Back At It

Left work early and got out with Jun for my first summit of Timp for the year.  I told him that my expectations weren't too high since my legs were still feeling heavy from Saturday's race, so he let me lead out.  My legs felt ok on the climb, all things considered.  Apparently we were ahead of Jun's PR pace a couple miles into the run.  Eventually though, I started feeling fatigued which was to be expected. 

About half way up the mountain I told Craig to lead to show me the exact route he takes through some of the switchbacks.  I've always taken the main trail the whole way and it know it's not the most efficient.  After we got up into the top basin, Craig put the hammer down on the steep switchbacks below the saddle.  I still just don't have that gear back on the steep stuff.  Craig waited for a few seconds at the saddle and I pushed it hard and eventually caught him about a hundred yards past the saddle.  But I was spent... Breathing hard, legs hurting, you name it.

We pushed it up to the summit to get in under two hours and my heart rate was maxed the whole way up from trying to catch Craig earlier.  It was painful, but we made it.  1:57:50... Craig was about 30 seconds ahead of that.  This was my first time going under two hours so I know I could cut off about 10 minutes on a day when my legs aren't so heavy.

The descent was long and painful.  My legs ached, felt hollow, and just plain hurt the whole way down.  It was not fun!  Craig was dealing with some nausea, so between the two of us we were a sorry bunch.  Time down was absolutely pedestrian... Something like 1:31.  Still had fun out there though.  How can you NOT have fun on that mountain?

BTW, the Timpooneke trailhead is closing for a month starting August 5th.  If you want to get this route in, best do it in the next few days.  Details HERE.

I've been a slacker the last few days, but I really wanted to get all the soreness out of my legs heading into this week.  Mission accomplished.  Hit my 5 mile route in the hood today.  Nothing out of the ordinary to report.

Got lots of big stuff coming up in the next few weeks.  First up... King's Peak on Saturday with the boys.  I may get ambitious and try for the Triple Crown again after getting shut out some weeks back.

Quest For King's Marathon.  Scott and I actually ended up doing the Triple Crown.  Lots of fun out there even though Gilbert Peak worked us over.  Full report can be found HERE.

Legs have felt great since the Triple Crown, but my feet have been torn up a bit with blisters.  Wanted to run Monday but my feet haven't felt ready til today.

Butler Fork to Gobbler's and back.

Lunch run around the streets near my work.

Had an extremely late night Friday due to circumstances out of my control.  So instead, I decided to do my run on Sunday.  Woke up and hung around the house for awhile before deciding to get off my butt.  Sun was out in full force and it was already hot when I started.

Did the Desolation loop starting from Mill D.  Not fast, but not slow; just right.  Legs are feeling good these days and fairly rested.  Actually, maybe a little too rested for the training cycle I should be in.  SHOULD being the key word, because I'm having trouble balancing life and running right now.  Oh well, I feel blessed to even have the opportunity to make it out and run, so I'll take what I can get.  Hopefully I can bang out a good week this week so I can feel a bit more confidence leading up to Wasatch.

Went out with the intention to get the Butler Fork loop.  However, a momma moose and her calf thwarted my plans about 3/4 of a mile into the run.  They were bottlenecked on the trail and I didn't really see a good way to get around them.  So, I went back to the turnoff for Dog Lake and headed up in that direction.  Ran the whole way to the lake and was blasted tired when I got there.  Took a nice stroll around the lake and got some calories in me.  I didn't feel like running into the moose (meece???) again, so rather than doing a counter-clockwise loop, I just turned around and went back down the way I came.

Easy 5 around the friendly neighborhood streets.

I was supposed to go hunting with my dad this morning, so I took the day off.  He ended up having some work stuff come up, so rather than sit around all day I drove up to the Uintas.  Spent some time hiking around a few different lakes and doing some fishing.  Fishing wasn't terribly hot, but it was just nice to get out to one of my favorite areas on the planet!

Took today off to get in my last long run before the big dance in two weeks.  Went up to my usual spot at Butler Fork and spent some hours running around up there.  I was looking to get 6 hours, but had some stuff come up so I was only able to get in a little over 4.  I'm perfectly fine with that since I've got a run with an old friend planned for tomorrow morning.  The run went well and energy was good throughout.  Feeling as ready as I'm gonna get for Wasatch!

Got out with my dad and my friend Scott.  We decided to run Mill D to the ridge, then run to Scott's tower and back.  Nice day to get out and do this route because I was working on tired legs.  I was happy with how my body responded for the most part.

The one thing that frustrated me a little bit was my left foot.  On Wednesday this last week I pulled a muscle in it when I was out chasing my dogs around.  Thursday it was feeling much better and it only bothered me a little bit towards the end of my run yesterday.  It really started bothering me today on the second half of the run... Never really got worse though, so that's good news I guess.  Luckily, I have all my training behind me now and I can take the next few days off to let this thing heal up.