Summit junkie!

Solo lunch run on my favorite TM (Mt. Wire).

I wanted to get out and get some elevation today and couldn't pass up this weather, so I took my lunch break and ran/hiked Mt Wire. I felt great the whole way and didn't have any soreness from my run up Kings Peak on Saturday. It was pretty hot, but it didn't bother me at all.

The last time I did Wire I saw a rattle snake, so today I had snakes on my mind. I was watching the trail closer than normal and kept waiting to see one sunning on the trail. At one point the trail was overgrown and I was intently looking for snakes and a grouse jumped out inches from my foot scaring the crap out of me and causing a few choice words out of my mouth. That really put me on edge.

I pushed pretty hard at times and ran where I could reaching the summit in 45 minutes. I didn't stay long. I ran pretty fast all the way down only stopping to water the bushes and check some work email. Total time including all breaks: 1:11.

PM update- I went to the gym and lifted (upper body/core) for an hour.

Solo run on the Dimple Dell gully trail.

I took my lunch break and ran the whole gully trail from the park near the Trax station in Sandy all the way to the top and back. It was very hot, so I took my shirt off and enjoyed the sun. The first mile was a little sluggish, but after that I felt great. I filled my handheld at the bathroom/drinking fountain just past 13th east on the way up and down. I took a gel at the top and then had a quick pace until about a mile left where I bonked a bit and slowed down. I didn't eat much for breakfast and it was catching up to me. It seems like most of my runs lately have been in the afternoon during the heat of the day and I can tell I am getting used to it. The heat didn't bother me at all.

Total time: 1:33

I did my old two mile neighborbood loop that I used to run when I first started running a few years ago. The first mile is downhill and the other half back up.

Horrible run. Sluggish, lethargic, no energy, no legs. Pathetic.

I did another solo lunch run up Mt. Wire today. It was really hot, but the heat isn't bothering me at all. I pushed on everything that wasn't too steep. 44 min up and 1:09 total time.

Up early to lift at the gym. It was dead in there. 50 minutes of core/upper body work. I will fight the urge to climb Wire today.

I met Adam and Julie at 5:00 am and they drove me to the bus pick up where we ran into Lily and their friend Monica. We were dropped off a full hour before the race started. It was cold, but not too bad. After the POP lines got too big I used the woods and was shocked with what I saw. Haha!

I don't have much experience with racing this distance and I have done zero speed work this year, so I wasn't really sure how I would do or what my strategy would be. I decided to just run as fast as I could without getting my heart rate up too high. Just find a comfy quick pace and see what happens. That pace happened to be between 7:20 and 7:40 most of the race. I did go into the 6's on the down hills, but never pushed. Another goal I had was to never let my pace go into the 8's and I was very successful with that one even on the hills. I really had a great time running this race. I never felt fatigued and I just enjoyed watching and chatting with other runners along the way.

At about mile 11 there are a few hills and I loved powering up them and passing quite a few runners. The last two miles I passed 25-30 people and I think the only person that passed me was Julie's husband Adam. He was moving well. The last mile I picked it up running in the 6's and even sub 6 at the end. I definitely had much more in the tank when I finished and I think I could have gone faster, but I did not want to bonk and flame out with a few miles left, so I think I did the right think by not pushing too hard.