Summit junkie!

5 on the TM while watching The Daily Show. No big woop!

The big news for the weekend is that I got into Wasatch 100 for 2012. Also congrats to Jsh, Jun and MatthewVS for getting in as well. It will be fun to hang out with those guys and run the race again. Last years race was a huge unknown for me, but this year my approach will be completely different. I really want to go under 30 hours, so I'll do whatever I have to to reach that goal. I am psyched for all of the training and especially for the race. 

6 on the track at the gym. My friend Nate was there and we ended up running the whole time together which made the time fly by. I am not a fan of the track, but running it with a friend makes a big difference and I actually enjoyed the run. 

View Benchmark peak with Jun and Dorsimus:

We decided to mix things up a bit and do VB starting at the Red Rock trailhead. The trail was pretty sloppy as we made our way up Potato Hill. Mud, slush and ice. It made the climb a lot harder than normal. Jun kind of pulled away and Dors and I stayed together. I was trying to stay on the crusty snow as much as possible because where there wasn't snow there was mud. Once we reached the VB trail the wind really picked up and we mostly stayed together, although Jun pulled away again. There was some post-holing to deal with, but I tried to push it where I could. It was windy on top and we didn't stay long. 

The run down was a lot better and we decided to take Ann's trail all the way down to avoid the slop. With about 2 miles to go I started feeling pretty tired. I struggled with energy most of the run. Maybe it was not bringing any water. I'm not sure, but I wasn't feeling great. Dors on the other hand pushed a very strong pace and went out of site meeting us back at the cars. Back at the Ann's trailhead we took the road back to our cars and Jun really put some distance on me as well. They both finished well before I did. It was a much tougher day for me than the mileage would indicate.

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

I was go to take the day off, but ended up doing 4 to stretch my legs.

Lake Mountain solo:

It has been a while since I went up Lake Mountain, so I really wanted to get up there this weekend. I started at 7:30 and it was really warm. I parked down in the neighborhood, turned on my ipod and settled into a slow pace to warm up as I made my way up the trail. After about a mile the ice started and the road was pretty icy for until about mile 2. I could avoid the ice on the side of the road, so it wasn't bad, but slowed me some. After about two miles there was a track in the snow all the way to the saddle. I alternated between a run and a fast hike and only stopped a few times to pee. :)

I made decent time to the saddle, but from there it was horrendous. I had to break trail to the top and the snow conditions were horrible, with a hard icy crust with sugary powder below, so I would sink with every step and my ankles and shins took a pounding from the hard crust. Slow! 1:13 to the top where I took in the views, but didn't stay long. Getting back to the saddle was almost as slow as going up. I re-traced my tracks and slowly made my way down. Back at the saddle I was able to get into a good run and I got progressively faster as I made my way down. When I got past the steepest section I could finally get into a fast pace, which got faster (sub 7) when I finally got off of the ice.

As I came out of the canyon I could hear gunshots and there was a group shooting guns just below me and they kept shooting even though I was only about a hundred yards away and only about 25 yards out of their direct line of fire. They were just blasting away. Gotta love Lake Mountain on the weekend. I got into a great groove and pushed a fast pace all the way back to the car. I love this run.