Thanks Mr. Bowerman! (sorta)

I want to give a big shout out to my man Bill. Today, the weather started getting rough and Manners wasn't so sure about it. The mountain looked pretty intimidating with the dark clouds.
On my drive to the mountain my wife called and said "do you know its raining?", I replied "really it is raining at home? Cause its snowing where I am" She didn't think it was funny right away but she quickly changed her tune.
I really didn't feel like running even after I was running but Bill kept creeping back into my head..."There is no such thing as bad weather, just soft people."
Well, I don't want to be a soft people so I kept running. The first 2 miles I rolled my ankle 3 times, seriously. I thought about turning around, you know, like it was a sign. Well I wasn't that smart. I kept going and thanks to Nathan Hydration I survived a pretty nasty face plant. I hit a rock just right with my toe and TIMBER - so if manners falls in the woods and nobody is around does he still make noise....HELL YES! Ouch! The water in my right hand helped break the fall (yes people, my water broke) and my left hand took a nice hit, when I rolled I felt those really nice sharp pointy rocks try and give acupuncture but I am guessing they don't feel that much alike.
I got up, assessed the damage then made sure nobody was around. Whew! The weather kept the spectators off the mountain. Well after the fall I decided to listen to the signs...NOPE! I got up licked my wounds and kept chugging along. Finished 10 miles in the wind and snow and felt like I really accomplished something. Thanks Bill, I guess.......

Busy but got it in.

Today saw a full to do list. After work I buzzed home to get dinner started then after dinner I helped out at Sami's soccer practice then came home and got the lawn mowed and THEN got on the mountain for a run. It was supposed to be 10 miles but I only got in 8. I am happy I got that in but darkness moved in fast and I wasn't prepared for it.
i felt pretty good after taking Monday off. The legs started a little heavy but they got the job done. Going the extra 2 miles would have been fine on the body. So after day 1 I am down 2 miles for the week. Great.

Shoulda had pancakes.

I decided to get away from the "creature of habit" routine for today. On Sunday's for breakfast we generally have pancakes. We love pancakes. I woke up a little earlier so I could get my long run in and decided I would have Honey Nut Cheerios. Now I like a good bowl of Honey Nut Cheerios but I think I would have run better if I would have had pancakes.
I wanted to get in 20 so.....I DID. The trails are just perfect this time of year and I am taking full advantage of them. Some days I feel bad for people knowing they do not get out and enjoy them. I got onto BST and headed south. I knew I could loop this twice and maybe add some scouting and have no trouble hitting my mileage. For the second day in a row I ran from Rainbow to the waterfall and felt pretty good. Its such a great grind and is proving to strengthen me mentally as well. I only saw a few people on the trail and that was about mile 16. I timed it perfectly. It started to get pretty hot. I know I need to get some runs in with the heat but I will do it in baby steps. I do not like nor do I enjoy heat.
Overall I am very happy with the week. 55 miles for me is pretty good. I will throw in another solid week this week and on Sunday, I head back up to Sun Valley where I hope to get a run in on Monday. I think the change of scenery and trail will be just right.
Plan for the new week.
Monday- OFF
Tuesday- 12
Wednesday- 10
Thursday -12
Friday - OFF
Saturday- 15
Sunday- 15
Total- 64

Beautiful day in the neighborhood

Now this is running weather. The temp was well....perfect. The trail was fairly empty and the legs had some good mojo. Started just like any other run- really hard to get into but knowing after a few miles I would settle in.
Did some good running at a very good pace. I can really feel the legs getting stronger and with the weight coming off things are looking bright. I got on the single track and went for it. I also had a first today. I ran from Rainbow gardens to the waterfall and ran the entire time. I am not a climber and for me to get up to the waterfall like that felt amazing. I got to the top and struck a pose that Rocky would have loved. I will tell anyone who will listen that unless you have been out on a singletrack and just had that sunshine on you with your lungs and legs burning, weaving in and out of bushes and trees...well you haven't really lived. Wasatch 2005 sparked something and now I am seriously living a dream.
I finished today strong and with 15 and change under my belt, I felt good. Tomorrow will be the test. I will go for 20. I think I have a great course mapped out and the weather looks like it will be just like today.
Squaw Peak 50 is next and I have a goal in mind so this is what I am aiming for. Here comes May and here comes Manners....

10 ?

I think I did 10 miles today. I went out again without my trusty GPS watch but did a little exploring. I wasn't able to make the "Thursday night run" with the Mendoza boys so I went out a little later. I went to my usually northern BST route but there were quite a few mountain bikers so I went off track and tried to get away. I got in some great climbing and I could tell near the end of the run. I was just happy I stuck to my original plan of running at all.
I will take Friday off and so a back to back this weekend with 15+ miles each run. That will put me at 50'ish miles for the week which isn't too bad considering I took off Monday and Tuesday. If I would have stuck to the plan to run on Tuesday it would put me at 60+ which is right where I need/want to be. Hopefully the coming week will have fewer distractions and I can grow a pair and not have any excuses.

Life....

I have let life take over a little so now its time I reel things back into perspective.
After last Thursday's post here is what I have:
Friday- OFF
Saturday- 15 miles
Sunday- 8 miles (left for Idaho)
Monday- OFF (Idaho)
Tuesday - OFF
Wednesday- 10 (to follow below)
Yesterday (since to day is Thursday now) I had a really nice run. The GPS watch wasn't charged so I did something uncomfortable for me and went out with a regular watch. Spooky! I decided to run a familiar trail since I was sure of the distance. Lots on my mind so I took to the trails with attitude. I felt great. I was moving along faster than normal and felt a little more burn to start but then it felt more effortless as I ran. The weather was perfect low 50's and i saw one other person on the mountain, some guy mtn. biking in levis. Yikes, that just cant be comfortable.
Anyway, I felt bad about not finding the time for longer runs over the weekend and took the guilt out on the trails. Finish with my fastest time yet.
Out again today (Thursday) just working it around Sami's soccer practice.

Finished strong

Today I met Scott and Phil at Rainbow Gardens. As Scott put it "we have a regular Thursday running club". Starting the run we went north of the canyon to run up to the waterfall. This is a good grind with amazing views and adds 2 quick miles to the run. My lungs felt really tight all the way up. I was trying to get my legs to respond all day. They just seem weak. On the way back down from waterfall and i thought it would be fun to roll my ankle...so I did! Yep, I was right, it does hurt to roll your ankle. We hit the parking lot and began to run up Indian Trail. Great climb and great views. Came back down and ran on the BST and hit another canyon. Lots of snow still but it made it cooler. The creek in this canyon is getting a little larger and the sound is mesmerizing. Due to the time, we decided to head back to the cars.
Near the end of the run I decided to really stretch the legs. In is downhill but we hit paces on 7-7:30 miles. As we got closer I let gravity take over. I was looking down at my GPS and hit between 6-6:15 mile. I was flying. I put things in perspective and this is how the elite runners go. It felt great but definitely not my pace.
Overall it was a good 8-8.5 miles. I really need to get out this weekend and put on some miles.

Now I am behind

Well, the plans were to take Monday off and run 10 on Tuesday. Tuesday didn't work out for me. (good excuse huh?). I got back on the trail today and was looking to go 10 but only made it 9. 1 mile short and a day down. I ran the BST on the north side of Ogden Canyon. Great run, decent weather but the legs just didn't respond like I was hoping. I guess the long weekend did more than I thought or else I didn't work them out quick enough (recovery). Either way, I went 9 and tomorrow I get to run with the Mendoza brothers so that will be good...

Oh Mommy......

Well if I felt good yesterday, today was a different story. Started at 8:30 am at Phil's house, we ran to the trailhead and started the day. We started on the fire road for about amile to get the legs warmed up. The morning air was a bit chilly. We jumped up ont the BST and started rocking. We had a great pace and things were flowing. We got to th e"BL" on the mountain and started to climb. We basically went straight up. What a grind. We went pretty far and the views were amazing. We knew we sere meeting Scott (Phil's bro) at 10:15'ish so we started back down. The rest of the way down and the single track to the Rainbow Gardens parking lot was still a great pace. We ran into Scott right befor ethe road, stoppepd and his car, filled up the handhelds and we were off. We ran up the Rainbow grind and jumped on the BST going south. The heat was getting pretty hot so I really tried to stay ahead on my electrolytes and fluid. We ran up Indian and then down, ran up another canyon (name escapes me) then down, tracked through a bunch of snow which felt good having the cool snow below us. We jumped back on BST and kept on trucking. Made it to about 29th street and Scott headed back and Phil and I pressed on. We went past Weber State University and dropped down into a real nice neighborhood (something you would find in Highlands Ranch, Colorado). We turned around and hoofed it back. Before we hit rainbow Gardens on the return, the heat started to really take its toll on me.
We made it back to Phils with a grand total of 21.64 miles. I felt ever step.
This was a positive step in the right direction but all I could think is "do that 4 more times and you have the DISTANCE of Wasatch" (not the climbing though.
man, did I bite off more than I could chew????
Stay tuned.......

First of a back to back

Today was the smaller of the back to back. I wanted to push a 15 and 20 back to back this weekend so I started with the 15. I did the northern part of the Bonneville Shoreline and looped it to make the distance work. The weather was great. I started about 3:00 pm and it was about 60 degrees with an ever so slight cross wind. The trails were a little more crowded than normal but no major incidents. The loop is just about 7.5 miles depending on the exact route. My first loop was 1:05 and I felt pretty good. One thing I struggle with is the first 1-2 miles. They seem so difficult. The second loop I did in 1:03. Not to bad I thought. the second loop everything felt good!
tomorrow will be the real test. I am doing 20 miles with Phil.

Fantastic run

Today I had a great run with the Mendoza brothers (Scott & Phil). We parked at Rainbow Gardens and ran across the mouth of the canyon and up to the top of the waterfall. We left the waterfall and ran back to the parking lot then climbed up and ran on the Bonneville Shoreline Trail heading south from the canyon.
What an amazing run. Great single track and loads of climbing. We got up high on the mountain and had great views of the valley. We looked to the North and a big storm or squall as Phil called it was moving in. We all decided we needed to hoof it back to the car before it hit us. We flew down the mountain and actually passed 3 mountain bikers. The snow started to fly right as we got back to the car.
We did a total of 7.7 miles or 12 if you round up. j/k.
It was a great 7.7 miles but with all the climbing it definitely felt like more. All in all I have found MORE fun singletrack to train.

OUCH! What the hail?

The plan was to go 8 and I got out the door, on the mountain and about a mile into it when the storm hit. I thought I could get my run in but the hail hurt. I found shelter with some rocks but the storm lept coming. Finally the hail let up but it was followed by a nice wind and SNOW! I guess I was soft tonday because I calle dit good and ran back to the car.
Maybe 2 miles but I definitley rounded up...

And here we go.....

Okay, its Tuesday and I felt alright. Legs were good, weather was bad. Pushed out 10 miles and didnt really run into any issues. The wind has seriously got to go. Later in the week we are supposed to get better weather. The views are still amazing and all the reasons I do this stuff are still there and a focus.
It is a big week and I hope to get through it. The weather will be a factor but the weekend looks great so maybe the longer runs might be longer.

Much better!

Ahhh, today was much better. This is how the runs should go every time. Started later in the afternoon and drove to Rainbow Gardens and accessed the Bonneville Shoreline Trail just north of Ogden Canyon road. this may be my new starting point. I felt really good pretty much all day. I tried to make sure I stayed purely on single track. I succeeded and this was by far the best run of the week. My legs started a little heavy but loosened nicely. The knees started to get a little stiff here and there but I will just have to deal with that and run through it.
I think the best thing about the run was the fact that I focused and ran all of the climbs. It may not have been fast but the feet were moving forward and it was faster than my walking. The weather was windy again but I guess you need to deal with it.
The one thing I find interesting on my runs is how hard the first 2-3 are. After that, it seems like my lungs adjust and they don't struggle as bad. My legs are getting stronger and overall I am feeling pretty good. It is so hard to go on these runs and not think about Wasatch. I am not sure if that's good or bad. I may be a little to focused on it though.
My next race is Squaw Peak in June so that needs to be my focus. I definitely need to start logging more miles and getting some climbing in too. I think if I focus on those, then my speed will work itself out. Anyway, I covered 15 more miles and felt really good. For me getting to good back to back 15 miles days is alright and I will take it. The schedule for this week is:
Monday- Off
Tuesday- 10 miles
Wednesday- 8 miles
Thursday -10 miles
Friday - Off
Saturday- 20 miles
Sunday - 15 miles
Week total- 63 miles
Wow, that's alot for a middle of the packer like me but hey, its a step forward.

I'll take it.

I wanted to knock out 2 good runs back to back this weekend. The morning was busy. Started with Sami's first soccer of the season at it was cold! We then took a trip to the local art exhibit. After a little break from running around it was time to go knock out some miles.
I started the run with very little energy but I also know that the first 2 miles for me is the hardest. I did get going and I went north of the Nature Center trail head instead of south. I got in 4 quality miles in that direction and then turned back south. I never really felt good the entire run. The weather was windy and cold. It wasn't just a physical battle for me but a mental one. I really didn't want to keep going. The goal was putting in 20 miles and then another 15 or 20 tomorrow but it wasn't going to happen. I waited a little too long to start running and i was running out of daylight. That coupled with no energy, I stopped short of 20 and only did 15.
I was glad I did at least that considering how I started.
Overall the run was decent. Logged some miles and now need to follow up with at least 15 tomorrow. Decent week but a long way to go.
P.S. I would like to congratulate my friend Scott Jaime on his amazing race today in California. He finished 9th with a time of 6:24. That's a 50 mile time by the way. That is unbelievable. Check out his race report to see how the elite go.
Way to go Fast One, you are amazing!

What's the bright sphere in the sky?

Wow! What a beautiful day. I ran a new part of a trail that I have run for years. Only did 7 miles and was hoping to do 8-10 but it didn't work that way. I ran with my friend Scott Mendoza and we had a nice run and did some exploring. Quite a few people out on the trails enjoying the weather. This may be my new staple run. With this run I can add all kinds of miles anywhere I can think of. The opportunities are endless. I will take Friday off and hit Saturday (gotta run while the Fast One is racing) and Sunday with some longer miles. I sure hope the weather keeps its course but it looks like we are getting a storm in again. I will do it anyway but if I can get weather like yesterday, I will be in trail running bliss.
P.S. Man, I sure have heard some more noise with a new ultra team. What's going on out there???????

I'm baaaaack....

Alright, I am a slacker. Not that anyone reads this but I have missed a week of posts. I got caught up in silly things like work, wife, kids, yard work and oh yea...running. Just kidding. Don't call Melony. Anyway, since last Wednesday I have run the following:
Thursday- nope
Friday -8 miles
Saturday- 12 miles
Sunday - 5 miles (legs didn't work well)
Monday - off
Tuesday - nope
Wednesday- 8 miles
Not outstanding miles but at least I did something. The back to back days felt good but that 3rd day was brutal. Today I am hoping to run with my friend Scott Mendoza on the Bonneville Shoreline trail for about 10 miles. The weather here has been crazy. It has been cold and snowing. I have already fertilized my yard trying to get ahead of spring....
I will do better at getting my posts back going but it has been the least of priorities. Besides, my TV shows are back on so at night instead of typing I am being lazy.
I want to wish my good friend and inspiration Scott "Fast Eddy" Jaime luck at American River this weekend.
P.S.
Look for product reviews to come soon....
P.S.S.
I have heard there is a new ultra team forming but I don't have all the details yet. Sounds pretty exciting.....