Back At It

For some strange reason I woke up about an hour earlier than normal.  Knew I wouldn't be able to fall back asleep, so I got out the door and ran.  Definitely a rare occasion for me to run on a weekday morning.  It sure felt a lot better than yesterday though!  Just cruised around some streets in the area and even got a nice little climb and descent mixed in there.  Good way to start off the long weekend.

36:59
171' vert

The plan was to go for 3 or 4 hours, but sometimes things don't work out as planned. 

I went up to Mill D North in Big Cottonwood.  The weather was great and the trail's in pretty good shape.  But about 30 minutes into my run, my hands started swelling and I was getting dizzy.  And of course, I didn't have any S!Caps with me.  Still have no idea why this happened so early on in the run.

Upon reaching Desolation Lake, I hung out for a few minutes to enjoy the scenery, piled some snow on top of my head to cool me down, and buried my hands in the snow to get the swelling to go down.  Decided it was probably best to turn around and head back down.  Ran into Meltzer on the way back and stopped to talk to him for a few minutes about his upcoming race at Hardrock.  He said it's "just another hundred."  Ha.

Kind of upset that I didn't get a better run in, but that's how it goes sometimes.  Still trying to get my mojo back.

1:20:05
1,834' vert

After not quite feeling like myself the last few weeks, I've decided that I'm going to ease back into things this week rather than trying to do too much.  To get things started I went out for a run at the JRP today.  Had limited time so I only ended up with six miles, but they were brutal because of the heat.  Felt pretty good, but tried to ease back so as to not overdo it.  Looking forward to getting back into the swing of things.

44:14
little vert

Went back up the Lake Blanche Trail today.  Felt quite humid, so within the first quarter mile I shed the shirt.  By the time I hit the top I was covered in sweat.  Spent about 30 minutes up top just enjoying the scenery.

Not so many people out today.  Only ended up having to dodge a few groups and a couple solo hikers.  The effort also felt quite a bit easier than last time up.  Probably because I didn't have a big vertical run the day before, but I'll just keep telling myself that it's because my fitness is improving.

Got home and felt good, no problems.  I jumped in the shower, and when I got out all hellfire had come up from the depths of my skin.  I'm officially scorched!  Next time I'll have to remember sunscreen :)

1:24:05
2,500' vert

Got out for a quick 4 at the JRP.  Pretty easy effort.  Nothing too exciting other than a few sprinkles of rain.  Trying to keep the legs fresh so I can put in a hard effort on Saturday.

29:12
little vert

Got up and ran around in my favorite area this morning.  I would try to explain the route I took, but it would be way too confusing.  Lots of detours from the plan due to heavy snow in some areas.  So I'll just say I ran around in the Mill A Basin area in Big Cottonwood.

I took a bag with water and extra nutrition and stashed it about two miles away from the trailhead.  I figured I'd hit it at least once during the run - which I did - but it wasn't until I was on the way back to the car.  Way to think it through Josh!  So I ended up running almost 5 hours with two handhelds and 5 gels.  Bad move.  My stomach was screaming for food and I was dehydrated.  I ended up filling one of the bottles with snow about 45 minutes before I got back to my bag and slowly let it melt.  It helped a bit, but wasn't nearly enough.  Finally hit my stash with two miles to go and ate a few more gels and pounded 32 ounces of water.

Even though I had problems with nutrition and hydration - based on poor planning on my part - my legs felt great all day long.  I was able to consistently push the hills and I ran hard on the flats.  I guessed the mileage between 20 and 22 so I'm calling it 21.

5:19:12
6,300' vert

Another one of those days where I had to cram a run in.  Got four in at the JRP around five o'clock; a bit later than I usually run.  It was still plenty warm though.  My legs feel basically recovered after Saturday's effort, so that's a good sign.  Shootin for 50 this week before I begin my 10 week training schedule for The Bear. 

I've come to the conclusion that I need to follow a schedule to reach my goals.  Over the last few months I've basically been going by how I feel, and my weekly mileage totals are lower because of it.  Now I don't always follow the daily plan, but it helps to have the numbers laid out in front of me.  And actually writing it down accomplishes something I don't get from typing it here on the blog.  Something about putting pen to paper does it for me. 

So a question I wanted to pose to the few people who actually read this:  Do you prefer a schedule, or no schedule?  Recording results on the computer, or on paper?

30:11
little vert

Got out to the JRP again today.  Really wanted to get a mountain run in, but looks like I may be getting some good vertical in tomorrow.  Wanted to save the legs for that.  Pretty average pace today.  I was thinking of going a bit further than I did, but when I got to 45th and noticed the underpass was almost completely under water, it made my decision to turn around pretty easy.

1:00:37
little vert

Went up and made an attempt at Timp with Matt, Craig, and Scott.  Having never been there before, the surroundings blew my mind.  Why had I never done this before?  After about mile 2, we were in snow basically the rest of the way.

Traction devices on your feet only do so much when the snow isn’t hard-packed.  Lots of slipping and sliding.  And I was the idiot that didn’t bring trekking poles.  Scott offered me a set, but I didn’t think I’d really need them.  I managed without, but things would’ve been much easier with them, that’s for sure.

There were a few places we couldn’t find the trail so we’d just climb straight up in the snow.  I actually love this kind of “bushwhacking” on hikes, but there were a few really steep spots where I was afraid of falling.  And I’m a baby when it comes to heights!

We didn’t make the summit, but made it just below the saddle.  We made the decision to turn around there because of time, and because the approach to the saddle was sketchy.  It needs a few more weeks to melt down.  Coming back down was fun since we got to slide down on our butts in a few different places.  It was an absolute blast!

On the drive home we talked about the “run” and how weak it looks on paper.  Less than 10 miles in 4 hours... Are you kidding me?  Even with the vertical, it seems pretty pathetic.  I can tell you that I’m spent though!  This is why I measure my long efforts in time on my feet, and not in miles.  There’s no way to express the amount of work we put in out there, for such small numbers (other than the time of course).

Will try and put some pics up later.  Don't have time to mess with it at the moment.

4:07:41
3,400' vert

Still a bit fatigued from yesterday's effort, but felt like I needed to get up a mountain to blow off some steam, so I hit one of my go-to routes up Big Cottonwood.  Went on the Butler Fork trail and headed towards Mill A, then turned around at the Desolation Trail junction.  Didn't run much on the way up, but it felt nice just to be out there!  Will probably take Friday off so I can put in another good, long effort on Saturday.

53:21
1,400' vert

Had one of those days.  From the beginning I didn't feel light on my feet at all.  So about an hour into my run, I decided I was more interested in climbing a mountain than running.  Ended up tagging the back side of Gobblers Knob... a total bushwhack with some seriously steep pitches.  Was lots of fun.

Coming down off Gobblers though, I was stumbling around and just could not get into a groove.  I decided rather than risk seriously injuring myself, I'd just call it a day.  So on my way back to the trailhead - you guessed it - I rolled my ankle... Hard!  So I officially have a cankle now :(  Probably need to take a few days off.

Kinda interesting that I sensed this coming before it happened.  I was in a similar situation last year and ended up doing the exact same thing on the exact same ankle.  It was actually right about this time of year as well.  At least I know that I'll heal up fairly quickly.  Still frustrating though.

3:24:17
3,400' vert

First run I've done since the cankle injury last week.  Went up to do what I call the Desolation Loop with my buddy Scott.  This route starts at Mill D, runs up to Desolation Lake, then follows the Great Western Trail down to Big Water where you head up to Dog Lake, then back down to Blunder Fork and connects back onto Mill D.

Scott visited the doctor the other day who ended up putting him on high blood pressure medication.  He runs about 6 days a week and is reasonably fit so he marks it down to be genetics.  He's also 47 so that is probably a factor.  Anyway, the route up to Deso was slow since he had to stop every so often.  He said he felt like he was drunk when his heart rate would go up.  The doc told him it would be a few weeks before he got used to it.  Needless to say, we took our time.

The bum ankle held up pretty well.  I only tweaked it once during the descent down into Millcreek.  Nothing major though.  We ended up doing the route about 20 minutes faster than we ever did it last year.  What the?  I've done it much faster on my own, but this was Scott's best time and he was baffled as to how it happened based on the way he was feeling.  Probably cuz I ended up setting the pace most of the way as he was trying to go way too hard for his abilities.  Drunk behavior!  Ha.  All in all a nice day and I was encouraged that my ankle held up so well after only injuring it a week ago.  I guess a week off from running helps!

I plan on taking it easy on the ankle for the next week or two.  Just didn't feel confident in it at all on the steeper descents.  At least I know that I can run again.  Man, I was a miserable person to be around this last week!

2:58:49
2,800' vert

Got out in the early afternoon and ran the Butler Fork loop in the clockwise direction.  Made the half mile detour at the junction to check out Dog Lake.  Perfect day out!  Nothing really memorable to report.  My pace was completely pedestrian since I'm still trying to gain back confidence in my ankle.  It's gonna take a few weeks.

1:51:27
1,950' vert

I was determined to get up the canyon and run today.  So with ominous skies overhead, I drove up to Mill D North in Big Cottonwood and set off up the trail at about 3:45.  I knew I'd get rained on but wanted to see how far I could make it.  After 10 minutes on the trail it started raining.  After 20 I was soaked, so when I got to Blunder Fork I sat under a tree to assess the situation.  I had two miles to Desolation or a little over a half mile to Dog Lake. 

After waiting for about 10 minutes for the rain to slow, the thunder and lightning that was getting increasingly closer made my decision easy.  So I turned around and flew down the mountain.  I got caught in a bad storm last year when I was 4 miles away from my car, and I didn't want a repeat of that horrendous day.  A bit upset that I didn't get the run in I'd hoped for, but happy that my determination didn't overtake my common sense.

34:05
900' vert

Butler Fork loop clockwise again today.  Just didn't add on the section to and from Dog Lake.  Actually felt really on top of things for the first time in probably six weeks.  You know those days where everything just clicks?  Yeah, that was today.

Since I was feeling so good I decided to go hard.  I PR'd to the ridge, then ran the back section hard to see if things would continue to click, and they did.  The only problem was the growth.  It seemed like the overgrowth was twice as bad as it was on Monday when I did the same loop.  That's 4 days!  Are you kidding me?  It was looking more reminiscent of last year; maybe worse.  So I definitely had to slow things down through the sections where I couldn't see the ground. 

Just before I hit the junction to Dog Lake I stopped for a quick 30 second relief break, then ran the section down to the bottom.  Really bad growth through here as well.  I kept a quick pace, but didn't go anywhere near all-out since my confidence in my ankle still isn't great.  Reached the bottom and noticed I had a PR for the loop.  Nice!  Still feel like I left 5-8 minutes out there due to slowing in nasty sections and not bombing the downhill due to my ankle.

Got home, showered, and then started to notice the all too familiar feel of stinging nettle.  My left leg was especially numb.  Funny how I don't even notice it when it happens, but once I shower the feeling is full-force!

1:20:38
1,900' vert

Volunteered at the Speedgoat 50K.  First time volunteering for a race, so it was a very interesting experience.  I helped at the table for a short time, then marshalled in two different critical sections, and ran sweep once the last runner came through.  So I was able to get some miles in.

In the morning after coming off the tram at Hidden Peak, we had to hike down a few miles to the aid station I was assigned to in Mineral Basin.  Runners were coming through at around mile 10, then again at about mile 20.  We had to bust it to get down there before the first runner came in.  Anyway, someone had the bright idea to take two enormous watermelons to our station.  I was the only one with a pack big enough to fit one, so yep, I had to haul one down.  It wasn't all that heavy, but the shape was not comfortable on my back at all.  (I think I have a pinched sciatic nerve now.)  Not only that, a girl got stuck with the other one that she tried to carry in a bag, but the handle broke.  So we handed off back and forth the whole way down, cradling it like a baby.  Yeah, it sucked!

Overall, it was a great experience and something I'll definitely do again in the future.  Oh yeah, my dad ended up finishing his first ultra at this race in 11 hours flat.  It was great seeing him out on course a couple times and being able to get down to the finish line in time to see him come in.  Congrats to him on finishing a very tough race for his first ultra!