Running on Twinkies

Busy day. I wasn't able to get out for a run until 6 p.m. I ran up the Parrish Creek all the way to Skyline drive. This trail is an uphill grind. Some of it I was able to run, but there were section that I had to walk. About four miles up the trail I found that some adventurous bikers had built a series of jumps. One of which looked very dangerous. No bikers were out today. though. I made it up to Skyline Drive in 1 hr 30 min. I wanted to continue on to Bountiful Peak, but I didn't have enough time. I came back down in 50 min. This trail has a lot of swicthbacks that make it really fun to run down.

I drove up to the  mouth of Little Cottonwood Canyon to meet Craig and Aaron for a run. I got there early, so I ran two warmup miles of the Little Cottonwood trail. All three us of rode up to Alta in Craig's car. We ran a large loop which included summiting Mt Baldy (Elevation 11080 ft). The temperature was perfect. Part way up my legs felt heavy and I dropped back a bit from the others guy. On the way down, I was able to keep up, until the last mile when Aaron really poured it on. Felt pretty good overall, but I think I am still recovering from Logan Peak. We took a few pictures, but I will have to put them up later. 

I didn't get a run in today, but here are some pictures from yesterday's run up at Alta with Craig and Aaron.

Craig heading up

Lots of snow

Peak Jump

The quick way down. 

Six easy miles on the roads.

This morning I had a choice to make. I could do an easy run on the roads like I did yesterday or I could run up a mountain. Can you guess which one I chose?

I ran from my house to the top of Cave Peak. It is a small peak just East of Bountiful. It was about 2000 ft of elevation gain. I was surprised how nice the trail was. This trail is not well known and the trail head is difficult to find if you don't know where it is. I felt great this morning and wanted to do more but just didn't have time. 

Today I went to the Red Hot Pinks Chicks 1/2 marathon. I even wore a pink shirt. Connor ran the 5k also decked out in pink, including wearing his sister's tutu. I met a bunch of great ladies at this race and 1 other guy. I met Lily, Kelli, Kellie, Kelly, Michelle, Mckenzie, Ericka, Rachel, Kami, Aubree, Wendy, Josse, Luzy Lew, Marion, and Jon. There were two bloggers there who I had already met, Susanah and Maurine. I met a few others, but didn't get everybody's name. 

It was a nice day for a run. We started at 6:30 a.m. I ran with Connor to the 5k turn around, and then he ran back with Josse. It was good to warm up with a slow start at 11 min miles. After that I picked up the pace and passed a few of the lovely ladies. There were five of them that I was not able to catch. After the turn around point I ate a clif bar. Those are tough to eat while running a  7:30 mile. Coming down the canyon felt good, but I couldn't push the pace faster than a 7 minute mile. I finished in 1:47:55. I had a great time visiting with everyone after the race and eating lots of goodies. These ladies know how to host a fun race. Here are a few pictures from the day. 

Connor and I at the start
 

And there off...
 

Connor finished in 31:55
 

They had great finishers awards at this race.
 

Me and Lily
 

After the race we took the kids to Chuck E Cheese's
 

I got a new pair of shoes, Inov-8 Mudroc 280's. I took them out for a break-in run this morning. The shoes felt really good and reminded me of one of my favorite pairs from the past. I was on a easy trail today, so I will still have to see how they hold up on technical terrain.

Camping + Sick Kids = No Sleep. Despite the lack of sleep, I got up and went for a run. We were camping at Palisades Reservoir in Idaho. I ran up a beautiful trail that went along Big Elk Creek. I went up for 4.5 miles and then came back. I wanted to go further, but that would've made me late for breakfast. 

Tonight I was running on the Bonneville Shoreline trail, coming up the switchbacks out of City Creek. I stopped suddenly because about twenty feet in front of me was a Cow Moose and a calf. I wasn't sure what to do so I just stood there. The Moose led her young off the trail into some scrub oak. Once they were far enough away, I continued on my way. Thats one of the joys of trail running.

Today was a great day, so I celebrated with a quick run on the Bonneville Shoreline Trail.

Four miles easy.

I got up at 2:00 a.m. Only four hours of sleep. I was on the bus to the start at 3:30 a.m. The bus got to the start at 3:50 a.m. The race didn't start until 5:30 a.m. I don't know why they had the buses leave so early. I didn't want to stand around like everyone else just waiting for the start, so I hiked 1.2 miles up to the summit of Big Mountain at an elevation of 8472 ft in the dark.

I made it back down to the race start with plenty of time to spare. I did a few warmup stretches before the start. We started right on time. I ran nice and easy down towards Parley's Canyon. It was a beautiful morning. The only major uphill in this race is between miles 6 and 8. It seemed easier than it has in past years. The weather stayed a little cooler than I was expecting and there was often shade to run in. Towards the end, part of this race goes along the parade route. I gave several little kids high five as I went past. As I was approaching the finish, I heard someone yell "Go Twinkies" but I didn't see who it was. I was surprised to hear the cheer since I was wearing my Jamba Juice shirt and not my Twinkies shirt. I finished in 3:47:01. Not my fastest time for this course, but I was taking it easy today. It turns out that it was Smooth and Teena Marie who cheered me in. I caught up with them again after the finish. 

Today I ran the Speedgoat 50k. This race had some extreme highs and extreme lows. It has been said that it is the hardest 50k in the US. It definitely lived up to that. Karl Melter, the race director and course designer, is one sick sick individual. That being said, I absolutely loved it. 

The course stated out going up. I made it .37 miles before I had to walk for the first time. The up and downs on this course were brutal. The flat sections...wait a second, I don't remember any flat sections. At 8.2 miles we summited Hidden Peak. I felt great at that point. The weather had stayed cool, and I made it up in a little over two hours. From there we summited Mt Baldy. This was a fun easy to run section of the course. Going down the back side of Baldy was a bit treacherous, but they did have some ropes set up for us to hold onto. From there we went down down down into Spanish Fork canyon. The down hill felt pretty good and a passed a few people. At the bottom was an aid station and the half way point. Leaving the aid station I knew we were in for trouble because we had to get back up to Snowbird. Miles 16 - 20 had a lot of walking. Occasionally the was a section that was runnable for 20 to 50 meters. But most of it was walked. When we got up to the backside of Snowbird, we got to run through the tunnel. That was neat. After that we had a steep downhill on a dirt road. I was thinking that we were done with the major climbs, but when I ask a guy who had ran it before, he said the toughest climb was yet to come. It was called Cirque and took us back up to Hidden Peak, just the named sounded tough. Going up that really took a lot out of me. At the peak we were told that it was only five miles to the finish. The down hill was tough, my feet were hurting and I was worn out. I managed to get energy from somewhere and kept running all the way to the finish. I finished in 8:20:45. I am not sure what my place was. I was told before the race that sub 9 hour is good, so I am happy with the time. I have two large blisters, one on each heal and I am also quite sore all over. But other than that I'm doing great.