Gaining more than you lose

After promising myself the entire week off after the Buffalo Run, the weather was looking so nice that I figured that Saturday counted as a week. We had driven to Fillmore last night to visit family, so I set my alarm to get up early and try to knock a run out. 

We had stayed up late talking, so I set the alarm a little later to 6:30, then when it went off, I told myself that I'd wait till the sun came up and it warmed up a little - then I noticed that my phone said it was 65 degrees out...65 at 6:30?! I hopped out of bed and quickly got dressed.

I knew the general area that I wanted to run in, but wasn't sure what trails there were, so I just headed up Chalk Creek Road, which is kind a mix of paved/dirt road for a couple of miles, as it runs right next to the creek. There were a couple of turn offs that went across the creek, and after a while of running on pavement I ran back to one and crossed the stream, only to hit a "No Trespassing" sign about 20 yards later. So, back across the icy stream and back up the road. The road I was on connected to a more established dirt road, then a bridge and a sign. One trail continued up next to the creek, the other took a climb up the side of the hill, towards the hieroglyphics, so I guess I wanted to climb a little, because that's where I headed.

After a brief climb, the road forked again, and I took the road towards the hieroglyphics, which was a gradual downhill for about a quarter mile, where it ended. Just off the road to the east was a small cave, and in the morning light I was a little hesitant to go running right up to it, but made my way up to it and I could see the hieroglyphics, which were on a rock face just above the entrance.

 I wasn't sure if I was looking at the right things or if the 'real ones' were in the cave, but after looking around in there I figured that those must be them. Spent a couple of minutes poking around and then headed back out. (Once I got back I was curious as to the history of the signs-one man believed it was directions on finding a buried chamber with gold plates - and spent years and lost lives digging for it, while another describes it more likely as being Indian writings from the 1800's-www.mysteryglyphs.com). 

Going Up!

Once I got back to the fork where I had turned down, I kept going up, and continued on a fairly steep climb for about two miles. I was now on an ATV trail, where in the very steepest spots they had put sections of cinder blocks to help get traction when the red dirt turns to slippery mud.

It was a beautiful morning, I was heading east towards the mountain top, so I was chasing the sun back, staying in the shadow of the mountain. The trail then opened up into a wide flat area and, judging by the earlier signs, I think I was at White Sage Flats. Ran to the end of the flat where the trail split, one going up further, and one heading back down towards the creek. As much as I wanted to explore either one, I thought it would be best to start heading back.

Where I had stopped there was a small sign pointing to where I had come from (and where I was heading back) that said "Most Difficult" - I wondered if it was most difficult for an ATV, what does that make it for running? :)

Had a nice run back down, navigating the rocky terrain. Made it down in nearly half the time it took to get up! Only saw one person the entire time, and that was when I was back down on the paved part. Took this run super easy, wasn't a recovery run, not really a training run, more like a fun run! Left the clock running.

11 miles - 2 hours - 10 min pace - 1500 ft vert (which was all in 2 miles)

Once I got back home we ate breakfast then my wife and I went out for a couple of slow and easy laps around 'the block' for another 2 miles - gotta love the country. :)  Looking forward to checking out some more trails when we go down there again.

10.6 on Dimple Dell with Craig. We just suited up and headed out, and a couple miles in I said "So, umm, how far are we going?". We had no plan, just figured we'd run until we decided to turn around. Got to the the usual turn around at the top and headed back down, taking one of the lower trails that I hadn't ever been on, which I liked. Felt really sluggish and tired today, probably because I hadn't really eaten much before running. Kept a pretty consistent pace the entire time, so that's good.

The weather was great, but I started to get really hot and just started shedding layers till I was down to shorts and shoes! Oh yeah! Felt like a pack mule with all of the said gear hanging off of my shorts. :)

10.6 miles - 1:38:00 - 9:14 pace - 883 vert

Did a quick 9 miles on the trainer while my wife ran on the treadmill. 30 mins/18mph. 

Met up with Scott and Jun at Willow park and hit up the BST in Draper. Trail conditions were excellent - I had literally forgotten what that trail looked like without snow. The wind however, was another story, a fiercely strong headwind as we ran south. At 3 miles in Scott turned back (since he had done Wire this morning) and Craig and I continued up Corner Canyon road. That's where the wind really blew (yes, pun intended) - there were times that I felt like I was leaning so far forward I could have kissed the ground. We just kept plugging away and finally made it to the Ghost Falls trail. After a brief break so Craig could take care of some bidness, we headed down the Ghost Falls trail. As I had never run that trail, Craig was nice enough to let me run in front, which in this case is like having the front seat on a roller coaster - best view in the house! Super fun trail to run down, with wide, banked turns that you can just fly down! The legs really appreciated the fast downhill pace after slogging up that hill. As we headed north back on the BST the wind gave a nice push at the back, which was appreciated after fighting it the whole way out. 

I gotta say, even though I was itching to run the Tuesday after the Buffalo Run, I feel like I'm really feeling the benefits of taking the whole week after off. Time will tell, but I'm ending these back to back 10 milers with my legs still feeling strong with no accompanying aches and pains. 

  10.3 miles - 1:36:08 - 9:18 pace - 2094 vert

 Added 30 minutes on the bike trainer when I got home while my wife ran on the TM next to me. 8-9 miles. My legs are fine (it actually feels nice), I'm mostly trying to get my butt used to being back in the saddle for the duathlon in a couple of weeks.

Another Slurpee run with Jun from Jordan Commons up Dimple Dell to the Bells Canyon Reservoir. Slow, slow, slow in the snow. Hard to think that I was running the same trail 4 days ago with no shirt, and here I was today running it with 4 shirts. Long gradual climb to the mouth of the canyon, with a brutal short climb up to the reservoir, and a fun, slippery run back down.

With about 4 or 5 miles to go, Craig turned to me and said "I'm not really feelin' it, so if you drop me, it's OK, I'm not going to try and stay with you, not today". I, of course, knew this was total BS and figured that he wanted someone to chase, so I took it as a challenge. I picked up the pace a little and created some separation (but not much). Once we got back on the paved trail with less than a mile to go, he was still a little back, so I figured if I just kept about an 8 min pace he'd probably stay back. Ha, I knew better...it wasn't long before the footsteps got louder and pretty soon he was next to me, telling me he hated me. Now that we were together we seemed to push it more, hovering around the 7 min mark for the rest of the run. We were both pretty wrecked by the end...and starving. :)  

Topped off the run sharing a Big Daddys pizza with Craig, and washing it down with a 44oz Coke. Both of which were gone by the time we had driven back from the run. Gotta love it!

 14.54 miles - 2:21:12 - 9:42 pace - 1255 vert

Got my hands on some Altra Instincts today and couldn't wait to try them out, but could only manage some TM time. Threw down a quick 5.5. Very impressed with the shoes so far, extremely comfortable with an incredibly spacious toe box. Can't wait to take them out and see what kind of abuse they'll take.   

5.5 miles - 43 min - 7:49 pace - 300 vert

First "real" run in the Altras. Hit the Gully with Jun and Scott. I knew Craig had run it yesterday at a good pace, and I yesterday I had mentioned that I didn't think I had ever run it that fast with him -  so...of course Jun seemed to be pushing the pace pretty good right from the get go, especially when we crossed 13th and started up the hills. I had forgotten my watch (OK, it was in my bag) and I didn't want to let Craig get ahead of me because I wanted to have an accurate time. :) When we got to the top of the horse trail Craig mentioned we were a little faster than he had been the day before...ha.  

Once we had Scott with us we headed up the road to the towards the Bells trailhead. Up to this point the Altras had already been feeling REALLY good, but once I hit the pavement, they were like "butta" - incredibly smooth and comfy on the pavement, while still allowing my feet and legs to do what they're supposed to. Moving on, hit the steep trail part and this is where Craig always gains a little ground on me - I run the whole way, but right near the top of the first climb I can't seem to hold the same pace as him...one of these days. Cruised down the little flat section then up the climb to the reservoir, getting there about a half a minute after Jun. Scott showed up shortly thereafter. We hung out up there for a few minutes, chatting it up and pounding a gel. Once it started to feel a little chilly, we headed back down. I was right on Craigs tail as we flew down the rocky downhill, and had to back off a little, cuz if you follow too closely to him you'll find yourself taking routes down, across, over, under, and through rocks that you probably wouldn't have selected yourself. Craig even leapt from one boulder to another at full speed in full stride...I thought for sure he was going to eat it because the trail was so wet. No such luck. 

As we hit back on the horse trail, Scott seemed to be runnin' hot, just pushing the pace as we were heading down. We just shrugged and kept the pace going. Just as we were getting close to crossing 13th, he started to say that he would be normally be cursing us by know if they're weren't so many houses close by. As usual, Craig decided that meant that we should really pick up the pace and he put the hammer down and we started our final couple mile stretch. He and I kind of took turns who would punish the other by setting the pace, and we ended up sprinting out the last couple hundred yards, to finish as a couple of heaps on the grass in front of the car. 

  Fantastic run, with very nice running weather and a blistering (at least for me) pace. Speaking of blisters, there wasn't even the slightest hint of any on my feet! I was very impressed with the Instincts. Even though they are a road shoe, they would perform just fine on all but the most rugged trails (and even then they'd wouldn't be bad). Looking forward to having them as my go to road shoe (gotta wear something for the UV Marathon), and everything else shoe! I think they are a great shoe for those that want the benefits of barefoot or "minimalist" running (zero drop, foot shaped design, roomy toe box, etc), but still want some protection and *gasp* a little cushion. Now to see how they'll hold up with the miles I put on 'em! :)

  13.3 miles - 1:51:35 - 8:23 pace - 1225 vert

See Juns report for a couple of pics

There really is nothing better than running with a couple of friends on a nice rocky trail under the sunny sky. There's also nothing much worse than having to take part in the years debut of Craig's shorty shorts - I was just glad I didn't forget my sunglasses. 

Today it was the BST Draper with Jun and Josh (jsh). If I had a nickle for every time Craig said "Today we're going to take it nice and easy" and then he doesn't, I'd have....well, not much, but at least a dollar. I was actually feeling tired as we started, but, as is seeming to be usual, felt better and better as the run went on. Craig led us out for the first 3 miles until we hit Corner Canyon, then we could all run next to each other up the road. Our speed wasn't terribly fast here, just a nice hill eating pace that got us to the top of the Ghost Falls trailhead at 45 minutes flat. Stopped there for a minute or two to stretch and eat a gel - we also found out that Josh had worked where Craig and I both work and had been there when we were! HA! I thought he looked familiar. :) Small world. 

At this point my eyes sorely needed a rest from the shorty shorts, so I led out as we ran down the Ghost Falls trail. This trail is a blast to run down, made especially interesting today as there were several spots with a significant amount of mud...sketchy! I had one really close call, but luckily never went down. Josh said he usually runs up that trail and down the Canyon road, so we'll have to try that sometime.

Once we got back to the Corner Canyon road and connected back to the BST, I was starting to slow down, trying to find a little speed in the legs, but hadn't located it yet. Craig ran up next to me and said "remember how we are going to take it easy today? Umm, when is that going to happen?" I commented that I think it was happening right now, to which he responded by immediately taking up the lead and taking up the pace. Well that helped me find the gear I was looking for, and I was pretty much able to stick right with him for the remainder of the run. Once we hit the pavement I sprinted it out to the end. Great run. I was glad that we ran early enough in the day to miss all the crap that is coming through and still see some sunshine....or maybe that was just the glare from Craigs legs...

10.3 miles - 1:35:51 - 9:18 AP - 1600 vert

Ran up City Creek with Jun after we strolled around the marathon expo, running into Kelli and Scott, as well as Craigs friend Jason. Cruiser of a run at a relaxed pace, just enjoyed the perfect weather. Haven't done a purely road run for quite some time. The Altras didn't disappoint.  

Jun met up at my place this morning to go hit the BST in Kaysville. He told me he was on his way at like 10:30, and I realized I hadn't eaten anything yet. I was shopping with my wife, and so thought I'd give the stomach a nice little running test, and stopped by Einsteins and got a Turkey bagel sandwich. It was tasty, and quite filling. Craig showed up about 5 minutes after I got home so it was perfect timing. Took a last sip of Coke and we were off. 

Started a little cloudy but was still warm. I led the whole way out, with a brief stop at the Fernwood trailhead (about mile 3.5) and then we kept on. From there it really starts to pick up in vert, so it was a little slower, but we kept running. Took the Great Western turn (4.7) and made our way up that about a half a mile more, then found a good turnaround point (5.2, 55 min) and stopped for a few minutes. It was a beautiful day, with a blue sky valley below us, and snow capped peaks above us, some hidden by the passing clouds. 

Taking the turn

Craig led the way down, and since the majority of it was downhill, we were flyin'! I think that got his legs turning over well, because he kept a solid pace from then on out. He had forgotten his watch, so being the kindly friend that I am, I let him know (from about 10 yards back) that he was running sub 8 minutes on flat/uphill stuff, which of course, he took to mean that he wasn't going fast enough. He pulled further away despite my efforts. I kept looking at my watching and though it told me I wasn't moving slow, I just couldn't seem to reel him in. On the last stretch I really pushed it hard, hovering just over and under a 6 min pace, and didn't quite catch him by the end, finishing about 10 seconds after. We had covered the 5 miles back 14 minutes faster than the way out!

Jun Cruisin'

Great run, legs felt like they could have kept going (though not at that pace) for another 10, especially with this weather! Always a good time on the BST.

Blue skies and sunshine!

I guess it hit me that I'm signed up for a duathlon this Saturday and I've ridden my bike 3 times this year. Did an hour on the trainer, followed by a zippy 1.5 on the TM - I wanted to make sure that I could run in my bibs. With the proper application of Glide, they'll be fine.

I really struggle on the trainer and TM, my legs feel fine, but I just can't seem to get in a good "go all day" rhythm when I don't feel like I'm covering any ground. I'm really interested to see how this thing goes. 5K run, 22m bike, 5K run. Just glad I don't have to swim! :)

Similar route as Saturday, only by myself. BST in Kaysville to the Great Western turnoff (4.7). This time I didn't continue up. I did run down the BST for a little to see where it went, but it got really steep and muddy so I turned back - didn't want to run back up that slop. Overall the trail was in fantastic condition, significantly better than Saturday even after all the rain yesterday. The streams and creeks were running full and strong. Didn't push the pace on the way back quite as hard, but still made good time. Ran into a friend on the trail, so I did stop to chat for a few minutes. Beautiful day!

9.75 miles - 1:31:49 - 9:24 Pace - 1710 vert

30 minutes on the bike trainer while my wife ran - nothing fast, probably 8-9 miles.

I haven't ridden my bike outside this year yet, the three or four times I have ridden have been on the trainer, so I wanted to preview the course for this Saturdays Duathlon. I've ridden Legacy plenty of times, so really I guess I was previewing myself. Rode 11 miles out and 11 back starting from the Farmington Frontrunner station, which is the turnaround point for the race. Finished the 22 in 1:04:50, with an average speed of 20.4. My legs actually felt great, I guess those quad pounding trails paid off. My butt, however, was plenty sore - its not used to being on a bike, so I'll just have to run through that in the race! 

Met my buddy about an hour later since he wanted to see what kind of 5K time we could get, so we met back out on Legacy. Ran it in 21:22, 6:53 AP, just 2 seconds off my PR!!...beat him by nearly a minute. Not bad considering I had just ridden 22 miles! 

I really didn't know what to expect heading into this race, as I really hadn't been training at all for the 5K distance, and REALLY hadn't been training on the bike. My buddy had called me a "one trick pony now" so I figured I'd do this race with him and show him this pony could beat his. :)

1st 5K - 20:50 (PR) This this entire race is on the Legacy Parkway trail system, there's not really a place to do a mass start, so they did a staggered start. The race director told everyone to just "go talk to each other" and figure out who was the fastest and then line up behind them based on time. I was probably 15 or so people back, settling in the 22 minute range. Then they began starting people about every 3 seconds, so I was quickly off. My friend was right behind me, he wanted to pace with me because he didn't have a watch. I started off pretty fast and within the first half mile I turned to him and said "I'm pretty sure I'll PR my 5K time here", as I was feeling comfortable with the 6:30 first mile pace. Passed several people. This was an out and back, and I gained some ground on my friend on the way back. There was also a "short course" option, so I began passing a lot of them as they headed back from their turnaround. I quickly ditched my shoes, threw my bike shoes and helmet on, and was getting ready to leave as my friend ran in. Had about a minute on him...

Bike 22.11 miles - 1:06:34 (20 mph avg) - Once I got on my bike it took me a minute to navigate around a few people as they were getting clipped in. My method is to just hop on and start riding, and clip in as I go. Once I got settled I followed my fueling schedule and ate a gel. My plan was to eat 3 gels and drink all my fluids on the bike, so I wouldn't have to worry about anything but running on the runs. I passed a few people and was passed by several sleek, expensive bikes that wurred by. There were a lot of decent cyclists out there, and a lot of nice bikes! One of the challenges of this course is that the it is an open course, so not only do you have to be aware of passing racers, but you also have to dodge other recreational bikers, joggers, strollers, rollerbladers, etc...This was especially bad on the way back when you had a lot of racers coming towards you on their way out to mix in with the regular traffic. There were a couple of times that I had to slow down almost to a stop until I could get by. A little frustrating, but its all part of the race. Gelled up just after the halfway mark, and about a mile away from the transition area. Stretched the legs just as I was coasting in to the exchange, they were starting to feel a little cramped. 

2nd 5K - 21:52 - Right when I hopped of my bike it was hard to walk (especially when you're trying to move fast) you just have to trust that your legs know what they're doing. Tried to quickly change shoes and get the bike racked. Took me a second to pull my watch of the bars (as my friend came in) and then I was on my way. He was still close - turns out our bike times were identical (though he will quickly point out that he was .9 second faster) I'm glad I had my watch because I couldn't feel my legs/feet yet and after cruising along at 20mph for an hour, its really hard to tell how fast you're going. I just kept my turnover going, and felt like I was dragging - I looked at my watch and was running a 6 min pace. I knew that wouldn't last, but just kept the effort strong. It was funny because I had noticed a few people from the Buffalo Run 50K, but one kid in particular that I had run with (and near) for quite a while on it, was running right behind me as we made the turnaround. He caught up to me with about a mile to go, and mentioned that the kid a little ways in front of us was in 1st for their age and "I want to catch him so bad! If I pass him I'll be in 1st!" I had seen that other kid struggling a little on the bike, and noticed that he had stopped to walk for a minute as he took water on the turnaround, so I just said "well lets go catch him!" I picked up the pace a little and pulled him along for a minute, and then he just slingshot up and cruised past the kid and far beyond. He was cookin' (turns out I beat him overall by 15 seconds). I caught up to now second place kid and passed him as well. Its cool to see these young kids competing and getting into stuff like this (especially the 50k). Tried to turn on the jets a little for the last part, finishing that leg only a minute slower than the 1st (and only 40 seconds of my previous PR). I felt confident that I could run this 5K strongly, as my legs are used to running tired! My friend really slowed down on this leg, finishing almost 5 minutes back - giving me the "W".   :)  

Goal time had been 2 hours, finished in 1:51:34. I had counted most of the front guys coming back on the run, and even though that's not completely accurate on a staggered start, I figured that I had to be in the top 20, and most of them looked mostly older than me, so in the back of my mind I thought there could be a chance that I could place decently in the age category. Though I will admit I was a little surprised when they were announcing awards and they called my name for 2nd place in the 30-34 mens age group. I hadn't even been standing in the area so I had to run over to accept my medal. Ahead of me in my age was Dane Rauschenberg, who was there promoting his 52 marathons in 52 weeks book (See Dane Run), pretty cool.

Fun race, only thing that was tired and sore was my butt! Its not used to being in the saddle. If not for the Easter family stuff that took the rest of the day, I probably would've hit the trails up too. ;)

"A nice 6 or 7 miler..." - Thats how Jun described our planned run before we started. I had run most of what we were going to do, so I was familiar, but it was the second half that I wasn't too sure about. 

We started at the flight park in Draper, and hit the BST heading north along the base of the hillside. That trail is a really nice, relatively flat trail with some rollers before it picks up a little vert as it hits the saddle at the mouth of the canyon. We were a little surprised to see the trail end into a massive pile of dirt with construction equipment scattered about. It looked like they were putting in a water tank. We bushwacked up the hill, skirting the construction, then ran down the other side until we hit the new trail that makes its way up towards Suncrest. This trail is a very gradual climb that snakes its way in and out of the small canyons. We had fun trying (unsuccessfully) to stay out of the mud that got worse the higher we went. Just before the trail abruptly ends, there is a little mountain bike trail that turns sharply and steeply up the hill. We carefully hiked up it to avoid slip sliding our way back down. We had anticipated having to run a short section through a neighborhood on the road, but were happy to see another switchbacked trail that headed in the direction that we wanted, and it literally dropped us out just yards from the View Benchmark trailhead, just where we wanted to be!

We ran up that road, and the wind began to pick up and get even colder. We waded through some snow for a few feet as we made the turn to head up to the peak. There were some muddy sections here, we often ran right up the middle of a little stream that had formed in the road, simply because it had exposed the rocks which provided the best traction. We hit the summit and didn't spend long up there as the bitterly cold wind bit in to any exposed skin. The bushes looked really cool as they had a inch of frozen wind blown ice covering them. We bombed our way down the trail heading back, luckily not slipping in the mud.

This time we crossed the snow and instead of going back the way we came, we headed further southwest towards the South Mountain ridgeline. A couple of small climbs here and then we dropped off this crazy steep and winding trail, dubbed "the Wild Mouse" with all of its steep, sharp turns. More rollers and then we came to a massively steep climb to the South Mountain summit that we hiked up. As I looked up the hill I literally felt like I was walking up a wall! Got to the summit to be greeted with a steep dropoff, followed by a few more steep inclines preceding the steep decent down the other side.  Then it was just a lot of steep downhill - geez how many times have I said steep? These are the kind of downhills that are just really hard to run down because you'll either go way to fast and eat it, or you'll go to slow or pound your knees to hard keeping yourself slow. Either way it was fun. :) Speaking of eating it, on one of the flat sections between drop offs, I toed a rock which sent me forward - normally not a big deal, but when I quickly brought my leg forward to catch myself, it cramped up so I ended up with one knee and one hand on the ground as I quickly kept going. So, still not a big deal. Gotta have a little blood every now and then. 

We were now above the gravel pit area and I knew from the map that we were supposed to just run this ridgeline all the way down to the end, and then run back to the park, but then Craig made a sharp switchback like turn down the hill, and then went straight down! The dirt was soft, so it was actually quite fun bounding down this super steep hill to the road. This dropped us just inside a "Construction Zone" gate, so I figured that's why Craig took us down early. Had a nice jog back to the car on a pretty flat section of dirt, my legs had kind of forgotten what that felt like.

It was a brutally fun run, made even more so by the bitter cold winds and snow flurries that should NOT be happening this time of year...We'll just hope it gets better, it usually does. :)

Run with Scott and Jun on the BST in Draper starting from the Red Rock trailhead and heading back towards Corner Canyon. This route starts out with a little climbing and some downhill into the canyon. Since the Clarks trail was closed due to mud, we decided to run up the Ghost Falls trail and back down Corner Canyon Road. The trail was beautiful, and was actually much less muddy that I anticipated. As we continued up, my legs did feel a little heavy from yesterdays endeavor, but I tried to keep a steady effort. I had let Jun get a little lead on me, but once I realized we were close to the trailhead at the top, I punched it into gear and caught up to him as we hit the top (3.75 miles I think) at 38 minutes, with Scott moments later.

We chatted for a couple minutes, and then bombed down Corner Canyon road. For being a dirt road, all the runoff actually made parts of it kind of technical when you're running fast, which made it fun. Took us 9 minutes to cover the mile and a half down. Once back on the BST Craig continued to keep the steam on, and slowly pulled ahead. Scott was right behind me for quite a while, which pushed me to keep my pace up as we started some more climbing up. Craig continued to pull away until I couldn't see him anymore - which just pissed me off :). Once I hit the top of the climbing (at least that part) I just pushed the downhills really hard, knowing that Jun probably was as well. I was feeling pretty good and knew my speed was good, but I hadn't eaten much today and knew it probably wouldn't last. Finally I had him in my sights, just 20 or 30 yards ahead. I kept pushing, thinking "OK, this is the last hill, sweet, then I can cruise the last downhill and catch him". Well, these "Last hills" just kept coming. When I finally did get to the last one I had almost run out of energy and, while I still pushed it, just didn't have the speed I was hoping for. Ended up finishing 24 seconds behind him, with Scott coming in a minute or two later.   

As always a fun run with some good conversation and beautiful scenery. Its so nice to start to see some green coming in! 

8.22 miles - 1:14:24 - 9:03 Pace - 1500 vert

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.