Summit junkie!

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. :)