Jon and I set off for an adventure today. The mission was to run new sections (to us) of the Bear 100 course. We started off at Leatham hollow and right away, I was hitting new terrain. The 3 mile stretch to Richards hollow is all dirt road and super rocky, but reasonably easy. We made it a whopping .25 mile before Jon made us go back and change shoes. That became a problem as the nasty snow storm that we had started to outrun now engulfed us. Bad start.
Once we hit the singletrack at Richards Hollow, things improved. No rocks, no storm. Nothing like chugging up singletrack to liven the mood. The problem (much bigger one this time) was that it didn't take long to hit the snow line. We only made it 1.5 miles up Richards (just past the waterfall) before the snow became too deep to run in. Oh, yeah, did I mention it had started to snow again? Back down Richards and back to the dirt road we went (and back into the sun). We decided to head up the road for a ways since neither of us had been up it before. Definitely not as cool as the singletrack. We went about 3 miles before the snow storm caught up with us and we got to turn around and run directly into a blizzard. The flakes were so big and wet we were soaked and FREEZING! I was very miserable running the 3-4 miles down the road until we escaped the storm. I was very miserable! Really, did I mention misery? Yep.
Once the sun came out again I warmed up nicely and actually enjoyed the final 2 miles or so back to the car. Jon, he was tired and quiet (rare). I wanted to get 16+ miles and saw we would be short so I took off with Jon's blessing to venture up Leatham Hollow for a tad to check out the mud. Yep, it had lots. But no snow (didn't go high enough). We were short on time so I turned around before long and found Jon and we made our way back to the car. In full sunshine. Yep, this run sure had its ups and downs..
I joined Corey, Braden and about 20 other guys for the tues night ride today. Bad choice for the first real ride of the year. I do not have my biking legs yet, that is for sure. I was 25 miles into the ride, riding around Newton Lake when I realized I am bonking. Not good. I had brought only water on this ride as I was in a crazy rush to make it on time and didn't grab anything. Oops. Anyway, my butt is sore, my legs are still twitching from the effort and I am still cold from the cool weather. Insane workout in the wind though. Luckily Braden died as well so the last 10 miles we limped in at 15mph.
Since I am turning 30, I decided to do my birthday challenge and run 16.25 miles. Isn't that what you do? No....I didn't even go 30K. Too bad.
I did take a day off of work today and have enjoyed having some time to kill. Trail Run! I started at Providence canyon and hit the Deer Fence north to Dry Canyon. I proceeded up Dry as far as I could go. I only made it 2 miles before the snow made the trail impassible. It will take some serious warm weather to get that trail open. Lots of snow up high (6000' and higher). 4.7 miles in 49 mins
My birthday self portrait at my turn around point -
I headed down and back to the car. Instead of getting in, I kept going on the trail south to Millville Canyon and proceeded to run up that canyon. I didn't even make it 2 miles before I had to head back to the car. It was steep but runnable. Very comparable to Dry, only it is a dirt road instead of singletrack. I had to turn around before the snowline so I am not sure how far I could have gone. Another day maybe.
16.25 tough miles in 2:29:00 (9:10) 152 ave *3300' vertical
I am a lucky man to be able to spend the weekend without kids with my wife in Lava Hot springs. That is pretty nice of her, but the really nice thing was that she let me go running for half the day Saturday with no complaining. I figured since I was only 30 mins from the Pocatello 50 Miler course, I had better go do a recon run of it. Jon joined me and also tour guide local Luke Nelson showed us around. We did the first 1/3 of the course with a 5 mile loop added onto the end to get us over 20 miles for the run.
The course is not easy. It started out tame enough with nice singletrack heading up a hollow. 10% grade or so for the first climb. We leveled off more or less and sat back and enjoyed the nice muddy trail. Soon we dropped down a canyon and lost all the elevation we had gained. No big deal but the next 3 miles we were to climb about 2000' with most of the climb off trail straight up the side of a mountain. Not easy.
First Half Done -
Second Half -
I soon realized I was feeling sub-par for the day and settled into my grandpa pace up the hill. Things perked up for me at the top as I had the energy to run down hills just fine. Other than some serious stomach cramps (side aches) things were looking up. That is until Luke took us back up another 500' hill. I didn't have a decent uphill gear and got dropped (even with their easy pace). It took a while on the downhill to catch back up but I more or less just survived the rest of the run. Oh well, gut it out and just put in the effort.
The course is sweet with nasty vertical and lots of mud and snow (hopefully most will melt in the next 3 weeks). I was amazed to see the huge network of singletrack that is available to Pocatello-ins (Pocatins?)...people who live in Pocatello. They are very lucky to have so many trails available year round. I am stoked and scared for the big race as it will be nasty-hard.
T-3:28:30 (9:53) 21.1 miles 155 ave 178 max
SportTracks showed the Vert at 4100' and Loss at 4700'
I finished off the day relaxing in scorching hot pools and working on my tan.
AM: 10 Providence Canyon to Star. Same as last monday. Only today it was raining so I ran faster to be done sooner. That turned out to be unnecessary as it stopped at the halfway point. Legs felt good. 40 min up 33 down.
PM: I opted out of the scheduled bike ride this afternoon as the rain would have made things unpleasant both for me and for the bike. I spent some time with the family instead then as it got later, I headed to the hills. I decided to do a big hill workout. I drove to Providence Canyon and hit the deer fence trail south to millville canyon. I wanted to re-visit that canyon and this time make it to the top. Today was the day. No amount of rain was going to stop me. Actually, it only rained for the first and last mile of the run. 2 miles on the trail and I was at the canyon. The canyon itself is a dirt road that is currently closed to all vehicles. Made for nice running. However, all the rain has made the road a soupy mess. It was way muddy and downright nasty at the top. But getting there was half the battle. Before making it to the top, I had to first climb 2500 feet in 3.5 miles. I was in a cloud the whole way until the last quarter mile and I could see the blanket cloud covering the valley below. The last quarter mile also provided lots of snow to wash the mud off the shoes. It is still about 2 feet deep at 7300'. But aside from the last quarter mile, the road is clear of snow, but not of mud. The way down was more ice skating than running as I slid/clumped down the hill. Super fun, but the mud was out of control. Nevertheless, I made it down and back to the car for a total of 11 miles and quickly decided I wanted 12 so I did a quick out and back on the Deer Fence North of Providence Canyon. For the workout portion of the run, I ran the uphills hard and where I could, the downhills hard too. Things felt pretty good today and I absolutely loved the run. I even took a "bath" in Providence Stream and it was actually quite warm and gave me the chance to scrape off all that mud off my body.
T - 1:57:00 (9:44) 154 ave 168 max 12 miles * 3300' Vert
Last Long run and the last of the heavy mileage until the Pocatello 50. Next week will be easier, (at least that is what I keep telling myself). Today capped off my highest mileage week ever with a tough 22 miler.
I started my run at Providence Canyon and headed on Deer Fence Trail to Dry Canyon. I chugged up the canyon until I hit the snowline at 6000'. That trail is frustrating since the walls of the canyon are bare of snow, but the bottom (aka the trail) is covered. This time it was pure ice. There were lots of footprints in it which gave some traction, but it was slow going. I made it maybe .25 past where I went on my birthday run. I could have kept going on the ice, but it was not very time productive so I turned around. Before long, I was back at the car changing water bottles and eating a banana. 10.35 miles in 1:38. Slow. Oh well, it may still get worse. I continued on the Deer Fence trail all the way to Blacksmith Fork Canyon. The sun was out now and warming me up quickly. I thought about the runners doing Ogden Marathon and though that the weather was ideal today for that race. No wind, cool. Hopefully the weather is the same in Ogden Valley. Anyway, fatigue set in and things got tough, but I merely continued on using my "run all day" gear. I was back at the car at mile 20, but wanted to get 22 and hit 90 miles for the week so I pushed on past the car and did another 2 miles. I sure have spent a lot of time on the Deer Fence trail this spring, and now have it memorized, but I sure like it. It kicks my butt and is tough, but very runnable and clear of pesky cars and people.
Lundstrom park and a bit beyond. Sluggish and tough until I hit the huge tailwind coming out of the canyon. It about kept me at a standstill on the way up, but on the way home. Glorious. That kind of woke me up and I hit the miles home hard. The last 3 were 6 min pace.
Went camping last night with my son. It rained the whole time, that is until it started to snow. It was quite miserable. Amazingly my son still loved it. Even when he was crying cause he was so cold and wet. I spent much of the night on the John and puking my brains out. Loved it. Spent the rest of the day recuperating and hosing the camping gear down (from the mud not puke).
I started to feel better saturday night and by today I felt 100% again so I was back at it. I figured a trip to Providence Canyon would be just right. It was raining pretty steady, but I was committed. I am glad I went as I felt great. The legs were fresh and the run was very therapeutic. I believe this was a PR for the course. Now to continue the taper and to hope that the trails dry out some by saturday. Everything is water logged.
T-1:09:55 (6:59) 156 *750 Vert (38:30 Up (7:42) , 31:25 Down (6:17))
Pocatello 50+ Miler (33 Miles) 05:48:38, Place overall: 8, Place in age division: 4
Slow miles
Fast miles
Total Distance
33.50
0.00
33.50
Epic Race!
One that I will remember for quite a while. Where to begin? This run was to be the toughest/longest run of my life and it still lived up to both of those, barely. It is one that I have been planning on running since January 1st. It is a tough course with 13K+ feet of gain over ~52 miles. One of the toughest in the US.
It turned out quite different than everyone expected. The weather forcast looked good with only a small amount of rain for the start. It turned out that the first 2 miles were the only 2 miles that were dry. Jon and I decided to stick together and help each other out until the final 1/3rd of the course and then it would be a war. We didn't get that chance. The rain grew in intensity over the first 8 miles of the course with the trail becoming a goopy mess where people were sliding all over the place. I was feeling great and keeping everything in check and pacing myself perfectly. We had a nice group of 4 runners and we passed the time chatting. The leaders were long gone as they flew right from the get go. No worries as I was not in it to win it. A quick stop to top off my hardly used water bottle at the first aid station (mile 8.5) and we were off climbing the first huge mountain. The rain was steady and the cloud over the mountain that we had to summit was not looking good. For the next 3 miles we climbed up 2000 feet with most of that over the last mile. The hike was brutal, but Jon and I had scouted it out a few weeks ago and knew what to expect. Good thing because we couldn't see 100 feet in front of us. The rain quickly turned to sleet/hail and the winds picked up to 30-40 mph (who knows?) It was bad! My hands were frozen and my face was unhappy, but I kept a steady pace up the hill. Jon, on the other hand was worse off. He was in a bad way and was saved (literally by someones extra jacket). He needed a little extra attention as it was questionable whether he would make it to the top and be able to descend the 5 miles to the aid station. After some time, it was clear he would make it and we descended out of the blizzard and into the rain.
3 hours on the nose to mile 17 aid station. Right on schedule in-spite of the horrible weather and sloppy trail. I quickly stripped off my wet shirt and put on a dry one and then put on Jon's dry one as he had decided to DNF at that point (don't blame him as he is lucky to be alive) . It took me a bit to get situated but 4 mins later I was heading back uphill and back into the same storm to summitt the mountain right next to the one we just went over. Smart? Nope. In-fact, only 30 mins after I left, they kept everyone else from leaving and doing was I was about to do. 5 miles of climbing from 4600' back to 7000'. It was slow but steady and it got progressively steeper and snowier as I went. By the top, there was 3-4 inches of fresh snow/sleet and the winds had not let up. It was over a mile exposed on the ridge until I could follow the trail down the other side. I quickly did the best I could to speed up that process and by doing so dropped the group of 5 or so runners I was with on the climb. The back side had less wind but no shortage of snow. It was a complete whiteout and I was luckily able to follow the tracks of those who went before me down. I was really starting to wonder about Scout Mountain (the final mountain the summit) as it is 1500' higher that the one I was on. Could I survive it. My body was feeling ok, I had energy, I had warm and dry clothes to change into before setting off. Would I do it or would I drop at the next aid station? I had 10 miles to mull it over as I splashed my way through endless mud and snow. There was no where to step that was not 4-6 inches of liquid mud. Whatever, I thought and continued on down the hill. I hit the next aid and as they filled my bottle, they said that they closed the course and are making people stop. Hmm, my decision just got easier. I decided I had better not save anything then since I only had 7 miles left so I picked it up and started chasing down people. Some were relay runners but I was clicking them off one at a time and was having a blast flying down the trail completely disregarding my safety. The trail was horrible and was so covered in mud/snow that I was sliding all over the place. I ran off trail, on trail, who knows where the trail is? It was crazy. About a mile from the aid station, a guy came hiking up the trail telling everyone that indeed the race is over. I put on more speed to catch the next guy but couldn't do it. I did get a final mile split of 6:41 as the snow turned to rain and started to finally let up. Figures.
I finished 33.1 miles in 5:48:38 (10:31 ave) I am not sure of my place as everything was in chaos and they were more worried about people dying on the mountain than who finished in what order. I will post it once I know (maybe 11th?)
*Post Edit: 10th Place Overall (4th in 30-40 age group)
I made my way back to my car and found out that Jon had gotten a ride from where he dropped to the car, but then proceeded to lock my keys in the running car. He was sure having a bad day. He had gotten it all resolved in time for me to arrive. I was quite covered in mud but quickly rinsed off and tried to warm up in some dry clothes. I was tired and glad I was not slogging through the snow once more to summit another mountain, but disappointed because I thought I could still make it. Another day I guess. I just hope everyone makes it off that mountain in one piece and with all limbs still working.
T-5:48:38 (10:31) Ave hr 158 (only wore it the first 17 miles) (33 miles with .5 mile warmup)
*6800' climb 6700' descent (sport tracks)
Elevation Profile of what I ran -
Profile of the entire course. I ran the red and yellow sections with the Purple section being the big mountain that nobody got to run. Smart choice.
Recovery is coming along nicely. Yesterday, the stairs were my enemy. Today, they are no big deal. I had some major soreness in the tendons around my knees and the hammies and quads were unhappy. They are both doing much better today.
I decided a bike ride would be the best recovery method. I went 25 miles (Wellsville - Oak Ridge Hill - Mendon - Home) in 1:15 (44 min to top of Oak Ridge). 7.5 equivalent cross training miles.
