Summit junkie!

I felt crappy again today, but I still ran 4 on the TM while watching football. I was hoping I would feel better after running and I actually did.

I guess it is time to get some new goals now that it is 2011. The main goal for the year will be to complete a 100 mile distance and everything else I do will be gearing up for that. I have put in for the Wasatch 100 and if I don't get into that I'll sign up for another 100 mile race. Last year I did 3 ultra distances and I know I will have to ramp that up if I want to do a 100 miler this year, so I hope to do several adventures that will give me 30+ miles. Here are some of the adventures I am planning for 2011:

One day run/climb of Gannett Peak, Wyoming sometime in early August- This will be 44 tough miles that will require a 20 mile approach just to get to the serious climbing, with 6 hours of tough climbing to get the summit and back to that point with 20 more miles to get out. Other than the 100 this will be the most demanding day of the year.

Kings peak double (52 total miles)- I hope to do this with Jun sometime in July. As far as we can tell it has never been done before and will be really good prep for a 100.

Kings Peak winter ascent- Planning on doing it in March with a local group that does it every year.

Timp double- I wanted to do this last year, but didn't get it done. This year for sure.

Still plan on running/climbing at least 52 peaks in 2011.

I still haven't decided yet on all of the races I am doing, but I will probably do Logan Peak, the Timp marathon and Quest for Kings marathon.

Marathon in 3:30 and a half in 1:35.

Weights at the gym for an hour. Worked upper body/core. This was the first session of 2011 and all of the resolution folks were out. It was more crowded and stinky than normal, but I still had a great time lifting with the group of guys I have been lifting with for the last year.

I ran Lake Mountain this morning with MatthewVH. We met in Lehi at 5:30... oh wait, I was there at 5:30 and Matt showed up a bit later. The trail was covered in snow and we started running right at 6:00 am. It was really cold, but after a few minutes we both heated up. We ran for the first mile and then it starts to get steep, so we slowed to a fast hike. There were several ATV tracks to follow, but just after a mile it was only a single ATV track.

It was lightly snowing, but it wasn't much of anything. Just a lot of ice crystals falling in the air. The hike up was ok, but after about 3 miles the ATV track stopped, and the only thing left was a snowmobile track. Now we were sinking in the snow with every step and it became much more difficult to keep a fast pace. About .5 from the top we just ran out of time. We both needed to get down because of work and with all of the snow it was going to take us quite a bit more time to get up to the summit so we turned around. I hate not getting to the top, but there wasn't much more we could do.

The run down was tough because the track was so narrow and it was hard to stay in it. After about two miles it opened up and became much easier and we cruised in at a pretty good pace. Total time 2:15. Elevation gain: 2400 ft.

4 miles on the TM while watching basketball. Nothing exciting, however Jun and I will be climbing Mt. Wire tomorrow morning if any of you are interested in breaking out of this inversion for some clean air.

I usually lift on Friday, unless I am climbing something and if I am I will hit the gym on Thursday night instead. I lifted for an hour (upper body/core) and had a really good workout.

Adding pics: Check out all of that gross air you Salt Lakers are breathing in.

I was supposed to meet MatthewVH and Jun to climb Mt. Wire this morning. Jun is still having issues with his calves and he texted me this morning letting me know he couldn't make it. On my way to the trail I received a text from Matt letting me know he was bailing as well. I know Jun had a good excuse and he told me last night that he wasn't sure he could do it, but I think Matt was just being lazy and wanted to sleep in. Come on Matt!!

This wouldn't be my first solo climb of Wire and I was just glad I brought my ipod. I started at almost exactly 6:00 am and there were three ladies and a dog starting at the same time. I started first and the dog wanted to follow me. I figured that they were probably running on the BST and wouldn't be heading up Wire and sure enough they didn't turn off and head up to the ridge, although the dog followed me for a bit.

The fog was horrible this morning and I was so glad that just after I started heading up the steeper section on the ridge I came out of it. If I didn't know the trail so well it would have been very easy to get lost, as the visibility was terrible. Coming out of the fog was incredibly eerie. The whole city was enveloped by a thick dark cloud, and above the stars were really bright and one of the planets looked really impressive to the southeast. It didn't even look real and I wish I had a picture. The black cloud covered almost the entire valley, but right where I know downtown is there was a small glow of light. I love climbing in the mountains. The views!!

The trail was in great shape and it was obvious that the sun has been shining above the inversion. It was also a lot warmer up there. I just listened to my ipod and completely enjoyed the morning. I made it to the top in 57:00 and I stayed up there at least 10 minutes looking at the valley and taking a few pictures with my phone, which I will add here.

The run down was really fun, and I just took it easy on a few of the icy sections were there is some steep rock, but other than that I was able to run the whole way. Total time was 1:44 (including summit time). I had an excellent time, got to breath some fresh air, got a great workout and still made it on time to work. That is why I love Mt. Wire.

Total elevation gain: 2300 ft

Total for the week: 4900 ft

Total summits for 2011: 1

I did the .3 just to throw off PRE. These were TM miles done while watching TV. I mixed in some speed intervals (thx coach :) ) and I was more worked than usual after I finished. I could definitely feel it in my lungs. I am really in the mood for a looooong run, but not on the TM. Hopefully next week.