Running on Twinkies

Happy New Year!!!

I decided to start the year off good with a 10 mile run in the snow. I ran South from my house to the Bonneville Shoreline trail head. Then ran up to the second set of radio towers. The final mile up the the second tower (all uphill) took me 16:34. The next mile (downhill) was 9:01. I really enjoyed the trail today. It was soft packed most the way with a few deep spots. The sky was clear and the air was clean today.

Since its a new year, it's time for a new set of goals. Last year I set a goal to run a sub 3 hr marathon. I didn't get there. I only ran one marathon which was the Mid-Mountain Marathon. I am shooting for sub 4 hr on that course. This year my marathon goal will be 3:15. I plan on doing that at the Teton Dam marathon in June. My big goal for this year is to complete a 100 miler. I am planning on running the Pony Express 100 in October. Other than that my main focus is going to be to train consistently and not slack off.

I am still working on putting together my race schedule for 2010. Look for it in the next week.

I am copying last years results hear so that I have a record of them.

I am off to a good start. I have ran every day this year.

Today's run was a big loop and a little loop. It was snowing lightly when I started, but stopped by about mile three. I ran from my house to Center Street in North Salt Lake, then went West to the Legacy Parkway Trail. On my way to the trail I stepped off the curb right into a large slushy puddle. It took four steps to get out of it, all of which were about ankle deep. I had wet feet for the rest of the run. I did five miles on the Legacy Parkway Trail. The snow was choppy and not near as nice as yesterday's run on the Bonneville Shoreline Trail. I got off the trail at Pages Lane and headed back towards the mountains. There were some good hills in this section. I came back South on 400 East and then on Davis Blvd. When I got close to my house I had only gone 16.3 miles. I wanted to do a bit more so I turned up Indian Springs Rd, which is a nasty uphill for a 1/2 mile. I then headed over to North Canyon park and looped back down to my house.

The run ended up being 18 miles, giving 60 miles for the week. I think this is my highest mileage week ever. Even longer than the week I ran a 50 miler. 

Eight miles easy this morning. I ran North to Twin Hollow Park then did a mile on the Bonneville Shoreline trail. 

I was talking with my sister in law over the holidays and  trying to explain why I love to run. I guess some people just can't understand the joy of getting out of a nice warm bed to go running in the freezing cold.

My running has slacked off this week. Work has been busy and my arthritis has not been behaving. So today I needed a motivational run. I ran the Mueller Park trail up to Elephant Rock. That did the trick. There is something special about trail running. Maybe the trails have a mystical power that just makes me feel better. Or perhaps it's getting away from the smog and exhaust and just breathing clean air. I'm not sure what it was, but today's run felt great. The trail was hard packed all the way to the rock. There were even some tracks up higher, but I didn't have time to go up higher today. Hopefully, today's run was enough to get me back into a regular routine next week. 

Bonneville Shoreline Trail. 4.5 miles. Most of the trail was hard packed snow, but there were a few short sections where the snow had melted and I could run on dirt.

Today's run was an inversion diversion. There was a heavy fog in Bountiful this morning. I decided to rise above it. I drove up to the Bountiful 'B' and ran up Skyline Drive. I got out of the nasty air and it was great. The stars were out and I could see the fog down in the valley. The peak of the Bountiful Temple was just poking through the fog. Everything else was below it. Sure is nice to run in clean air.

Today I met up with Craig, Scott, and Kam to run the Mueller Park trail. It was a little cold when we started but not bad once we got going. The trail up to Elephant rock was great. It had been well traveled the snow was packed really well. Scott turn around at that point and the rest of us headed on up. The next mile was very choppy. The trail had been traveled but not near as much. Some steps stayed on top of the snow and others broke through sometimes even up to our knees. We took turns leading out and ended hiking the last two miles up to Rudy's Flat. At Rudy's Flat we were on packed trail again which was great because we were now going downhill. The downhill helped make up some time for our slow uphill snowy miles. At the bottom of North Canyon we hit the boring part, the road. We finished the last few miles of the run on the road back to the trailhead. I have done this run before in the Summer, but not in the Winter. I have wanted to run it in the Winter for a while. Thanks for running it with me guys.

My work sent me to New York this week and I didn't get any running in. I am back now, so today I ran the Mueller Park Trail. When I got to the trail head there was one other car there and there were three sets of tracks heading up in the fresh snow. There was about 2 to 4 inches of fresh powder on the trail. I didn't know how far ahead of me the group was or if they were running or hiking, but I decided I was going to try to catch them. About 1.5 miles up the trail, I caught up with them. It was two guys and a girl running up the trail. After I passed them I was breaking trail in the fresh snow.Towards the top the snow was about 6 inches deep of soft snow with hard packed snow underneath. I made it up in 43 minutes. Coming down I passed that group again and fives other hikers coming up the trail. By the end of the day today the trail will probably be nice and packed down. 

Best of luck to all of the runners who are doing the Painters half marathon in St George today.

Five miles easy this morning while breaking in a new pair of shoes. This Saturday I am running the Kahtoola Bigfoot Snowshoe Festival 50k. The pair of shoes I wore this morning are the same as my current trail run shoes (New Balance 790's). I thought it would be good to have a second pair of shoes on hand at the race in case the first pair get two wet and cold. I was planning on running the race without snowshoes, which the website for the race said was aloud, but yesterday I got an email that said that in order to be considered for the overall awards you have two wear snowshoes. Well, on the odd chance that I might win, I guess I'll will be running in snowshoes. I have never ran with snowshoes before, so this should be interesting. 

Today I ran my second 50k. The Kahtoola Winter Snowshoe Festival. It was in Midway at Wasatch Mountain State Park. The entire race was in the snow in snowshoes. My first time running in snowshoes was the first step of the race. I don't own snowshoes, but Kahtoola, one of the race sponsors had several pair there for us to demo. OK, let me explain how this race works, pay close attention because this can get confusing. The course consisted of two loops, a 10k loop called the golf loop, and a 5k loop called the mountain loop. Each loop came back to the start. To complete the 50k the course was ran in this order 10k, 5k, 10k, 10k, 5k, 10k. The 10k course was a figure 8 loop on the golf course and had an elevation gain of 882 feet. The entire 10k was on a groomed trail that was about 12 feet wide.

The 5k loop was a lollipop loop. It was a single track trail that went up the mountain a ways then did a large loop up and around the mountain. The 5k loop had an elevation gain of 1211 feet. Being that it was half the distance of the 10k, it had some difficult ascents.

Since we did these loops multiple times. It made the total elevation gain 5950 feet. This race is put on by the same race director who does Squaw Peak 50. After the pre-race meeting he asked if there were any questions. Someone asked "Why are we doing this?" His response "Because you're crazy." At 8:10 a.m. we were off. in the first half mile I released I didn't have my snowshoes adjusted right. I tried to fix them, but it didn't seem to work. I stopped several times in the first two miles to fix the snowshoes. At about mile 2.5 I stopped again. I happened to stop right by another runner named Brian. He helped me get them adjusted the right way. Thanks Brian. After that they weren't much trouble. Original I was planning on running each 10k in 1 hour. After my loop the time said 1:12. I guess 1 hour was a bit ambitious. Well, with one round of golf done, it was time to head up the mountain. I have done a lot of trail running in the past and have trained on lots of hills. I was thinking I could run the entire mountain loop. Not. I made it up the first mile, but as the hills got steeper and longer I had to walk them. I ran as much of it as I could. Towards the top it was really steep. The downhill was a blast. It was just as steep as the uphill. I think I might have been able to run the downhill faster without snowshoes, but I probably would have fallen a lot especially on the sharp corners. I completed the 5k loop in 38 minutes. At this point I had to go into the visitors center for a pit stop. Luckily there was an open stall. My pit stop cost me about 8 minutes. The second round of golf was more difficult than the first, but I was able to run most of it. The third round of golf was even more difficult. These 'lightweight' snowshoes that were strapped to me feet were starting to feel like giant ice blocks. I walked a fair amount in this loop. Towards the end of this loop I got passed by a girl who was moving at a fast pace. She didn't chick me though, because she was just finishing the 25k race and I was at 35k. So technically I was 6 miles ahead of her. At this point my feet were soaked. I stopped into the visitors center and changed to dry socks and dry shoes. I brought two pair of the same shoe for this race. This little stopped cost me about 15 minutes. I headed out for my second attempt at the mountain. Imagine running a marathon and after 22 miles you come to a hill that goes up and up and up for a mile and a half. I didn't go up real fast this time, but I was able to pass one lady who was from St Louis and was really struggling. After completing that loop I had just one more loop on the golf course. During this loop I crossed the marathon mark at 6:52. Not a PR by any means, in fact it is more than twice as slow as my PR. When I hit the 7 hour mark, I was thinking how crazy it was to run in snowshoes for that long. I finally made it to the finish and crossed the finish line at 8:04:18. So glad to be done. I don't know what my place was but there were 18 people that started the race and 6 of them dropped out after 25k. There were only twelve of us dumb enough to finish. There were at least 4 or 5 people behind me, so I came in in the top ten. I am pretty sore right now and have one toenail that is dark purple. 

  Q. Is this one of the craziest races I have ever done? A. Definitely!!

Q. Would I do it again? A. You know it!!

Last night my toenail fail off. I have been a runner all my life and this is the first time that I have lost a toenail. The results for the 50k were posted and I came in fifth out of eleven finishers. Today I ran 5 easy miles on the treadmill. My right achilles is very tender. I can run on it, but it let's me know it's there and tell's me not to run too fast or too far. As few more days of taking it easy, then I can hit it hard again.

Eight miles before the sun came up.

I ran the Mueller Park trail today. The snow was very deceptive causing me to face plant four times. Once on the way up and three times on the way down. One of the times on the way down, I landed on my chest in the snow and slid about six feet. KerSpalsh!! 

Yesterday, for a Valentine's/Early Birthday gift my sweet wife gave me a pair of snowshoes. So this morning I tried them out. I drove up to Wild Rose Canyon. The snowshoes worked great, but I had forgotten how steep the trail is. It climbs 1000 ft in the first 1.5 miles. After that it levels off and I was able to run comfortably. I turned around at a trail intersection that is two miles up the trail. The uphill took me 35 minutes. Running downhill on the snowshoes felt great. the snow was choppy and uneven, but I was able to keep a good rhythm going. The downhill took me 21 minutes. My right achilles is still sore from the 50k. Hopefully it will heal soon, because I am ready to run.

I wanted to do another snowshoe run today, but thought I should give my legs a rest. So instead I did 8 miles on the treadmillwhile my wife was watching olympic figure skating. Tomorrow I might head out on the snowshoes again.

I took the snowshoes out again. I ran the Bonneville shoreline trail to the radio towers. Unfortunately the trail was 50% snow and 50 % dirt. I ended up taking the snowshoes off and carrying them for part of the run. When I got above the second set of radio towrs there was enough snow again. I wore the snowshoes up the the third set of radio towers and back down to the second set (1.5 miles).  After that, I took off the snowshoes and carried them for the rest of the run. My arms got a good workout.

6.5 miles on the treadmill while watching women's snowboarding at the olympics.

I did some miles at marathon pace today to remember what it feels like to run fast.

It's a girl!!!!!!

There is a new addition to the Twinkies' family. Last night at 6:15 p.m. Eliza Anne Ricks was born. She came weighing 9 lbs 11 oz and was 21.5 inches long. 

I managed to squeeze in 4 miles.

I took today off from work because of the new baby. My mother came down to help out, so this afternoon I was able to head out for a run. I ran the Mueller Park Trail. Today was a day for settings records. I set a new personal best for my fastest ascent to Elephant Rock in the Winter. I made it up in 35:16 (10:22 per mile). That is normally a great time during the Summer. I also made it down in record time. Only 23:37 (6:56 per mile). I'm not sure what it was that made me run so fast today, but I liked it.  

Fresh snow. I had to take advantage of it. I grabbed my snowshoes and hit the trail. The was only a skiff of snow at my house, but at the Mueller park trail there was lots of snow. There was about 2 inches at the base and 4 to 6 inches as I got up higher. The snowshoes worked great on the fresh powder. It is a killer workout. I was short on time and it started snowing really hard, so I only made it up two miles. This Saturday I am going to do it again and go all the way to elephant rock on snowshoes.

Sometimes my big running goals can seem a bit overwhelming, so I have to set smaller goals that are easier to accomplish. The goal for today was to get out of bed and go for a run. I nailed it.

Yesterday was my birthday. I turned 33. So to celebrate, I am going to run 33 miles tomorrow. I will start at my house, go up to Bountiful Blvd and head South to the Bonneville Shorline trail. From there I will go up to the radio towers, drop into City Creek Canyon and head up to the capitol. Craig and Scott are going to join me at the capitol. Together we will run up City Creek, get on the Bonneville Shorline trail heading South again, run down Dry Creek canyon, across Red Butte, and over to Sunnyside Drive by the zoo. Then we will turned around and head back to the capitol over the same route. When we get back to the capitol, Craig is going to continue on with me back to my house. If my calculations are correct, it should be 33 miles.

The alarm went off at 4 a.m. I got up and made the necessary preparations for the day. I was out the door and started running at 4:32 a.m. Today's run was a challenge run. I turned 33 years old this week and decided to run 33 miles as a Birthday Challenge. I ran up to Bountiful Blvd and headed to the Bonneville Shoreline trail. When I got to the trail, I also got to the snow. Earlier in the week, when I planned this run, the trails were dry. Then Thursday night it snowed 6 inches. Some of the snow had melted, so there was a thin crust of snow over most of the trail. I headed up the the radio towers, then down into City Creek. I was coming down the trail where it meets the road. It was still dark out and there was a thin sheet of ice across the road. When my feet hit hit the ice they were swept out from under me. I scraped my elbow and got a bruise on my backside, but it was nothing serious. I headed up to the capitol building. I got there at 6:02 which was two minutes late because I was meeting Craig and Scott there. The three of us ran back up City Creek and back onto the Bonneville shoreline trail heading south. The trail was very choppy. There were several sections that had been heated up the day before and were now frozen. We took the trail all of the way to the bottom of Dry Creek. At this point I had gone 16.5 miles which was half way so we turned around. Coming up out of Dry Creek was difficult and slow for me. Towards the top of Dry Creek I passed a fly. The level parts of the trail were runable, but I was walking the uphill at this point. By the time I got to the bottom of City Creek I was out of water. I had to borrow some from Scott. Thanks Scott. When ran back to the capitol and the vehicles. Scott had brought some food, so I refueled. After resting for a few minutes, I said goodbye to my running partners and headed off on my own for the last nine miles. The hill coming out of City Creek was a challenge. I ran when I could but walked most of the way up. I was very excited at the top of the hill. I only had five miles left and it was easy running. I made it back to the paved roads, which were quite boring. The last three miles were on the road. I crossed the 50k mark at 7:01, which is an hour faster than the 50k I ran a month ago. I made it all the way to mile 33. It took me 7:25:34. 

Conclusion: I ran 33 miles up and down hills big and small, through snow, ice, slush, and mud, and finished with a smile on my face. A big smile. 

I was feeling pretty good this morning, so I cranked out 2 miles. If you missed Saturday's post, be sure to check it out.

Four miles in a button up shirt, slacks, and dress shoes.

6.5 miles on the treadmill.

I met Craig and Scott at the Sunnyside trailhead across from the zoo at 6 am this morning. We headed up the Bonneville Shoreline trail, then veered off and up the ridge line to Mount Wire. That is the mountain with th two square screens on top of it. Heading up that way is steep and more of a hike than a run. I made it up in 45 minutes. Craig came up shortly after. We were graced with a beautiful sunrise over Emigration Canyon. While on top Craig and Scott taught me the art of peak jumping. Look for pictures on Craig's blog. We headed down from there the up the smaller summit of Red Butte. At the top of Red Butte the was a bald eagle perched on a rock. He took off as we got close. From Red Butte there is a very technical downhill. Which took took us down to the living room. The living room is a group of rocks that look like a couch and a recliner. More downhill after that but it was runable. We came down pretty fast. After that we were thinking about summiting Mt Vancott, but decided to run the Red Butte loop instead. It probably had as much elevation gain as Vancott but it wasn't all at once. Then back along the Shoreline trail to our vehicles. Ended up with 9.44 miles. It was a great morning.

I wasn't able to get my run in until around 7 p.m. I ran on the Legacy Parkway trail starting at Center Street. At 24th South I crossed over Legacy Parkway on the pedestrian bridge. Legacy Parkway trail is very flat and the only resemblance of hills is when you cross the parkway. At 5th South I crossed back over the parkway. Just passed mile marker 5 I crossed the parkway again, this time through a tunnel underneath, and headed over to Bountiful Pond. To my surprise, the restrooms at the pond were open. I'm glad it's Spring. Not that I don't love Winter, but most of the restrooms at public parks and such are locked during the Winter. I made one loop around the pond, then headed back the way I had come. 11.71 miles total, average pace: 9:10.

Four miles nice and easy. I am running the Buffalo Run 50 miler this Saturday. I might do another light run tomorrow, but if not, this will be my last run before the race.

Somehow my race report got posted on Thursday instead of Saturday. It has now been moved.

No miles today. I pick up my race packet for the Buffalo Run 50 Miler last night. It got me very excited for the race. I hope the weather tomorrow is better than the weather today.

6 mile recovery run on the treadmill. Everything feels okay. I don't think I have any long term injuries from the 50 miler.

It snowed here the last two days. This morning I grabbed my snowshoes and headed up to Mueller Park. The snow on the trail was nice and soft. I was only able to get in three miles this morning. running in snowshoes is a killer workout.

I ran to the top of Mt wire this morning with Scot and his friend Matt. Scott and I ran together up to the ridgeline, then he faded back. There was a fair amount of snow the whole way up. In some spots I was sinking to my knees. The wind was blowing hard towards the top and it was very cold. I was the first one to the top. I made it up in 53 minutes. It was so cold that I decided not to wait for the others to come up. I had to keep moving. I headed down the North side and down the gully between Red Butte and Wire. There was a lot of snow in the gully. It was about a foot deep for the first half. When I got back to the vehicles I saw a runner run down the road with a race number on, and then a second runner with a number just behind him. I realized that it was the final stretch of the Salt Lake 10 miler and they were finishing at This is the Place Park.

My son joined the blog last night, but his blog isn't up just yet. Watch for Twinkie the Kid. Have a great Easter Everyone.  

I set the treadmill to 7 mph and ran for an hour.

Hill workout today. I ran up and down several hills on the roads in North Salt Lake. Then I got on the Wild Rose Trail and ran up it. The trail had some snow, but it wasn't to bad.

Today I attempted to run to the top of Bountiful Peak. I was originally planning on running the Bonneville Shoreline Trail Marathon today, but because of some other commitments later in the day I wasn't able to. At 5 a.m. I got out of my car in the parking area near the Bountiful 'B'. I was doing some stretching when I noticed something reflect off of my headlamp. I looked over and saw a pair of eyes starring at me. It was dark and all I could see were the eyes. I had a sudden moment of panic, but then the eyes moved and I realized that it was just a deer. 

I headed up Skyline Drive. The first three miles were hard packed dirt. The next fives miles were packed snow that had been traveled by snowmobiles and 4 wheel drive vehicles. All of these miles were gradual uphill. At 8 miles the snowmobile tracks turned off of the road that I was heading on. There had been no track on that section of road since the last storm. I trudged through the snow for about another mile. I was getting short on time and the snow was making things difficult, so I turned around early. I think it was another 2.5 miles to the peak.

The downhill took me a few miles to get into a good groove. Towards the end I was doing a good pace. I will have to attempt Bountiful Peak again in a month or so when there isn't as much snow. 

I am in North Carolina for work this week. But that didn't stop me from finding a trail to run on. I found a nature trail that was a loop through a forest. It was a wide dirt trail with two bridges, but it was only .62 miles long. I ran the loop ten times. I went easy for the first mile, then I picked up the pace and ran between 7 and 8 minute miles for the rest. 

Today I found a park that had several paved trails in and around the park. I was just going to run easy but there were other people running on the trails and make competitive nature came out. At one point my gps said I was doing a 6:20 pace.

I came back home today. Around 6 p.m. I headed out to the Mueller Park Trail. The trail was muddy, snowy, slushy and icy. The terrain was constantly changing. After 2 miles there wasn't any more dirt, just snow. The snow was very soft and I was sinking in two knees at times. At 2.4 miles I sunk in passed my knees and decided to turn around. When I got back to the trail head, I hadn't gotten in as many miles as I was hoping too, so I ran the switchbacks a second time.

I ran on the Bonneville Shoreline Trail this morning up to the radio towers. There wasn't any snow on this trail. It was great. I was wearing the race shirt from the 2006 Ogden marathon and passed a guy going the other direction who was wearing the same shirt. The were lots of people out running a biking this morning. Now that the snow is melting everyone wants to get in shape. But those who trained hard through the winter are the ones that will turn heads at the Summer races.

Eight miles on a Monday morning. I started a new challenge this week. Stay tuned to the next blog or two for the details.

I mentioned yesterday that I started a new challenge. Here is what it is. Each year the descendants of my Grandparents get together for a family reunion. This year they are doing a healthy challenge that starts now and ends at the family reunion in July. Everybody that wants to do it puts in $20 and the person with the most points at the end wins. Here is how the points work. There is a maximum of four points per day. One point for drinking 8 glasses of water. One point for exercising for 30 minutes. One point for getting 6 hours of sleep. One point for not eating any junk food. The exercise is not required on Sunday, so there is one other point for the week if a personal goal is met. The personal goal does not half to be health related. The earning of points is done on the honor system, and each person can decide what they consider junk food. The junk food will be the most difficult one for me. I am used to eating whatever I want and not worrying about what is inside of it. The worst part is that I have not found a way to justify twinkies as being healthy. So far I have the full points possible, but it is only the second day.

For todays run I did a large hill workout. I ran up the Sessions Mountain Trail. I only went up 1.5 miles, but gained an elevation of 1600 ft.  If you're doing the math, that's a 20% grade. I came back down the way I went up, which was a steep downhill. When I got off of the trail, I did a 1.5 mile cooldown.

Bonneville Shoreline Trail.

I wasn't able to get a run in earlier today. So I cranked out five miles on the treadmill just before bed.

Another five on the treadmill. While running I was watching the news and saw an amazing clip from a baseball game. The player was running from third base to home and leaped over the catcher doing a hand spring of of home plate.

I met Scott at the Centerville Peak trail head at 6 a.m. this morning. Neither of us had been up that trail before and we weren't sure were the peak was. We started up the trail and there were lots of switchbacks. The trail was very runnable and just kept going back and forth across the hillside. When had gone about three miles when we hit snow. The snow had a hard pack on the top and we were able to stay on top of it. After 4 miles we really couldn't see the trail anymore and just headed up the face of the mountain.  The peak was right at five miles. It was beautiful up there this morning, but a bit windy on the peak. We had climbed about 4000 ft. We took a few pictures on top. I accidentally dropped Scott's camera while he was showing me how to use it. It seemed to be okay. Let me know if anything is broke on it Scott, and I will replace it. See Scott's blog for the pictures. 

The down hill was a blast. I ran down the snow conservatively, but when I hit the dirt I opened things up. Everything was going great until the last quarter mile. I caught my foot on a rock and went down on me hands and knees. I was moving fast and made skid marks about 5 feet long on the trail. It tore some skin off in the center of my right hand about the size of a dime. My right knee also got a bit bloody. I was wearing wind breaker pants so that protected my knees a little. I had gloves with me but had taken the off a few miles back. I guess I was getting to cocky about my down hill running ability.When I got back to the car I rinsed the dirt off my hands with my water bottle. That was painful. I walk back up the trail to meet Scott. I met him about a half mile up and ran the last little bit with him. It took me 1:45 to reach the top and only 45 minutes to come down. I definitely want to do this trail again after the snow melts a bit more. Thanks for joining me on my adventure Scott. 

Bonneville Shoreline Trail. My quads are still a bit tight from Saturday's run, but not too bad. I was expecting my knees to give my trouble today from the fall I took on Saturday, But they felt fine. It was a good run today.

It was awful windy outside tonight. So I chose to run indoors instead.

4.5 miles on the treadmill. Tomorrow I am going to get outside.

Parrish Creek Trail. Earlier this week I got accused of being wimp. So today I ran outside in the rain, snow, mud and more snow. It was great. I met up with a new friend named Mike and we ran the Parrish Creek Trail. This is the same trail I ran Last Saturday with Scott. But today there was a lot more snow and is was softer. We made it up three miles and turned around. It was a beautiful morning.

I am currently in Florida. My work sent me down here for two weeks to teach a training course. My Mom offered to take the kids and have Susie and Eliza fly down with me. I took her up on the offer. So it it kind of like being on vacation except that I have to work everyday. The toughest part about though is that now I have to get my Mom something really nice for Mother's Day since she is watching my other kids. Any suggestions?

 I ran 6.5 miles in the rain. 

After eating the seafood platter at McGuire's, I cranked out 6 miles in under an hour. 

We drove from Pensacola to Tallahassee last night to visit my brother. He and I ran together this morning. We ran to a small state park called Indain Mounds. I had some trails and we ran all of them. The weather here is warm and humid, but it was a great morning run.

I ran to the coast and back tonight. It is different running here than it is in Utah. My run tonight reach a grand elevation of 87 ft.

Six miles in the heat around Pensacola.

Six miles on Airport Blvd. It is still hot here. I am glad that I will not be here in July and August.

Six miles on the hotel treadmill. Tonight is my last night in Florida. I'm looking forward to getting home.

I got an email from Jun earlier this week that the Grandeur Peak Fun Run was happening this Saturday. It it a free race that goes to the top of Grandeur Peak. I couldn't pass up the opportunity for a free race. 

I saw Scott at the start and a few other runners I knew. The course starts out tough, going up one of the toughest trails in the area. The course climbs 3200 ft. in just over two miles. Those were slow miles according to my watch. But I was actually doing quite well. I had passed six people on the climb up. From the peak I made the mistake of following a guy who didn't know where he was going and we headed down the wrong side of the mountain. The person behind me followed as well. After realizing our mistake we hiked back up to the trail. This detour cost me about 15 minutes. 

On the downhill section I picked things up to try to make up time. I passed several people. One of which was Scott, who was surprised to see me. The course goes down Church Fork and then on to the Pipeline Trail. I passed a few more people on that trail. From there it turns uphill again at Rattlesnake Gulch. This was another slow uphill. followed by a fast and technical downhill. This finish was back at the start where they were cooking breakfast. I came in 26th out of about 75 runners with a time of 2:22:11. In looking at the finish times, if I hadn't taken the detour at the top, I would have came in 11th or 12th place. Next year I will know which way to go. This is the toughest ten miler I have ever done, but I really enjoyed it.

Two miles at a slow pace. My legs are still beat up from Saturday's race.

I recently found out that I am in a marathon running book. It's called "My First 100 Marathons" by Jeff Horowitz. The author describes his journey of racing 2,620 miles. In August of 2004, I ran the Mesa Falls Marathon in Ashton, Idaho. This was Jeff's 89th marathon. I ran with him for most of the second half of the race. Here is a quote from the book:

It was about this time that I fell into a conversation with Matt, whose race turned out to be a family effort. Matt's sisters and cousins were providing vehicular support - "support" in the sense of screaming and yelling from an open van door during a slow drive-by.   

I was stoked to find when found this. I now have a copy of the book and am reading it. Perhaps I will write a book after I have ran 100 marathons. Only 80 to go. 

At sunset I ran the Bonneville Shoreline Trail up to the radio towers. I just ran nice and easy to loosen things up. On Saturday I will be running the Timpanogos Trail Marathon. After reading the description of the course and seeing the elevation map, I think this will be the toughest course that I have ever ran. Which makes me very excited.  

MUDFEST!!

Today I ran the Timp Trail Marathon. It was rainy, snowy, and muddy, muddy, muddy. Oh did I mention there was a lot of mud. I don't think that I could overstate how much mud there was. Last night when I went to bed it was raining hard. This morning when I got up it was raining. I drove to the race start and picked up my packet in the rain. I saw Davy Crockett at the start and also a friend of mine named Ryan. We got underway at 6:00 a.m. It was raining slightly when we started. Ryan and I started out running together. Here is a elevation map of what we were about to do.

 The race started out going uphill. No flats to even get warmed up on. After 2.5 miles the rain turned into snow mixed with rain. Some stretches were cold and I was wishing I had a hat on. The mud on the trail stuck to my shoes and made them heavy. After only a few miles the back of my legs were covered in mud. The first aid station was at mile 6. Ryan dropped back after that, but I was feeling good, so I started picking off runners. The next aid station was at mile 11. This aid station had our drop bags. In my drop bag was a dry pair of shoes, sock and a wind breaker. I change quickly but lost some of the advantage I had gained. Heading back out on the trail, it didn't take long before my clean shoes were caked with mud, but at least they were dry for a few miles. At mile 12 was the signature climb for the race. It was a .8 long climb up a steep slope called the 'Green Monster'. Today it should have been called the 'Brown Monster' because of all the mud. I went into power hike mode and regained my position in the race. The next section was probably my favorite. The trail went up a canyon with a rock wall on the left and a steep hill on the right. I passed several groups of scouts hiking down the trail. It was fun because each group I went passed cheered me on. At about 14.5 miles I saw Davy Crockett ahead of me. Not long after that I passed him, we exchanged greetings and I didn't see him again until after the race. At mile 15 was the third aid station. The volunteers there told me that I was in 11th place. I thought "Wow, I have a chance at making it into the top ten." I pushed onward but didn't see anyone up ahead. The crest of the climb was at mile 17. At this elevation there was about three inches of snow. Making the trail slushy. I was able to recover from all the uphill and had a good pace going downhill. I thought for sure that I would catch the next guy, but still didn't see anyone. At Battle Springs the trail heads back uphill. This was the muddiest section of the course. The trail was like a small river and my feet went slosh slosh with every step. It was a slow uphill. The next aid station was at mile 20. At this aid station we joined with the half marathoners for the rest of the course. There were now runners in front of me but I didn't know if they were in my race. The half marathoners were easy to catch. I think this was the back of the pack for that race. At 24 miles I saw another marathoner ahead of me. I recognized him from the start of the race. I reeled him in and passed him a half mile later. The tale end of the race was difficult for me. It was downhill, but I was losing energy. The notion of finishing in the top ten helped keep me moving. The trail went around one last corner, then the finish was in sight. I finished in 5:05:09 and in tenth place. I made it and was quite pleased. After the race I ate two bowls of chili, visited with a few of the other runners, and headed home. This was probably the toughest race I have ever run. I will do it again next year, but hopefully it doesn't rain.

Mueller Park Trail. The trail was great this morning. It was a bit muddy in spots, but nothing like Saturday. It was all very runnable. I felt great and am recovering well from Saturday's beating. This trail is going to be a lot of fun this Summer and I am going to set a new personal fastest time on the trail before Winter.

Today I ran from my house to Cheese Park, then hopped onto the Bonneville Shoreline Trail and ran to the Dueul Mill Creek trailhead. In was a nice morning, the temperature was just right. 

Here is a photo from the Mudfest last Saturday.

Today's run started out very similar to last Saturday. It was pouring rain. More fun in the mud. Luckily the trails I went on weren't as muddy at the ones last week. I started at the Bountiful 'B' and headed up the ATV trails. About a mile up I got on a trail called the Buckland Ridge Trail. I is a great trail and comes out onto Skyline Drive. I went up the road for a half mile and turned off on the Tuttle Loop Trail. I only went a little way before turning back because there was too much snow. I couldn't believe how much snow was up there this late in the year. I went back and continued on up the road. When I got above 8000 ft it started snowing pretty hard, but I continued onward. I turned off of the road at the Parrish Creek Trail. The top of the trail was hard to follow because of all the snow. When I got to the bottom of the mountain I turned onto the Bonneville Shoreline Trail and headed back to my car. It was 9:00 a.m. when I got back and there was only one other car in the parking lot. that is very unusual for Memorial Weekend. No ATV's or motorcycles around. It was very strange.

In other news, I just picked up a sponsor for the Summer. I will be running for Team Jamba Juice. I am really excited about this, but I will have to put my famous shirt on the shelf for a while. I will be racing in a new team jersey this at all my races in June, July and August.

Today I ran the Woods Cross Memorial Day 5k with my whole family. I ran with Connor and pushed Jaxine and Evan in a double stroller. Susie ran with Jed and pushed Eliza in a stroller. It was the first time Conner and Jed had ran a 5k. They did great. They ran together for the first mile. Then Jed slow down a bit , but Connor stayed strong. He only walked a little bit after each mile. Connor finished in 37:50, for a sub 12 min mile split and Jed finished in 45:36. It was a fun morning. 

Mueller Park Trail. It was a great morning for a run. 38:18 going up, 24:30 coming down.

I am in Maryland for work today. I ran 2.5 miles on the hotel treadmill. That bored me to death, so I went outside and dealt with the heat and humidity for another 3.5 miles. 

I got back in town at noon today. About 5 p.m. I headed out and ran the Mueller Park Trail. I ran to Elephant Rock in back in under an hour, 58:45. I was feeling fast tonight. 

My Jamba Juice gear came was I was away. I got a red tech shirt, black tech shorts, and a white visor. The sponsorship I got is to help promote there new line of super fruit products, so the front of the shirt says "I have super powers." I love it, its a perfect fit for my personality.  

I wasn't planning on running this race, but last week I picked up a sponsorship for Jamba Juice and they asked me to run in it. I also signed up my son Connor for the race. The race was at Sugar House Park and did two laps around the park. Jamba Juie had a booth set up there and was giving away samples of some new flavors of smoothies. They tasted great.

It has been a few years since I have actually raced a 5k. I wasn't sure what to expect. After we got underway, I was in fourth place. Towards the end of the first mile, a guy with curly hair wearing a green shirt passed me putting me in fifth place. He was running strong and I couldn't keep pace with him. I passed the fourth place person, which was the first place girl, towards the end of the first lap. Half way through the second lap I passed the third place guy putting me in the top three. I never caught the guy in the green shirt. He came in second and I came in third with a time of 19:42. For my efforts I received a $20 gift card to Red Rock and a $15 gift card to Wasatch Running Center. It was a fun race. Connor did great as well. He came in at 30:49 which is seven minutes faster than his last 5k.

After the race I had my wife drop me of at the mouth of City Creek and ran from there to home.  

Six miles nice and easy this morning. The weather is perfect today.

Hill workout.

I decided to get in one more hill workout before the marathon this Saturday.

Here is a picture from last week's race. The people I am running past our on their first lap, and I was on my second.

Last run before the Teton Dam Marathon this Saturday. I am getting very excited about this race. This will my fourth time to run it. The course goes through my hometown and the farms that I grew up around. I just found out that this year they have certified the course to be a Boston Qualifier. I am in the most difficult age group, which means that I have to finish in under 3:10. I haven't ran a road marathon in about two years and have trained mostly on trails for the last year. I am confident that I could get 3:30 without too much effort. 3:20 would take a little work. 3:10 is difficult by still doable. I going to go for it. 

This is one of my favorite courses to run. It goes though my hometown, the town where I went to high school and ends in the town where I first went to college. The marathon also has relay teams which consists of six people who run 4 to 5 miles each. My Mom was on one of these relay teams. I caught a ride with her relay team to the start. My cousins and some of their friends were also on a relay team. The race started at the historic sight of the Teton Dam. The Dam broke back in 1976 and flooded the nearby towns. It has never been rebuilt. It was cold this morning and there was a strong wind blowing south. The race got underway right at 6:30 a.m. For the first mile and a half the wind was at our backs. Then the course turned right and we had a crosswind for a half mile. It turned right again and we were now going directly into the wind. It was a strong wind that made it difficult to keep on pace. I was trying to run 7 minute miles, but slowed to 7:30. This section of the course was the only stretch that was on gravel roads. The rest was on paved roads. We only ran into the wind for 1 mile, and then turned left so that we had a crosswind again. At mile four was the first transition point for relay teams. My mom was waiting there for her team. I knew that I would be faster than her team, because it is a group of older ladies. My cousin’s team was also waiting there. I was just ahead of them. My cousin, Wes, who just started with fresh legs, caught up with me and ran with me for his entire leg. I told him thanks for pacing me, but he said that I was pacing him. He told me that there was only one relay team in front of us and the rest were marathoners. It looked like I was in the top ten. At an intersection near mile six my wife was waiting there to cheer me on. I had put a few points in her GPS of where she could go to see me during the race. She would just select it in the GPS and it would tell her how to get there. That worked out great. At mile ten, we came into Teton. This was the first town that was hit with the wall of water from the dam breaking. My wife was there in Teton to support me. I was doing well at this point and averaging 7:15 pace. Leaving Teton we were heading south again and the wind was at our backs. Unfortunately that was only for a mile and we turned right having a crosswind again. At mile 14 we came into Sugar City. The course went right in front of my high school, and then headed down Main Street. The section through Sugar City was lined with hundreds of American flags. My wife was waiting there at a park. It was great to have her support throughout the race. Coming out of Sugar City my paced slowed a bit. I still felt good but couldn’t hold as strong of a pace. About mile 16 I started passing the tail end of the half marathoners. It was nice to be running near other people again and also fun to pass them. Even if they weren’t in the race I was in. At mile 18 we hit the race’s signature climb, three miles uphill. This wasn’t a big issue for me, because I have been training on a lot of hills. I just went into a lower gear and headed up. Part way up I got passed by a marathoner. He was looking strong and I couldn’t match his pace. I guess I still need more hill training. At the top of that hill the course had a short down and a short uphill, and then it is flat for a mile. The final three miles of the race were mostly down hill into the wind. The wind was blowing strong. I knew I was on pace for a good finish time, but couldn’t go faster than an 8:30 mile in the wind. It was a battle to stay strong at this point. Coming to the bottom of the hill I looked at my watch and saw that I was very close to my PR time. I poured in on through the final stretch and got some great cheers from the crowd. I finished in 3:23:44. Only four seconds behind my PR. I am still very happy with that. It’s a great time for this course especially with all the wind. I finished 7^th overall and 1^st in my age group. My cousin’s relay team came in about one minute behind me. There was only one of the relay teams that beat me. It was a team of members of the National Guard.

Here are some photos from the race:

 Me with my age group award.

 My cousin's relay team

 Me and my Mom with our new shirts and finisher's medals. 

My first run since the marathon last weekend. I was feeling good enough to run mid week, but took a few extra days off. I ran up the Mueller Park Trail all the way up to Rudy's Flat. I haven't been up that far since this Winter with Jun and Kam and knee deep snow. The trail was much better today. I made it up to Rudy's Flat in 1:18. On the way down I had a good groove going when I caught my foot and fell hard. Luckily I didn't break anything, but I did scrape up my right hand. Overall the run felt pretty good. I am looking forward to running Logan Peak next weekend. That will be lot's of fun.  

I was feeling a bit tired this morning, but I managed to get 8 miles on on the Bonneville Shoreline trail. I'm glad I got out.

I bought a new fanny pack that holds two water bottles. I tried it out on a run today. It worked great. Makes me wonder why I ever ran without carrying water. 

I stayed the night at my grandparents house and talked my brother into giving me a ride to the start at 5 a.m. At the park I saw several familiar faces and chatted a bit. While waiting for the start the mosquitoes came out. Next time I need to remember bug spray. After a short race meeting, we were on our way. The course was changed slightly this year so that there was less running through the neighborhood and we got onto the trail faster. The first trail is along the Bonneville Shoreline Trail with some rolling hills. The second trail is the ascent up dry creek. This trail goes up and up and up. After 4.5 miles we came to the first aid station. I love aid stations during ultras. I grabbed a slice of honeydew melon and continued on up. The next trail is called the Syncline Trail. There were more fallen down tress on this trail then there was last year. Which made the course even funner. About mile 6 we got our first good views. The sun was out and it was a very clear day. It was beautiful up there. It was at this point we got our first downhill. The downhill was refreshing, but we still had to get to the peak, which meant more uphill. At mile 11 was the second aid station. I drank some heed and ate some dried fruit and nuts. The next section of the course is an out an back up to the peak. Three miles up and three miles down. This is one of my favorite section of the course because I get to see the other runners and cheer then on. When we got above 8500 ft, we hit snow. It was a soft wet snow, but was still runnable. Just before reaching the peak I saw Bryce coming down. He was the next person in front of me but he had a good lead. At the peak is a radio tower. We had to touch the tower, but I ran around it just for fun. I was excited to have reached the top. The views were great up there. I waved to all my friends down in cache valley, then heading down. Running down in the snow was really fun. As I descended I tried to encourage every runner who was heading up. I was making good time and felt great at this point in the race. Aid station 3 is the same as aid station 2. I ate and drank as much as I could before heading on. I tried to keep my stop short and got back on the trail quickly. Last year at this point in the race I was really struggling. The rest of the race was purely survival. This year I was feeling better and was still able to maintain a good pace. The course goes on a dirt road for a few miles, then turns onto a single track trail. The single track is a really nice trail. It had rolling hills, switchbacks, and great views. There was one section that is a long uphill. I was struggling going up that hill. It seemed steeper then the year before, but probably wasn't. The trail finally crested into Dry Canyon. Which meant the the rest of the course was downhill. Coming down into the canyon, there is a natural spring. I drank the fresh water and it tasted great. The fourth aid station, which was the same and first aid station was at about mile 23. From there I just had to run the same course we had come up in the first five miles of the race. As I descended the canyon, there was a new challenge. There was a group of cows being herded up the trail. I was asked to step off of the trail while they went by. First time that's happened during a race. At the bottom of Dry Canyon we had to run the rolling hills on the Bonneville Shoreline Trail again. These little hills were monsters after running 27 miles. Finally the park was in sight, and I poured it on into the finish line. I finished in 5:44:03, about 28 minutes faster than last year. I finished in 21st place overall. My wife and kids were there at the finish to cheer me in. we left before the awards to go to a family reunion. We got there at lunch time and I ate sloppy joes, potatoe chips, and some chocolate cake. It was a good post race meal.

Recovery run. My legs are still a bit tender, but feel good enough to run. My right heel is bruised from worn out shoes. I guess the NB 790's weren't all the best. They were a great pair of shoes at first, but just didn't last with the amount of abuse I put them through.

Another recovery run. It was warm this morning, and the sun wasn't even up yet. It's going to be a hot summer.

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.

Easy recovery run. All systems seem to be in check.

Today I ran to the Legacy Parkway Trail and did some speedwork. I did .5 mile intervals and 6:40 pace with .25 slow in between. I was surprised how few people were out on the trail today, just a few bikers.

Today I ran the Jupiter Peak Steeplechase. This is one of my favorite races. This is the third time that I have ran it. The race is held at Park City Ski Resort. They changed the finish location this year, so before the race I jogged over to the new finish to check it out. The new finish was all down hill and made the course about a half mile shorter. 

The race started right at 8 a.m. 250 of me and my best friends headed up the mountain. The course starts out with a steep climb up a jeep road. About .75 mile up we hop onto some really nice single track. I was feeling the pain of having just ran the Speedgoat 50k last week and couldn't run the uphill as fast as I would've like to. The course works its way up the mountain towards Jupiter Peak. There were a few short or downhill sections, but for most of the first seven miles we were heading uphill. The final ascent up to Jupiter Peak is a brutal grind straight up the mountain. I reached the top of Jupiter in 1:13. Not bad for seven miles uphill. The next mile has a little bit of downhill and then the more uphill to the top of Tri-Counties Peak. The second uphill is a tough one. I was ready for the downhill. 

After reaching the top of the second peak the course is all downhill. The first trail we hit is one of the best single track trails on the mountain. It winds through the trees and is very runnable. My downhill gears were working much better than my uphill ones. I passed about 15 people in three miles. After that I started picking off other runners as we cruised down. Towards the end there was a stretch where I could see a ways in front of me and saw that there were about 5 of us close together. I set a goal to pass them all. I picked off one but didn't catch the others on the single track. The final stretch of the race is on pavement. When we hit the pavement I poured it on strong and passed the remaining 4 guys before crossing the finish line. I finished in 2:37:36. That is slower than is past years, but this was the first time I ran the race one week after running a 50k. That probably had something to do with it. The new setting for the finish was great. This race just keeps getting better.   

Mueller Park Trail. Beautiful morning.

Up at a family reunion in Idaho this weekend. Last night I ate lots of junk and played cards until 1 a.m. Felt really sluggish when I started my run but after a mile or two I had my energy back and had a good run.

Wasatch Crest Trail

Things have been crazy busy at the Twinkie house lately. Consequently, I haven't done much running. This morning, even though I was tired, I got up and went for a run on the Bonneville Shoreline Trail. The temps were perfect for a run this morning. 

Today I ran up a mountain. I wanted to run to Peregrine's Peak. I hadn't been up there before and the trail head is very difficult to find. The last road up to the trail looks like a private driveway. Once I found the trail it was really nice. It headed up the mountain with no downhill at all. This is a great time a year for trail running. I didn't have enough time to make it to the top. I was probably 1 to 1.5 miles from the top when I turned around. I will have to attempt this one again soon. 

I snuck a run in tonight. 

I am in Maryland right now for work. It has been raining hard here all day. I knew If I went out for a run, hat I would get wet. So I went running in just my swim trunks and shoes. It was great. 

Tonight I ran on the Baltimore and Annapolis trail. I wanted to go further, but it was getting dark. 

Congrats to everyone who ran the St George Marathon. 

Today's race didn't go like I had expected it to. We started out in the dark, so I didn't keep track of my splits. It got light at mile 5. I noticed my time at the 10k mark, it was 1:11 and I was already hurting. At mile 9 my whole body was aching. I was trying to run but could not go faster than a 13 minute mile. At mile 11 I started walking, that hurt too. I ran and walked as best I could for the rest of the race. My wife, who was waiting at the finish, thought that something bad must have happened and sent the medics out looking for me. I finally made it to the finish in 6 hour and 12 minutes. Unfortunately the cutoff time was 6 hours, so I am listed in the results as DNF. But the did give me a medal. I think I have some type of bug that was zapping everything I had out there today. 

I haven't been running lately, which makes this blog pretty boring. So in order to make it a bit more interesting I decided that I would recap some of my adventures from throughout the year. 

In January I ran the Kahtoola Snowshoes 50k. It was 31 miles in the snow wearing snowshoes. My first step of the race was my first time to run in snowshoes. It was a ton of fun.

In February my daughter was born. Eliza Anne Ricks

March was a fun month. the first weekend I ran my birthday challenge, 33 miles on the Bonneville Shoreline Trail. Jun and Scott join me in the celebration. This was my furthest distance to date that wasn't in a race.  Also that month I got in a few summit runs to up Mount Wire with Jun and Scott. At the end of the month I ran my second 50 miler, Buffalo Run 50 on Antelope Island.

 
Relaxing in the living room on Mt Wire

 
Buffalo Run 50 miler.

 In April, Scott and I ran/hiked to the top of Centerville Peak.

 
Peak Jump on Centerville Peak

In May I ran the Granduer Peak Fun Run, Timpanogos Trail Marathon in the rain, and a 5k with my entire family on Memorial Day.

 
Timp Trail Marathon

In June I picked up a three month sponsorship from Jamba Juice. That month I also ran Girls on the Run 5k, Teton Dam Marathon, and Logan Peak Trail run. At the Teton Dam Marathon I missed getting a new PR by 5 seconds.

 
Turning heads at the Girls on the Run 5k

 
Teton Dam Marathon

 
Me with my Mom after the Teton Dam Marathon. She ran on a relay team.

In July I started the month by summiting Mt Baldy with Jun and Aaron. Then I got in touch with my feminine side and ran the Red Hot Pink Chicks 1/2 marathon. Also so that month, I ran the Deseret News Marathon and the toughest 50k on the planet, the Speedgoat 50k.

 
Peak Jump on Mt Baldy
Q:How does he jump so high?   A:Twinkies

 
RHPC 1/2 Marathon with the amazing Lily. I am the on in pink.

 
Hiked up Big Mountain just before the start of Deseret News

 
After Deseret News, I ran into Teena Marie and Smooth. Two very inspirational runners.

 
SpeedGoat 50k

In August I ran the Jupiter Peak Steeplechase. I didn't get any photos, but I was featured in a youtube video. Later that month I did a fun run on the Wasatch Crest Trail with Scott and Jun. During that run we summited Scott's hill.

Me on Scott's Hill

 
Jun on Scott's Hill

 
Scott on Scott's Hill

 
Jun flying down the Wasatch Crest Trail

Lots of fun adventures with great friends. Since then I have been on any great adventures, but I would like to get a few more in before the end of the year. I hope that you enjoyed this post.

Twas the morning of the night before Christmas
And all through the Blog
People asking, "Where's Twinkies?"
"And the miles he used to log?"

Okay, that's the extent of my rhyming abilities. 

In October my arthritis started acting up, which then led to Baker's Cysts in both legs. On my right leg I have a lump just smaller than a tennis ball on the back of my knee. On my left leg I have a golf ball sized lump at the top of my calf and the calf muscle is usually swollen. The good news is that the cyst's are going down in size now and I am on the road to recovery. 

The mile I got in today was only walking. I went up the the Bonneville Shoreline trail, and found a large fence where the trailhead used to be. There was a sign there that said that the trail head had been temporarily moved until November 2011 because of a gas line project. It also said that all my local trails (Wild Rose Canyon, North Canyon, and Mueller Park) will be having temporary closures throughout 2011.

I found the new trail head and walked a mile in the fog. It felt great to be out on a trail again. I will be back to running soon and setting some new goals for next year.

Today I went running for the first time in months. We are up in Newdale, ID visiting m parents. I went running with my dad this morning. We did three miles at about a ten minute pace. It was not light yet and it was a bit cold. But it felt great to get out and run again. I'll see how my knees feel tomorrow and hopefully get out there again.

I ran on the Bonneville Shoreline Trail today. There was 2 to 4 inches of snow on most of the trail. I love running in fresh snow. The first I half of the run felt a little slow, but during the second half I felt great. Perhaps next week I will break out the snowshoes.