Summit junkie!

Solo Mt. Wire

I wanted to get up early and run Lake Mountain, but I wasn't feeling it this morning, so I decided to do Wire instead. No wind at the start and temps were almost perfect. It took me a few minutes to get going fast because I was messing with my ipod, but as soon as I got the tunes going I picked up my pace. I passed a girl that was running/hiking and as soon as the ridge came into view I could see someone almost to the first saddle, so I decided to push harder to catch them.

I ran as much as I could and when my heart rate would get really high I would switch to a power hike. I was slowly making up ground on the person ahead of me, but I could tell that they were moving pretty fast as well.

At the second saddle I was just a few minutes back, so I knew I would catch them, but I could now see that the person was running every step. I ran/power hiked up to the towers and now I was only about 20 seconds behind. It looked like an older lady, but she was moving well. I ran the ridge and could have passed her, but decided to hang back and reached the summit a few steps after her. My time was just a few seconds over 40 minutes. I had hoped to go under 40, but just missed it. We chatted for a few minutes and she was the nicest lady named Fran, my new hero. She looks to be about 70, but is in tremendous shape and she says she runs Wire a few times per week. I love her already. She normally runs up there a little later than I do, but we were both surprised we hadn't seen each other before. After a few minutes I wished her well and took off down the mountain. The run down was fun and my total time was 1:09

PM- Weights at the gym for 50 minutes. I worked chest and arms with some friends and then worked my shoulders, lats and core on my own.

Sweet run on the Draper Bosho with Jun, Dorsimus and Brent. We had a really fun run just chatting away and enjoying the nice temps. At times we went very casual and then other times Jun put his foot on the gas and charged ahead. Mostly though it was a nice pace and I really enjoyed it. The fall colors were outstanding on the mountain side. My legs were a bit tired after the finish but I felt very good.

Mt. Wire with Jun and MattVS. Peak #60 for the year.

It was cold and breezy at the trailhead when we started at 5:50 this morning. Jun and VS took off fast and I was content not to blow my wad right out of the gate. After it was pretty clear that I wouldn't be running right with them I spent a minute finding some good music on the ipod and settled into a good pace. I wasn't too far back, but Jun was pushing it a bit. By time we reached the ridge I was at least a minute back and by time I got to the first saddle Jun was easily a few minutes ahead with VS just behind him.

At the second saddle Jun was about half way up the final slope and VS was still a few minutes ahead of me. I had a decent pace, but I wasn't pushing as hard as I should have been. Lazy! At the towers the boys passed me on their way down and I finally reached the top just after 46 minutes. I was slow going down. I took my time and made sure I didn't fall. I was very surprised that I couldn't see the guys when I was heading down the steep ridge to the first saddle. I saw a light below that was stopped and I figured it was VS taking a break, but it turned out to be a random hiker that I passed just after the first saddle.

The run down was fun but not fast. I was content to take it easy and enjoy the run. Jun waited for me to make sure I wasn't attacked by a cougar, but we didn't see any older ladies up there today. Jun was flying down and just missed coming in less than one hour round trip. That is FAST.

I woke up early to get in a workout at the gym before work. I worked my upper body/core. My triceps and delts were still slightly sore from Monday which was surprising, so I took it easy on them.

Grandeur Peak loop with Jun, Dorsimus and MattVS.

This is one of my favorite training runs. I met the guys at 7:00 am at the west ridge trailhead. Well, I met Jun and Dors, but Matt was nowhere to be found. His car was there so we speculated about where he was and after about 10 minutes we decided to start and he came running down the trail. Dealing with a case of insomnia he decided to get up early and do a lap to the summit and then meet us for round two. Awesome.

It was pretty windy to start and after about 10 minutes it was calm and warm as we made our way up the ridge. Jun went out a little faster and I spent most of the time on the way up with Dors with Matt not far behind. We reached the summit in 1:11 and took a break to snap some pics and I had a gel. Jun had to go back down because of time constraints, but we continued on down the Church Fork trail to the Pipeline. The fall colors are at a peak right now and the trail was absolutely unreal. Stunning views in every direction. We ran the Pipeline at a pretty casual pace and at Rattlesnake Gulch Matt and I decided to go down to the canyon road instead of up and over the saddle following the Grandeur Fun Run trail. MattVS looked a little disappointed that we weren't going up. Come on Matt, you already had almost 7K in elevation gain on the day. He is definitely a vert whore (one of the reasons I love the guy). 

The run down Rattlesnake was fast and fun, but unfortunately we didn't see the Millcreek flasher to the dismay of everyone. We ran down the canyon road and then back to our car at a pretty decent pace. It was an incredible morning.