Running on Twinkies

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.