Back At It

Another run in the snowsuit at the JRP.  Much warmer today than yesterday.  Tried to keep right around an 8 minute pace to keep my core nice and toasty.  Felt much better today for some odd reason.  Probably all the calories I've been consuming!

This is the last day I run before the big one on Saturday.  Looking forward to torturing myself through 50 miles with 12K ft of vertical :)

35:24
little vert

Gonna keep it short and sweet here.  The full race report can be found on my personal blog here: http://ohtheaftermath.blogspot.com/2011/06/2011-squaw-peak-50.html

Had a pretty good race considering my training over the last month has been pretty weak. Consensus was that the course was a bit more difficult this year, and I think the times reflected that.  I was reeling people in one by one for the first 45 miles.  Most of this was due to the fact that I went off course very early on and had to play catch up all day.  Then the last 5 miles my race completely fell apart when I got disoriented and dehydrated.  Glad it happened near the end so I didn't have to fight it all day though!

Overall I'm pretty satisfied with my result and I had a great time out there!  Great to see some FRB'ers as well.  Congrats to all who finished.

Got up to the BST in Sandy for a nice easy run.  Ran the BST then connected with Ghost Falls, then ran down Corner Canyon road.  My dad came along and kept me company.  He's coming off an injury so we made sure to take things really easy.  Was good for me to not push it since this is the first time I've run since the race last weekend. 

Recovery went really well and I was ready to run again on Tuesday.  My feet were a little battered though, and since I found out I'm doing Ragnar next weekend, I wanted to make sure my blisters were healed over before I ran again.  Thus the long layoff.

Overall it was a great day.  Note to self:  Don't run Corner Canyon on Saturdays in June...  Way too many mountain bikers.

2:22:58
1552' vert

Went to the JRP for some flat miles and heat.  Met my friend Scott and kept a casual pace the whole run.  Legs a bit sore afterward for some reason... Probably because I haven't been taking care of myself like I should.  Time to consume some extra calories for the race this weekend.  I love having an excuse to eat like a horse!

51:07
not much vert

Another easy day at the JRP.  The sun was shining and it was warm so I went shirtless... pretty rare occasion for me.  Gotta lessen the farmer tan!  Was going to make this my last day running this week til Ragnar on Friday, but I'm still kinda itchin for more.  May end up getting out tomorrow if I can find some time.

41:11
little vert

Did the Ragnar Wasatch Back relay.  There's a lot I want to say about this race, but I'll probably save it for a post on my personal blog.  I was on an ultra team with a few out of towners.  It was fun hanging out with them and hearing about their different adventures.  Three of them come from the triathlon world so their experience is much different than mine.  We also had a former CEO of Ragnar on our team.  He was definitely an asset since he knew about every leg of the course and was able to give us some insider info.

About two days before the race we picked up a sixth runner that contacted the captain.  She said she was ready for the distance and had run a 3:47 marathon last year.  So we had a very strong team... Or so it appeared.  Our sixth runner showed up and looked like she hadn't run a day since that marathon last year.  Then on her first leg (4 miles) she ended up run-walking it and said she couldn't do the second leg.  Since she was the runner before me I picked it up, then ran my two legs immediately following.  So three legs in a row!  Good times.

My second run was 17 miles starting at about 4:00 am.  It was mentally tough since I hadn't slept up to that point, but I was able to make it through and finished just as the sun was coming up.  Then I drove for awhile since everyone was asleep in the van.  Didn't end up falling asleep til about noon-thirty on Saturday, and that was only for 45 minutes.

My "final" leg was a 7 mile grunt up Guardsman.  3,000 feet of climb.  This was the whole reason I chose to be runner #5.  Passed probably 60 or 70 people on the climb and only got passed twice near the finish, by two runners who did not run the first leg of the climb.  So I was pretty happy about that.  Our captain had dead quads after the 2,000 foot descent on leg 35, so he wasn't able to run the final leg.  So who did it?  You guessed it... me.

So at the end of the day I ran 8 legs for a total of 42 miles.  I slept for 45 minutes during the race and consumed as much food as possible.  It was a fun experience, but I'm not sure if I'll do an ultra distance relay again.  Maybe with some ultra friends next time?

6:17:28
3,922' vert  

Got out to the JRP in the heat of the afternoon for a quick run.  I could tell right away that my legs weren't feeling it.  They were actually still sore (what the?) and felt like lead weights.  So, I only ended up going 4 miles.  The two miles out were slow, then I tried to shake things up and run fast on the way back, just to see if they'd respond.  To no avail.  I'm gonna take Friday off then go out for a nice easy run in the hills with my dad on Saturday.  Maybe the legs will feel better then.

26:59
very little vert

I needed some motivation.  I have a tough time finding it on my own at times, so when I talked to my dad on Thursday about a Saturday run, I decided to join him.  He's training for his first ultra.  He originally got into Squaw Peak but was unable to train properly due to a small tear in his calf muscle, so he ended up withdrawing from it.  He's back on track now though and is doing the Speedgoat 50K at the end of July.  It's a tough one!

In preparation, he wanted a route with lots of elevation and some heat.  I told him the best place right now for that is probably Grandeur.  So I joined him and showed him the Fun Run loop.  It was exactly what I needed to get back on track; a slower run and some hours on my feet.  We started at about 7:00am, hoping to avoid too much traffic on the descent into Church Fork.  We ended up dodging probably 60 hikers on the way down.  Some have no idea what trail etiquette is either.  I can't count how many times we stopped and got out of the way for hikers going up!  Luckily we were going at a very casual pace, but I would've been really ticked if I was trying to bomb the descent.

All in all a great day.  Weather was awesome and it felt great to renew some of the motivation.

3:18:36
3,722' vert

Getting back to my bread and butter now that some of the upper trails are opening up.  Went up the Mill B North trail in Big Cottonwood.  I did this run about once a week last year during the summer and it's one of my favorites.  The scenery is incredible, the trail is semi-technical, and I almost never see anyone on the trail.  I think most hikers like a destination and this trail doesn't really have one, so it's perfect for running.  The best thing about it is that it connects with the Desolation Trail which gives you almost unlimited options for longer routes.

The trail is in great shape right now, although there are still large areas of snow above 8,000 feet.  Eventually I made it to the Porter Fork junction which sits at about 9,000 feet and was hoping to be able to run into Mill A to see what the snowpack was like.  However, the trail that connects into Mill A is still completely covered in snow so I just turned back around.  I spent a good 20 minutes or so kicking out a trail in the snow so others could find their way up.  I actually had a lot of fun doing it.  Saw one guy starting his hike just as I was finishing up.  Other than that, it was me and the mountains... Just the way I like it!

2:09:10
2,940' vert

Decided to see what the north-facing slopes on the S-Curve in Big Cottonwood were looking like.  After yesterday's effort, I didn't feel much like heading up the Broads Fork trail since it's quite steep and I figured I'd run into snow quite early there.  So, I ran the Lake Blanche trail.  Started hitting major patches of snow at about 8200 feet.  After a few detours, I finally hit the lake and stopped to take in the views for about 10 minutes up top.  It was definitely serene.  Made my way back down at an easy pace.

Legs were quite fatigued after two straight days of good vertical.  We'll see how I feel tomorrow, but right now it's gonna be tough staying away from the mountains... It's been far too long!

1:32:15
2,490' vert

It took everything in my power to get myself out the door and onto the JRP.  The desire was just not there, which translated into a crappy run.  Oh well, more mileage in the bank I guess.

49:26
little vert