Summit junkie!

I ran/hiked Mt. Olympus with MattV this afternoon, and we had a really good day. We started about 12:45 and there was quite a lot of wind, so I was really worried that it would be bad on top. It was pretty warm though and we both had on short sleeve shirts. About a half mile up we met up with Carol, a friend of Matt's that has summited Everest, and we chatted with her for a few minutes. She told us that the conditions were not great and she decided to come back down without making it to the top, so I was a bit concerned, but felt like we would be able to make it to the top without too much of a problem.

The snow started about 2/3 of the way up and I put on my spikes and they really helped a lot. I stopped to put on my ipod and Matt kept pushing. There was a lot of snow on the steeper sections and I was going to take a break at the saddle to take a gel, but Matt had already gone up, so I decided to keep going. From the saddle it was a pretty easy climb to the summit with some nice bucket steps almost the whole way in the snow. It was a lot less technical than most of my Olympus summits in the snow, and where there is usually icy boulders to maneuver, there was a lot of snow, so it made it much easier.

We made it to the top just after two hours, and the wind was strong and I got pretty cold. We hung out up there for about 15 minutes and decided to bail. My feet were frozen. We ran as much of the descent as we could, but the steep sections were slick and a little icy and we both slipped and fell a few times. We stopped at the saddle to take a gel and then ran most of the way to the bottom. It was a great day. It took us just over 4 hours round trip, 1:26 on the descent and we got about 4400 feet of elevation gain, which gives me about 6600 for the week.

50 minutes of core/weights.

Here are a few pictures from Olympus on Sat:

Matt making going up the steeper snow gully

Me attempting a summit jump in the soft snow:

Matt hanging out on a spur on our descent:

I went to the gym and did an hour of weights/core. Yesterday I worked my arms, and today I did chest, lats and shoulders.

5 easy miles on the TM after the kids went to bed.

Mt. Wire with MattV this morning. Today looked like the best day to get out before the weekend, so Matt and I decided to get in a peak. It was much colder than I expected at the trailhead, so I wore my hat, gloves and vest. The trail was damp, but not much mud. We hit snow at the first saddle, but it wasn't bad.

From the second saddle to the summit there was more snow to deal with and it slowed us down some, but we were not pushing all that hard anyway. Up to the top in 1:00 even. SLOW! We didn't stay long and had a nice run all the way back to the cars. Total time 1:30.

2200 vert.

PM update:

6.4 more on the BST in Draper with Jun and Dorsimus. The temps were perfect, but the wind was awful. This trail has a lot of ups and downs and after Wire this morning my legs were a bit sore, so I didn't want to do the big hill up Corner Canyon, so I turned around at 3.2 miles after taking a gel. Jun and Dorsimus continued up the canyon and then did the Ghost Falls trail. I think I did about 1000 more vert, but I'm not exactly sure. So fun!

I woke up early this morning to lift weights at the gym. worked upper body/core. I'm planning on getting in a run later.

I wanted to do 15+ today, but that didn't happen. Not a great day at all. 7 on the TM was all I had time for. Plus this weather blows!

6 on the TM while watching Deadliest Catch and the Masters. I was not happy with my miles last week, so this week I'm going to have to crank things up.

I lifted for a full hour at the gym. I worked my upper body/core. I went early and it wasn't nearly as crowded, although my buddy with the tight sweats that tends to get excited was there, and I also saw a young guy wearing knee high pink socks with light blue Keds (without the laces). Weird. If this is the new trend among the young folk I'm sorry, but I won't conform. Purple shorty shorts maybe, but pink socks? No way!

I also ran two on the TM just for fun (Yeah, I said I needed to crank up the miles). :) I wanted to try and run a fast mile for fun, so after a short warm up I finished mile one running 7:30, held that for another half and then finished the last half at 6:40. ugh. That didn't feel so hot.

I ran the Dimple Dell gully trail with Jun and Dorsimus today. The weather was almost perfect. The guys set a pretty good pace and I was just having fun and enjoying the run until 13th E. when it seemed like they really picked up the pace and I got a little behind. I turned on the ipod and tried to get into a good rhythm and that seemed to help.  I kept them in my sights and at the top of Dimple Dell I took a gel and then we pushed it up to the Bells trailhead, where they dropped me again on the uphill. I think the long legs give them an edge.

We took a nice break at the reservoir and then Jun set a blistering pace on the downhill. I could have kept up if I wanted to end up in a face plant, and I wouldn't have enjoyed that so I let them fly down while I once again brought up the rear, and I finally caught up to them at the first light on the street. From there we set a really fast pace back to the Dimple Dell trail. I was feeling really good and I think the next 4+ miles were in the low to mid 7's. That was fun! When we got closer to 13th it seemed like the boys were picking up the pace even more, so I told Jun he was a mother frumper for the pace and out of nowhere it picked up even more. My hip started to bother me, so there was no way I was keeping up on the other side (west) of 13th. After about a mile I had to stop to get a few rocks out of my shoes and I stretched a bit and felt a lot better. I did the last two at a much more reasonable pace, while the guys dropped me again, but I was ok with it. I finished a few minutes behind them and I was famished.

We finished and rewarded ourselves with pizza and coke. I can only think of a few things I would rather do on my lunch break. Awesome.

1225 vert AP: 8:41ish.

Mt Wire with MattV this morning. It was slightly cold with a little wind at the start, but I heated up fast. Very little soreness in my legs today and I am happy about that after yesterdays run. I did have a slight bit of soreness in my right hip, but nothing major. We didn't push hard going up, in fact Matt asked me if I was feeling ok because I was a lot slower than normal, so at the saddle I told him to lead an push the pace, which he did. He ran/power hiked to the towers and then ran to the top with me chasing. It felt good to push it hard across the ridge to the top. We were still rather pathetic (1:03) but that included all breaks too (Jun please read between the lines...details withheld for the benefit of other bloggers).

On the descent I put on some good tunes and sang along (with some air guitar mixed in) for Matt's benefit most of the way down. We had to take it easy from the towers to the saddle because it was icy, but after that we had a pretty good pace all the way down.

1:34 total time (pathetic) 2200 vert.

I climbed/hiked/ran to the summit of South Mountain Peak in Herriman. This is the mountain that burned last September and I was interested to see the changes since the last time I was up there a year ago with Jun. This is a short peak with only 1500 ft of elevation gain, but don't let that fool you. There is no trail and it is straight up.

I parked in a culdesac right at the base of the mountain and just went straight up. The terrain is very rocky with a lot of cacti, probably the most I have ever seen on a mountain in Northen Utah. The evidence of the fire was everywhere. Most of the scrub oak, bushes and trees were burned, and there wasn't a lot of vegetation, although I could see that some grass and plants were starting to grow. It was actually kind of eerie because there wasn't a lot of birds, bugs or wildlife and really nowhere really for anything to take cover. It just seemed quiet, except for the wind that blasted me once I was on the ridge.

The ridge was black from ash, and I tried to avoid it by stepping on rocks and snow and since the grade wasn't as steep I ran most of the way to the top in 38 minutes. I took a different ridge on the way down that is a little steeper but more direct, and I was back to the car in a little over an hour. I'll post up some pics later. This is a fun peak if you only have an hour.

A few pics: On my way up

Some burned trees on the ridge:

There is a radio tower that has fallen near the summit:

I woke up early to hit the gym to lift weights. I lifted (upper body/core) for 45 minutes.

I woke up early this morning to get in my run because I won't have much time the rest of the day. I did 10 on the TM while watching The Human Planet on Discovery. What an incredible show with amazing video footage. I did the first 5 at an easy 9:00 pace and then finished the last 5 at 8:30.

We spent the weekend at our family condo in Midway, and we didn't get home until late, so after the kids were in bed I did some easy miles on the TM. I wasn't feeling great and didn't have much energy at all.

I went to the gym tonight and lifted with my friends for an hour. Worked arms, delts, lats and chest. I spent a good deal of time on the pull up bar and it really worked me. I was a sweaty mess at the end.

Crazy day! I managed 4 on the TM after the kids were in bed. I felt great and would have done more miles, but I wanted to save my legs for some peaks and the BST in the am.

I met MattV at the U this morning at 5:00 am to drop my car off at the trailhead for Mt. Van Cott and then we drove in his car to the trailhead for the Avenues Twin Peaks, which is part of the BST. It was cold at the start, but we heated up fast. We ran to the summit of the first twin in 30 minutes where we stopped to take in the incredible views take a quick break. I bombed it fast down the face to the saddle and I was up on the West twin in just a few minutes and Matt wasn't far behind. After another stop to take in the views we headed down a faint trail that goes down the face of the mountain. The trail didn't last long and we just worked our way down to the BST below.

Once back on the BST we ran to Dry Canyon where we really picked up the pace and ran fast on the downhill, but eventually the small creek that runs next to the trail was totally covering the trail and the next half mile we were trying to avoid the water as it rushed down right on top of the trail. We had to jump back and forth several times and at one point on a long jump Matt twisted his ankle on a wet rock, so we stopped again for a few minutes. Then we passed two ladies that were walking their dogs and one of them nipped at my leg as I ran by. Ha.

Eventually the trail starts heading south again and we ran at the base of  Van Cott to the ridge where we would be climbing up. We were running short on time, but decided to go up anyway. We really pushed it hard and ran at least half of the way up the steep ridge topping out in 25 minutes. I made it up first and waited a few minutes for Matt and then we had a nice run back to my car. Total time was 2:08 including all breaks.

Climbing Van Cott this morning reminded me of taking my kids up there a few years ago. Here is a trip report from my daughter Amelia 

Solo up Mt. Wire and BST run

Woke up at 4:50 am and could hear the wind howling outside and the thought of bailing on my plan came into my head, so I quickly checked the weather online. The wind was only 6 mph in SLC, so I figured I would just go for it and at the very least get in a good run on the BST.

When I got to the trailhead there wasn't much wind at all and the weather was almost perfect. I started off feeling really good, so I had a nice run/hike mix working my way up the ridge. When I got to the saddle I realized I could get a PR if I really pushed hard, so I would run hard until my heart rate and breathing became too much and then I would power hike for about 30 seconds and then push again. I hit the towers and ran the rest of the way to the top hitting the summit in 46:32 which is a PR, although that is very soft. I know I will do it quicker when I really push it the whole way.

I didn't stay long on top. Most of the snow is gone and the conditions are perfect. I had a sweet run back down to the BST and then I wanted to get a few more miles, so I ran to Red Butte Canyon where I stopped and had a break and then back to the car. Total time including all breaks 1:38.

I had a crazy busy weekend with birthday and family parties, so I wasn't able to run much at all. I did find time to get in 6 on the TM. I felt like crap most of the run. Maybe it was the 4K cals I consumed yesterday. Oh well. This has to be a big mileage week for me.

Monday = Weights at the gym. Lifted for an hour (upper body/core) with my gym homies. The gym didn't stink, it wasn't crowded, and nobody in sweats was over-excited.

TM run after the kids went to bed. I had a killer stitch in my side for the first mile. Worst! It finally went away, but I never really got into a good groove. I am not a fan of the TM.

Sweet run today with Jun and Dorsimus on the BST in Draper. This is just what I needed. Last night I was miserable on the TM so I knew I wanted to get out with the boys today. The weather was fantastic and the trail was in really good shape. We started at the Red Rock trailhead and went up to Ghost Falls to Corner Canyon. I actually hung with the speed goats today, although they were both running on tired legs.

We took a break at the Ghost Falls trailhead and then had a fun run 1.5 miles back down to the BST. Dors said we did the 1.5 in 9:00 min. It was the best part of the run for me. On the way back Jun pushed the pace and slowly put a lead on us. I tried to hang the last mile, but I had lost my steam. I think I finished about 2 min behind them.

AP: Just over 9:00. 1400 elevation gain.

With Jun, Dorsimus and JSH on Stansbury Island. I wanted to get my long training run for the month in and found a really cool loop on Stansbury that I thought would be fun. Jun agreed and Dorsimus and JSH were in as well. It was a great group and we had a blast!

With the forecast for snow and rain I wasn't sure what to expect, but we had no rain or snow, a fair amount of sun and it would have been perfect without the wind that blasted us at times, but wasn't bad overall.

We did 3 10 mile loops that took us from the west side of the island to the ridge top, to the south end of the island and then back. The trail is pretty rocky in places and fairly technical. The views are absolutely amazing out there. Dorsimus did a great job explaining the trail and Jun has some excellent pics of the day, so check out their trip reports.

I felt really good on lap one, but struggled with some stomach issues on lap two. Luckily they only lasted about 3 miles. Lap 3 I had a nasty fall at mile 23. I was checking out the sweet views and my foot caught a rock and sent me face first off the trail, nearly missing a sharp rock. My handheld bottle flew out of my hand and almost went off a cliff. I tweaked my angle and banged my knee, but it wasn't serious.

I was running by myself for most of laps 2-3 because the other guys were faster. I wasn't feeling strong today, but on a positive note nothing really hurt all that much and at the finish I was still feeling quite good considering we just did 30.

This is an amazing trail and it was really nice being able to use the car as an aid station every 10 miles. I'll definitely be back to run it again. If you like Antelope Island you will love Stansbury.

3350 vert

This morning I did the Salt Lake Running free 5K with my two girls (Emma 13 and Amelia 11). We had a really fun time. This would be their first race and both of them can't wait for the next one. After running 30 miles yesterday I wasn't sure how I would feel out there, but surprisingly my legs felt great. They are a touch sore, but I didn't even notice it while running.

We got there and signed in, got our free shirts, which are actually pretty nice for free and then hung out with Jun and MattV until the raffle. I won another tech shirt and so did Amelia. After the raffle we went outside in the cold for a few min and then to the start.

I was so proud of my girls. Emma had two goals: Not come in last place and run the whole way. She accomplished both. Amelia had to stop and walk a bit, but eventually she caught back up to Emma and they finished within seconds of each other in just over 36 min. Then we hung out with Jun and Matt for a bit. The race was very fun and you can't get any better for free. My girls keep asking me when the next race is. I'll post up some pics later.