16 miles

Last night Phil called and invited to run with a group of people from the area. Some of them were Phil, Cory Johnson, Tom Remkes, Ron Remkes, Tony (Peak Performance), Casey, her brother Billy and a few others. There were about 11-12 people total. We met at Rainbow Gardens at 7 am and Tony drove us all to the top of North Ogden pass. We got out and had a great run down North Ogden pass and joined up with BST. We took BST all the way back to Rainbow gardens. That was about 9.5 miles. Phil, Ron, Cory, Casey, Billy and myself all decided to go further and we started up Indian Trail. Due to the fact my sister is in town from Colorado Springs, I had to get back a little earlier so I told them I would run Indian Trail to the hut on top. Once there, we all turned around and BURNED back to Rainbow. All said and done, I did about 16 miles. I will count his as doing Indian for the 2nd time -4 to go before SP50.
Overall another great run with good mileage and good climbing. Surprisingly, this was the best I have felt doing vertical and that was after about 10 miles so I guess the training is paying off.
It was also great to run with a group of pretty neat people. I look forward to more.

Indian Trail +

What a beautiful morning. Met Scott Mendoza at 7am for a out and back on Indian Trail. I am trying to do this about 6 times before Squaw Peak and today was #1. We start at Rainbow gardens and make the trek to "Smokey Bear". At the other end of Indian Trail there is a big Smokey the Bear sign that gives you an update on fire danger so you will read about "Rainbow to Smokey Bear." On the way out to Smokey Bear we didn't see a sole. It was our trail and the sun was coming up from the east which is the general direction we head so it was awesome. I just got a new Go Pro Camera. It is a video and still shot camera that mounts to helmets. It has different adapters and I wore it like a headlamp. Since it was the first run for it, there were a few learning points. It definitely jiggles a bit but I think I can secure it tighter to get a better picture. I actually got some good footage and might put it on the blog. Once we got near the end of Indian, we headed back. On the way back we started to see quite a few people but the great thing about this trail is NO MOUNTAIN BIKES. makes it kinda nice not having to worry about dodging on coming traffic. After we got back to Rainbow which is about 11.5 miles, Scott and I decided to run up to the waterfall and back. Added just over a mile so for the day, I got about 13 miles. Lots of climbing which is my focus right now.
Overall, good day, good run with a good friend.

Finding my legs, 10 miles

After a couple days off for weather and most importantly, my legs, I decided to get back on the trails. I got out on a nice walk Monday night to help loosen the legs and to my surprise I wasn't as sore as I thought. I was actually sore in my lower legs. Did a decent run. The trail was slick though. All this hard pack dirt and rocks with a nice coat of rain and WHEEEEE.....
I will probably get back out tomorrow for a tempo run and hit the Indian Trail Saturday and Sunday. I really want to finish Squaw under 12. Not a great time but it would cut off 2 1/2 hours from last year. I feel pretty good and the past weekend was huge. i am so much farther ahead of last year and mentally I feel pretty good. Squaw starts a busy summer and I want to do well. I am working on my splits card along with quotes for the other side so if anyone has any inspirational quotes to help me out, please leave them.
On a side note, Team Pearl Izumi-Smith is in the final stages of completion for the year. We have some great athletes and sponsors. Our website will hopefully be active in a week so stay tuned.

Temperature check

After a tough run yesterday, it was time to follow up with another long run. My initial plan was to get at least 10 miles knowing Granduer Peak throttled me. I met Scott Mendoza, Phil Mendoza and Scott Jaime at Rainbow Gardens for a day on the trail. We left the parking lot and did the Indian Trail. I have never done the whole trail in one swoop. After yesterday I didn't want to see any vertical but that's how we started. I could really feel the climbing in my legs and once again I was bringing up the rear. I was keeping it into perspective and just wanted to enjoy it with my friends. The descent from Indian was awesome. It's too bad Mr. Jaime lives in Colorado, this group is fun. We hit the bottom of the Indian trail and went down the canyon back to rainbow to refuel. On the way to the car, Phil must have felt the effect of a great marathon the day before (4:02, way proud of you man!), he started chasing quail around the parking lot. Once we left the parking lot we headed south on the BST. The effects of the day before were really beginning to take its toll on my legs. There were mush. We headed out a few miles and Phil was feeling discomfort in his leg so he turned around. Who could blame him, he did the Ogden Marathon the day before and played a rather intense game of DUCK-DUCK-GOOSE.
About a half mile later, Scott Mendoza turned back and got in a solid 15 miles.
Being somewhat brain dead and suffering from the intense heat, I decided to keep going. We made it over to Bues pond and turned back. I ran with Eddy for a bit and then he took off. I tried to run as much as I could and I think I did better than I thought I would. All in all I did 20 miles.
For the back to back over the weekend I felt great...considering. Lots of miles, lots of vertical and the best friends a guy could have.
Thanks my friends!

Grandeur Peak

OUCH! What a day.
I picked Eddy up at 6 am and we traveled down to SLC to join a organized run put on by Erik Storheim. When we pulled up, there were close to 20 people. We (Eddy and I) have never run this course before so we really didn't know what to expect. The first 3 miles we did about 3500 feet of vertical. I was so excited because vertical is my specialty....YA RIGHT! The mountain hammered me. Once we hit the top, there were amazing views all around. We started down *(after we got off course a bit) and it was an amazing single track. It was so nice to be able to run with Edward. He wasn't pushing it but we did a decent pace by my book.
The course itself was unbelievable. I put in about 16 miles and 8000 vertical feet. For me that was torture. This is something I need more than anything and I really tried to push myself but my body was spent. Overall, the day was a success. There was mileage, heat, vertical climbs, bush whacking, road, single track, bike trails, rocks and of course other people. It was the full meal deal. I was hoping to do 20 but no dice. The Fast One got 20 in though.
As great as the course was, it was tough. I survived and Sunday will be another day on the trail.
I completely recommend this course to ANYONE.

Solid 11

I am a few days behind on my posts. Sad to say I cant find time to type. I took a couple days off after that weekends back to back and had a very solid run today. I probably will not run again until Saturday when Eddy gets here. I will need all the rest possible to follow him around for a couple days. With today I should get in 50 + miles this week.

Quote of the week/month/year..whatever

Take it if you want it
Take it if you need it
Grab yourself a dream and dont let nothing come between it!
- Alexi Lalas "Woodland: Sacred ground"

27 miles.

Alright, I am changing my blog structure. I will now make the headline my mileage. I know people who do it that way and it just makes sense. It is harder to go back in to track my mileage.
Wait, what if I do my normal posts and then do an end of week with mileage. hmmmm, Okay I will think it over.
Anyway, decent run. Stayed on my feet for 5 hours which was the main goal but i really thought i could cover 30 miles. I originally planned on running to WSU and back but I decided to do something I despise, I did loops. I did my normal run and added a little to it and tweaked it. I made my car the aide station and just went to it to refuel. I wasn't sure how everything would work out logistically and I was trying my new Nathan Hydration pack.
the run started pretty smooth even though the weather man is full of crap. They said high was going to be 63. Right.... it was 63 by 9:30-10 am. The first loop was great. The return trip to the car sucked. Apparently there was a organized mountain bike ride and I was going against the current. There were about 50-60 riders and they were pretty spaced out. I would go 10 yards or less and have to hop off the single track and let these suckers ride by. Some were nice and cordial others were like Kobe Bryant at a Motel 8.
I hit the car after the first loop and the legs felt good and I was ready to go for lap 2. No more riders so it went good. After I got the the waterfall I decided to run down to Rainbow gardens and made a detour up the canyon on the other side of the river. Pretty cool trail. It was my first time on that part of the trail and it added a refreshing change. While I was running up the canyon I decided to forgo a 3rd loop and really add miles to this one. I was all over the mountain side, exploring and running into dead ends. It really broke up the run. unfortunately being on the west side of the mountain, it really exposed me to the heat and I was really feeling it. I struggled the last couple miles and was just glad to be done.
Not sure what I am thinking about Wasatch at this point. People keep telling me that 100 miles is a long way and I am really starting to think they are right.
I finished 5 hours and change with 26.6 miles. I wasn't happy with the miles so I did a half a mile or so when I got home. The drive home made me mad that I only got 26.6.
I will take off Sunday and Monday and go on Tuesday. Saturday and Sunday I will be running with my man "Fast Ed".
Here to another run....

Taint running great?

It's Thursday which means I get to meet Scott and Phil Mendoza for a run. Started the run from Rainbow Gardens parking lot and went up to the waterfall. I really struggle starting runs uphill. Its as if my lungs are not stretched out yet or something. its just nice to break it up and run with people. Came back down from the waterfall and went south from Rainbow up Indian trail. Great grind up. I have no strengths in running but a definite weakness would be climbing. I can feel I am getting better but it is tough as hell. We went quite a ways on Indian and came across a great little snow patch on the trail. Scott went first and sunk, all I heard was "ouch, I just hurt my taint." Man, I haven't heard that word in awhile. I had to giggle but as Scott got out of the hole he sunk into and proceeded, I heard, "I really hurt my taint, I sunk to my taint." Well needless to say, I took my time and watched every step.
We descended back down Indian and got on BST heading south. I finally had to turn around and get back to the kids. On the way back, Scott was dialed in. He flew back to the car. Following him down the trail I thought to myself....maybe the taint is actually a turbo button.
All in all it was a good run. Legs felt pretty heavy from the day before and we only covered 6-7 miles but did some good elevation and had a decent pace to boot. I will take tomorrow off and prepare for my 5 hour run on Saturday. The goal is to be on my feet for 5 hours regardless of mileage. I would like to at least cover 25-30 miles though.
Taint running great?

Welcome back Manners

After taking 3 days off (I know, I know) I hit the trails to punish myself for being a bad boy. The weather was perfect, overcast and chilly with a slight chance of rain (I was really hoping for the rain but it never showed). Did the BST and really looked to push it. I started my run and about a mile or so in to it I came up on 3 guys and a couple dogs working on the trail. Hey- one my was buddy Phil (who was actually running) and the other 2 were his friends Tom Remkes and Tom's son Travis. They were doing trail work for Wasatch. the 2 dogs were there for pure fun. They had done some amazing work on the trail. There is a group of them that have done great things on this trail which I have adopted as my home trail. This is where I am hoping to do my trail work for Wasatch too. It was nice to see Phil since I haven't run with anyone for a few weeks.
We talked for a minute and Phil and I took off for a run together. We really moved. Did my normal run it felt great. It was nice to have a little conversation too. Phil is training for the Ogden marathon on the 17th and after that has a pretty big load of races. Best of luck to him and the Ogden marathon!
We parted ways on the trail and when we did, I pushed the pace hard. It was getting dark and I was on the single track so I wanted to get back before the rocks and tree stumps started to grab me. I just love that feeling of really moving through the trees. I wish I could run this pace more often. By the time I got to the car, I was soaking wet with sweat. Great feeling knowing you worked hard for something even if it is stinky....

What a sunset...

WOW! What a great sunset. I feel so lucky to be able to do what I do. I take so many things for granted in life and days like to day help me realize that I need to start appreciating things just as a bit more. After a very long Saturday of soccer games, shopping, yard work and taking care of mom- I got out on the trail to end the day. The plan was to work on speed and go 10 miles. It was late and I knew if I didn't boogie then I would be out in the dark and I didn't take my headlamp. Started off great and felt really strong. I didn't pay much attention to anything but my pace. I wanted to push myself hard until I hit the threshold of feeling a little to uncomfortable. I almost got to the waterfall and hit the trail down to rainbow Gardens, I felt great (down in 4 up in 7) so I quoted Ms. Spears and said "hit me baby one more time" and did it again. WOW, what an effort that was. After I reached the top it was more like "Oops I did it again".
Anyway, I did it twice and went to the waterfall to take in everything around me. This part has become more meditation than anything. When you are up that high with those views and the smell of the outdoors, it really puts things into perspective. Here is where I encountered a problem- I let my self stay there too long and the sun wasn't going to wait for me. I got down to the fire road and flew to the car. I have never ran that pace for that long before and it felt GREAT! All along the run I kept looking over and the sunset was absolutely breath taking. Lucky me. I didn't take my iPod on the run and I am glad I didn't. Just surreal. Tomorrow I am off to Sun Valley for a few days and after tonight's 13 miles, I may need it.

Hit me with your best shot!

What a night! The mountain and I are getting to know each other well. Just a day after the mountain smacked me in the face to make me realize it is far superior, I came back and gave it a knuckle sandwich! Yes, I said knuckle sandwich. Beautiful evening run with amazing views. The sun was setting and the air was fresh. I made sure I wore my PI Seeks to avoid anymore acupuncture or water breaking episodes.
This running gig sure does provide me with a sweet balance in life. All my short comings as a husband, father, friend and employee seem to even out a bit when I can go and get some perspective. There is nothing more humbling than the outdoors. Everywhere you look you see things that amaze. What I like most of my BST run is sitting at the top of the waterfall. You look down and see so many people stop and admire it and take photos which I have done many times. However, standing on top and looking down brings a whole new perspective.
Just like the quote goes, "It is not the mountain we conquer but ourselves."
Previous posts, including this one, talk about the challenge of the climbs or miles or when the mountain kicks your a$$. But it wasn't the mountain yesterday, it was me. It was my attitude, it was my laziness, it was the uncertainty. Well today I cleared the negative and set out to show yesterday was a fluke. You get that in life or in races. Stay the course, don't think about the knockdowns- think about getting up and saying "you can hit me again but I am too strong, I will get back up, again and again."
Remember....No Excuses, No Regrets...Leave Nothing. Maybe that's more than a mantra for running........