Jun and I decided we'd try and hit the Grandeur loop today- with Jun not getting enough miles on vert on his legs this week and all. Tyler, who I had met running in the Buffalo Run 50K, the Legacy Duathlon, and the PET 50 miler, is preparing for the Buffalo 100, and so we brought him along to help with this training. We got to the trailhead just as Tyler was arriving, and I introduced Craig as the 3rd place PET runner and told him his time. He looked impressed but more importantly what I think he got what I was really telling him was - stay close to this guy and listen to what he tells you! We ran the first little hill together, and then just as we started hiking those two were already pulling away - which I was fully expecting. I just got into my "I may not be fast, but I keep movin'!" power hike, and watched as Jun and Tyler slowly got further and further away. The whole loop is 10.6 miles, and HALF of your time is spent on the 2.3 miles to the top. It's a slog - but I like it because it absolutely kicks my butt and I know that I need to get better at it. It's also a great way to get an amazing workout without beating up your legs too much (was great for my knee). As I crested a little ridge a little ways before the summit, I could see those two just getting to the top - freak! I knew I had at least 10 more minutes. They were really moving!! I got to the top in about 1:15, where we took a couple of minutes to look around and take in the valley. What a nearly perfect day! Weather was awesome, the scenery was great. If the company would have been better it would have been just about right! :) Once we started heading down it was immediately clear this was going to be sketchy and, within about 2 seconds I slipped on some ice and was on my butt. I hashed up my hand a little, and cursed myself for not putting on gloves before heading down. The next half mile or so (felt like more) was ridiculous, the trail was just a sheet of ice with a nice steep hill to your right. We picked our way forward, Jun just took off ahead (I swear he just floats sometimes). Tyler was wearing his road shoes, so he really had it rough - not that anything besides spikes can do much for you on stuff like that. FINALLY we got past the really sketchy stuff and were able to open it up and tear down the hill. Tyler was speedy going down, and we really enjoyed the cruising down. Met back up with Jun at Church Fork, where he filled his bottle, and then we headed west on the Pipeline trail. I saw the two of them for all of about 2 minutes and then they were gone. I was settled into a steady 9 min pace, but I just wasn't feeling anything much faster. I finally came to them as they waited for me at Rattlesnake Gulch, and then we cruised on down to the road (again, they just flew down). Once we hit the road Tyler took off a bit, and I did a decent job of not letting Jun pull further away (even though he was down the road a little). Once we got to Wasatch Blvd, my legs were really feeling it, but I just kept trucking along - it felt super slow, but it wasn't terrible. I really pushed hard the last quarter mile or so to really make sure I sapped as much out of my legs as possible! Once we got back to the office I summed it up to Craig this way - "Isn't it funny that I just had my butt handed to me and I loved every minute?" I think that's the part that's hard to explain to people that can't figure out why in the world we do what we do - you actually love that feeling that keeps most people from doing it! Great day, dang near perfect weather, awesome course, and OK, great company. | 