Summit junkie!

Lake Mountain summit run with my dog:

I wanted a good mountain run that I could get up and down quickly and be home fairly early, so Lake was the perfect choice. I took my dog along for the fun. I started just after sunrise and I figured I would see a few hunters because it was the last day of the deer hunt in Utah. There were more cars than usual at the parking area. Actually there are never other cars, so I knew there were people already up there probably on 4 wheelers.

I ran the first mile and then settled into a nice run/hike the rest of the way up. I would hike the steepest sections and then run everything else. I passed several hunters on 4 wheelers and most of them looked at me like I was nuts. They were all bundled up in thick heavy coats and warm gear and I had on a long sleeve shirt and shorts. I made pretty good time and reached the summit in a sweaty 1:07. I took a gel and checked out the amazing views for a few minutes and then ran back down.

The run down is my favorite part and I love running fast down this mountain. It gives me an adrenaline rush every time. I took it easier on the steep rocky sections, but I was able to move fast the last 3 miles. Total time was 1:45.

I got home just in time to have a nice breakfast with my family. It was a perfect morning.

Weights at the gym for an hour. I worked my upper body and core.

Draper BST with Jun.

Jun and I ran the 10K course for the Half Pregnant Half marathon, which is a free race that Jun is putting on Sat Nov 12th. It was a touch cool, but great running weather. The trail was in near perfect condition and we had a really fun run just chatting the whole way. The views were impressive with the fall leaves covering portions of the trail. At the turnaround we stopped to take in the views and a dog that wasn't on a leash jumped up on me and humped my water bottle for a second. I didn't enjoy it. The run back was nice and easy as well.  It seemed like we were only running for a few minutes, but our total time was 1:02.

Grandeur Peak loop with MattVS and Dragonvulture.

I was up at 4:00 am to meet the guys at the West ridge trailhead. It was cold and slightly breezy, but not too bad. The first half mile the wind was a bother, but after that we didn't notice it until the summit. We definitely didn't push it today. It was a very casual pace and we just chatted the whole way up. We saw a headlamp about .5 behind us and we thought it was Jun.

There were patches of snow and ice on the way up, but nothing serious and then the last 1/4 of a mile was completely snow covered. We hit the summit in 1:13 and decided to wait for Jun. I gagged down a gel and after 10+ minutes we were all getting really cold, so we decided to continue on. Matt went back down because of time commitments and DV and I descended into Church Fork. The trail was icy and it is steep here, so we had to really take care. DV fell once, but nothing serious. I tripped on a jagged stick and almost went down and it gave me a nasty scrape on the back of my leg.

It was slower than normal going down due to the conditions and then we missed the Pipeline turnoff in the dark and ended up going all the way to the Church Fork parking lot. It was only a few minute delay and we got back up on the Pipeline and picked up our pace. We ran the Pipeline to Rattlesnake Gulch and then went down to the canyon road.

On the canyon road we were running a 6:40ish pace down, but DV needed to get home, so he picked it up even more and left me in the dust. I dialed it down to a nice 7:40-8:20 pace back to the cars. I really enjoyed this climb/run even though most of it was in the dark and the cold wasn't too bad as long as we were moving. I had a great time and it was well worth missing a few hours of sleep.

35 minutes at the gym lifting (upper body/core) before I tweaked my back and had to stop. I had major back surgery in 2001 and used to get muscle spasms all the time. I haven't had one in a few years, but it is definitely what I have. I spent the rest of the weekend in pain. Hopefully I won't be out too long.