Summit junkie!

I took some time off to let me knee rest and I finally got back at it. The bad news is my knee is still sore. I can run with the pain, but I am starting to worry a bout Wasatch 100 in 5 weeks. I need to really pick up my training, but I am worried that it won't heal up if I do. Next week I need to pick it up a lot.

View Benchmark Peak/Draper trails with Rob:

I was supposed to run the Quest 4 King's marathon with all of my friends, but decided not to run to rest my knee. I got a text from my friend Rob wanting to run 11 in Draper and hit VB, so I figured it would be a good test for my knee. We met at 6:00 am at the equestrian park and Rob said the last time we had run the route it took 2:03 and was 11 miles. When we passed the Canyon Hollow trailhead Rob wanted to head up Clarks and I told him it was going to be more than 11 miles, but he insisted, so we went left and had a nice run up Clarks to Ann's and then over to the tunnel. By time we reached the Maple Hollow Connector trail I knew we were going to get more than 11 miles and we would be pushing it on time as I had to be back in American Fork to coach a soccer practice at 9:00 am.

I felt great running up to the summit and we didn't stay up there long because of the time. We had to run a sub 8 pace all the way back to the car in order to make it back on time. We pushed it pretty good all the way down and I actually felt great the whole way. My knee was barely sore, so I was bummed that I missed King's, but happy that my knee seems to actually be feeling better. We ended with over 14 miles and about 2300 feet of vert.  

3 easy with my wife. It is becoming a Sundee tradition. Fun.

Weights at the gym with my wife for an hour working upper body/core. We had a really good session and the gym wasn't crowded at all.

City Creek Canyon to North Salt Lake on the BST with Craig, MattW and ZacM:

Met the fellas in City Creek early before work for a really fun run. We went west and ran up to the towers that are north of Ensign Peak. It is a fairly steep climb, but we ran most of the way up. At the first set of towers we took the trail down into N. Salt Lake. I have never been on this section before and it was a blast. Incredible views and a park with a nice bathroom at the trunaround.

On the way back up to the tower I felt strong and Craig and I ran every step to the top. The run down was fast and fun. It was a really fun morning and the perfect way to start my day.

Lake Mountain solo:

I wanted to make a run at Timpanogos, but some afternoon storms made it look far from promising, so I decided to run up Lake Mt. instead. I started a few hours later than I wanted because I was hoping all of the storms would roll through and for the most part they did. The sky was still dark and it was windy when I started, but nothing that looked threatening.

I had a very fun run up to the summit. I tried to run as far as I could without hiking and I think I made it about 3/4 of the way up before the steep hill got the best of me and I slowed to a power hike. I was passed by two ATVs on the way up and othewise I didn't see a soul. It was justr me and my ipod and it was actually relaxing and gave me some time to think.

The summit ridge was pretty windy and I could see a storm moving in from the west, so I did not stay long on top. The run down was a blast. I cranked the tunes and got into a really good groove all the way back to the car.

Lake Mountain with Neasts 8 hours later:

I had a blast running Lake Mountain last night by myself, but I think I enjoyed the run/hike today even more with Neasts. The weather was perfect and we had some great conversation all the way up and back down. This was definitely not my fastest time up and Neasts was nice enough to hike the steep sections with me. My legs felt pretty good, but I was lacking my normal steam. It was much slower than the night before, but I still felt like it was a good effort. It was a perfect morning and an excellent way to start the day.

With Kristina at the gym.

Lake Mountain with Kristina:

My parents had my kids for the day, so Kristina and I had a really fun date. We slept in, had a nice relaxing breakfast and decided to hit Lake Mountain and we were both excited because it was her first time up. The first few miles were really hot and both of us were sweating pretty good and watching the dark clouds move closer to the sun. They finally obliged about 3/4 of the way up and it made it so much nicer. K was doing really well, but she isn't used to this much uphill, so we did stop to take a few breaks on the way up, but she pushed hard and it was fun to see her determined to make it up.

We hit the summit just as it started to sprinkle and the wind was picking up a lot. Now we were both getting chilled, but it felt great up there. We snapped a few pics and headed down. It was a ton of fun just chatting away all the way back down to the car. She did awesome and didn't complain once. I think she is ready to hit some bigger peaks, so we will do a few more warm-ups and then get after Timp.

Lifting at the gym with Kristina for 1:15 working upper body/core.

Bootcamp at the gym with Kristina. Cardio/weight circuits. Sprints. Sweaty and pretty worked.

View Benchmark Peak group run with Neasts, Je10, Craig, Rad, BenL, Chad, Nate and Becky:

We had an excellent group and a really fun run to the summit of VB via Ann's off of Vintage View. Chad pushed a fast pace and the rest of us went at a normal climbing pace. I led the group up to the Maple Hollow trailhead, so it was probably slower than some would have liked. :)

We spent a few mins on the summit checking out the views and the sunrise and then cruised back down. The pace picked up on the descent and I really enjoyed it. Fun morning.  

Grandeur Peak with CraigL and MattW:

Don't you wish every morning could start like this?

I had a blast this morning climbing Grandeur Peak with Craig and Matt. We met at 5:00 am at Chruch Fork in Millcreek Canyon to drop off our cars and then Craig drove us back to the West Ridge parking lot where we started our climb. We didn't go super fast. We just put it into cruise control and talked and laughed the whole way up. Up on the summit we had one of the best sunrises of the year, so we stayed up there longer than normal. I took a gel and then we ran down the Church Fork side.

I always enjoy this run and today it was spectacular. We didn't see a soul and I just enjoyed the views winding down the canyon. Back at the Pipeline Craig kept going up to Elbow Fork, but Matt and I had to get into work, so we ran back to the canyon road together. Excellent morning.

3 nice and easy with Kristina.

View Benchmark solo:

I had to coach a soccer game in the morning, so by time I had a chance to run it was already hot. Good thing I was feeling really good and fresh at the start. From Vintage View Dr. I put on some 80s new wave classics and felt great cruising up the hill much faster than I normally do. As I started to run the final road up to the top I saw a few lightning strikes on the far summit on the ridge. The storm looked nasty, but it was still sunny over VB. I knew I had to hurry, so I pushed pretty hard all the way to the top, running all of the hills and once I hit the summit I turned right around and went down. I saw a few more strikes on the way down, but the storm was moving pretty slow, so I wasn't worried.

I stopped at the water fountain at the Maple Hollow trailhead and took a gel and I was feeling a slight bit bonky because I hadn't had much to eat all day and that definitely boosted my energy. I had a very fun cruise down blasting some good tunes and I felt great the whole way.

3 easy peasy with Kristina.

View Benchmark with BenL and Craig.

My alarm was set for 4:35 am and I woke up at 3:50 to pee and couldn't go back to sleep. Mother Crapper! Met the guys at 5:20 on Vintage View for a run up to VB. Headlamps were a must. Craig set a pretty good pace going up. It was faster than normal. I felt pretty good for the first few miles and then kind of bonky. I'm not sure if it was from the 3 hours of sleep or what, but luckily it only lasted another mile. After 3.5 Ben had to turn around, so it was just Craig and I up to the summit. On the ridge we could see 6-7 deer standing on the summit with the first light of the day just starting to peek over the hills to the east. Awesome.

We just chatted pretty much the whole way down and kept up a decent 7:20-8:10 pace the last few miles. It was an excellent morning.

PM: Tonight I'll hit the gym for at least an hour to pump some weights. Meathead.

From Alta to Sunset Peak, down to Lake Mary and up and over Twin Lakes Pass with CraigL

This was one of the best runs of the year so far. I met Craig at the LCC park n ride at 5:15 am and we were up at Alta running 20 minutes later. We ran the road up to the Catherine Pass trail and as we climbed to the pass it started to get light. The meadows were stunning and we saw 6 buck deer. One large buck never moved and just stared at us. We hit the pass and then cruised over to Sunset Peak, which has one of the best views in the Wasatch. We ran down to Lake Catherine and then over to Lake Mary where we picked up the Twin Lakes Pass trail.

The views on this run were out of this world cool and the best part is we had the place to ourselves which has never happened for me up there. We went up to the pass and then ran the rocky mining road down to the nice single track that took us back to the finish at Alta. Wow. Just wow. That run was awesome.

Booty boot camp at the gym with Kristina. 6 circuits (weights and cardio) and some sprints. Sweat was dripping.

View Benchmark Peak solo:

This wasn't the best run I have ever had, but I got it done. I did VB via Ann's starting on Vintage View. I felt pretty good at the start and was hitting my groove and then I was thinking about how I want to handle my W100 aid stations/crew/drop bags and I caught a toe on a rock and took a gnarly digger. Luckily my water bottle took most of the abuse, but I landed on my hip and my sore knee. I was a bit shaken and moving slow after that until a great song by PIL came on the iPod and I picked it back up.

Just before the summit I inhaled a gnat. Awesome. After a pretty severe coughing episode I finally hacked the little guy up. :) Hit the summit and turned right around and went down. It was pretty hot, but I enjoyed a nice cruise back to the car.

Mt. Timpanogos double with Je10.

On Friday Je10 attempted to break the consecutive summit record (currently 5) on Mt. Timpanogos. I offered to run/hike/climb with her the first two laps and I was really looking forward to getting my first Timp double. The weather was looking a bit dodgy the day before, but I have been watching the mountain all summer and most of the storms we have been getting have been a lot more bark than bite, so I thought that at worst we would get a few hours of rain/hail/sleet/lightning, but we ended up getting one of the worst storms of the summer. So much for 30% chance of rain after 2:00 pm.

(All pictures were on on lap #1)

The first lap was so much fun. The cool weather was actually nice and we chatted the whole way at what seemed like a pretty easy pace. We passed several groups on our way up, but it wasn't as crowded as I am used to up there and I was definitely ok with that. At the saddle the weather still looked decent and we were treated to a really cool rainbow over Utah Valley. We hit the summit in 2:07. Not fast, but decent. On the run down people started asking questions (how fast did you get up, what are you doing etc). People seemed shocked when we told them what we were up to and it was fun to pass most of them on our way back up to see the looks and hear the comments.

The run down was easy and we chatted the whole way. With about a mile to go it started to lightly rain and I was hoping that the storm would quickly blow over, but we wouldn't be that lucky. We hit the parking lot just under 3:30 and Neasts was there waiting for us with smiles. It was great seeing her and I think it lifted our spirits to see a friend. We spent some time at the cars eating and rehydrating and the rain picked up even more, so we broke out the ponchos.

We said goodbye to Neasts and started lap two in the rain. My legs still felt great, but I could feel a bit of fatigue from all of the climbing I had done earlier in the week. After about 1.5 miles Je10 took the lead and really pushed it hard. It felt good to push and we passed a few hikers going up and some of the groups we had seen before. The rain never let up. I wasn't at all concerned about the rain or cold, but I was worried that we would hear thunder or lightning and we both agreed that if we did we would go back down.

Up in the upper basin the clouds looked a bit more ominous than our previous attempt and we stopped several times to evaluate them and decide what to do. I told Je10 that we should get to the saddle and then we would be able to see the entire valley and that would give us a good idea of what to expect. She agreed and when we hit the saddle the mountain was enveloped in a huge white cloud, but nothing looked dark or threatening. It was however raining harder and the wind was blowing pretty good. I was happy to have the ponchos on and both of us added some extra clothes (long sleeve shirt for me and arm sleeves for Je10).

The push up to the summit was pretty surreal. It was eerie. We were both scared because we knew thunderheads could develop quickly and we would be so screwed up there if anything moved in. I told Je10 we needed to haul ass, so we picked up the pace. The typically easy 'trail' up to the top was now rather tricky as all of the rocks were wet and water was now starting to run down the rocky slopes, so we had to take extra care maneuvering through some of the scrambly sections. We passed two guys that were wearing cotton clothing and one was even wearing jeans. They did have on ponchos, but certainly were not dressed appropriately for the conditions.

A few minutes before we hit the top I thought I heard some thunder in the clouds, but at that point I knew if lighting did blow in we were screwed whether we tagged the peak or not, so I kept going. We hit the top and I went in the shack to sign the register and Je10 took off back down. My hands were numb and the register was now completely soaked. It was a challenge to get the wet pages apart and when I finally tried to sign in it was futile because of the wet pages. I should have just gone down. I was now shivering and just wanted to get out of there. I took it very easy on the way down because I did not want to fall. I was very careful, but at one point I looked down into the valley to check for storm clouds and I slipped and went down on my knee. It didn't hurt at all because my knee was already numb, but it just made me more careful going down.

We finally got back to the saddle and it actually looked like the cloud was burning off, but we could also now see some darker clouds moving toward the summit massif, so we kept the brisk pace all the way down and out of the basin. Once we were below the upper basin we both were breathing easy again and I realized I had missed taking a gel and was about an hour behind on my energy. It caught up to me about a mile later and the last few miles going down were a bit of a slog.

Back at the bottom I was really worried about Je10 going back up alone. That was pretty scary up there and I'm sure she would have felt better if someone was with her, but she is a total badass and went back up. Unfortunately she got caught in the storms again very high on the mountain and actually had to run as an electrical storm moved in right over her. It really was too bad that the weather didn't cooperate, because she is so strong and was feeling great. I'm actually looking forward to going back up to do a triple or maybe more and I am sure Je10 will go after the record again. Next time if the conditions are good I think she will get it. Check out her report of the attempt here

Weights at the gym for an hour with Kristina working upper body/core. I'm in full taper mode for Wasatch 100 right now, so I won't be doing anything big this week or next.

Booty boot camp at the gym with Kristina. We did circuits of cardio/weights and sprints. Good sweat.

View Benchmark peak solo:

From Vintage view/Ann's trail. I just wanted to stretch my legs and didn't want to do anything strenuous, so I guess it was a good thing that I felt like crap to keep me in check. My legs felt pretty good the whole run, but I just wasn't feeling great from the start. I did run the entire way up though without walking even though it was slower than normal.

I'm really getting excited for Wasatch and it has been very hard to rest and not get out into the hills, but I know if will pay off next week.