Hit the Dusty Trail

Ran at lunchtime. A little concerned about the air quality but I did it anyway. Pushed it hard for a tempo run. Felt pretty good. I haven't pushed that hard in awhile. Went and bought a treadmill last night. A top of the line Nordictrack for about half price. There's a place in Ogden that sells scratch and dent fitness equipment for steep discounts. Hope to give it a try tonight.

Ran easy again at lunch. Get the new treadmill tonight.

Tried out the new treadmill with some speed work. Oh how I hate speed work, but it does work. Did 5 x .5 miles at 7:30 pace with .2 walk between. Not as fast as I used to be, but then I haven't done speed work in quite awhile. We'll see how the training goes. The treadmill should keep me a little more diligent about my speedwork.

Ran the January installment of the Antelope Island Buffalo Run training runs. About 25 people showed up, far more than the 12 or so I was expecting. We went from the Lower Frary Peak parking lot to the south end of the island and back. I led the first 4 miles pushing thru about 4-6" of snow. Talk about tough. I finally relinguished the lead spot. The run felt pretty good. Took about 4-5 hours total, including a couple of stops waiting for lagging runners. We had the services of a fellow runner for a mobile aid station. That was great.

Saw a pack of coyotes, lots of jackrabbits, buffalo off in the distance, and two tour busses full of old people at the Fielding Garr Ranch. There's a tame mule deer that lives at the ranch that followed us for about 1/2 mile beyond the ranch, but turned back.

All in all, a pretty good time. The 20 miles sure felt like about 25 or so.

Ran on the new treadmill. Tried to run at a heart rate of 134 or so. Has anyone followed the Maffetone method for training? From what I understand you set a target heart rate of 180-age, plus about 5 if you're a 6-7 time a week runner. Everytime you run, target that heart rate. What is supposed to happen is that over a period of time, you find yourself running faster while maintaining the same heart rate. Thought I'd give it a try over the next month or so. Can't hurt with as slow as I've become. I know the run today was at a level of barely being able to maintain a conversation.

So far the treadmill is working out fine. The noise level is low enough that I don't have to turn up the TV too much.

Ran at lunch. Tried to target the same effort as was necessary to reach a HR of 134 on the treadmill. guess I need to get a HRM for use away from the treadmill.

Due to going to lunch with my wife, I had to run on the treadmil in the evening. Did a tempo and kept HR above 134. Pace was 8:00 or faster the entire time. Did a couple miles at 7:30 pace.

Ran 5.4 easy at lunch today. Little tired from yesterday's tempo run.  Ran an additional 2.6 at home after work. 

5 x 1/2 mile @ 7:00 pace.  Warm up and cool down.  Love the treadmill, it won't let you slow down.  Max HR was 160.

Didn't get a chance to run at lunch so I did what I could before my wife got home.  Managed to get a couple in on the treadmill.  Kind of a waste, but miles nonetheless.

To darn cold to run outside so i went for 21 on the treadmill.  had to cover up the dispaly so I didn't keep looking at it.  Talk about a long 3.5 hours.  Good thing there was good stuff on the TV in the morning.  Ran at about a 9:30 pace.  Just wanted a nice easy long run.  the nice thing about a treadmill, is that it keeps going the same speed (unless you slow it down).  this makes it relentless and forces you to keep up your speed no matter what it is.

Too many meetings at work to get a run in at lunch.  Ended up on the treadmill again.  My mileage would be a whole lot lees if I didn't have that thing.  Nice easy run after yesterday's long run.

Speed work.  Did a ladder speed workout.  1/4, 1/2, 3/4, 3/4, 1/2, 1/4.  1/4's were at 6:00 pace.  1/2's were at 6:30 pace, 3/4's were at 7:00 pace.  1/4 walk in between.  Good workout, max HR was 152.

Didn't get a chance to run today. Too many meetings at work and after work.

Once again, too many meetings to get a run in.  Guess I'll have to make it up this weekend.

Ah, finally my day off.  It's kind of nice to get every other Friday off.  Finally got to run some trails.  Haven't been able to for a couple weeks.  Ran the BST from Kaysville to Fernwood picnic area and back.  All snow covered.  Used shoes with screws in the soles.  First time I've done that and it worked great.  No slipping or sliding at all.
 

Ran on the treadmill.  12 minute pace at 6% grade.  Little over 1500' of gain.

Ran on Antelope Island.  Ran from the backcountry trailhead out about 4.5 miles to the west side of the island.  Not too bad a run.  Most of the snow was packed down from previous users.  Extremely quiet.  There was no wind, animal sounds, human sounds (except my breathing).  It was great to just sit and enjoy the silence and the view out across the lake.  There was only a couple of horseback riders out on the trail and I only saw them twice.  

Ran 6 miles @ 6mph @ 6% grade.  Need to start doing the hill work for the trails this summer.

Tempo run at lunch.  Max HR 140.

Ran around the block at lunch today.  Didn't puch the pace, just took it easy.

Ran an easy 4.4 at lunch.  Did speed work on the treadmill.  6 x .50 @ 6:40 pace.  Max HR 160.  Started to feel twinges in the left ITB.  Haven't had issues there is several years.  Guess I'll need to keep an eye on it and start doing some exercises for it.

Too busy at work and after work to get a run in.  Oh well, guess I'll have to make it up tomorrow.

Wanted to go out during the afternoon, but once again, too busy.  I did manage to do an easy run on the treadmill.

Managed to get out on to the trails today.  Ran from Kaysville to Fernwood and back.  The trail is still 90% snow covered but some is melting.  Where its melted it sure is muddy and soft.  Pretty good run considering the snow.  Warm enough to wear shorts.  That's nice as I don't like to run in cold weather.  Starting to taper for the Twin Peaks 50 mile this Sunday.  Not planning on a whole lot of taper as this is just a "fun training run" for me to help build some mileage up.  I figure if I can get a few early ultras in and not "race" them, that will help with my training for the 100k I want to target this summer.

No running today.  A 15 hour day at work ending at 2:30am put a damper on any running activity.

Another 12 hour day put the running in the tank again.  Good thing I'm tapering for my race this weekend.

Finally got in a run at lunch.  Did a tempo run.  Didn't formally time it but the last half was at a sub 7:45 pace.  Finally, something below 8 minutes.

No running today.  Not particularly worried since I have a race on Sunday.

Travel day to Orange County.  Very cold on the way down.  4 degrees near Beaver, UT.  Glad I'm going to SoCal for the weekend.

This actually wasn't a run, but a hike with my sister inlaw and her husband. 

Well, I finished the first running of the Twin Peaks 50 mile.  This race took participants thru the Cleveland national Forest in Orange County, CA.  The course was mostly fire road with about 1/3 third single track trail thru the canyons.  This has got to be the toughest 50 miles I have ever run.  The first 16 miles were all uphill from about 1500' to 5700'.  What a grind.  I was able to run parts of it, but it was mostly a walk.  Those miles were followed by about 9 miles of up and down along the ridgeline road.  Then it was downhill thru a conyon on some knarly single track trail.  Runnable, but steep at the same time.  Once we arrived at the 27 mile aid station, it was more trail and another 8 mile uphill grind back to the 5700' peak we topped out at earlier.  By this time the heat was starting to take its toll on runners.  In this 8 mile section I managed to pass around 9 runners who were in various stages of discompfort due to the heat.  I was able to climb just fine and arrived at top in good shape for the last 15 miles, which by the way, were all downhill. 

What did I do to manage my body?  I always have a baggy of electrolyte caps, Tums, and Ibuprofen in my pocket.  I kept popping the electrolyte caps regularly, and took the Tums whenever I felt my stomach start to act up a little.  I made sure to eat food at the aid stations, even though at times nothing looked good.  I made sure to drink plenty at the aid stations and had two 24 oz. bottles with me.  I made sure those bottles were drained before I would get to the next aid station. 

I love running downhill and the pounding doesn't seem to bother my quads a whole lot, at least not until the next day.  I managed to cross the finish line just as the sun set and a time of 11 hours, 20 minutes and change.  Good enough for 17th place overall.  There were 47 starters for the 50 mile race and 31 finished.  So not too bad for an early season race.  I was originally hoping for a sub 12 hour run and managed to do that without too much problem.  I missed  out on not getting "chicked" by ten minutes.  The first place female crossed in 11:09.  I did have some concerns about not having enough long runs.  My longest run was around 22 miles and I only managed three of those prior to the race.  so it goes to show you can run ultras on marathon training.  The other thing I noticed was that my time for this race was only 10 minutes slower than my time for my first 50 mile race way back in 1993 on a much easier course.  All in all, not too bad for an old man.

This was a fun run for me.  My younger brother and one of my sisters both wanted me to run with them at this race.  Neither have ever run this far and figured that their crazy ultrarunning brother could drag their sorry butts acros the finish line.  Bottom line, I ran a very poor time but had a wonderful time running with them.  We had a ball every step of the way and managed to cross the finish line at the same time.  The course is beautiful, winding its way thru some of the red rock canyons of Sedona.  I would highly recommend this race as an early season start.  The weather was great, upper 60's and sunny, the scenery is beautiful and the finish times are soft.  If I had run my normal race time for a half, I would have finished around 25th overall, out of 550, and picked up an age group award.  Same thing for the marathon times.

Took it easy at lunch.  Still a little tired from the two races last week.

Tempo run at lunch.  1 mile warmup, 4 miles at tempo, 1 mile a little slower.  Felt really good.  I didn't time the run, but it feels like I'm getting faster.  Tried to maintain form thru run.

Intervals.  6 x .50 @ 6:40 pace.  Had a little bit of a hard time breathing.  should've taken a hit off the inhaler.  Oh well.

Ran home from work.  My car was in the shop and my son took me to work.  I couldn't find anyone to take me howm, so I ran home.  Felt good.  Set a new PR for the route.

Ran the White rock and Split Rock trails on Antelope Island.  Lots and lots of horses out.  Nice day.  Took my time.  Stopped and viewed some wildlife thru a spotting scope with some hikers.

Called in sick to work today.  Felt a cold coming on yesterday and it hit today.  obviously I didn't run.  First time I've called in sick in well over two years.

Should've called in sick again today.  Didn't run again.  Thought maybe I'd feel a little better, but couldn't get up the ambition to go out and run.  Oh well.

Still not feeling real well, but ran anyway.  Did feel better afterwards.

Blew off runing today.  Figured that with this cold, a little time off may be necessary.

Did the treadmill thing toady.  Just took it easy and the run actually felt pretty good.  Ran most of it at an 8:20 pace.

Nice easy run on the treadmill.  I'll be glad when warm weather gets here.  Looks like a treadmill week given the weather forecast.

Lazy today and decided not to run.  Didn't even feel too guilty about skipping the day.

Tried a different route at lunch today.  Very easy and flat.  Not too bad a run.

Did the last training run for teh AntelopeIsland Buffalo run.  I did cut the ru short due to pain in the hips.  Teh run itself was good.  Trails were a little muddy towards the end as things thawed out, but the day was nice.

Took the day off to do things around the house.

Didn't get a chance to run at lunch so I hit the treadmill at home.  Just took it easy.

Ran at lunch.  Nice to have some weather that's warmer, although not warm enough.

Did my "evil" workout, 6 miles 6 mph, 6% grade on the treadmill.  I think I need to bump something up, speed or grade, next time.

Speed work.  4 x 1/2.  3:40, 3:35, 3:30, 3:40.  3/4 warmup and cooldown.

Ran around the block at lunch today.  Felt pretty good.  Finally getting the mileage back up some.

Only had time for the treadmill.  Wanted to do a trail run, went to a horse show with my wife instead.  Oh well, at least I got 10 in.

Ran around the block at lunch.  It sure was nice to run outside in the warm weather. 

Tempo run at lunch.  Warmed u for the first mile, then p ushed hard for the next 5.  Tough but felt good.

Ran around the block at lunch.  Had to visit the bank and the post office, so combined them with my run.  Felt pretty good.  Pushed the pace some.

Speed work day.  Ran 5 x .50 intervals.  Didn't get the first time but the last four were 3:36, 3:30, 3:31, 3:29.  Not too bad.  Faster than last week's.  3/4 warmup and 1 1/4 cooldown.  Started doing some stretching today.  The sciatic in both hips is bothering me and stretching seems to help with that.

Ran on the BST from Kasville to Fernwood and back.  Great day for a trail run.  Trail was in great shape except for a few muddy spots on the north facing areas.  Just took it easy and enjoyed the afternoon.

Ran up the south Skyline trail from the Pineview trailhead until the snow got too deep.  roughly 4 miles up.  This is a great trail for doing hill repeats.  The first three miles are uphill and at a fairly constant grade.  Did a run 2minutes, walk 2 minutes for those three miles up and blasted the entire way back down.  I'm feeling the after effects this morning.  Finished up with a easy run along the Pineview shoreline trail to the north arm trailhead and back.  Icky trail, didn't like it at all.

Did my usual run at lunch today.  Took it easy.

Tempo run.  Easy for the first mile, then pushed it for the last six.

Ran on the treadmill at home.  Didn't feel like running in the bad weather.

Spent the day marking the 50 mile course for the Buffalo Run on Saturday.  Took a couple from hawaii that came over just for the race.  They really enjoyed seeing all the wildlife out on the island.

Spent the day marking the 25K/50K course and setting up the campsite for 200 runners tomorrow.

the second running of the Antelope Ilsand Buffalo Run is today.  I had 191 runners start the three races.  I think around 187 finished.  It was a great day for a trail run.  I was exhausted by the end of the day.

Swept the courses from yesterday's run.  In a vehicle of course.  Absolutely no trash was found.  Trail runners and ultrarunners are great about keeping trails clean.

Ran again at lunch.  It's been a few days and I was kind of sluggish but it felt good to get back out on the road.

didn't have time to run at lunch so I did the treadmillthing at home.  10 minute pace seemed about right for the day.

Ran 3 x 2 miles on the treadmill.  Paces were 7:30, 7:25, 7:13.  Tried a technique I've read about and held an ice pack on my hands for about 3-4 minutes between each set.  This was to cool down the muscles in between runs.  It's supposed to reduce the fatigue and allow one to push harder on subsequent sets of exercise.  It seemed to work.  I haven't run that far that fast in quite awhile and after the third run, I was only a little tired.  I did feel like I could have done a couple more of these runs.  Has anyone else tried something like this?  I looked into buying a Core Cool device, but at 2 grand it's a little out of my price range.  figured that I could do almost as well with a flexible ice pack wrapped in a dish towel.  I'll keep working on it and see how I do.  I'll be doing speed work on the treadmill Thursday evening, probably 6 x .50 at around a 6:30 pace.

Too much work to do today. Had to stay late at work since I'll be traveling tomorrow down to the OC.

Drove down to San Diego County.  Staying with my mother-in-law for the weekend.  Just 2 blocks from the beach.  How nice.

Ran along the beach up to Oceanside harbor.  There was a half Ironman going on so I stopped to watch the last few runners come out of the water, transition to their bikes and take off.  Late on the way back stopped to watch the lead runners doing the half marathon portion.  There was some serious focus there. 

Went for a walk with my wife along the beach and into downtown Carlsbad.  Teh Carlsbad 5000 was going on and we got to watch the elites run thier race.  The winning women I believe set a new world record of 14:36.  These runners make it look so easy to run fast.

Travel day back to home.  Ugh, 12 hours sitting in a car.

Tempo run at lunch.  Pushed fairly hard.  Felt pretty good after not doing any hard runs for a few days.  Joined a local gym alst night.  I'll start weight lifting again tonight with an emphasis on the legs.  Last time I was lifting, even though the legs felt dead the next day, after a couple weeks, I started feeling much stronger, especially when hill climbing.

Easy run around the block at lunch. Roughly 75 minutes including stop lights etc.  Did some weight lifting after work.  First time in several years.  Went to do my second set of squats and everything started to cramp up, probably from the lack of doing weights.  Anyway, I managed to finish all three sets, although not quite as far down as the first.  Should get better as I do more weight lifting.

Took it easy.  Still sore from the weight lifting.

Ran from 22nd street in Ogden along the BST.  Great day for it.  For the first time I ran virtually every step, with no walking due to the climbs.  Felt very good to be able to do that.

Ran from the upper parking lot in Farmington Canyon up the canyon road to within 1 mile of the radar towers.  The only reason I turned back was 4-6 inches of slushy snow, a whiteout condition and a windchill in the lower 20's.  I was not equipped to deal with all that.  then later in the day, the peak was clear.  go figure.  Anyway, it was a great run.  I ran most of the distance up to the locked gate (6 miles).  After that the road gets steeper and most of it was a power walk.  The altitude didn't seem to affect me much.  Tried a new asthma/drug regimine of Advair, Cialis (yep, that's right), and Singulair.  A Dr. friend had me try tis setup to see how it worked for me.  He does the same thing for his very long runs and races (he's a fellow ultrarunner).  According to him, the Advair and Singulair are better for runners than the Albutarol inhaler I now use because they don't raise your resting heart rate.  The Cialis is being used by mountain climbers as an antidote to altitude sickness.  It's supposed to reduce the pulmonary blood pressure, allowing more oxygen to cross from your lungs into your bloodstream.  The comination of these three drugs seemed to help.  I didn't have any of the symptoms that I usually have once I descend from above 9000' during a run.  I was also able to run/walk much better at the higher elevations.  I did notice the air getting thinner, but it didn't bother me at all.  Anyway, seemed to work for me.  Anyone else do something similar?

Ran at lunch.  Felt very sluggish after yesterday's run.  Kind of tierd and sore.

Didn't get a chance to run, but did hit the gym and pushed the legs fairly hard.

Ran one of my favortie runs, Kaysville to Fernwood and back.. Tried out a new pair of trail shoes, Montrail Vitesse's.  Seem to work fine, no issues with them.

Ran on the treadmill after work but just couldn't get into it, so I quit.

Well, my oldest child turned 25 today.  I am getting old.  It was a lousy run day.  I tried to find the BST from Farmington south towards Bountiful, but either couldn't or it's the dirt road I ran on.  I did get some good hill work in going up the mountainside trying to find a trail.  Won't be running there any more.

Went with my wife, she rode the horse, I walked/ran.  I took her up the Great Western Trail out of Fernwood picnic area.  She had never been up that trail before.  It's the section that takes you straight up the mountaiside to the top.  We went up about 2.5 miles then turned around.  The horse is really out of shape and she didn't want to have him do too much.  My 'run' was more of a hike, but that's ok, it was still work going up the mountain, plus we had a good time and some great views.

Ran at lunch.  Even though I'm still sore from lifting weights last week and yesterday's hill climb, I can feel that the legs are getting stronger from lifting.  Seems to be helping so far. 

Did my first run of the year to work and back.  Not a bad run.  Kinda slow going in, ran much faster going home, knod of like a barn sour horse.

Didn't get a chance to run, but did manage to get to the weight room.

Only had time for a short mental health run after work on the trails.  Felt good and I wanted to go farther but just didn't have time.  Oh well.

Did a short "run" up a new trail I found.  Just north of the Kaysville trailhead along the BST, a trail turns and goes straight up the mountainside.  I think it goes all the way to the top.  Went about a mile up the trail and probably to around 7000'.  Once the snow clears out, this will be a good one to explore.  Tough climb, wore the quads out both going up and coming back down.

Well, while everyone else was running the SLC marathon in the streets of SLC< I was running the BST marathon on the trails above the avenues and the U.  Lots of fun.  About 80 of us braved the little bit of snow that spit on us and had a great time.  Trails were actually clear of snow this year, unlike the previous two years.  Very runnable.  I was worn out afterwards.

Didn't do squat today.  Not too sore from yesterday's run, actually felt pretty good but had other things to do around the house.

Ran easy around the block at lunch.  Felt pretty good after Saturday's 26 miles.  No soreness at all.  Guess I'm not working hard enough.

Didn't get a chance to run.  Too busy at work and at home.  Oh well, there's always tomorrow.

Rna around the block at lunch today.  Pushed fairly hard the entire way.  3 miles of the run is uphill. 

Ran to work and back.  The run home I pushed the pace some.  Didn't run the fastest time ever, but close.  The run in was kind of slow, as it usually is, but it was nice to enjoy the quiet dark run.

Was planning on running into work again, but the legs were pretty tired.  Opted for an after work mental helath run along the BST from 22nd st. in Ogden.

Went up Lewis Peak with my wife and her horse.  I got within a half mile of the top and was stopped by snow.  I was sinking in up to my knees and it looked like the rest of the way to the top was the same.  It'll be a couple weeks before all of that is melted out.  Pretty tired afterwards.  elevation gain was aorund 3000'.  less than 2.5 hours up, and 1.5 down.

Just did a short, easy run at lunchtime.  Definitely a nice day for being outside and not inside.

Ran to work today.  Got a brand new pair of shoes too.  Such a deal!

Ran at lunch.  Took it easy but it was still hard since the legs were tired from yesterday's run.

Ran on the treadmill.  Pushed the pace for some of it.  Too cold to run outside (wimp).

Road miles.  Nice day for a long run.  Time was just under 4.5 hours.  Felt pretty good the entire way.  Got a little tired towards the end.  Not too sore on Monday though.

Ran easy at lunch.  A little tired from yesterday's run, but not sore.  Also hit the weight room after work and pushed the legs hard.

Tempo run at lunch.  Got a little warm, glad I took a water bottle.

Ran in the Grand Canyon today.  Was planning on doing a rim to rim to rim but got a late start and didn't make the north rim.  Met up with the other person doing the run with me (he took off a lot earlier) about 5.5 miles from the north rim.  We ran back to the south rim together.  Met some others doing R2R2R as well.

What a fantastic place to run.  I've never been to the GC before so I was in complete awe of what I saw.  Fantastic views, wildlife, etc.  Actually saw several California Condors flying around the south rim.

Nice and sore afterwards from all the climbing and descending.

Took the day off to travel back home from the GC.

Ran at lunch.  Actually felt very good and pushed it some.  Somewhat sore from my Grand Canyon run, but felt very strong anyway.

Ran to work this morning.  Kinda slow.  Still sore from my Grand Canyon run.  Probably shouldn't have run in but I need to start ramping up the miles.  At least I took the day off from the weight room yesterday.  I think that would have done me more harm than good.

Didn't run today.  No time at lunch and still a little sore from the GC run.  Seems like the 17 I did yesterday took a lot out of me.  I did hit the weight room though.  That felt pretty good.

Ran at lunch.  Kind of warm and even felt a little humid.  Started a new drug for my asthma yesterday and it sure seemd like I could breeath a lot easier today.  Actually felt good to push the pace some.  The Dr. is interested in hearing how it affects my training.  He doesn't get too many healthy, athletic individuals to help out so I guess I represent an unusual case for him.

Ran at lunch.  Felt pretty good.  Just took it easy.

Ran the White Rock and Split Rock trails on Antelope Island.  Pretty much had the place to myself.  There was no one else on the trails when I headed out and only a few people out when I finished.  No horses at all.  Bugs weren't bad at all either.  got a little warm towards the end of the run and I ran out of water about a mile from the finish, but no big deal.

Learned an important lesson today.  Never try running less than 2 hours after a heavy weight workout.  Went to the gym after work and then went home and ran on the treadmill.  Was going to go about 5.5 miles but after 3 I was exhausted.  Last time I do that.

Tempo run today.  Felt really good and pushed hard.  The new asthma drug is working and I can actually breathe.  Legs felt pretty good.  A little tired but I was able to push anyway.

Ran my usual Wed. 8 miles at lunch.  Felt pretty good.  74 minutes total including stop lights.

Ran to work and back.  Really pushed on the way home and set a PR of 1:18 for 8.9 miles. 
This included time for stoplights, waiting at intersections, etc.  I've never gone below 1:20 for this route.  PR'd by about 6 minutes.  Very cool.

Ran up Frary Peak on Anelope Island after work.  59 minutes up, 40 minutes down.  2000' of elevation gain in less than 3 miles.  Did some GPS work for the upcoming Frary Peak Hill Climb that I'm putting on in late September.  It'll be a 10k, but it'll be the toughest 10k you ever ran (or walked).

Went out to Antelope Island with my wife and her horse.  Most of the mileage was a hike, but I did manage to get in around 3-4 miles of good running.  It was fun, bugs weren't too bad either.

Ran the Memorial Day Classic Half Marathon at Jensen Park in Syracuse.  Perfect day for the race.  Stayed cloudy the entire time with temps in the 60's.  Little bit of a breeze at points.  Course was flat, very few small rises.  The race started about 10 minutes late and after the first half mile or so, the lead pack was directed on to a wrong street and they ended up with about 1.5 miles of extra mileage.  The entire pack had caught up to me by mile 6 though.  My race was fairly consistent.  I have a tendency to go out fast and fade later.  I tried to go out at a steady and easy pace and just keep it up.  I haven't done any speedwork to speak of and I knew that my race wouldn't be a PR, but I was hoping for a sub 8 minute pace.  My splits were, 7:25, 7:38, 7:55, 7:40, 7:31, 7:42, 7:44, 7:56, 8:02, 8:14, 8:03, 15:48 (2 miles), 49:66 seconds.

I definitely don't like these shorter races.  I get half way thru and I'm wondering why I signed up, then 3/4 of the way thru I think there isn't too much longer to go and at the finish I'm just glad the thing is over.  Give me an ultra anytime.

Finished 19th overall out of 102 finishers, 56 men, and 5th in my age group out of 16 in that group, so not too bad.  I did manage to meet my goal of a sub 8 minute pace.

Ran to work and back today.  A little sore from yesterday's race and it took a couple miles to get warmed up coming in, but I managed.

Was planning on running 8 at lunch but was extremely tired, so I only went 5.4 very slow miles.  Did go to the gym after work but it was an abbreviated workout.  Then when I got home, my wife wanted me to go run 3 miles with her.  How could I turn that down.  Those 3 were very slow as well, but I did feel better afterwards.  Did get a good night's sleep Wed. night.  Seems like when I push the mileage up over 60 a week that my sleep needs increase quite a bit.  Guess I'll have to start going to bed earlier.

Ran around the block at lunch.  245 miles for the month.  Not too bad.  Hopefully I can keep it up for the next 2 1/2 months.  This kind of mileage sure wears me out though.

Hiked up to Windy Pass to support the Squaw Peak 50 mile aid station #9.  Third year I've done it and it's always a good time.  The gain is about 3000' in 5 miles and you end up at 9000'.  Beautiful day for the trek.  Had about 30-35 lbs of supplies on my back (as did everyone else).  Took 2 hours 20 minutes to hike up.  Only a couple of patches of snow, the biggest being about 50 yards.  It was great fun to see lots of running friends come thru.  I had to leave early to attend a wedding reception, so I ran back down to my truck with one of the runners.  Covered the 5 miles in 1 hour 15 minutes.  I love the run down.  One of these days I need to do this run both up and down without a pack on my back just to see how wwell I do.

Went up the hillside near Kaysville.  Tough climb straight up.  Also hit the weight room at noon.

Was going to run back and forth to work today but only managed to get into work.  By the time I got out of work, it was getting close to dark and the wind was blowing big time.  I called my wife and told her to meet me along the way, then took off.  I managed to make it about 2.5 miles towards home before she met up with me.

Took the day off.  Work has been hectic and it gets late by the time I get home.

Ran one of my favorite runs, from kaysville to Fernwood and back.  Great run, really pushed on the uphills.  Trail was in great shape.  Not dusty at all due to th rain earlier in the week.

Ran another one of my favorite trails.  From 22nd street in Ogden to behind Weber State and back.  Once again, really pushed the uphills both directions.  On the way back I made it a goal to try and keep up woth a couple of mountain bikers.  Almost did too.  Finally caught them about one mile from the finish when they stopped to take a break and look at the view.  Went under a 10 minute pace for the return trip.  Not bad given the trail.  Definitely felt the workout the next day.

Went 16 on two separate runs.  Did 6 on the road in the morning.  Felt pretty good, picked up the pace on the return.  In the afternnon, my wife and I went on the Indian Trail above 22nd Street Ogden.  This is a 9 mile RT trail that climbs 1400' in each direction.  Very narrow, windy, rocky, and somewhat treacherous trail thru part of the Ogden Canyon.  I had forgotten how tough this trail actually is.  Kind of a warm day.  I ran out of water about 2.5 miles from the end and was really parched by the time I got back to the car.  Stopped by a gas station and promptly downed a liter of water followed by another quart of Gatorade.  Guess I was thirsty.

Went for a short run while on vacation today.  Few road miles.

Went longer today.  Felt pretty good.  Ran around Capitol Lake in Olympia, WA.  Very nice.

Went to the Capitol State Forest near Olympia to run some trails.  Kind of wet and damp, little cool as well.  Pretty much had the place to myself.  Not a bad run.  Started at around 250' elevation and went up to the top of one of the peaks at around 2300'.  Did have some nice views, what I could see underneath the clouds.

Well, back from vacation.  Didn't manage to get a whole lot of running in, but that's ok.  Did run one of my favorite trails, from 22nd street Ogden towards Beus Canyon along the BST and back.  Nice run.  Felt good to push a little.

Very warm run at lunch.  Started out pretty strong, but faded over the last mile or so.  Wish I had brought a water bottle to take along.

Ran to work today.  Nice and cool in the morning.  Was kind of a lsow run, but better than most runs in the morning.  Seems like when I run to work, the run in is much slower than the run home in the afternoon.

Just did a short little run on the BST above Kaysville.  Very warm day.  Drained a 24 oz. bottle just in those 3 miles.

Ran the first 15 miles of the Wasatch Front 100 course.  Starting in Kaysville, north to Layton, then up the mountainside and along the ridgeline to the radar towers, turnaround and go back.  Gorgeous day, nice and pleasant on top, nice breeze, about 75 degrees.  both Cool spring and landis spring running good, so no shortage of water.  Very little snow on the trail itself, but plenty on the east side of the ridges.  Packed the Camelbak with snow a couple of times for some ice water.  I think I ddrank around 1-1.5 gallons of water for the run.  Took along both Gu and Shot Bloks.  I love the Shot Bloks.  I've never tried them before and they were great.  My energy supplement of choice now.  The Gu was ok, but it gets tiresome after awhile.  The last three miles along the BST were very warm and definitely my slow point.  I did run even splits, 4.5 hours to the towers, and just under 4.5 hours back, but the way back was downhill.  Didn't see any rattlesnakes on this trip, but was watching for them.  Saw a few people on the road at the towers, but other than that, saw only one person on the mountain the entire time.  Plenty down along the BST though.  Definitely sore this morning, but not too bad.

Ran easy at lunch.  Not as sore as I thought I'd be after yesterday's run.

Trail run after work on the BST above Ogden.  Pushed the uphills.  Kind of warm.

Ran some of the trails near Snowbasin.  Hadn't been up there this year at all and it was nice.  With all the greenery there, the air was quite humid, but cooler than down in the valley.

Ran to work this morning.  Will run home this afternoon.  Didn't get up any earlier than normal and I felt much better and ran faster, although I didn't get to work until after 8.  Guess I'll have to take off early to make up for coming in late.

Whew, another 30+ yesterday.  Went with a friend and ran around Pineview reservoir on the roads, then headed up Wheeler canyon on the trail toward Snowbasin.  Once at Snowbasin, we went up the access roads to ridge above the Needles lodge, then traversed over to the Beus Canyon trail that goes to the top of Mt. Ogden, then ran down that trail to the trailhead.  What a great run.  We both felt great after.  I'm a little stiff this morning, but virtually no soreness at all.  We started at about 6:45 and finished up at 2:45, so 8 hours for the distance.  It was nice and cool running around Pineview, then stayed cool as we went up the mountainside.  It didn't get hot until the last couple of miles coming down Beus Canyon.  The air was nice and clear so the views from the top were fantastic.  We had access to water at all the right places, the car after our Pineview loop, Snowbasin base and Needles Lodge.  I used Cliff Shot Bloks exclusively (except for one PBJ) for the run and downed about 4 packages.  That seemed to be plenty (1000 calories total?).  With views and a good time like that, why run roads.  Nothing beats a good, epic run with a friend.

Did my run on the treadmill.  Was going to run at lunch but didn't have time.  Here I ran 33 on Sunday and had no blisters.  I run 5 on the treadmill and pick up two.  What's up with that?

Ran to work and will run home this afternoon.  Should be a hot one.

Ran the Clearfield Freedom 5K again.  I generally don't like to do 5K's.  I think they're way too hard and I'm not fast.  At last year's race I somehow managed to take 1st place in my age group (45-49).  First time I've ever done that.  I went back this year to see if I could do it again....and I did.  I ran this year's race over a minute faster than last year's and it's agood thing.  My time from last year would have been good for 4th place this year.  So 23rd out of 144 wasn't too bad I thought.  Especially for not being a 5K runner and running over 17 the day before.

Ran the local roads this morning.  Was planning on going around 15, but the legs were pretty dead and I just couldn't get into the run, so I cut it a little short.

Ran one of my favorite trails.  From 22nd street to beus Canyon and back along the BST.

No running today unfortunately.  I spent 18 hours on the road with my son going to the University of North Dakota in Grand Forks.  that's where he's going to school next month.

Went for a nice run in Grand Forks along the river.  They have a very nice paved trail on both sides of the river.  Very pleasant, but not much in the way of elevation change.

No running again today.  Busy with getting my son signed up for classes, taking tours, etc.  Also left for the journey home at around 9pm, then drove all night with a couple of 1 hour stops for naps.

Still driving.  Finally got home around 4:30pm.  Too tired to do much of anything.

Ran to work this morning.  Will run home this afternoon.  It was nice to have a few enforced days off after a couple of very hard weeks of training.  I'm ready to get back into it.

Ran on the Mountain View trail on Antelope Island.  Didn't start until around 7:30am.  Was originally going to run 20, but it was getting very warm and the bugs were acting up.  In 13 miles, I drained three water bottles for a total of 72 oz.  The deer flies were really "bugging" me on the way back since I now had a tailwind.

Ran at lunch today.  Kind of humid.  Pushed the pace a bit.  the legs are still a little sore from last Friday's weight session.  That was the first weight session in about a month and it showed.

Ran in to work today.  Felt a little slow, but my time was actually very consistent with what it normally takes to run in to work.  Not very cool this morning either.  It'll be a hot one this afternoon going home.

Ran the BST from Kaysville to Fernwood picnic area and back.  Very hot.  Car said it was 101.  Took one water bottle and ran a little slower.  There is water at the picnic area so I had plenty to drink.  Run wasn't too bad.  Went and did a partial workout at the gym afterwards.  Went to bed early.  I was tired.

Ran to work.  The run in was kind of slow, it seemed, but my time was about what it usually is.  We'll see what this afternoon brings.

I ran the first ever Wasatch Speedgoat 50K held at Snowbird Ski Area on Saturday.  The race was put together by the orignal Wasatch Speedgoats, Karl Meltzer and Scott Mason.  Karl is one of the best ultrarunners in the country, having won teh Wasatch 100 a number of times and holder of the course record.  He has also won the Hardrock 100 3-4 times and is the only person to go under 24 hours for the HURT 100 mile race in Hawaii, so you know this course was going to be tough.  And they didn't disappoint.  Originally, the course was to go thru both Snowbird and Alta ski areas, but at the last minute some lawyer for Alta got cold feet and we ended up running only thru Snowbird.  The course took us from the Tram deck to the tunnel, into Mineral basin, back up thru the tunnel, back down into the front side of the area, back up to the top of the tram, back into Mineral Basin, back up to the top of the tram again and then a screaming 4 mile dowhill finish from the top.  The general consensus is that the course was about 26.4 miles rather than a true 50K.  Who cares, it was still the toughest 50K I've ever run.  Almost 12,000' of elevation gain and 12,000' of loss.

My race went very well.  I had already run 60 miles for the week and only took Friday off to rest a little bit.  My uphill climbign ability isn't that great, and true to form, I sucked going up hill.  For some reason, my downhill game was spot on and I was able to fly downhill and not trash my quads.    I stayed well hydrated and fueled.  I had a goal of in and out of every aid station in under 2 minutes and I met that goal by going in and out in under a minute each time.  I took two 24 oz handheld bottles with me and tried to make sure that both were empty by the time I got to any aid station.  I also took several gels and Shot Blocks with me to provide fuel in between aid stations.  Those worked very well and I will be going with that startegy in future races.  My energy level seemed to remain fairly constant throughout the day and I never did bonk at any time.  Teh best part of the race for me was the final dowhill push.  I hit the top of the tram aid station right at 7 hrs and was told that it was 6 miles to the finish.  I thought I had a chance of going under 8 hours and took off.  I managed to run from the top of the tram to the finish line at the bottom of the Peruvian lift in 38 minutes.  I found out later that the actual distance was around 4 miles.  Still not too bad a time (for me anyway) for 4 miles of downhill rocky trail and service road.

The weather Saturday was perfect I thought.  Others thought it was a little warm.  it did get a little warm in areas where there was no breeze, but I generally enjoy running in warmer weather.  The flowers in Mineral Basin were spectacular.  There's no road race in the entire world that can beat running on a narrow single track trail thru waist high lupine and indian paintbrush.

All in all, I had a great time and Karl and Scott did a great job for a first time event.  The aid stations were great, plenty to eat and drink.  The course could have been marked better as I did go off course once for about 200 yards,but  I heard that several others went off for some distance.  Snowbird was glad to have us there and I plan on going back next year.

Pictures can be seen at www.powdershots.com  The race was on the 21st.  There are several hundred pictures of the race on that site.

If you'd like to see the actual course map and elevation profile, go to this link.

http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/episode/view.mb?episodePk.pkValue=3436555

Ran at lunch nice and easy.  Legs are still a little sore from the race on Saturday.

Ran in to work today.  I'm still sore from the race on Saturday, but the run in seemed to help some of that.  The run home should be warm as usual.

Ran in to work again.  Once at work, I felt exhausted.  Just really tired and sleepy.  I got 7 hours of sleep last night, but maybe I need more since I'm piling on the miles these past couple of weeks. 

Ran to work again today.  On the run home yesterday, I bonked badly and had to stop at a gas station to get a candy bar.  The run took me about 20 minutes longer than normal.  I went to beda t 8:30 and actually got a good night's sleep.  that seemed to help a lot this morning.  Thank goodness this is my last day of running into work this week.  This is wearing me out.

Ran part of the Milcreek 50K.  Started out with a climb up to the summit of Grandeur Peak, then down into Millcreek canyon.  I decided to bail at Elbow Fork as my legs were absolutely dead from the week's training and the previous Saturday's 50K.  Also took Saturday and Sunday off.  Starting my taper for Where's Waldo 100k in three weeks.

Nice and easy at lunch.  The legs were still a little tired and not fully rested, but I imagine that will change this week. 

Only went 3 easy miles this morning.  Legs still felt a little tired.  I was planning on going 5, but I figure that since I have a 100K race this Saturday, cutting my run a couple miles short isn't going to hurt any and will let me rest up a little more.  Would normally run at lunch, but I have to work until midnight tonight.  As an Engineer, I have to observe some processing that will take place this evening.

This will be a long race report, you have been forewarned.

I ran the Katcina Mosa 100K Mountain Challenge Run on Saturday.

The race starts at 3am at a park up Hobble Creek Canyon.  This is a loop course that takes you thru the Wasatch mountains utilizing some of the Squaw Peak 50 Mile course.

My race started at around 3:20am as I was late to the start due to an accident on I-15 near Draper.  Once I started, my thought was to catch as many people as I could throughout the day and see where I ended up.

The first 10 miles are a climb from around 5000’ to 8500’.  As the climb was on dirt roads, I was able to run almost the entire way.  By the time I got to the first aid station at 8.49 miles, I had caught eight people.  Total time, 1:50.  At least now I wasn’t last.  Aid station #2 was at 13.1 miles.  My time to this point was just under three hours.  Contrast that with my half marathon PR of 1:36 and you can see some of the difficulty with trail running.  At AS #2, I dropped off my flashlight, and picked up some Shot Bloks I had in a dropbag there.  The next few miles into AS #4 were all downhill and I was able to make some pretty good time.  At AS #3 (16.5 miles), runners leave the dirt road and begin the climb to the highest point on the course, the climb to Lightning Ridge Pass.  This starts out as a fairly steep trail going up a canyon, but soon opens into a huge bowl. The climb becomes more gradual, but is still difficult to run for the average person due to the elevation.  As I was climbing this trail, the sun was beginning to hit the higher peaks.  Once I reached the ridgeline, the sun was out and it was a “Sound of Music” moment.  Great views of the surrounding mountains, Utah Lake and the cities down below, way down below.  Now the trail dropped over 3000’ in the next four miles and brought us to AS #4 (23.49 miles).  This section of trail is fairly steep, but I enjoy running that kind of trail and was able to really fly down it.  Lots of fun.  At AS #4, I shook all the dirt and gravel out of my shoes, grabbed more Shot Bloks out of my drop bag, filled my bottles and hit the trail again.  Next stop, AS #5 (29.6 miles) at Windy Pass.  The aid station at Windy Pass is one that I work at during the Squaw Peak 50 mile.  The hike up there usually involves 30-40 lbs. of supplies on my back and takes 2.5 hours for 5 miles.  Now I was running and had no weight on my back and the trip from AS #4 to Windy Pass (6 miles) only took 1:50.  The same crew that I work with during Squaw Peak was up there Saturday and were surprised to see me.  “Hey look, Jim has a race number on, let’s take a picture”.  Once again, I grabbed a little to eat, filled my bottles, and hit the trail.  The two biggest climbs on the course were now behind me and only one major climb remained.  The section between AS #5 and #6 is a mix of both trail and ATV road.  A lot of this section was downhill and I was able to open the pace up whenever I got the chance.  Once at AS #6 (38.8 miles), there was a short out and back of 1.3 miles to ensure we received the full 100K experience.  Leaving AS #6, I began the last major climb of the race.  I don’t climb well, especially at high elevations and it was starting to show now.  My legs were getting somewhat tired, but once I reached the top of that climb I started to trot again where I could.  The trouble with this section is that the ATV had lost of loose fist sized, or larger, rocks and this made running difficult at best.  As I was going along this section, I came across a fellow runner just sitting on the road with a dazed look.  I wasked him if he was ok and he mentioned that his stomach was giving him problems.  I told him to get up and gave him some Tums from my drug stash.  I always carry a small baggy of electrolytes, Tums, and Ibuprofen during a race.  It’s saved my race a few times.  Anyway, AS #7 (45.8 miles) was just about 150 yards beyond where this runner was sitting, you just couldn’t see it thru the trees.

This aid station is where I spent the most time, around 14 minutes.  I grabbed quite a bit to eat, potatoes, melon, a can of ginger ale.  I also changed my socks.  It felt good to put on some clean socks.  I started out on the last climbing on the course, a very gradual climb along a dirt road for about a mile, then downhill into AS #8 (52.5 miles).  In and out of AS #8 in two minutes and on to a trail again.  This time it was 3.7 miles of downhill, twisty, trail along a dry creek bed.  Lots of fun to run this section and I ran it as fast as I could given how many miles I had traveled.  Eventually, I pulled into the last aid station, AS #9 (56.3 miles).  By now, any hopes of meeting my overly optimistic time projections were way out the window.  I just wanted to get the last six miles done with, so down the road I went.  This time, it was just under six miles of downhill pavement.  Wow, less than a 10K to go.  I found out that running six miles of pavement is harder than it looks when you’ve already covered 56 miles.  I could only run ¼-1/2 mile at a time before I would have to walk for a bit.  I met up with another runner and her pacer and together we managed to run this last section faster than either one of us could have done by ourselves.  It was nice to have someone to talk to after being by myself for the entire day.  We managed to cross the finish line together with her time being two hours slower due to an early start at 1am.  My final time, 16:12.  Actual running time due to mt late start was around 15:55.

Atermath – I’m sore.  I haven’t been this sore in quite awhile.  I had several goals for this race.  First, it was to be my last long training run before Where’s Waldo 100K in two weeks.  Second, I wanted a 14 hour finish.  That was not to be, not because of a lack of training, but due to the toughness of the course.  Third, I wanted to push the pace some just to see if I could.  I can.  Fourth goal, in and out of every aid station in two minutes or less.  I accomplished this except for AS #7.  Aid station time can be a real killer of times for ultra runners.  My total time in aid stations was around 30 minutes.  Fifth, I wanted to try fueling with Shot Bloks exclusively.  I did until around mile 45, then even those sounded kind of disgusting.  I did take additional food when I felt I should.  Sixth, stay well hydrated for the entire race.  I knew it would be a warm day.  I took two 24 oz. bottles and tried to drink them dry between aid stations, then tank up my stomach at the aid stations, fill the bottles and get out.  This worked very well.

After the race, I had the usual food craves for spicy, salty food, and lots of it.  The hamburgers and hot dogs at the finish line were great.

Sunday was a very stiff and tiring day.  I move pretty slow most of the day and couldn’t sit for very long other wise I would stiffen up.  Today isn’t too bad.  I can go down the stairs frontways instead of backwards.  No running until Wed. of this week and only fairly short miles for the rest of the week, a medium long on Sunday, then short miles next week, three days off and run Where’s Waldo.

Here's a ink to the website course map and elevation profile:

http://jbozung.host.elfon.com/100kcrse.htm

Went running for the first time since the race on Saturday.  the legs were actually not sore at all.  A little bit tired, but that didn't hinder my running.  Ran from Fernwood down to Adams Canyon and back on the BST.  Ran the 2 miles back at a sub 10 minute pace.  Not bad considering this is primarily uphill.  Felt really good to get back out on the trail. 

Ran easy at lunch.  Felt some minor aches and pains.  Probably related to last night's trail run and maybe too much too soon after last Saturday's 100K.  Going shorter tomorrow.

Mostly a hike with my wife and her horse out on Antelope Island.  Want to take it easy since Where's Waldo is next Saturday.

Well, here’s my race report for the 2007 edition of the Where’s Waldo 100K trail run.  This year, the race served as the USATF National Masters 100K Trail Championship.  Warning, this is a very long report.

Here's the link to their website:  http://www.wpsp.org/ww100k/

The short story is that I did worse than last year, taking over 1 ½ hours longer to run a course that had been shortened by four miles.  Just goes to show that there are no guarantees when running an ultra.  I had trained hard all year for this race and came up short.  Oh well.  I think my downfall was that I ran the Katcina Mosa 100K here in Utah just two weeks before, thinking that it would be a good last long run.  I don’t think I was fully recovered from that run.

102 starters, 81 finishers.

Here’s the breakdown by section

Mile 0-7.4  Start to Gold Lake aid station  11:13/mile pace, 1:23 hours elapsed time.

Part of this section was new.  We had to go up a haul road at the ski area for the first mile or two before getting on to the trail.  Once on the trail it’s about 5 miles of downhill running into the Gold Lake aid station.  My pace thru this section was about 30 seconds/mile slower than last year, but I attribute that to the steep road section at the start.  I actually felt pretty good here.  Time at aid station – 30 seconds

Mile 7.4 – 12.4 Gold Lake to Fuji Mtn. aid station  13:24 pace, 2:30 elapsed time

I felt pretty good on this section as well.  I actually ran this section faster than last year.  The trail is primarily uphill and my uphill training and weight work in the gym paid off I think.  Time at aid station – 2 minutes

Mile 12.4 – 14.9 Fuji Mtn. to Fuji Mtn.  14:48 pace, 3:08 elapsed time

This is an out and back section that takes runners to the top of Fuji Mountain.  If the conditions are clear, the view is spectacular.  This year it was foggy and cloudy.  My pace was about 15 seconds slower than last year but not too bad.  The climb isn’t real difficult, but does involve a fair amount of walking.  Time in aid station – 2 minutes

Mile 14.9 – 20.1 Fuji Mtn. to Mt. Ray   11:47 pace, 4:13 elapsed time

My pace here was bout 30 seconds slower than last year.  When I ran this section, I knew that it would be a struggle to keep the same time as last year and the chance of bettering it would be slim.  The legs just weren’t there even though this section is primarily downhill.  I felt I was fueling and drinking adequately but that wasn’t helping.  Time in aid station – 3 minutes

Mile 20.1 – 26.7 Mt. Ray to Twins 1  13:38 pace, 5:43 elapsed time

My pace on this section was about 15 seconds slower than last year.  I ran the last few miles with a police officer from Eugene.  We had some interesting conversation and I think running with someone helped to keep my pace up.  Runners see the Twins aid station twice.  Time in aid station – 2 minutes

Mile 26.7 – 31.6 Twins 1 to Charlton Lake  13:53 pace, 6:51 elapsed time

I enjoy this section of the course.  Rolling ups and downs, although the trend is downhill, twisty runnable trail going thru some interesting rock formations, open forest.  This section was definitely slower than last year, by about 53 seconds per mile.  I felt reasonably good, but just couldn’t get any speed up.  Last year when I came into Charlton Lake, I felt fantastic and on top of the world.  This year I felt just so-so.  Time in aid station – 7 minutes

Mile 31.6 – 36.8  Charlton Lake to Road 4290  14:14 pace, 8:05 elapsed time

This section was way slower than last year, by about 3 ½ minutes.  Running?  Forget that, I just wanted to get to the next aid station.  I think I was a little under fueled thru this section.  It seemed as though I was always hungry.  I had several Shot Bloks along the way, but that didn’t take care of the issue.  I did eat a fair amount at Rd. 4290 and that helped some.  Time in aid station – 10 minutes

Mile 36.8 – 44.3  Rd 4290 – Twins 2  16:56 pace, 10:12 elapsed time

This is the section I really bonked on.  It took me over two hours to navigate this section.  It took the same amount of time as last year, but last year we had to summit the Twins, one of the peaks in the area.  This year we didn’t.  I just felt bad.  My stomach wasn’t giving me problems, but I was hungry and getting chilled.  I figured it was dehydration and low sodium, but I had been drinking regularly and taking electrolytes.  When I look back, I think the lack of adequate recovery from the previous race was starting to take its toll at this point.  The goal for me now was to finish ahead of the cutoffs and try to enjoy the day as best I could.  When I arrived at the Twins aid station, I wrapped up in a blanket and started downing hot noodles.  That really helped a lot.  I made sure to leave the aid station with a full belly even if it slowed me down.  Time in aid station – 15 minutes

Miles 44.3 – 49.5  Twins 2 – Maiden Peak  17:30 pace, 11:43 elapsed time

This section was slow as well.  The climb to maiden Peak really begins o this section and the route is primarily uphill.  I don’t remember having a hard time, in fact I remember feeling pretty good on this section, but I was just slow.  I got to the maiden Peak aid station felling pretty good, ate some more food and began the climb up the peak.  Time in aid station – 5 minutes

Mile 49.5 – 54.6  Maiden Peak – Maiden Lake  22:45 pace, 13:39 elapsed time

This section involves a climb of over 2000’ and a descent of 1500’ in 5.1 miles.  This is by far the most difficult section of the course.  For those coming from sea level, the climb to over 7800’ is a challenge in breathing.  I wasn’t bothered by it.  In fact, I did this section faster than last year and actually felt pretty good.  Maybe it was because I knew the finish was only a few miles away and it was all downhill after summiting the peak.  The temp was certainly cooler on top, probably in the 40’s and I certainly was prepared for it and was glad to get back down into the trees out of the wind and a lower elevation.  I sat at the maiden lake aid station for awhile trying to get warm.  They fed me nice hot broth then kicked me out towards the finish line.  I took some of the broth in one of my water bottles and it was nice to have a warm hand finally, at least for a few miles.  Time in aid station 15 minutes

Mile 54.6 – 62.1  Maiden Lake – Finish  17:04 pace, 15:47 elapsed time

At last, the last section of the course.  The weather was starting to get cloudy and the sun was starting to go down.  I ended up walking the last couple of miles because it was too dark to run and I didn’t have my light.  I did manage to run the first several miles.  I enjoy this section of the course as well, it’s primarily downhill and windy and very runnable.  As you get closer to the finish, you can start to hear the cars going down the highway and know that you aren’t too far from the finish.  Coming around that last turn and seeing the lights at the finish line a quarter mile away is wonderful.  My wife and sister met me at the finish line.  They had been there since 3pm watching other runners cross.  They knew roughly where I was with the radio reports from each aid station. 

Aftermath - It was nice to finally finish.  I sat down by a nice warm fire, drank a beer and ate some wonderful soup and hamburgers.  Most everyone was gone, the awards ceremony was over, but there were quite a number of volunteers and finishers still cheering on us stragglers as we crossed.

I’m convinced that the lack of adequate recovery was the key to my poor race.  Had the Katcina Mosa 100K been three earlier instead of two weeks earlier, I think I would have done much better.  A contributing factor was the weather.  I don’t like running in cold weather, and it was cold (to me) the entire day.  If I had been smart, I would have kept my long sleeve T tied around my waist to use later.  I would have also taken some gloves.  Keeping my hands warm would have gone a long ways towards making the race more enjoyable and possibly faster.  I still enjoyed running the race, even though it was an exercise in perseverance and stubbornness.  It goes to show that there are no guarantees when running an ultra, no matter how much you train or how well you’ve run the race in the past.  I’ll go back and run it again next year and have a good time again.  Recovery, it's now Wednesday after the race and I finally feel somewhat normal.  My legs were really sore, more so than usual, for the first few days after the race.

I'm taking a couple of weeks off from running, I need the break before I start training for the next adventure.

Well, I'm back running after a self imposed 2+ week layoff.  I decided to take a couple weeks off just to rest, relax, recharge for my upcoming training.  I find that if I do that at least once a year, I come back ready to go running again.  It kind of helps keep running from becoming drudgery. 

Anyway, I ran about 6 miles at lunch today on one of my usual routes.  Just kind of took it easy.  I was surprised at how tired my legs felt.  I figured that after two weeks of rest I'd feel pretty strong.  Maybe it's the weighlifting I started up again last week.  At any rate, it felt good to be out running again.

My next goal, get my mileage back up and train for the 24 hour Across the Years race on December 31st.  I've run that race before and really enjoyed it.  You'd think that running around a 500 meter track for 24 hours would get boring, but it never did.  You're on the track with 50 others, music is playing, an aid station once every lap, electronic timing with instant updates, friends from across the country to run and talk with.  Lots of fun.  Two years ago I came in 9th out of 75 or so.  This time I'm hoping for a top 5 finish.  At the very least my goal is 110 miles (104 in 2005).  We'll see how it goes.

Ran around the block at lunch.  Felt pretty good to go that far again.

Ran the BST from kaysville to Fernwood and back.  First time on a trail in almost three weeks.  it was great.  The legs are doing fine.  A little tired due to the weight lifting I'm doing, but I feel that the lifting gets more important as i get older. 

Ran one of my favorite trails today.  The BST from 22nd street Ogden south and back.  The run felt pretty good.  I've taken the last few days off to visit with my daughter and grandson.  I do have my priorities, and playing with my grandson takes prioity over running, expecially when they live in Illinois and I don't see them that often.  Anyway, now the visits are over and time to get running again.

If anyone is interested, check out my running profile at www.stridersrunning.com

If you live in the Davis county area, Striders Running store is the place to get your running gear.  John and Kristin are great people who will do what they can to help you out with your running needs.  That's enough advertising for now.

Ran at lunch time.  Pushed the pace some.  Didn't time it, so I don't know the pace.

Ran from the North Ogden divide to the top of Ben Lomond peak and back.  Nice day for it.  Cool and breezy, very windy on top and along the front side of the ridge.  the view wasn't too great due to the haze but very cool anyway.  Contrary to what the signs say, I GPS'd the route at 7.18 miles one way.  The signs say 8.2 miles.  Took me 2 hours 11 minutes for the trek up and 1 hour 35 minutes to come back down.  I wanted to go on over to Willard Peak, but didn't have time.  Maybe next Sunday?  The trail over to Willard looks very runnable.  The weight lifting is definitely working.  I found that I could run may of the uphill sections, even above 9000', with ease.  What I found out is that when I run uphill, it's the legs that give out way beofre the lungs do, even at higher elevations.  Maybe my issues with high elevation are over?  Anyway, lots of fun.  Caught lots fo people making the trek up that started way before I did.  Most of the time I tried to make sure I was running when I caught them and to keep running after.  Didn't see any wildlife at all but did talk to some people who had seen mountain goats earlier.

Did a short run at lunchtime.  Ran an errand to the auto parts store.  Did push the pace trying to catch a slow bike rider.  Almost had him, but he turned off the street I was running down.  Always fun to do that sort of stuff. 

Ran around the block at lunch.  Generally took it easy.

Went running at lunch but the legs were really dead and I was not feeling like running.  Tanked it after about 2.5 miles.  Felt better after I got home so ran another 3 on the treadmill.  Generally not a good running day.

Ran at lunch.  Very slow run, just couldn't get the turnover on the legs.  I need to start doing speed work.

Took off from work a little early and ran around the block then hit the weight room.  I was a tired little boy after all that, but it felt good.

Ran the White Rock trail and the Split Rock loop on Antelope Island with John M.  We ahd a great time.  The weather was nice and we were done before the rain hit.

Ran on the treadmill this evening.  Couldn't go at lunch.  Did 3 miles at a 6% grade and the remaining 2 at 1%.  Pace was at 10:00, so kind of slow.  The goal is to build strength to be able to run up hills that I would normally walk during an ultra.  That seems to be a downfall of mine, I'm not a very good uphill runner.  To that end I'm also hitting the weight room hard.  3 times a week heavy on the weights.  It does seem to be working as the leg strength when running uphill does seem to be increasing.  Time will tell.  Teh big test will be in Feb. when I run the Twins Peaks 50 mile.  The first 16 miles are all uphill as are the miles between 27 and 35.  This year I walked most of those miles.  Next year I want to be able to run most of them.  BTW, if anyone is interested, check out the Striders Running store website.  www.stridersrunning.com  I'm their runner spotlight for September.  They must be running out of good local runners to spotlight.

Did a tempo run at lunch.  one mile warmup, roughly 4-5 miles at tempo pace, the rest a cool down. 

Ran easy at lunch today.  Nice day and I just enjoyed the run.  Weights this evening.  I'll enjoy that too.

Ran after work today then went to the gym to lift.

Held the Frary Peak Hill Climb today.  This was a "fun run" that took us from the Frary Peak trailhead  on Antelope Island to the radio repeater near the top of Frary Peak and then back down.  Six of us started.  The trail gains 1700' in 2.9 miles with portions that are flat, meaning that the remainder is quite steep.  The winning time was 41 minutes us, 26 minutes down for a time of 1:05.  I managed 3rd place (sonds good except there were 6 entries) and a time of 49 minutes up and 28 minutes down, 1:17 total.  My legs are shot today.  With the snow that fell Saturday, there was about 4 inches up on top.  The snow level seemed to be around 5700'-6000'.  The trail was clear except for a little mud where the snowmelt was running down it.  We had a bar-b-que after and really had a good time just going out for a good hard run followed by sitting around eating and talking.  I'll definitely do it again next year.  Rather than a formal race with an entry fee, formal timing etc. I'm going to keep it as a fun run celabration of running with friends.  Put it down on your calendar for either the first or second Saturday of October 2008 and join us.

Ran at lunch.  Felt very sluggish.  After yesterday's run up the mountainside, my legs are tired.

Ran a new route at lunch.  I was getting tired of my old 8 mile route.  The new one has a little less traffic on it.  I don't end up slapping as many car doors for not watching for a pedestrian.

Had to run to the bank at lunch, so.....I....ran to the bank at lunch.  Felt really good, so I pushed the pace quite a bit.  I actually felt "light" on my feet.  The turnover was good, breathing was easy.  All in all, a good run.  Don't know what my actual running time was, but without the stop lights, I think it was around an 8 minute pace. 

Did a short little run before we left for the airport.  Ran along the beach in Carlsbad, CA

Went running on some of the trails of Oahu by Kaena point.  Met up with some fellow ultrarunners who then showed me around their neck of the woods.  12 miles of running thru the pines and palms, along ridges and across small canyons, dirt roads and single track trails.  All with views of the lush valleys and ocean below.  All in all a great run.

Ran along a bike path near the house we were staying in, then up the road to Pupukea.  tough climb up the road, but once again, great views.  Saw a rare Hawaiian Monk sela just sleeping on the beach.  Was able to take pictures from about 10 feet away.  Very cool as there's only about 1500 of these seals left.

Ran down the bike path again to Wiamea bay and back.  Just a  nice mellow run.

Didn't run, but took a surfing lesson.  Lots of fun, but my shoulders are sure sore.

Well, back at work.  Ran during lunch.  Quite the change from last week.

Ran to work this morning and I'm exhausted.  Must still be recovering from vacation last week.

Didn't run home.  Actually went home at lunch not feeling well.

Ran on the treadmill after work.  Felt much better after the past couple of days being sick.

Ran at lunch.  9:00 pace.

Ran the roads this morning.  Needed to run about 16 toady so I ran to work and back.  This ends up being a little longer, but not a bad run. 

Ran to the bank at lunch.  Great day for a run, cool sunny, very pleasant.

Ran into work this morning.  I normally don't like running in cold weather, but it wasn't too bad this morning even though ti was 30 deg.  Felt pretty good the entire way.  My time was about normal, maybe a little quicker.

Ran home after work.  Nice day for it.

I was going to run about 6.6, but I got about 1.3 down the road and my legs were so dead that I knew it would be silly to continue.  I figured I'd give the legs a rest and just go to the gum and lift after work.  I did that and really piled on the leg work and they seemed to be fine then.  I think this was just one of those dead leg days that we all have occasionally, especially when really ramping up the mileage.

Ran at lunch today.  Felt much better than I did yesterday.  While the legs are a little sore from weightlifting, I was able to get the turnover up and push hard for about 6 miles.  Felt really good to do a decent tempo run.

Ran into work this morning.  Very pleasant.  Pace was average for the morning run, roughly 9 min/mile.

Was originally going to run around 25, but had chores to do around the house so I cut it short at 9 miles.  Took it easy.

Ran to the bank at lunch.  The Buffalo Run is now about half full and I expect it to fill to the 200 entry limit by Thanksgiving.

Ran into work this morning, will run home this afternoon.  I was surprised at how warm it was.  Very pleasant running.  It was a normal run, I was somewhat tired for lifting weights yesterday but still managed to get to work a little faster than normal.  We'll see how the afternoon run goes. 

The afternoon run went very well.  I ran about 10 intervals of 2 minutes each, generally on flat portions of the run.  Ended up with close to a PR for the run home.  Started to rain on me about 1.5 miles from home, but quit after about another mile of running.  Got a little damp.

Very slow day.  Legs were very dead.   Couldn't get any leg turnover at all.  I figured this was a character building day.  Getting used to running when the legs won't work well at the end of an ultra.

Did a tempo run on the treadmill tonight.  Felt pretty good.  Found out that I can actually run at a decent pace for a few miles.

Ran to work this morning.  Kind of cool, but it actually felt good.  Usually my morning runs into work are kind of a chore, tired, slow, etc.  This morning I felt very good, so I pushed it and definitely set a PR for a run into work, and just about an overall PR.  We'll see how the afternoon run home goes.

Ran on Antelope Island.  Took a group of about 9 on the first training run for the 2008 Buffalo Run.  Perfect day for it.  A little cool at the start, but wraming up nicely.  Saw very little wildlife, all of the bison are rounded up for their annual vet check.

My run was a little slow.  The uphills took some effort.

Originally had 10 on the schedule, but decided to take the day off and rest a little bit. 

Ran to the bank and back today at lunch.  After taking the day off yesterday, the legs felt pretty good so I pushed the pace to something around a 1/2 marathon pace. 

Nice easy run into work this morning.  Took the usual amount of time of just under 1.5 hours.  It was nice to actually see the sun almost up by the time I got there.  It'll be plenty dark by the time I get home tonight.

Did some interval and tempo work on the way home.  2 minute intervals, followed by around 1-2 minutes of easy followed by 3-5 minutes of marathon pace.  Didn't get chilly until the last 1.5 miles, then the air started to get a little cold.

Lifted weights after work then went home and ran on the treadmill.  the legs were tired but I forced myself to run anyway.  I figure it's good training for running late in a race when the legs will be dead anyway.

Ran around the block at lunch, stopped by the bank.  Didn't time the run but my guess is that it was around an 8:30 pcae for the most part.  Perfect day for running except for the haze.

Ran to work this morning. I'm calling it easy miles because it was. Actually, I ran one of the fastest times I ever have to work. I never did feel like I was really pushing it any, just a good steady pace. Cool!

The run home was a little slower.  The legs were tired, but I still managed to run home quicker than I normally do.  All in all, a good day. 

Ran in the rain today.  Just took it easy.  Was hoping for around 18-20, but it worked out to just under 17.  Oh well, it was a good run anyway.

Ran at lunch.  Felt a little tired from yesterday's run, but managed to do the run. 

Ran in to work this morning.  Woke up at 4 and couldn't get b ack to sleep, so I got up and ran in.  Kind of nice to get to work a little early. Didn't run home in the evening.  It was raining and the wind was blowing pretty good.  I wasn't dressed for it.

Met up with a fellow ultrarunner from Hawaii in town this week.  Went for a trail run after work from Kaysville to Fernwood picnic area.  Great run, little cool.

Felt good so I really pushed it at lunchtime.  Don't know what my time was but one of the fastest training runs in recent memory.  My legs are shot now.

Ran to work this morning.  The fingers got a little cold.  I need to get warmer gloves.  I actually set a new PR for running either to or from work.  1:20.  I had to push it some, but managed to better my time by about 2 minutes.  Now the goal becomes 1:10.  that'll be tough.  The run home was about normal.  Just kind of took my time and enjoyed the run.

Ran a few miles out on Antelope Island.  Ran the entire length of the Mountain View trail twice, plus ran the Sentry trail.  had some fellow ultrarunning friends along so the day was made nicer.  Perfect temp. for running.  the views from the top of the Sentry trail were great.  Lots of Buffalo to run thru, always a good time.  Saw a few coyotes.

Ran to the bank at lunch.  It was a very slow run after yesterday's long run.  Not sore, just tired, but I dug deep into the recesses of my running experience and slowly trudged down the road......and I felt better for it.

Ran into work this morning.  A little cool, but not too bad.  Time was average, 1:28.  Felt pretty good.  The run home was definitely colder.  Had a headwind the entire way.  By the time I got home, my fingers were pretty frozen.  Time going home was the same as the time coming into work.

Felt guilty about not running yesterday so I hopped on the treadmill for a quick few miles before we went out for dinner.

Ran a few miles on the White Rock trail on Antelope Island, then went with a fellow ultrarunner (also on Traill Patrol out there) on a trail route finding expedition scouting a new trial route from the top of the Sentry trail to the top of the swicthbacks on the Split Rock trail.  Found some really sweet single track that animals (bison) had made that we were able to follow for several miles.  Did some rock scrambling.  All in all a good day to be out.

Wimped out and ran on the treadmill rather than go outside in the cold.  Started out with an easy pace and kept bumping the pace up thru the entire run.  Felt pretty good even though it's a little boring.

Was going to run at lunch, then discovered that I forgot to bring socks.  i hate wearing shoes without socks, soooo, I ran on the treadmill after work.  As I was running my wife came down and in her impatience to have me finish so she could use it, she bumped the pace to 7:00, then 6:00 for the last .5 miles.  that was tough, but it got done faster.

Ran in to work this morning. i was expecting it to be colder adn windier than it was. It was actually not too bad. The run time was about normal, 1:28.

The run home was kind of nice.  All the houses lit upwith Christmas lights, the snow on the ground.  It did get a little slippery in places, but not too bad.  Time was 1:26. 

Had 8 miles on the schedule but the legs were tired and achy, so I only went 5 very easy.  Probably should have taken the day off, but didn't.

Ran around the block at lunch time.  Felt really good and fast.  I wish now I had timed it, but I think it was well under a 9:00 pace.  Runs like that leave a smile on my face for the rest of the day.

Ran into work this morning. Felt pretty sluggish. Time was about a minute slower than usual. Got a little bit cold. I need to get some warmer gloves.  Left work early and ran home while it was still light out.  I just took it easy.  Time, 1:26

Had the second training run for the Antelope Island Buffalo Run today.  About 16 showed up to run in the snow.  My legs were tired and I was kind of dreading the run, but once I got going, the going was pretty easy.  The miles seemed to fly by.  It's always fun to run when it's snowing.

Wimped out of going outside.  Too cold and windy.  Did the mileage on the treadmill in two separate workouts.  Did 6 miles in the morning, then went to breakfast and Christmas shopping with the wife (gotta do those important things), then bottled my latest batch of homebrew, then did the other 9 miles in the evening.  All in all a pretty good day.

Was going to run at lunch, but I'm coming down with a head cold, so I decided to just do an easy run on the treadmill at home.  I actually felt better after the run for awhile.

Ran on the treadmill at home.  Managed to catch a  head cold and it hit full force Tuesday, so I took the day off from running.  And I was on a roll with my training too.  Several weeks of 60+ miles, feeling good, etc.  Somewhat screwed up now.  Hopefully I can get around 50 for this week.  One more week of full training then I start tapering for my next race.

Ran into work this morning.  Actually felt pretty good, not quite fully recovered from my cold, but weel on the way and good enough to resume the training plan.  The time in was around the usual time, 1:29 

The evening run home was kind of wet, but not cold.  I actually felt pretty good and pushed the pace.  Ended up tying my best time for a run home at 1:22.  If I could have seen better (it was dark and rainy) I would have pushed harder and maybe gone below 1:20. 

Ran easy on the treadmill after work.  Got off from work a little early.  I rpobably should have gone a few more miles, but just didn't feel like it.  Maybe it's residual effects from my cold.  Anyway, this is my first sub 50 mile week in quite awhile.  Maybe I needed the break.  The plan is to hit it hard next week, then start my taper.  35 miles on Sunday.  We'll see how it goes.

Well, I did it.  35 miles on the treadmill.  Total time 6:05.  Not as bad as I thought, but TV land is a wasteland on Sunday's.  I set up a little aid station next to the treadmill with my drinks and a few snacks.  My wife checked on me occasionally, would just shake her head and go back upstairs.  She just doesn't understand, but maybe neither do I.  Here's the numbers:  120 oz of fluid, 80 oz of it was Heed.  Calorie intake, around 600-700 total.  I watched some show on the Titanic on the History channel, a 2 hour Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers (pretty good, I'm going to record it next time) concert, a Red Bull winter surfing contest in Nova Scotia, and part of Kill Bill, Part 1.  I actually don't feel too bad.  A little tired and chafed, but I imagine I'll sleep pretty well tonight.  This is my last really long run before my race on New Year's Eve.  Next week I go 25 miles for the long run.

Wimped out and ran on the treadmill again instead of going outside.  Man, I just really dislike cold weather running.  I think I'm going to retire to Hawaii.  I have no idea how I've been able to keep up the running to work thing twice a week when it's in the 20's outside.  I think the thing I hate most about running outside in the cold is being sweaty with clothes on, then getting chilled.  It's usually not too bad on a shorter run, but for long runs it really sucks.  The other thing about cold weather is that I'm chronicall cold in the winter, especially my hands and feet.  I was going to run into work this morning, but I could hear the wind just blowing outside and I didn't want to deal with it, so I'll do my miles this evening on the treadmill again.  My work schedule is a little weird this week.  As an Engineer, I occasionally have to oversee some aaspect of production and sometimes that's in the middle of the night, so for three nights this week, I'll work some during the day, but then come back to work from 8pm to midnight.  Kind of screws up the running schedule but I'll survive. 

Anyway, about my run, I was kind of wondering how well I would feel after my little run yesterday.  My legs were still tired, but not sore.  I ran the first couple of miles at a nice easy pace (10:00), then bumped the pace up to sub 8:30 just to see how it went.  I did just fine for the next couple of miles, then started to get a little tired.  I dropped the pace back down and took it easy for the rest of the run. 

Well, now I am certifiable.  I had to work an 8pm-12am shift tonight, so i decided to run into work at 6pm, then run home after midnight.  A lot quieter on the streets after midnight.  The run actually felt pretty good.  Time in was about normal at 1:28. The run home was nice and quiet.  Not too many cars out at that time.  No breeze, so I didn't get cold at all.  Time was a little slower than normal for a run home, 1:30.  I attribute that to just being tired adn having to watch my step a little in the dark.  I do carry a flashlight, but depth perception with it is somewhat lacking.

Planned on running 5-6 miles on the treadmill and quit after just 2.  I just didn't Have it in me to go the distance.  My legs weren't sore or dead,but i was just tired all over.  A little bit later I realized that I needed food.  I wasn't particularly hungry, but I've got to remember that when I pile on the miles I need to pile on the fuel as well.  Hopefully things will go better on Thursday.

Got off from work a little early and ran on the treadmill for a few.  Felt pretty good, pushed the pace some for the last mile or  so.

Ran into work this morning.  I felt really good adn the run felt like I was floating it was so easy.  I actually set a new PR for the run in at 1:21.  Now i wish i had pushed harder to try and get below 1:20, but I purposely chose not to watch my watch and just go with how I felt.  The run home was great.  I felt just as good adn pushed fairly hard.  Set a new PR for the run home and finally went below 1:20.  Now the goal becomes 1:15.