Running on Twinkies

I slept in this morning so I didn't get my run in until after work. 3.2 miles at an easy pace.

I ran up the Wild Rose Canyon Trail today. It was very wet and muddy from the thunder storm last night. Some of the uphill was slick, an added challenge I hadn't planned on. This a short trail, just as you think 'hey, this is a fun trail', its over. The trail meets up with the North Salk Lake Pipeline Trail. I ran a it for a bit, then came back down the same way I went up.

I won't be getting in a whole lot of miles this week, but if I can gete a run in everyday, I will be doing good.

I ran with the Dirt Tours with the Front run club tonight. We ran up City Creek Canyon. I did a mile warmup before going with the group. We ran the trail that parallels the road up the canyon. The trail is 3 miles long, we did an out an back for 6 miles total. The trail was very green today. Lot of new growth and vegetation. 

On the back way down Nate took off really fast. I decided to open it up a bit and see how fast I could run the downhill without my knees hurting. I caught up with Nate once, but he ended up beating me down. I was surprised by how fast I was able to come down. My average pace for the downhill was 7:30 per mile. The trail is mile 13 thru 16 of the Wahsatch Steeplechase which I am running next Saturday. Hopefully I will be able to run it as fast as I did today after running 13 miles.

I played Nintendo Wii Fit for 30 minutes. Does that count for anything?

Today I went to the Utah Running Club Races. I didn't race today though. My wife, Susie, ran her first 10k. I stayed at the park to watch the kids. All of the kids ran a race today too. The three youngest did a 200 meter race. I ran along side Evan to keep him going. He finished last, but it was fun. Connor ran the 1 mile. He did great coming in at 9:33. Susie did great on her race she came in at 58:30. That is a faster pace than she ran her last two 5k's.

I didn't get my run in until the afternoon. I went up to the Mueller Park Trail today. The weather was perfect. I made it up to Elephant Rock in 40 minutes and kept going up the trail. I made it to Rudy's Flat in 1:15. Rudy's Flat is 6.25 from the trailhead with an elevation gain of 1900 ft. I rested at the top for a minute then headed back down towards Mueller Park. I saw five deer while out on my run. Of course it may have been only two deer, because I never saw more the two at once. Towards the end of the run my legs were feeling fatigue and I couldn't keep up the strong downhill pace that i had been doing. I made it down in 59 minutes.

This is the longest run I have done since April. I am running the Wahsatch Steeplechase one week from today. Hopefully I will be ready.

Just an easy morning run to loosen my legs up.

I was planning on running the pipeline trail with the Dirt Tours run club tonight, but we got rained out. I don't mind running in the rain, but the lightning in the canyon makes me a bit nervous. 

Today I ran the Wahsatch Steeplechase. I have been wanting to run this race for several years and finally did it this year. The day before the race I received an email that if the rain was bad the course would be altered and ran on the road. We have gotten a lot of rain in Salt Lake these last two weeks. The weather held out this morning and didn't rain during the whole race. I am glad that they didn't do the alternate course because I really enjoy the trails.

There were several bloggers in this race today. A few of them I met for the first time. The bloggers I saw today were Jon, Jun, Mojo, and Flyonthewall.

The course starts out in Memory Grove and heads up the canyon to City Creek Canyon. From there is gets on the Bonneville Shoreline Trail and the uphill begins. I started out slow, because I knew the hills were coming. I was in a group of several runners and passing on the single track was difficult, but I managed to get around three people. A guy in green shirt passed me and commented, "Not carrying any water, You must be hard core." Ya, hard core or stupid. We continued up the trail to the pipeline intersection. This was where the first aid station was. From there we headed up the ridge.

I had a good pace up the ridge and there was usually enough room to pass somebody. I played leap frog with a few guys until we got to the steep part. The trail headed straight up the mountain and it was steep. I had wanted to run all of the uphill, but I had to walk this part. My split time for that mile was terrible.

After the steep section we had more uphill to get the the Crags. The Crags are a large rock formation that stretches across the tops of Black Mountain. Most of this section had to be walked as well. At one spot we even had to climb down a small stretch of rock. They had two volunteers at that point in case anybody needed help. When I reached the top of Black Mountain I paused for a few seconds and took in the view. It was at an elevation a 8150 ft.

Next came the brutal descent. We headed down to Smugglers Gap. Just before getting there, there was a toy monkey hanging from a tree which was banging symbols. The second aid station was at Smugglers Gap. I drank some water and grabbed a few gummy berries.

Because of the technical nature of the previous section I had to go slow. So when I got to the downhill I had lots of energy and tried to open things up. Parts of the Smugglers Gap trail were nice and soft and could easily be run and other section were very overgrown and had to be walked. There were two steep sections that had a rope along side the for support. The rope was needed today.

That trail came out on to a really nice trail that lead to the top of City Creek Canyon Road. The third aid station was at the top of the road. I made a quick pit stop in the outhouse. Heading down the road I was able to go at a really good pace and had my fastest mile split. The course continued down the road for a few miles then went onto the trail that parallels the road. The soft trail was nice relief from the pounding road.

Part way down the trail I feeling fatigue and couldn't hold a strong pace. I came to the fourth and final aid station. I drank some water and grabbed some M&M's. They gave me the kick that I needed but it didn't last to the finish.

The trail came down to the road and I got passed by two girls who I had passed way back on the downhill. I didn't want them to pass me but didn't have the strength to keep up with them. I just kept going as fast as I could. We were going down the same road that we had gone up at the start and I was struggling to get a 9:30 mile. On the way up I was doing an 8:30 pace.

The finish wasn't really mark, the race just sort of ended at the park. I was shooting to come in at 3:20 and was about ten minutes under that. I don't know what my place was but I will update when it is posted on line. It was fun race and I will definitely run it again. I have listed my splits only to show how crazy of a race this is.

mile 1 - 9:17

mile 2 - 12:50

mile 3 - 11:14

mile 4 - 11:33

mile 5 - 12:05

mile 6 - 13:49

mile 7 - 23:03

mile 8 - 20:46

mile 9 - 11:32

mile 10 - 9:45

mile 11 - 7:05

mile 12 - 7:29

mile 13 - 8:15

mile 14 - 8:44

mile 15 - 9:30

mile 16 - 9:23

last .4 - 8:45

Five miles nice and easy today. I am recovering from the Wahsatch Steeplechase on Saturday. Saturday night I could hardly bend my legs. Sunday I felt better but things my muscles were very stiff. Today, well, my quads are tight, my knees ache, and both achilles are sore, but I was able to get a run in.

Ran with the Dirt Tours tonight. We started at the Sunnyside Trailhead across from the zoo. We ran on the upper part Bonneville Shoreline Trail over to Red Butte Canyon and then ran the Circuit around the canyon. I not really sure if its officially called the Circuit, but that is what I call it. It was a challenging run this soon after Wahsatch Steeplechase, but if was fun. After the Circuit we ran the lower part of the Bonneville Shoreline Trail back to the trailhead.

I ran on the Mueller Park Trail up to Elephant Rock and back today. The trail was very wet. It rained on and off a little during the run but wasn't to bad.

3 miles just before bed.

Today I started my run at Cheese Park and headed North to the Deuel Creek Trail. I went up the canyon about a mile then came back down.

Today I sent in my registration for the Logan Peak Trail Run. So it's now official, I will be running 28 miles next weekend.

We went camping last night at Fort Beuna Ventura. This morning we got up and I ran 6.5 miles around the park with my wife. She had already ran 3 with my mom before I ran with her. It was good that we got our run done in the morning because it rained all afternoon.

I warmed up with 1.25 miles on the road the walked up to Mueller Park where Dirt Tours was meeting tonight. I met Maurine there tonight, it was nice to finally meet you. We had a good turn out tonight, some trail runners Ryan and Lindsay came and also Nate, the run organizer.

When we started up the trail, Nate was in the lead and he was setting a fast pace. I kept up with him for about 2 miles then he disappeared ahead of me on the trail. On the way up we passed two scouts troops. We also ran passed a group of four bikers who were heading up the trail. I love that feeling. I ran hard but didn't see Nate again untill Elephant Rock. My time up was 35 minutes, 10 min mile average pace. Nate and I waited at the top for a few minutes, but we weren't sure if the other runners we going to run all the way to the Rock or not.

As we headed back down we ran into to Maurine who was almost to the top. She told us that Ryan and Lindsay had turned around at the bridge. So we headed continued on down as she headed up the trail.

Shortly after leaving Maurine we heard the sound of motor bikes coming down the trail behind. Yes, motorbikes are aloud on this trail but I have not seen them on it much. The motor bikes caught to us and passed us. Neither of them had on helmets and they were going fast. Nate and I comented on how stupid it was for them to be riding like that withouts helmets. I was a little worried about the hikers heading up the trail that could be hit by these guys, but luckily there bikes are loud enough to give hikers enough time to get off the trail. It wasn't ong before we caught up with the bikers. One of them had wrecked and fallen off the trail. I ask if he was alright. He said he was fine and we continued on.

The bikers were now behind us again. We caught us with Ryan and Lindsay and warned them that these idiots were coming. The bikers caught up with us and passed again, but this time I decided to give them a run for their money. I went into high speed down hill gear and stayed right on there tails. I was doing about a 5:30 minute mile. They stopped at a little viewpoint and I flew passed them. The race was on. I stayed ahead of them for the next half mile but finally let them pass me on the switchbacks. I made it to the parking lot just before they left.

That is the fastest down hill I have done in a long time. My knee feels better right now than it should after blasting down that hill. We'll see how it feels in the morning.

When I came home from work, my wife had just finished making a batch of granola. So I had a bowl and went out for a run. I took it easy tonight. Just wanted to get stretched out good before Logan Peak this Saturday.

Today I ran the Logan Peak Trail Run. It is a gruelling run that starts in Logan, goes all the way to the top of Logan Peak, and then comes back down to Logan.  After about 1/2 mile the course turned and I was able to count the number of people in front of me.  I was in about 50th place...don't ask me why I counted to 50 while running.  I was able to pass a few people up dry canyon.  The first aid station was at the top of dry canyon.  The aid stations for this race were awesome!     I ate some dried fruit, drank some electorlytes and grabbed a few pretzels.  The trail continued up out of the canyon.  There was a tree that had fallen down that we had to climb over.  While crossing I hit the back of my hand on a pointy branch and drew blood.  Our next challenge was snow.  Well, I thought it was snow until I tried to cross it and it turned out it was ice.  It was only about 6 feet to get across it but it was a technical challenge.  This was the 1st of many snow crossings.  After the snow we got a little relief with some downhill.  The 2nd aid station was about mile 12.  This would also be the 3rd aid station after running an out and back course to the peak.  On the trek up to the peak, I was able to see the lead runners coming down.  And again I counted to see my current place and I had moved up to 28th.  When I got to the top of the peak I ran around the radio tower, I think you only had to touch the radio tower and then head back down.  The views from the peak were great.  Coming down from the peak, there was a lot of snow so I had to use my 12" skiis...sometimes bigger feet are an advantage.  I had to decide whether I wanted to run in mud, snow, or alternate between the two.  At one point I stepped in the mud and my foot dissapeared into it.  Then it came out with a sloshing sound.  When I got to the 3rd aid station I stayed there a little longer to get fueled up and also to talk to Maureen who was reaching it for the 1st time.  I told her how much fun going up to the peak was.  The next section had a lot of uphill, most of which I walked.  Finally the uphills ceased and I started the descent into dry canyon.  Just before reaching the 4th aid station, which was the same one as the 1st, I came to a natural spring so I stopped and washed my hands and splashed water on my face.  At the aid station I took my longest break.   I got fueled up, caught my breath and headed down.  Going down the rocky trail, I got a little sharp rock in my shoe and had to stop and take my shoe off to take it out.  I figure this is why I didn't come in 1st.  Coming down dry canyon I knew I was close to the finish, but I'd been running for over 5.5 hours and my legs were telling me they were done.  Occasionally I would find myself walking on the downhill and had to mentally force myself to start running again.  I completed the race in 6:11:51.  I think I came in the top 30 but I'm not sure.  At the prize drawing after I got a bottle of cactus juice.  I guess you spray it on your body, not drink it.  I forgot to put on sunblock before the race and got a little red.  This race was 28 miles so I'm going to count it as my 1st ultra-marathon.  It was a blast and I'd love to do it again. 

Of course I didn't run today. I am not that crazy.