Summit junkie!

I went out for a nice run on the road today. Yes, the road. It has been quite a while since I did any runing that wasn't on a trail or TM. I actually kind of enjoyed it, although there was a stiff head wind on my way back that wasn't fun at all. I just ran from my house down to the N. Alpine Highway 3.5 miles and then back.

56:31

Mondays = weights at the gym. 60 minutes working my upper body and core.

Will be running Timp tomorrow night with Jun. Come join in the fun.

Jun and I ran Mt. Timpanogos last night and had an excellent time. We met at Kohlers grocery store in Highland just before 10:00 pm and Jun jumped into my car and we headed to the Timpanookee trailhead.

It was cool, but not cold, so I went with a long sleeve synthetic shirt and a synthetic t-shirt on top, which worked great until the summit ridge. I also tied another thicker long sleeve on my waist.

After a few miles we spotted some headlamps about a half mile ahead and we both got excited to have someone to pass. After about 10 minutes we passed two women that were hiking up to ski the glacier in the morning, which we thought was pretty cool.

The run up to the saddle was a lot of fun and we really made good time. Both of us were feeling strong and we both took a few gels on the way to keep up our energy. I did have one fall that was a little below average. I fell right on the same elbow that I fell on at Quest for Kings race, and it was a sharp pain, but went away after a few minutes. Once on the saddle the wind hit us in the face pretty good and I put on my extra shirt. It was cold. It only got colder as we made our way to the summit and by time we were on top (2:15) my hands were numb.

We didn't stay on top long. The run down was fun, but my legs and knees got sore from all of the pounding and I couldn't see all that well, so I wasn't speedy. The trail seemed really good on the way up, but running down it seemed extra rocky and it was hard to get into a good groove.  Jun waited for me a lot. At around mile 12 I took another nasty fall and banged up both of my knees. It took me a few minutes of hiking before I could run again, and I wasn't feeling so hot, but the more I ran the less they hurt.

We made it down in just over two hours and the total time was about 4:28, although Jun did wait for me a lot on the descent. I was home and in the shower by 3:30 and in bed about 3:55 AM. The run beat sleeping by a miiiiiiiiiile!

Jun and I went for a sweet run for lunch today. We started at Alta by the guard shack and ran up the road to the Catherine Pass trailhead, where we continued up to the pass. The weather was perfect and the trail wasn't as crowded as the last time we were up here. It is a really good trail to run and Jun got out in front of me while I worked on some ipod issues, but I caught up to him before the pass.

From the pass we headed up to Mount Tuscarora, where we stopped for a quick break. I had a Hammer gel and then we decided to tag Mt. Wolverine because it is too close to pass up. There are a lot of rocks on the saddle between the two peaks, so it is difficult to run, but we ran where we could. On the summit (1:04) we were greeted by 6-7 ladies that were lounging on top and they probably thought we were weirdos as we did some peak jumping for the camera.

We made much better time on the way down. We went back over Tuscarora and back down to the pass, and then ran fast all the way to the bottom. Actually, Jun ran REALLY fast and I was told by a hiker that I was getting beat (duh). For some reason people love to tell me that on this trail.

Once back to the trailhead we ran fast back to the car. My watch never went over 7:40 and at one point we were running a 5:50 mile pace. It was a lot of fun and the perfect way to spend our lunch break. Back to work.

I had a really good lifting session at the gym this morning. I worked my upper body and then hopped on the elliptical to stretch my legs. Everything feels really good.