Craig and Scott had been talking about doing a Stansbury run earlier this week, and mentioned that they'd like to try and get 30 miles in. Even with two decent runs already in the week, I figured it be fun. We wrangled Josh to come along as well, so that rounded out the group. See Juns blog for the Garmin map and some pics.
The venue was Stansbury Island, which is just off I-80 a little ways past Tooele. We had scouted out a 10 mile mountain bike loop, that we would do several times. The other three met in South Salt lake at 5:30, and since I was coming from the north, I met them off I-80 at Redwood Road. The rain was coming down, which soon turned to hail as I climbed into Scotts car with the rest of the crew. Great, I thought, this could be a long day. However, the further west we drove, the clearer the sky seemed to get, and the road got dryer and dryer. When we got to the island, the ground was completely dry. Only a blustery wind greeted us. I had planned on wearing shorts (come on, its April for cryin' out loud!) but once we got out of the car, all of us were throwing on more layers to combat the wind, including gloves, hats and pants.
Loop 1 - 1:32 - From the trailhead, the trail starts an almost immediate 800 foot climb that lasts for the first mile. I was in front, so I pulled the train up the hill. It was actually quite runnable with switchbacks. We were also greeted very early to the rockiness of the trail that would be our nearly constant companion. Once we hit the top, there was a very steep trail that dropped down the other side, so Craig headed first and we started to ski down that, but then realized that there were switchbacks that crossed back and forth over this trail that we could use. Ahh, much better. The next several miles of the loop cut across the face of the mountain, winding in and out of the various canyons with some hills, but none that last too long. The scenery was very stark and rugged, yet beautiful. The technical trail was covered in rocks that would jut up, reaching for a lazy foot to catch, which made it a fun challenge. Clearly they would become more challenging as the day wore on! Shortly after mile 5, we took a right turn on a trail that ran us straight down a little canyon. It was steep, but mostly runnable. My knee would complain a little on this part - it was still a little tender from the beating it took on Tuesday. The grass in the area was green, with tiny purple flowers in full bloom that gave parts of the hillside a purple hue, with big rocks scattered about. Craig said it reminded him of Switzerland. Once back at the base of the mountain, we now would complete the loop by running the remaining 4.5 or so miles back to the trailhead, by way of a series of dirt roads, with a little pavement thrown in as well. While this wasn't nearly as fun as the top section of trail, it was a nice variation to just let your running gear go after dodging rocks for so long. If one wanted to stay entirely on the trails, you could simply do this route as an out and back. We cruised our way back to the car, finishing up the first leg in a respectable1:32. We opened up the "aid station" (Scotts car) and fueled up on Pepsi, chips, cookies, part of a bagel - you know, the usual fare. Loop 2 - 1:36 - For variety, we decided to do loop two backwards, then when we got done we could decide which one we like better (or would rather do) for loop 3. So this meant heading back out on the road. We started at a decent clip, and made our way the 4 miles to the base of the hill. Craig, Josh and I ran mostly together at that point, but once we hit the hill Craig pulled ahead a little as Josh took a pit stop, passing me a couple of minutes later. This hill was pretty straight and steep (no switchbacks) and at about 15 miles in now, I was ready for a walk up the hill, so we walked it. Craig and Josh finished a bit before me, and we headed out after chatting and fueling for a minute. We could see Scott as he continued his way up. This time they put me in front again, and I dubbed myself the 'Pace Car' because I'm wide enough to block the trail so they can't pass me :) and I try to go at a nice even pace, which they were kind enough to say they appreciated, "so they didn't get carried away and overdo it being in front". I tried to keep it right around a 9 min pace, and it was feeling really effortless and good at that point. We just cruised along and enjoyed the ride.The nice thing about going this way is you get a lot of mileage out of the way on the road to start, so by the time we came to the switchbacked climb to the last ridge, it was nice to know once we hit the top of that it was all downhill. At the bottom of the climb my shoe came untied, so I stopped to tie it, relinquishing my pacing duties. At the top of the hill Josh stopped for a second so I pulled in behind Craig for the decent. The shoe I had just tied came undone again...I normally double knot, but figured it should stay tied for a mile! Guess not. This run down was really fun. Technical in spots, smooth and winding in others. We could see the car, though it wasn't quite as welcoming since we had come to realize that Scott had the keys, and was somewhere behind us! We cruised on down, finishing the second loop only 4 minutes slower than the first, in 1:36. For some reason, the area where the car was parked was one of the windiest areas on the island! Luckily, there were huge boulders outlining the parking area, so once we determined which ones would best shield us from the freezing wind, we each picked on to hunker behind. We could see all the way up to the ridgeline that Scott would be coming over, and after a few minutes a small figure appeared and started his way down. As he got closer I mentioned to the guys that I didn't see Scott running down the hill, what I saw running down was a can of Pepsi! :) Scott made his way down, then it was round 2 of fueling up, this time though, much of it was spent in the car and out of the wind.
Loop 3 - 1:48 - Yes we were tired at this point. We decided that the best plan of attack would be to hit the hill straight away, while our legs were more fresh, leaving the road section for the end. Though there are some mental challenges with the long straight road at the end, I think it was the best option. The climb up the hill was slower this time, hiking the majority of it, though we still kept a decent pace for hiking it. Off the top side, Craig pulled out of the lead to take some pictures, so I was back setting pace. Again, I tried to keep a steady 9 min pace and was feeling pretty good. A couple miles in, Josh felt a little bonky, so he pulled off the trail for a minute, and it was just Craig and I. As we wound in an out I could see Josh, then Scott behind us, and I wasn't sure if Josh would catch back up, depending on how he was feeling. Once I glanced at my watch and saw a 10 min pace, and Craig said "come on, we're getting lazy". I couldn't really argue, so I picked it up. It wasn't long before Josh was right back with us. Speedy! As I was navigating a rocky section, I toed a rock and it sent my body in some weird contortion, but I didn't fall, and after stumbling through a couple more sections, I realized I was a little behind on my fueling, so I took a gel, paid more attention to what I was doing, and continued on. Back at the dropdown trail into the valley (I felt like we'd been here before...) we took a quick pitstop, rewarding ourselves for the good effort we had put in. Now it was pretty much downhill and flat to go! Took it really easy down this long hill, Craig said he could see Scott on the trail up above us, but I kept looking and just couldn't find him. We hit the marathon mark at 4:17, shortly after the bottom of the hill. Once we got to the dirt road, we took a brief walk and then picked up the run again, trucking along trying to come up with conversation to distract us from the few miles left. Took another small walking section and then ran it out to the finish. Once we got to the finish, we noticed we were at 29.80 (or something) miles - you can't end it on that! So we started up the trail for a tenth of a mile and then ran back to get the 30 mile finish. We stretched out on some rocks for a few minutes and then huddled up in the car, snacking and drinking while we waited for Scott. A few minutes later we could see him on the horizon, making his way to the finish shortly thereafter. He had taken a different road back (there's a maze of roads) which gave him the perfect 30 finish without having to run the extra at the end. Nice! Overall it was a really good day on amazing trail with some good friends. Kill the wind and it would have been almost perfect! Doing a long run with loops has a lot of advantages, like being able to fuel up and not have to carry everything with you. I certainly got plenty tired, but didn't bonk at all, which I'll chalk up to eating plenty.
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