Ups and Downs

The Wasatch 100 mile endurance run is in 7 weeks and the Speed Goat 50K is in one week.  The past 4 weeks I have tried to ramp up my miles and vert to be ready.  My main training goals have been centered around lots of mountain summits and trying to go fast. Life is busy, and I figure I got to go hard every time to  to fit in all the training.  Unfortunately the fast ups seem to all be countered with injuries and pain  

Summer Highlights thus Far:

June 8:  26.2 miles down hill

Ran the Utah Valley Marathon in 3:20.  I was shooting for a Personal Best of under 3:16, but I was stoked with how it went.  The course was fun and I would do it again. This was my 9th Marathon or Ultra race (5 marathons, three 50 milers, and one 100 miler)

June 15:  31 miles 7304 ft of vert.

Bryce Canyon National Park. The route we took went from Fary Land to Rainbow Point.  Super fun trails, amazing vistas, little water in some sections.  It took us (Spence, Annie, and I) a leisurely 8 or so hours. Izzy and Anna helped crew and did some cool hiking on their own.  Anna waited at the top of the last climb and cheered for me

June 20:  8.2 miles 3900 ft of vert.

Evening run up Kessler Peak in Big CottonWood.  Got to the top in 60 minutes then ran along the Cardiac Ridge towards Mount Superior.  The ridge is very exposed and involves lots of down climbing..ie 40 minute miles.  We bailed off the ridge down into Mill D and then back to the car just as the sun went down. Fun route.

June 24:  11 miles 4750 ft of vert.

Evening run up Baer Canyon to Francis Peak with the dog.  I pushed hard all the way up and cruised down. Round trip in 2:56. 

Different trip but same dog and summit

June 25:  11.5 miles 4759 ft of vert.

Evening run up to Ogden Peak.  Went up Beau Canyon for the first time.  Battled gut issues the whole journey.  The wild flowers blew my mind.  So pretty.  4:08 finish time. 

June 26:  5 miles 2257 ft of vert. @ altitude

Drove up to the Uintahs after work and tagged Bald Mountain and then linked it with Reids.  One of my favorite spots on Earth. Great views of Hayden's, Aggasiss, Camp Steiner, Mirror Lake, etc.  Denali came along and had fun trying to catch the Mountain Goats.  We both slid off a snow ledge between rocks and got startled but landed fine. Very technical boulder hopping the whole way up and down Reids. Then fun forest running with no trail and some fishing. Love it.  2:03 hrs 2 fish. 

July 1:  1 mile 0 vert in 5:14 min

Been eager to see how my speed has increased after the Spring Cross Country Intramural season.  Court is on crutches and wanted to beat my crutch time of 11:58. He beat it by 20 seconds.  Then Izzy raced her first mile since High School and rocked it in 7 minutes.  Then Spence and I went head to head.  Spence had never run on a track before.  He was surprised by how fast I went out.  I beat him by like 5 seconds, but am still 35 seconds off my high school time.  Funny

July 4:  5K in 19:04 min.  

Good old Centerville Freedom Run.  I wrote my splits down to go under 19 minutes, but came up just short.  3rd in my age class, and 14 overall.   Izzy rocked it in 25 minutes and my DAD did his first 5k walk ever and pushed Anna.   He said the only time he ran was on the hill when He accidentally let go of the stroller and had to run to catch it. haha. He finished 14th in his age class....out of 14..he is 64.   

July 5:  14 miles 4950 ft of vert  

Topped out on the famous Ruby Dome, a crown jewel of the  Nevada high country. Super fun trail starting out in sage brush, then aspens, then conifers and granite and pure loose boulder hopping to the top. Loved it.  I want to go back and run the whole Ruby Crest 35-40 miles.   

July 9:  15.8 miles 4800 ft of vert  

Cruised up Ben Lommond Peak after work. Last time I ran the Divide trail it was really crappy conditions.

Knocked like 30 minutes off that time. 2:49 car to car.  Lots of mountain goats up high and very hot temps.  Spence came up the next day and knocked 18 minutes off my time. Jerk.  Dude has wheels.

July 13:  Somewhere around 23 miles and 12000 feet of vert

Spence and I attempted to link up Lone Peak, Box Elder, and Timp with out shuttling.  The night before we climbed till dark then drove to stash water and a car in Provo Canyon. All that driving took way longer then we expected and I did not fall asleep until 2 am. When we finished climbing I really wanted to carbo load at Olive Garden but it was already closed..dope.  The next day we topped out on Lone in under 3 hours then got lost on trails down in Alpine.  It was hot, we had a long way to go, we were swacking through dense scrub oak, and needed to get to our water cache.  We got with in sight of the Trail Head and only had to jump and tall barb wire fence.... Blood.....carnage...the works. My knee flayed right open as I brought it up over the fence.   We found a near by house and they gave us some gauze and tape.  The gushing blood had stopped so we pressed on.  Up Box Elder Peak we went.  The whole way up the heat, humidity, loss of blood I suppose, and lack of sleep, was catching up to me.  And by catching up I mean it caught me, and beat the snot out of me. Total dark side of the force epic bonk.  Spence was nice enough to stop once and while and wait to see if I was dead.  I pushed on. All the way to the top of another stupid... I mean gloriously beautiful 11,000 foot peak of the Wasatch that I have never climbed. Unbonked my self ( just water and gu like you do) then pick up the pace for the 6 miles of downhill to Tibble Fork to a cold stream bath and a stashed Dr. Pepper.  It was already late and it was so much further to Timpooneke trail head than we expected so we hitched hiked all the way to our Car by Sundance.  A great day in the Mountains.  Next time I vote we drive from Trail Head to Trail Head.  All instacares were closed so I had to go to the ER.  Izzy left the little dude at my folks and met me at the ER with Jambalaya and Apple fritters in tow. Man I love her.  We had so much fun getting stitches she said it felt like a date. 

July 18:  7 miles 4000 feet of vert.

This morning Pete and I tried to go sub 2 hours on Mount Olympus  .   I wrote my splits on my arm. 1:15 up and :35 down.  Which would put me at 1:50, (with in striking distance of Spence's 1:49).  But it was not to be for me. I came through on the climb and made it to the mailbox on the summit in 1:16 hrs.  Pete was 4 minutes behind. Then I rolled my ankle on an easy section on the way down real bad and limped all the way down the mountain. Pete finished in a great time of 1:58.  Ironically my down time was also 1:16. Dang.

So now I sit here with 2 big races coming up, one in a week, and a backpacking/climbing trip in the Uintahs in 1 hour....and my ankle is swollen up like a small grapefruit.  I guess I better wrap it tight and cross my fingers. 

:(