked it up a bit and by the next aid station I had put some distance on them. I carried one handheld bottle and 3 gels and never stopped at the aid stops except to quickly fill my bottle once.

The dirt road ended at mile 10 and from there it was 3 miles on the road to the finish. I just wanted to finish strong, so I kept the pace in the mid to low 7's and rode it out the rest of the way finishing in 9th. It was definitely a fun race and I had a great time, but now my legs are pretty worked. I was able to see Rad and a few other friends come in and it was fun chatting with everyone after the race. I would love to run this race with fresh legs to see how much faster I could be. Next time I won't do it two weeks after doing 100 miles. :)

3 easy peasy with my wife. Hammies are still sore from the 1/2 on Friday.

Weights at the gym for an hour. It's a Monday tradition.

5 easy to work the kinks out of my legs. My hammies were still tight from the HOMM half.

RAGNAR relay Fri/Sat:

A very close friend of mine asked me and my wife to join her Ragnar team a few weeks ago because they had a few team members drop out. She has helped crew me for my Wasatch 100 runs, so I was happy to return the favor and help her team. A few days before the run she called to let me know that one of the guys in our van was having some medical issues and wanted to see if I could pick up some of his miles. Sounds good to me, sign me up for all of them, so I was runner #1 and #6 in Van #1.

By time we got together as a team on Thursday, had dinner, decorated the van and checked into the hotel it was 11:00 pm and by time I fell asleep it was after midnight. 3:00 am wakeup and I started running at 5:15. The first leg is just under 8 miles and were listed as 'very hard' in the Ragnar guid. I wanted to run conservatively because I was going to do close to 40 miles, but it is very hard to take off the gas when people are passing you. I settled into about 6th place in our pack of about 80 and just went with what felt good. We ran from the University up to the BST and that was one of my favorite sections. I passed a few people on the trails and my legs felt fantastic, so I opened it up and cruised that section well. I did my best to hold back, but still ran a lot faster than I normally would for an ultra.

My next section was 7 miles. Half of the run was on a dusty dirt road. I was following my wife who did the previous 8 miles all uphill on a dusty mountain road. She killed it and I was so proud of her. It was the toughest run for our van during the whole race and she was awesome. The dust was just horrible with all of the van traffic and because it was so crowded we couldn't get to her until about two miles in. I jumped out to give her some water and ran with her for about a mile. She actually beat our van to the exchange and I got out and ran up to meet her because we were stuck in a line of vans. There were too many people on the course in my opinion and there were a few instances where we couldn't get to an exchange before the runner.

I noticed immediately that my legs were stiff and sore from sitting in the van and my left knee was hurting in the same place that it did after the Buffalo 100. I wasn't happy about that and ended up just sucking it up and running with knee pain the rest of the time. At times it was very painful, but when I would get into a groove it seemed to be a bit less sharp. It started getting really hot on this section and I was happy to get it done. After that run we had a break while van #2 took over and we ate and took a brief nap in a park before meeting up at Snow Basin ski resort where I would be running a tough 8.2 mile leg.

My knee was bothering me a lot on the next section, but after about two miles it warmed up and I felt a lot better. This was the toughest section for me and I tried to run on the side of the road in the dirt where it was possible. The last few miles I really picked up the pace and pushed it strong to the exchange.

The next several hours were not all that fun. My legs got stiff from all of the sitting in the van, I was starving and got tired of eating snacks. I needed some real food. We lost a runner for over an hour that got out of the van at one of the exchanges. We were all tired and super grumpy and ended up at South Summit (I think) high school where we crashed on the floor for 3 hours to try and sleep. People were very loud and not very considerate and none of us slept well at all. We were up at 5:00 am and I was the first runner for our van in the morning. Without any real food for breakfast I ate a banana, granola bar and choked down two gels. It was freezing when I started my leg and my legs were so stiff, but I worked out the kinks and actually enjoyed the leg. After I finished I had some real food at a school (I can't remember which one). I had pancakes, eggs and sausage and that helped put me in a better mood.

My last leg was an easy 2.1 miles. I felt ok the first half, but when I got my groove I pushed it strong all the way to the finish and had a sub 6 pace for the final 1/4 of a mile. I finished that leg with a 7 min average and my legs felt fresh after 30+ miles and I felt like I could have kept on going, but I was happy to be done.

Overall it was a really good experience. There is a lot to dislike about Ragnar, but there is also a lot to like. There are way too many teams and the exchanges were a mess and there were rarely enough POPs. I really didn't like the sleep deprivation and all the time spent cramped in a van. That said we had some fun people on our team and I really enjoyed a lot of it, but there is a lot of sitting around and waiting and that did get old. The best part was watching my wife crush it on her runs and run farther than she ever had before in a single day (12 miles). I also enjoyed the scenery and for the most part really liked the legs I ran. I'm not sure if I will ever do it again, but I think it is a good event that gets a lot of people out running and that is a good thing.

A few pics: My wife and I at the finish:

My van:

Weights at the gym for an hour. I kicked up the weight and really felt the difference in my core and supporting muscles. Good session with lots of grunting and sweat.

Boot camp at the gym with my wife. We really worked our core and upper body hard. Also ran some sprints. I was sweating like a motha.

7 on the track at the gym. I did not feel like running today. Actually I felt like running, but not in the heat or on the road or track, so I found myself sitting in my car at the gym debating with myself whether or not to go run or go back home. I finally just got out of the car and the next thing ya know I'm running round in circles by myself on the track. Yawn. I got into a decent groove, but I really need to get on some trails.

With MattVH on his Millwood 100 project:

I was meeting Matt at 2:40 am up Millcreek Canyon so I could run with him the first 10 miles of his Millwood 100 project. I got two hours of sleep and we dropped my car at Church Fork and then drove to Neff's Canyon where we would start. Millwood was the creation of Jared Campbell and is 100 miles and over 40,000 feet of climbing in Millcreek and the Cottonwood canyons. This route is a total beast with over 15K more vert than the Wasatch 100. With temps going over 100 degrees in the valley I was really worried about Matt and I knew it was going to be a difficult challenge.

We did the first 9.5 miles from Neff's up 3k feet of vert to the top of Neff's Pass and then ran down to the Desolation trail in Millcreek Canyon. The trail up higher had a lot of roots, stumps and overgrown bush and I nearly ate it twice and tweaked both of my ankles. The lower few miles are on great trail and we really picked up the pace. When I left Matt on the Pipeline trail he was in very good spirits and ready to tackle the beast.

I met back up with him at mile 27 to bring him some food and Coke and it was so hot and he was getting depleted. He pushed through two full days of that heat and completed the project early Sunday morning. Incredible! Congrats to Matt on being only the 3rd person to complete this route.

Temple Quarry trail in Little Cottonwood with Craig and Brent:

We originally planned to run up View Benchmark, but we couldn't get out until later in the day and with the temp in SLC hitting 103 we decided to do the Quarry trail because a good portion of it is in the shade and runs next to the river, so it would be much cooler. It was still hot at times, but we definitely made the right choice. We had an excellent run chatting and laughing most of the way.

PM: Weights at the gym for an hour. Once again lots of sweat in there.

Me on the way down: