El Burro Blanco

Only had time to run 3 miles this morning because we are traveling up north for the 4th of July.

We are staying up in Huntsville so I decided to go run the trails up by Snowbasin. I talked with my grandpa and laid out a route last night. It seemed fun until he said I would either see moose, bears, or mountain lions. This is not what I wanted to hear.

I woke up early and started running at 5:00am. I started at Wheeler Canyon and then started climbing up the Art Nord trail and then over to East Fork getting moving right along to Green Pond. I wasn't even 1.5 miles into my run and a huge cow moose was standing in the middle of the trail. It was about 40 yards in front of me so I just stopped. It was still pretty dark so I wasn't sure if a calf was around. I was going to bag running this way because the moose stood there for 10 minutes. I went back down the trail and came upon a mountain biker. He was cool and let me run with him. Strength in numbers! We didn't see the moose again which made me really happy. It got my heart racing. We got to the start of the East Fork trail and my new mountain biking friend, Tracy, said he needed to "bust it loose" on his bike. He "bust it loose" and I caught him while 1/4 of a mile. I blew by him and he never passed me again. I felt guilty since he helped me out but he was just going to slow. I came around a turn on the East Fork trail and I ran into another cow moose! This one was only about 10 feet away. It heard me and started running up the mountain. I nearly p++d my pants and went anaeorbic for about 1/2 a mile just to make sure the moose didn't eat me. I was reminding myself to thank my grandpa for the moose sightings!

I got to Green Pond trail and went over to Snowbasin Lodge. There was still a bunch of snow so I "skied" down some of it to the lower parking area. I then got the trailhead that went up to the Ogden Canyon overlook. I almost made it to the top but had to turn back because we had family things going which I needed to make on time. I saw at least 20 mountain bikers going up this section of the trail. Every one of the mountain bikers were really cool and moved off the trail when I was coming down. Mountain bikers are much cooler than road bikers. I came down Icebox Canyon and eventually made my way back down to the Art Nord trail. I ran 21.25 miles in just over 3 hours. Not very fast but I was always worried about seeing another moose. I had over 2000 feet of elevation gain I ran today. I topped out at just over 7100 feet. It was some really good climbing today. One of the most memorable runs I have ever been on. This is some of the best single track trail running I have ever done. I also had some incredible views. I wish I would have taken a camera. Next time.

I never felt very tired today which was a good sign. I think using two handheld water bottles will help me out in my upcoming 50k. I think I will have to run this again but will make sure I have someone else with me.

Solid way to end the week. I would have gone longer but had family duties for the rest of the day. We ended up going to watch a National Sheepdog Trial with Norah. She loved watching the sheepdogs herd all of the sheep. Fun stuff!

I was in Huntsville with my family celebrating the 4th of July. My mom signed me up for the 10k and told me I should win it. I haven't any real speed work since March so all I wanted to do was make a good workout out of it and not be trashed after wards. This 5k, 10k, and 1 mile run is now a memorial run for Rob Burton. He was a good family friend of ours when we lived up there. He was recently killed in a car accident just a few months ago so it was nice to support the family by running this. I saw a ton of old friends and neighbors which made it fun. It was a fun event because everyone in my family did one of the races. I ran 4 miles before the race to get loosened up.

My goal was just to hit 6:00/mile for the race and not get to crazy. My legs were still a little sore from Saturday's run so I wasn't expecting much. I was tying my shoes and someone whistled to start the race. I hurried to finish tying my shoes and got going. Their was a group of 4 who took off. It was two high school kids and then another guy who I did not recognize but seemed fairly fast. I just settled in and let them do all of the work. At mile 2, I sat right behind the 2nd place guy and then moved around him. The 1st place kid kept looking back and saw me catching up to him. He looked about 6 or 7 times. I caught up to him and he said he has had hamstring problems the last couple weeks. Two no-nos! Don't ever look back and don't ever tell someone during a race you are hurt. I pushed the pace for the next little bit and then just relaxed for the rest of the race. The course measured long and I hit my goal of beating the 6:00/mile guy. Fun race to do but I could tell I haven't done much speed lately. Oh well! I am enjoying the trails more.

I cooled down back over to my grandparent's house to get 12 total for the day.

We were still up in Huntsville this morning so I drove up to Snowbasin and ran from the lodge up to the Ogden Canyon Overlook. It was a spectacular view from up there. I got attacked by lots of bugs but no moose this run and then finished up on the Maples Trail to get a little bit more in before traveling home. Nice trail run topping out at just over 7150 feet. 

Waited until later this evening to get out and run. It was still hot after the sun went down. I went around Ivins over towards the fire station. Kept the pace honest. No watch!

Did a little bit of a warm up with some of the boys. We then did 6x1:00 min. repeats up Webb Hill with 2:00 min. recovery. We then cooled down back to the school. Nice day of running with the team. Lots of cloud cover made it not to hot. Total of 7 miles.

5 miles late this evening around Ivins. I was planning on doing more but the thunder and lightning were to close to chance it. I did get lots of yard work done today though.

5 miles this morning with some of the boys out in the desert. Nice and relaxed. It was quite muggy due to the rain last night. We all survived though.

I wrote two papers and did some other graduate school work all day. I then ran 3 miles this afternoon with my varsity boys. They are doing really well right now. After wards we lifted. I had a little run in with the squat machine bar. I turned right into it and cut my head open pretty good. Blood was gushing everywhere I got a little light headed. It could use stitches but I decided to super glue it shut. Hopefully it gets better. I will at least have a pretty cool scar.

I wrapped my head with a pink bandage and then went to club run. I felt okay at first but then the entire day just caught up to me. I only ran 7 miles in the blistering heat. Big group today which made it quite nice. I was getting light headed so I decided to cut it short. Oh well! Not very often I did a 3xday like the Kenyans.

3 easy miles at practice and then 3 more after wards. I have not been feeling great the last day or two. Hopefully I am not sick.

Out the door by 5am this morning because Katey's family is in town and we were going to Zion to hike all day. I planned on running the West Rim Trail in Zion but it did not work with our schedule. I just ran from my house and then did the Barrel Roll trail by the Jacob Hamblin home. It was extremely humid this morning from all of the rain last night. I was drenched within the first mile. The pace was not crazy fast due to not being able to see the trail for the first 6 miles. Although I was drenched the run was a good one. I wanted to go longer but time was not on my side.

We hiked all day in Zion with the kids. Nice and hot but lots of fun. We saw a bunch of horny toad lizards and even came within 5 feet of a small buck deer. I got enough of a workout hauling Norah around on my back.

5.30 miles this morning with some of the boys. Huge turn out for today which was nice. Hopefully we can keep getting lots of kids out. 7:10/mile.

Lots more homework today but I was able to take a break and go run Barrel Roll. I drove my truck over and started at the bottom just past the bridge. Their was lots of cloud cover, wind, and a little bit of rain. It was absolutely perfect running conditions. Nice run this evening and really pushed up the hills. Saw lots of rabbits and even saw a rainbow (No leprechauns or Lucky Charms though). Decent start to the week.

Nice cloud cover again this morning. It rained a little bit which was very welcome. I did a loop with the boys around Webb Hill and then we did 6x1:00min. hill repeats with 3:00min. recovery by the high school. I have started saying to many of the kids that they are part billy goat the way they can blast up hills. I had a goat when I was a kid and his name was McGruff. We named this hill by the school: McGruff's Revenge. 7.75 miles for the run this morning.

Nice easy 7 mile loop with the boys and Darian from the high school over to the Bloomington Loop and then back along the trail. I didn't swallow that many bugs which was nice.

4 miles this afternoon in the lovely heat. I drenched my shirt and then put ice cubes in a small bag and set it in my hat. I actually stayed fairly cool. I think I might do this more.

Webb Hill workout with the team this morning. We ran over to Webb Hill and then did 6x1:30min. repeats with 3:30min. recovery back down. It was fun watching people who were hiking up the hill look at us like we were crazy for running up it. Good times. Some of the kids are really surprising me this year. I am excited.

3 miles in the afternoon with some of the kids at the school.

10 miles this evening at the club run. Pretty warm but the wind cooled it off a little bit. Dave started pushing 3 miles in and so the rest is history. We kept it steady and finished 6:24/mile. Good run and happy with the day's work.

Nice and easy 3 miles this morning with some of the kids. I had a lot to do today so I took a much needed ice bath and then did homework for pretty much the rest of the day.

No need to stress with the race next week. Slight taper.

Ran the Utah Hill loop off of Navajo Dr. in Bloomington with Dave and Clyde this morning. The temps were a little "cool" for this time of year. It was under 70 degrees when we started and actually stayed mild throughout the run. We ran out to the junction which was 4 miles to drop water and then did 2 big loops before finishing it off. This run has plenty of good hills and is all trail. It was not crazy fast but I really tried to push the uphills. I planned on going longer but Dave and Clyde talked me out of it due to my race in California next week. It should be fun.

Decent week and next week will be just nice and relaxed heading into the 50k. I am very excited.

Easy 6 miles with some of the boys this morning out into Little Valley. Keeping it easy this week for the race.

Did a little bit of a warm up and then had the kids do 6x400m grass repeats at the high school. I ran with Darian today and just wanted to get the legs moving a little bit. Barefoot cool down on the football field after wards.

Another easy 7 miles with some of the boys today. We went out along the Arizona Strip and then looped back by the high school. A little warm this morning. We fly out tomorrow morning.

We made it to California this afternoon and I ran 6 miles in San Jose to shake out the legs. The temps are really nice but it is a little humid. It is supposed to be cooler temps on Saturday. I am looking forward to it. The breeze from the ocean is quite refreshing. I cannot believe how busy it is in California. Lots of people!

Easy 3 miles this morning around Mountain View, California. We walked along the Santa Cruz Boardwalk and then went up to Big Basin to look at the giant trees. A really fun day. Norah loved playing in the ocean. Looks like great conditions for tomorrow.

The family and I came down to California to visit one of Katey's friends from high school. It was fun hanging out with her and her husband. California is pretty but a little too busy for me. Since we planned this trip, I was looking at doing this 50k while we were down here. Let me just say this was one of the coolest races I have ever done.

The race starts just on the other side of the Golden Gate Bridge near Rodeo Beach in the Marin Headlands. When we driving over the bridge I couldn't believe how much fog was there. It was really pretty looking over the ocean (I will try and post pictures). I knew this was going to be a gnarly race with all of the hills. It had over 6300 feet of elevation change. I really wanted to make sure I stay hydrated and ate enough at each aid station. I was pretty optimistic with how this race would turn out.

The race started and we proceeded to climb for the first 3 miles. One section early on had steps which required me to power hike up the mountain. I went out with 4 people and wanted to stay with them. I found out they were just doing the 30k so I was in the lead from the start. This race went right along the Pacific Ocean and their were spots where I was close to a 1000 feet above the ocean looking down on it. I ran through misty/foggy conditions. Their were some sections where I could only see about 20 yards in front of me. It was a little humid but bearable. One section took me through some trees and since the clouds were so low it actually rained for about 1/2 a mile. It was absolutely breathtaking.

This was a two loop course so when I came around the first loop I felt really good. I hit just over 18 miles in about 2:45. I refueled and then headed back out for the second loop. I made it to the aid station in Tennessee Valley and the volunteers were hooting and hollering for me. They were pretty excited to see the first 50k runner coming through. I knew at this point I was in the lead and just needed to stay focused and I would have the win. Once I hit the last aid station I knew that I only had about 3.5 miles to go. My legs were still pretty fresh and I pushed the pace back to the finish. Right at the end of the race a deer ran right in front of me. I looked to the left and 3 baby deer were wanting to cross as well. They looked at me kind of funny and decided for me to leave before they crossed. It was pretty cool to see that. I sprinted towards the finish and Katey and her friend were pretty stoked. I felt really good. I crossed the finish line and honestly felt like I could have gone longer.

I was very happy with the result today. 1st place overall and a course record. I am absolutely hooked on the trails now. I told Katey we are coming back next year to do this race. I won a coaster and a mug for my win. It was well worth it. I will use it to drink my chocolate soy and almond milk.

Keys to successful race:

-drank lots of fluids from my two handheld water bottles

-ate food at every aid station (PB & Js, Shot Blocks, pretzels)

-push the uphills (fast power hike or jog them) - many of the other runners were walking up them; I wasn't afraid to power hike

-push the downhills (many runners walked down the hills)

-just enjoyed the scenery (looked around a lot which kept my mind off of things)

-simply put, I had a lot of fun (I was actually smiling at the end of the race!)

The quads were a little sore after the race but I felt pretty good. I will look for another trail race this fall and see how I can do. I am getting into this. Loads of fun. I think I need to train on more hills though. This was hands down one of the best races I have ever had. It has been too long since I have had a good race.

Traveled back from California today. No run today. My quads were screaming at me.

Easy 3 miles this afternoon with some of the kids. Lifted weights for my upper body. Felt good.

Good run with the boys today. Legs are feeling a little better today. Slightly overcast this morning which was very nice. 

Ran with some of the boys this morning. We warmed up for 3.5 miles out along the Arizona Strip and then turned around to do a 2 mile tempo run. Legs felt good and the boys were not that gassed after wards. That is a good sign. 6:02, 5:52 for the miles. Nothing crazy but a solid workout. Cooled down back to the school to get 7 in for the day.

Easy 3 miles this morning with the team.

Woke up early and ran with Aaron and Steve. I knew I was going to be a little sore but I went anyway. We started at Coral Canyon and then ran back to DC. Right from the get go I was not feeling that good. I kept it nice and easy and got 14 miles in for the day. My quads are still shot I guess. Oh well!