June training

On May 28th I had a really fun run up Lake Mountain with Matt Van Horn. it was my 33rd peak of the year and we had a really great time. I love that run. Then on the 31st Matt and I ran Lake Mountain again, this time with Craig and we really pushed the pace. Craig and I ran almost the whole way to the top, hiking only the very steepest section near the top. We made it to the summit in just over an hour and Matt wasn't far behind. On both of these runs I really pushed the pace on the downhill, running between a 6:30-6:40 pace the whole way down. It was a lot of fun, but on the second trip my legs were very sore and I could really feel it on that run. I wasn't thinking much about it after we finished because I felt pretty good, but I went into work and found out I would be playing 18 holes of golf in just a few hours. Well, I felt good playing until about hole 15 where I noticed a pain in my achilles tendon on my left side. It got progressively worse, and at the end of the round I was limping.

Basically I have been injured all month. The first week after the injury I took it pretty easy, although I did go climb Mt. Wire 3 days later just to test it out and although it felt good during the run, it was really sore a few minutes after I stopped. I decided I better take the next week off of running which I did. I still did the elliptical and the bike at the gym, but I didn't run for a whole week.

On Sat Jun 11th I finally ran for the first time doing 3 easy miles at the gym. everything seemed to feel fine, so the next day I tested it out with an 8 mile run followed by a 15 mile run up Provo Canyon a few days later. I found that when I was running on flat terrain it felt ok and didn't make the pain worse, so I have continued to run on it, but I haven't climbed any peaks since doing Mt. Wire on June 3rd.

I saw the doctor last week and he put me on a steroid which seemed to help some. So far it has improved a lot and there isn't a lot of pain in the tendon, but I can tell that it is weak and not 100% so I have decided not to push it at all. Last Saturday I did do another 15 miler and everything felt good, so I have decided to do my long run for the month this weekend. I am looking to do between 30-40 miles, so hopefully everything will go well.

This has been a very frustrating month for me. I know that Wasatch is coming up really quick, and I have to train and stay in shape or I will be obliterated by that race, however if I push it too hard I could end up not even being able to do it at all if I am still hurt. It is a very tough position to be in and I don't like it.

Zion Traverse attempt

May was a really good training month for me. I was able to complete several solid trail runs with a lot of elevation gain. The long run of the month was a sweet run in Zion National Park. We were attempting to complete the entire Zion train (East entrance to West entrance), which is about 50 miles, but we got pounded by the weaher and had to change our plans...

Zion traverse attempt with Craig Lloyd, Matt Williams and Josh Greenwell. May 18, 2011. (about 30 miles total).

We failed to complete the entire Zion traverse yesterday, but what we got instead might be the most incredible run I have ever done. The weather forecast looked terrible, but we were hoping to get lucky like we did on Stansbury Island last month. Worst case scenario we would run the East Rim trail, get wet and bail from there and we were all ok with that.

We set up camp just outside of the park for a very restless night of sleep. It rained most of the night and I had failed to properly secure my rain fly, so it was flapping all night long. Annoying. My hips and back did not like the hard ground either, but I felt pretty good when we broke camp and headed for the east entrance of the park. The weather looked like it might not get too bad. There were a lot of clouds and we even had a brief shower on the way to the park, but nothing serious. When we started it was cool, but it looked like the storm might hold off for a while.

The East Rim trail is amazing. The miles were flying by and the views were constantly impressive. We settled into an easy pace as we made the climb to the rim. We were all just enjoying the run, talking, laughing and taking pictures. It was almost like Christmas morning, as each bend brought a new and exciting view for us to take in. I was having a blast! We took our time to check out several canyons and the steep drops off of the trail.

About an hour in it started to snow on us, but only last a few minutes. For the most part on this section the weather was great. The last 4 miles of the East rim are the most impressive and I don't think you can find a more scenic trail anywhere. The steep canyons and sheer cliffs are spectacular and you wind around and down the walls on trails that have been carved into the side of the cliffs. Unreal. Eventually, we made our way into a very tight canyon with very high sheer walls on both sides. Stunning. Around the bend and Zion Canyon opens up to you and the trail down to Weeping Rock is magical. It was trail running heaven and we were all soaking it in, laughing, yelling and smiling.

At Weeping Rock we ran down the canyon road to the Grotto, where we met my nephews that had been waiting for us. I took some Cytomax, and we all used the restroom there. Just as we were about to leave it started to rain and the weather only got worse from there. We ran across the street and started our climb up the West Rim trail (Angels Landing Trail). It is very steep and gains a few thousand feet very fast. We only ran a small portion of this because it is just so steep. We had a good hiking pace, but after about 20 minutes Jun and I broke out the garbage bags to keep the rain off. Dorsimus was having some stomach issues and slowed a bit, but he kept pushing hard and we passed several tourists on their way up to Angels Landing.

When we got to the Scout Overlook near Angels Landing the weather had not improved, but we decided to keep pushing up. The trail was wet and we were mostly hiking the steep slopes up to the West Rim. It was gorgeous. All of the rain had caused several water falls to start spilling over the cliff faces and it was one of the most amazing things I have ever seen.

At about mile 17 we had to climb a really steep slope and we were just getting pounded with snow. It was cold and whenever we would stop for a few seconds we would get chilled. We stopped at a spring so Matt could get some water and it was snowing hard. We were all quite cold and my fingers were numb. At that point it things got ugly. The trail turned into a mud bog, the weather showed no signs of improving, we were going slow and we still had 30 more miles. Jun thought it might be a good idea to turn around and after talking and thinking about it we all came to the same conclusion. It would have taken us considerably longer to finish the traverse, we were already wet and cold and we were one broken ankle or accident away from someone getting hypothermia. Not to mention it was just nasty. It was an easy decision.

There was some initial disappointment when we turned around, but after a few minutes we were running again and my numb hands and toes started to warm back up. Our spirits picked up and we were having fun again. We took a break to drink some fresh rain water spilling off of one of the cliffs and then we had a really fun (although wet) run back down to Angels Landing. We had planned on climbing it, but the weather actually got worse and it was raining hard and the wind had picked up as well, so we took a break in some rocks that had a nice roof shelter and we decided it was just too nasty. I am a peak bagger and rarely miss an opportunity to grab a summit and we were very close to tagging Angels Landing, but I had no interest in going up that thing in those conditions.

After the break we ran all the way back down to the Grotto. The trail was really wet and full of tourists. I got a little behind the other three as I just tried to take it easy. Jun was setting a pretty face past all the way down. There was so much water coming off of the cliffs that we actually had to run right through a waterfall. It was pretty cool.

Back at the Grotto we decided to run back down the canyon to the visitors center to get in a few more miles. My legs did not like the pavement as much as the trails, but the views were stunning. We were all in good spirits and even though we didn't complete the traverse we had an

amazing time. I would say that there is no trail anywhere that can top these views. I was awe the entire day and I can't wait to go back and finish it off.

30 miles on Stansbury Island 4/29/11

I wanted to get in a long training run for the month so I started looking at some possible trails and I came across what looked like a really good one. It is a 10 mile loop on Stansbury Island out on the Great Salt Lake. I asked Craig if he wanted to come and he was in and then Josh and Matt also wanted to come, so the four of us headed out to the island on what we thought might be a terrible weather day. The forecast was for snow and rain all day, and on our way out there we were driving in rain and hail and I thought it might turn out to be a long day, but the closer we got the island the better the weather looked.

The trail is pretty straightforward. We started on the west side of the island and then immediately climbed 800 feet to the crest, where we followed the trail around the rim, in and out of a few canyons and then back down on the southwest side of the island, where we ran a trail to the road and back to our car. The first loop was really fun and all of us were feeling really good. The trail can be tricky with a lot of rocks, obstacles and some steep cliffs off to the side. We all stayed together and ran at a pretty decent pace. When we got back down to the road I stopped to take a few pictures and the guys kept running, so I did finish a few minutes behind.

It was nice being able to stop at the car every 10 miles to fuel up and hydrate. On stop number one I ate a banana, had a V-8 and some Powerade. We decided to do lap two in reverse and Craig and Josh were really setting a quick pace and after a couple of miles my stomach just wasn’t feeling right. At about mile 13 the other guys started pulling away and I wouldn’t catch them. Lap 2 was pretty tough for me, but after my stomach started feeling better I got into a pretty good groove and tried to keep the pace in the 9’s. The guys were waiting for me at the car and we re-fueled and then started lap 3 the same way we did number 1. The 800 ft. climb was tough, but it was actually nice to give my legs a short break from all the pounding. At the crest the other guys pulled away again over the next mile as I was just not feeling great.

At mile 23 I was looking off of the edge of a cliff at the spectacular views and my foot clipped a rock that sent me face first off the side of the trail. I almost lost my water bottle over the edge and that would have been a disaster, as it had all of my water and a few gels and I still had 7 miles to go. I banged my knee and tweaked my ankle, but it wasn’t serious. When I rounded the last bed before I descended I could see the other guys below me on the trail and it was the last I would see of them until I got back to the car.

Miles 25-28 were tough. I just tried to get into a groove, but it was difficult. When I finally got back to the road I actually felt better and I was able to keep the pace around 9:00 all the way to the finish where I came in exactly 30 miles. I did not have a great day out there, but I am encouraged that my legs did not feel very fatigued at the finish. Usually I get pretty sore if I run over 25 miles but today my legs felt solid. I did have some stomach and energy issues and other than the first lap I never really felt like I was in a great groove, but I feel good about the miles and the scenery could not have been much better.

Here are a few photos from our run.

Total time: 5:30 3350 ft. of vert.

April Training

I have had some really fun runs/climbs the last few weeks. On 4/14 I made a quick run up to the summit os South Mountain above Herriman. This is the mountain that burned in Sep 2010 and most of the trees and brush have been scorched. There were very few animals and bugs and it was quite surreal to be climbing up. It was very quiet until I reached the ridge where the wind blasted me. It was COLD! It was a really fun run though and I reached the top in 38 minutes. This is a fun run/hike if you only have a few hours.

Last week I got out for two runs on the Bonneville Shoreline trail above the East side of Salt Lake and the University of Utah. Matt and I ran from the Avenues Twin Peaks trailhead to the summit of both peaks and then down to Dry Canyon and up Mt. Van Cott as well. It was a really fun run and the views were amazing.

Then two days later I headed up by myself to the summit if Mt. Wire and then ran the BST to Red Butte Canyon and back before work. I really love this trail and it is an excellent place to get a good run in with some elevation gain.

Here are a few pics from South Mountain

April training

Despite our horrible weather along the Wasatch Front, April has been going very well so far. On Saturday the 2nd Matt Van Horn and I climbed Mt. Olympus and had a really fun day. There was quite a lot of snow after the stream crossing and I wore my micro-spikes for traction and they really seemed to help. From the saddle to the summit the gully was full of snow and there were some nice bucket steps most of the way up to the summit, with only a few sketchy areas, but nothing serious. Last week I climbed Mount Wire on Wednesday with Matt and then later in the day ran 6 more miles on the BST in Draper. My legs were really feeling it. Yesterday I had a really fun run with Matt Williams and Craig up the Dimple Dell gully from just past Jordan High school all the way up to Bells Canyon Reservoir and back (13.3 miles). We really pushed the pace and I finished in 1:55. The weather was almost perfect. This morning I got up early and hiked/ran Mt. Wire with Matt Van Horn again. We had a lot of fun, even though I was a bit sluggish. My legs felt really good considering the run yesterday, but my energy levels were a bit low. That makes 23 summits for 2011 and I am on target to hit my goal of 65 for the year. Some random thoughts: I have really noticed that I have been watching the weather a lot more than normal this Spring/Winter. Trying to get 65 summits can be challenging for several reasons, and it has been tough to find enough good days to get out with all of the crappy weather. I find myself watching the weather a few times per day and then trying to predict when the best weather windows for success. For the most part I have had a lot of success and I haven't been caught in much inclement weather so far this year. There was the one day on Grandeur a few months ago that Matt Van Horn and I only made it up the trail about 100 yards before turning around because the wind was so fierce and cold that going up would have been crazy. Other than that though things have really worked out. Other random thoughts: I have found that I have been eating the same things before most of my morning adventure runs/climbs and so far it seems to really be working out for me. This is what I typically eat before tagging a morning summit or going on a longer run: 1 proten shake (Whey protein mixed with milk). 1-2 boiled eggs. Depending on if I can stomach two. banana. I have found that if I am climbing a peak that will take me less than 2 hours, I don't need to take any gels or energy, and my 20 ounce handheld water bottle is sufficiant. If it will be longer than two hours I'll take a gel every hour along with a salt pill if I am sweating a lot. For longer runs I usually take a gel about every 45 minutes. This seems to keep my energy up. My gel of choice is Hammer raspberry or Montana Huckleberry. As many of my friends know I tend to have a bit of a weak stomach and I can usually get these down without much of a problem.

Buffalo Run 50K

With 4,000 feet of elevation gain and 32 miles this is a very tough race, but one I thoroughly enjoyed. This would be the first of my longer training runs in preparation for the Wasatch 100. I will be doing at least one long tough training run each month until September. Full race report: I had heard a lot of good things from friends about the Buffalo run, so I wanted to do it this year. I was trying to decide between the 50k and the 50m, and I knew that I could grind out the 50m, but I hadn't run anything long since October and I wanted to gradually build up my miles for later in the year, so I decided on the 50k. I had several friends doing the race, but I was late getting to the start and by time I got to the line we were within a minute of starting. Seth Wold saw me and said hi and we chatted for a bit and I told him to go get it and Jim started the countdown. I started out in the front of the pack and within a minute I found my good friend Mat Williams, so the two of us talked during the first mile while we went up the long hill. Eventually he dropped me, but I wasn't far behind. So far I was feeling good, but didn't want to push too hard because I knew it would be a long course. After we crested the first big hill I could still see Matt, and I wanted to catch up to him so we could chat, but he was moving pretty fast, so I picked up my pace to a 7:00 and finally caught him around mile 4. We chatted some, but he dropped me again before the Lone Tree hill, where I decided to power hike. At the first aid station I just stopped long enough to fill my bottle and then I took off. The run down into the valley was fun and I resisted the temptation to push it hard, although I did pick up my pace and it felt good. There was a group of about 15 of us that headed up the switchbacks together. Everyone was pushing pretty good and it seemed to help me push not wanting to get passed. I ran most of the time, but on the steepest section I power hiked while taking a gel and an S-cap. The run back to Elephant Head aid station was a bit muddy, so it was a little tricky staying out of it, but overall the course was in excellent shape. I was still feeling really strong, so I didn't even stop at the aid station. Just before the drop to Lone Tree I passed my friend Dustin Erickson, who placed 6th in the 25K. We missed our high five attempt and then I saw my friend Nick at the bottom of the hill and I made sure I didn't miss this time and gave him a good smack on the shoulder. I wish I could have stopped to say hi, but I didn't want to stop my momentum. Just before climbing the hill back up to the flats I saw my longtime friend Allison from high school and we exchanged "Hi's". On the hill I took another gel and an S-cap and once on top I tried to get into a nice steady pace without pushing too hard. I wanted to save my energy for the second lap. Once I came around the bend I could see the aid station and the wind picked up quite a bit. I tried to pick up my pace on the downhill and I was still feeling really good. I passed Matt just before the aid station and he was looking good. At the aid station I looked for my drop bag where I had some Cytomax and I had a good drink of that and downed a gel. I was thinking about dropping my long sleeve shirt, but it was so windy that I thought I might need it again. I said hi to Lily and she helped me with a few things and I was off. That was my longest stop of the race. The first hill on the second loop was an absolute killer. I thought I was feeling pretty good until I started the climb and all of the sudden my energy was gone. I felt wasted. I was thinking I must not be very tough if I am feeling like this at this point. I just tried to power hike and hoped my energy would come back. What made it worse was the strong headwind pounding us relentlessly. I was kind of in a funk from about mile 17-20 and it was very tough to climb back out. The hill took a lot out of me and once I reached the top it was hard to get going again. I was running a 9:30 pace and tried to speed up, but my legs just wouldn't go. Finally when I reached the Lone Tree hill I started power hiking again, took another gel and an S-cap and hoped I would be feeling good at the top. I filled my water at the aid station and then thankfully on the descent back into the valley I found my groove again. My legs started to feel better and I picked up the pace a lot. I passed 4-5 people that had passed me while I was in my funk and by time I reached the switchbacks to climb back up I was feeling strong and energized. The climb up the switchbacks was so fun. I felt just as good as I had on lap number one and I passed a few more people on my way to the top. I passed the marathon distance around 4:30, which isn't fast unless you consider the elevation gain over over 3K that I had already put in. Just before the top I had another gel and S-cap on the steepest section as I hiked and when I reached the top I had two runners in my sights. I was feeling good and eventually passed a guy that was trying to hold me off and then I tried to catch a girl that was moving great. I followed her all the way to the aid station where I finally passed her because my stop was less than 20 seconds to get water. On the downhill I pushed the pace and felt great, but noticed that my second toe on my right foot was hurting a lot. I had put some mole-skin on the toe to prevent a blister and I remember there was a crease at the bottom and I knew that was causing it. It really started to hurt, so at the bottom on the hill I stopped and took off my shoe, gaiter and sock and removed it. I hated stopping, especially since I was feeling so good, but it helped a lot and I felt better. The girl I had passed at the aid station passed me again and I would follow her into the finish. The last 4 miles were fun. I was feeling as good as I had felt all day and nothing hurt, except my toe a little where I had the mole-skin. I actually ran a lot of the last 4 in the 8's and felt so good and strong. Except for the girl nobody had passed me in at least 12 miles and I reeled in 4-5 runners that last 4 miles. I wanted to pass the girl, but she as strong and kept pushing hard. Once we came around the bend and could see the finish we both picked it up and there was another runner in our sights. She passed him with about a quarter of a mile left, but he picked up his pace a lot at the end and I couldn't make up the distance. I was still feeling really strong at the end and felt like I had a lot left in the tank, which makes me feel really good about my training so far this year. It was good to see Matt at the finish. I was really happy for him. He ran a great race and had made incredible strides this year. It was also fun to see Craig and Kelli come in on the 50 mile race. They were awesome. I also got to say hi to Crockett, Bryce and hang out with Seth and the guys for a while and eat some buffalo stew. This was a really fun event and was very well organized and I had a great time. Congrats to everyone that ran and to those that reached their goals. Also, props to Bryce for going 30+ miles while fighting a nasty cold. It is very inspiring to watch everyone out there and makes me want to get better. I finished in 5:37 and I was very happy with that. My goal had been 5:30 and I felt like I would have to run a perfect race to hit it.

Grandeur Peak 3/18/11

Matt Van Horn and I decided we would do a pre-work climb/run of Grandeur Peak via the West Ridge. This would be 8 days before the Buffalo run, so it would give my legs plenty of time to recover for the race. Here is the report I put on my training blog: I woke up at 4:00 am to go climb/run Grandeur Peak with Matt Van Horn this morning. We definitely had our challenges today. First of all it was wicked cold at the start, and the wind that beat down on us for the first 30 minutes was horrible. That West ridge is sure windy and exposed. At least the lower trail was dry. The last mile to the top took us forever because there was about a half inch of light powder on top of a icy hard crust, and no tracks or trail, so we slipped and slid the rest of the way up. It was tough and slow. We finally hit the summit in 1:40, which is 20 minutes slower than the last two times we did it. It was still dark when we reached the summit and I took a gel and checked out the incredible view of the valley lights below. Heading down the back side was also quite challenging because the snow had a hard crust that you would punch through to deep powder. It was slow going down to the saddle where we finally hit a packed snow trail. I guess we were the only ones dumb enough to go to the top. After descending off the steep east face I took a look down into the valley and back up at Grandeur. Wow! What a view. You really have to work for a view like this and it gave me chills. Very awe inspiring. We ran down to Church Fork, and then on the Pipeline to Rattlesnake Gulch. From there we ran down to the canyon road and then back to the car. It took us almost an hour longer than the last time we did this route two weeks ago. It was a lot of fun anyway. We saw some deer, elk and had some impressive views along the way. This route is definitely one of my favorites.