Gaining more than you lose

Back to the basics today...Jun, Scott and I hit up our typical lunchtime run up Dimple Dell to Bells reservoir and back down. Beautiful weather, slight breeze but warm. I had to stop just before mile 5 to take a quick call, so that added a few minutes to the time.  We were a little surprised when we got to the Bells trailhead and the water still wasn't on! Its May for crying out loud.  My goal on this section was to stick with Craig to the top of the first climb, since thats when I always seem to lose him. I was successful today, but he gained a few seconds on the final climb to the reservoir. After a brief stop we blasted back down to the trailhead, then took an easy pace down the top section of Dimple Dell. Stopped and got water from the bathroom sink at the Wrangler trailhead. Once we crossed 13th and headed back down the trail, our pace seemed to pick up a little, then all of the sudden Scott puts his head down and starts pushing the pace. Well, obviously I have no choice in the matter, so I just hooked onto his shoulder and hung on for the ride. As we went under 7th he slowed a little and I just tried to keep the pace up, and was able to create a little separation. As you get closer to the end, there are a few of these little tiny rollers that are a pain in the butt, even though they're little. Then you get the hill up to the dog park that I just huffed and puffed up, seeing Scott just a little ways back kept pushing me. Hit the paved trail and just tried to cruise it in to the end. I told Scott I was not in the mood for that! Jun came in shortly after, his hip had been bugging him, so I think he was happy to let us try and battle it out for no good reason. :)

13.25 miles - 2:02:09 - 9:12 pace - 1223 vert

In the evening my wife wanted to get out and go do something, so we took my son and went up Baer Canyon in Fruit Heights a little ways (home of the Bair Gutsman). He loved running up the rocky trail and then throwing rocks into the stream. For part of the way up and most of the way down I ran with him on my shoulders and he just laughed the whole way. Great workout with an extra 35 pounds on - crazy to think I used to always carry more than that around!!

JRP with Jun. Nice afternoon run in the sun! Took it super easy at a nice slow pace. So nice to actually sweat because of the sun and not because of the layers I have on. Shorts, shoes and socks...what more do you need?

8 miles - 1:10:00 -  8:44 pace - 200 ft of vert (grueling climb, I know).

Lower Dimple Dell trail from Jordan Commons with Jun. Felt a little sluggish after a couple days off, but still came out of it with a decent pace.  

Got up early this morning to get to the airport to catch a flight to Spokane. Going up with the in-laws to help my wifes sister and husband move back to Salt Lake - Flying up and driving back. Ran into Bryce at the airport in the security line, having quick conversation each time we passed in the snaking line. Hope you have a nice vacation, sure am jealous! :) 

I figured that as long as I could get one good run in while I was in Spokane, I would be happy with having to help move and driving back! After flying in the morning and then walking around all day, everyone was beat, wanting to lay around a nap. The weather had turned really nice, so I thought that would be the perfect time to go. I had scouted out a route from the Spokane River Run 25K, and so I figured I'd go and see if I could run at least in the general area. Couldn't help but pull out my phone and take some pics - wish I would have remembered my camera.

Didn't really start running till about 6:30, but there was still plenty of light. Right from the beginning I was in heaven. Greenery everywhere, with a canopy of huge pines overhead. I just picked a trail and started running. I knew that there was a trail right by the river, so as long as I could make my way back to that I could find my way back. I thought I'd do a big loop, so I started running away from the river to get a little vert in.

I ended up getting way off 'course', eventually running into railroad tracks and through a little mountain neighborhood, but eventually I found my way down to the river trail and started heading back. Since this follows the river, it was actually quite a bit longer going back than it was coming out. I kept wondering if I was somehow in the wrong place, but just kept going - there was a big river right next to me, kind of hard to get lost with that to guide you.

There were parts of the trail where I felt like I could have been in the middle of Yellowstone. I was often surprised by the rockyness of the trail. Very technical in several places. Made it back to the car with just as the last light was fading. I had carried my headlamp with me (wrapped around my bottle) the whole run, since I didn't know how long the sun would last. Despite persistent stomach issues the whole run, this was an absolutely fantastic run! Always fun to run somewhere new, especially when the scenery is so different. I definitely felt the elevation difference as well. While only 1200 feet of vert, it all came in short, steep climbs, and I was able to strongly run them all with little trouble.

 12.55 miles - 1:59:19 - 9:30 Pace - 1200 vert

I have waited to do a write up of the Zion Trainwreck, because I honestly don't quite know what to say about it - feel like I'm still processing everything that we did and saw in such a brief time - and am a bit speechless!!

Though I haven't been at this running thing for very long, I can easily say that this was the most fantastic run I have ever done - Breathtaking views, different scenery greeting you around every turn, intense climbs and quad crushing downhills, add in some great company and crappy weather and you've got one amazing time!

I won't go into the full report because everyone else has done such a great job! Read 'em here if you haven't already: Jun, Josh, Scott. 

Though we had to turn back and didn't complete the Train, it was well worth the trip!

I also learned a lot - or was reminded about things that I already know, just seemed to let slip by me - it's funny how your brain seems to change focus when you're in the middle of a run, especially one as scenic as this one! Here are a couple of takeaways for me personally that I thought I'd share-

• I carried way too much crap...I like to be prepared, but when you have to carry it all, its good to go light. I could definitely tell a difference in my pace from the little extras I was packing.
• I am a heavy sweater and MUST keep up on my salt/electrolytes - I didn't take salt until 2 hours in and I ended up feelin' it! 
• Who you go with can make all the difference in the world! This crew was the best!
• When I started to feel like I was going to crash and I fell back a little at the beginning of the climb, Josh just kicked back with me and helped me keep plugging along while I got everything balanced again (which seemed to take forever!). It was fun with all the switchbacks because, while you might be a couple hundred feet back, you can still see and talk to each other for quite a while.
• As we neared the top of the climb and it the weather was getting worse and the trail getting muddier, while I'm sure we were all thinking it, Craig had the nuts to bring up and press the option of turning around before we got ourselves into trouble. I would suspect that many of the groups that do run into problems run into them because no one wanted to bring up (and make) a tough decision.
• And then it’s always nice to have someone like Scott around who is willing to, and offered on many occasions to, apply Glide to all of those hard to reach places - even on non-runners (though I don't think anyone ever took him up on it).  :)

 I mean seriously!!!

8 miles on the Kaysville BoSho. Seems like its been a while!

A couple of the miles out to were with Davis' track coach, Corbin (who's team had just won 5A in track and field Sat!). He started a little before me, I passed him on the first hill as he took in the view, then he caught back up by Adams and then we chatted the rest of the way to Fernwood. He headed back as I took advantage of the facilities and decided whether I should keep going or turn back. I looked to the west and saw a storm rolling in, so I headed back. Ran through some wind and rain, but tried to keep a decent pace. With about a half mile left, I passed three ladies, and just as I was passing I noticed it was my sister in law running with her mother-in law and sister in law. So I made a u-turn and ran with them for a bit, up the first climb again. :)  

8 miles - 1:12:11 - 9:01 pace - 1100 vert

More BoSho for me today, this time the Draper variety. Jun and I met Scott at the trailhead (park) and when we pulled up Melzter was just getting out of his car to head out. So we chatted with him for a few and then he took off and we waited for Scott to change in his car. So cool to just run into one of the best in the sport and just have a casual chat and then have him in your sites for part of your run (he won a 100 last week, so that helped with the pace :)). 

Great run on the BoSho, up Corner Canyon, then down Clarks trail. A little muddy and sketchy in spots, but super fun. Tweaked my knee a little on one of the 'slides', just felt like it hyperextended a little. Nothing major, I'll just ice it up and rest tomorrow, should be good to go. The weather was decent enough, a little windy and cold in spots, but no real rain to speak of, just a little mist that accompanied our trip up Corner Canyon road - though it certainly doesn't feel like the end of May!!. My legs still felt a little heavy on the climbs, probably just be the mileage and vert from the past week.

And I just remembered its a holiday weekend - oh yeah! :)

11.4 miles - 1:47:22 - 9:24 pace - 1500 vert

Run with Jun in Corner Canyon. This time we started at the Red Rock trailhead and went up Ghost falls. My legs felt super heavy going up, and Jun was flying, which made me feel that much slower - it didn't help that he kept thinking I was going to catch him, so he kept pushing it, ha. Just kept a solid pace and trucked my way up. We continued up Corner Canyon road and then came down Clarks. I saw Jun for the first little bit and then he was just gone. I kept looking at my watch and I was running a 6:30, but I just couldn't catch him, he was feelin' it! He waited for me at the bridge, and then I kept right with him as we made our way back to the start. With about a mile to go Jun clipped a rock with his toe and went down! It actually looked fairly graceful, but falling on a trail will usually leave you with something, and in this case it was some nice lost skin right on the fleshy part of his hand, and a bloody elbow. I knew how he felt, I had fallen on that very trail last year - its one of those injuries that doesn't really hurt terribly bad, its just in such an annoying spot! Anyway, he hopped up and said "Well I'm not going to let that slow me down" and we were off. I kept right with him again, until just before the very last hill I noticed him make an effort to drop me, which he did. I turned it on and ran as hard as I could to catch up, and made it to about 5 to 10 feet behind him when we hit the finish. I'd say that counts. :)  Ended up with a pretty decent pace and some good vert. Nice shirtless run! :)

7.63 miles - 1:08:13 - 8:56 Pace - 1440 vert

More Kaysville BoSho for me to round out the week. Beautiful day, lots of people on the trail. Ran from the Vita Course (200N) trailhead, over to Fernwood and up the Great Western. This time I ran up (no hiking) to the point where Craig and I had run it last (5 mile mark)- the furthest I'd been up that trail- and then allowed myself to hike the steep stuff for the next mile, with running mixed in when I could. A little slow going on that last section, but it was super fun to blast down. Felt much stronger today on the uphills than I have the rest of the week - though maybe that's because I was by myself and wasn't getting left in the dust! :)  Glad I was able to get a run in while there was still some sunshine.

Got slowed down a few times by hikers and such, its always amusing to see people panic when you come up behind them and announce that you're coming through. It doesn't seem to matter what you say - "On your left" "Excuse me" "Coming through" "Pardon me" "EVERYBODY MOOOOVE" - you still get one person in the group that can't decide which side to move to and so they end up doing a potty dance in the middle of the trail. Come on people, its America, drive on the right side. (I nearly got pushed off the Angels landing trail in Zion when a dude with a huge pack WENT left, when I said "on your left" - I literally had to grab his pack to make my way around him! :)

On another similar note, near the end of my run my shoe came untied and so I stopped to tie it. Just as I stopped I heard a horse galloping up the trail, so I moved off to the side of this very wide section of trail so that I could tie my shoe and they could pass. So I'm tying my shoe and the guy and his wife are just sitting there like 10-20 feet down the trail just watching me...then he's like "If you squatter down like that they'll pick you up as a predator..." like he thought I was trying to hide from his horse or something. Anyway, here's my complaint, and as an avid horseman and someone that has trained and worked with horses my whole life, I feel like I can say this with some experience to back it up. Here's my problem - If you are worried that a human being crouched 5 feet off the side of the trail tying their shoe (after your horse watched me walk over there) is going to be a problem for your horse, you 1 - probably shouldn't be riding your horse on a trail that is so heavily trafficked, and 2 - If you do choose to take it on those trails, you really should be using it as a training opportunity to show your horse that it shouldn't be scared of everything on the trail, not sitting there waiting for every person you pass to stand in just the right statuesque position so you can ride passed. I want my horse to be able to have someone go flying by and not have it even bat an eye. It is NOT the responsibility of other runners/bikers/hikers/whomever to tiptoe around your horse because you think that mike spook it. Prepare your horse for the conditions you'll be riding in. I once had a horse that I was going to be riding on trails that I knew there would be mountain bikes on, and I was not confident that he had been around them at all, so guess what I did - I spent several days leading up to it riding him up and down the road with my wife riding a bike next to us, behind us, beside us, around us, etc... While I will always be courteous to anyone else on the trail, especially horses, I've heard of other runners having similar experiences with riders and it really just bugs me when they expect everyone else to watch out for them.  Anyway, long rant over - it was a little thing but it bothered me! :)

12 miles - 1:58:52 - 9:54 pace - 2555 vert

What a weird weather day - Snow on the ground in the morning, rain, then sunshine then more rain, then a nice sunny evening - Guess we should be used to it by now. 

When I saw the snow this morning I didn't think I'd even try to get a run in, but when the sun came out in the evening, I decided to hurry out and give it a shot, only to get caught by a rainstorm mid-run, finishing the run in the sun again!

7 miles on the BoSho Kaysville to Fernwood. Saw about 3 people today, as opposed to the about 50 on Saturday (or so it seemed). A little muddy in spots but overall still in decent shape considering all the rain. Not a single car parked at the Fernwood trailhead. Sat out the worst of the storm there and then started back. With about two miles or so to go I thought I'd try to beat an hour and ran them really hard and ended up hitting it right on the nose.

7.08 miles - 1:00:00 - 8:28 pace - 1080 vert