Summit junkie!

5 on the TM. No big woop. 

Mt. Wire solo:

I parked at the zoo and ran to the trailhead. It was really warm and I was thinking I could have gotten away with shorts, so I pulled up my long sleeves and took off my gloves. It was muddy and sloppy right from the start and I tried my best to stay on the patches of snow. Just before I reached the ridge I saw a woman coming down with 6 dogs (none of them on a leash). As they got closer one of them made a beeline for my packaged goods where it commenced a sniff-fest. I felt kind of dirty and cheap after such a quick encounter, but I'm used to that on the trail, so not a huge deal. By the way, how many dogs to you have to own before you can get on Animal Hoarders? She was the only person I saw the rest of the way.

The trail was still pretty muddy and slippery and I just got into a comfortable pace and pushed it on up. The higher I went the more the wind blew, then the sun ducked behind some clouds and it got cold. At the second saddle I decided I was taking it too easy, so I ran hard the rest of the way to the towers and on up to the summit. It has been a while since I pushed it that hard on the final stretch. I didn't stay long at all.

The run down was slower than normal because of the snow. I just took it easy on the steeper slick sections and then once I was down to the first saddle I picked it up and ran it in.

View Benchmark peak with Jun and Dorsimus:

I love this run! Even when the conditions are crappy I still enjoy every step. It was a bit muddy and sloppy out there again today and it slowed us down, but the weather was fantastic and it was a great day for a run on the trails. Dorsimus lead out and I spent the first two miles trying to make up some ground. Once we got to the VB trail I slowly caught up to Dors, but Jun was still ahead. I tried to run as much as I could and I only hiked a few times on the steepest sections. I tried to push it up to the top, but it was hard running in the soft snow because we would sink every few steps.

The views from the summit are always saweeeet and today wasn't any different, some of the best views along the Wasatch Front up there. The run down was slow at first while we made our way through the deeper snow, but once back on Ann's trail we opened it up a bit. I ran pretty fast down the hills and had a blast. We ran the last few miles at a pretty quick pace. I didn't have my Garmin on, but I am guessing 6:50-7:00ish, which was pretty good considering the crappy conditions. Jun and Dors both caught me just before the finish and Dors went down hard in the mud a few seconds later. No harm done. Once again the effort was a lot tougher than the miles. Jun put up some really good pics on his blog.

Grandeur Peak loop with Jun:

I met Jun at 5:00 am and in typical Grandeur fashion the canyon winds were blowing. We made a friend at the trailhead that was surprised to see someone else climbing the peak that early. Jun said "We're not very smart". Haha. The trail was snow covered nearly the entire way. I didn't have my spikes, but the Altra Lone Peaks have solid traction, so it wasn't too much of an issue. The wind died after about 10 minutes (always does). I tried to stay with Jun, but he dropped me before the summit ridge. It was so cool watching his headlamp moving up the  snowy summit ridge and I would take a few moments when I could to check out the view of the Salt Lake valley all lit up below. Awesome. 

I hit the summit in 1:11, gagged down a gel and then we were off down the back side into Church Fork. The trail conditions were actually much better than the last time were were up there. There wasn't much ice to deal with. We got into a good groove and just enjoyed the run down.  Near the bottom the wheels came off a bit for me. I slipped on some solid ice and took a couple of falls and the muscles in my lower back started to spasm. Suck! I kind of lost my groove for a few miles there while I worried about another fall.

We went down Rattlesnake Gulch where we kept a watchful eye for the Millcreek Flasher, but we weren't lucky enough to see him today. The run down the canyon was fun and I started feeling better, so I was able to pick up the pace again. Jun put a little distance on me the last mile and I finished around 2:30. I love this run. It never gets old.

I wanted to bag another peak today to hit 4 in a row, but it just didn't workout for me. By time I could get out the wind picked up and I didn't want to deal with that, so I ended up doing 4 easy on the TM. My back was pretty stiff and tight, but seemed to loosen up a bit after the run. 

Mt. Wire solo:

When I got off the freeway onto Foothill Dr. the first thing that I noticed was the wind was blowing a lot harder than in Sandy.  I parked at the zoo and the wind was even stronger. Dammit, should have done View Benchmark. Oh well, I was prepared. I put on my windstopper fleece gloves, hat and vest and told myself not to be a wuss.

Mud! Slush! Ice! The lower trail is in bad shape right now. Once I got to the ridge it improved and I saw someone ahead of me above the first saddle, so naturally I picked up my pace. It was a woman and I caught her and passed her before the second saddle. Nice lady. Above the second saddle the wind was horrendous and when I hit the towers it slugged me in the chops and took my breath away. I ran hard to the top and turned right around and went down.

I took it slower than normal because I didn't want to slip and tweak my back again. Below the second saddle the wind seemed to die which was nice and then it was a messy slog back to the car.

We went to the Lehi Legacy Center with some friends and our kids and while the kids were swimming I hit the weight room to lift for about an hour. I had to be careful because of my back, but after I finished my workout my back was actually a lot less tight. Worked upper body/core.