Summit junkie!

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.