TERRIFIED AND EXCITED


     Not sure which I am more terrified of......running 100 miles or delving into the social media world.  I don't Facebook, Tweet or blog and I have never run further that 26.2 miles.  I am excited to challenge them both.
     My running career is fairly short.  I began running a mere 4 years ago.  I had gotten lazy, a little heavy (about 25 pounds)  and unmotivated.  I ran the Ragnar Wasatch Back Relay with some friends in 2008 and enjoyed it enough to sign up for my first half marathon in Moab with Mark in 2009.  Since then I have completed numerous half marathons and 7 full marathons.  Last year was my most challenging endeavor.  I completed the Utah Grand Slam.  I had to finish 4 marathons in 5 months along the Wasatch Front.  I raced Utah Valley, Park City, Top of Utah in Logan, St. George and threw in Salt Lake just for fun.  Road races were cool, but my most enjoyable race that year was the Jupiter Peak Steeplechase.  It is a 16 mile trail run with 3000 ft of elevation gain.  I hit the trail running and have not looked back.  There is something so magical, peaceful and spiritual about running in the mountains.  I love the solitude and being able to let my mind wander.  Kind of a cheap therapy from the everyday rat race.
     I had been toying with the idea of running an ultra for a while but was not sure if I was ready.  At what point do you ever really feel like you are ready to run 100 miles???.......so I went for it and here we are today.  The months leading up to the lottery were filled with excitement, hesitation, regret and flat out nervousness.  I would fall asleep every night dreaming of competing in this race.  Thank goodness both Mark and I had our names drawn.
     My training started this week and it was humbling to say the least.  I had gotten myself into pretty good fighting shape after the Grand Slam last year but how quickly that fades if you do not keep on it day in and day out.  I ran 4 days this week and my gameplan is to focus on hills and more hills to get my leg strength back.  I did numerous "runs" up Mt Olympus.  By runs, I mean power hiking up as fast as possible and running down. I notched 13,000 vertical feet of ascent.  Needless to say, a little sore this week.
     Big thanks to my boy, Mark Robbins for getting me started into this amazing sport and for heavy handing me into the social media world.  If I am not careful, I may be tweeting before long..........don't hold your breath, Phone Guy!!!!  Mark is the only guy I know that updates Facebook status in the middle of runs.
     Lastly, I could not do this without the love and support of my amazing family.  April, Izzy and Dylan have been my biggest fans.  They have been at every race, cheering, crewing, writing inspirational messages on my hands with sharpie and being the best bunch of buddies I could ask for.  I know it will be a long, hard summer but I am so blessed and thankful that your guys are in my corner. XOXO

The Larsen gang at St. George Marathon

Dylan, Luke, Izzy and April

Craig Chytraus

This week I decided that I would document via the blog everyone that I run with this year. I think that it would be great to add a picture and say something real quick about the peeps that helped along the way.

Last night I got a text from Craig suggesting we run together on Saturday. He mentioned that he had not run since October so something "light". When I asked about distance he said 12 miles or so. I love someone who hasn't run since October suggesting a 12 miler as light.

It was a great run! We were wind aided out and back. That has NEVER happened to me before. Craig hammered away like it was nothing! Nice work Chyty! Craig lost his older brother last week. Running has been great therapy for me through some of those rough times. I hope it proved therapeutic today. In the words of you Craig "my wives prayers will be with you".

Look for Craig at the start line of every race that you do this year. He will be there. Thanks Craig for a great run!

Dam 2 Dam 10 Miler, SLC Marathon and a new sponsor.

Dam to Dam

Last Saturday I had the opportunity to run the Dam to Dam 10 Miler at Sand Hollow Reservoir in southern Utah. This was a flat out and back course that was half asphalt and half dirt road. I had a great time with some very close friends. I am a little bit of a bi-polar runner as I love being a social runner (running with groups of friends) and I also love the solitude of the trail.

They had great swag (Asics arm warmers and socks) and it seemed very well organized. It was my first 10 miler. This race is part of the St. George Marathon runners series and I would reccomend it to anyone that uses the series for auto entry into the marathon. I probably would not make the drive to run this race independent of the series. My friend and a huge supporter of my pursuit of the Wasatch, Craig Hall, won his age division. Congrats to him!

SLC Marathon

Although I am not in love with road running as much anymore, I think that this may be a good forum for me to discuss the SLC Marathon.

Earlier tonight I had the opportunity to go to the Salt Lake Running Co. to a Q&A with the new owners of the SLCM, U.S. Road Sports. In the past this race has been poorly ran and been in legal and ethical hot water. U.S. Road sports said all of the right things and that they are confident that the race will happen as planned on April 21st 2012. I asked them what stumbling blocks they are facing. They said permits and volunteers. They are very confident that they can overcome both. I asked them about potential course changes and they suggested that we email them a mapmyrun.com proposal of a new course and they would look at it. They seemed very open to feedback and willing to do what it takes to make this a good quality race.

I believe that they are sincere and willing to do what is right which is more than the Devine group can say. This race could be very cool but will take the support of the local running community to flourish. If you are not running, volunteer! It is always good to give back.

New Sponsor

We have our first official sponsor! Double Realty. Val Winward is the owner/agent and does a great job. If you ever have any home buying needs, visit him at http://www.doublerealty.com/

Val can do it all but he specializes in first time home buyers and short sales. Plus he is a huge Braves fan!

In the mean time, Luke and I are building our base mileage as we await mid-March when the training plan will officially kick off. We have been visiting with past Wasatch participants, reading, studying, watching on-line videos, listening to podcasts and doing everything else we can to wrap our brains around this feat. The common advice is hills, hills and more hills.

We both have signed up for the SpeedGoat 50K (31 Miles) in July. This race has been taughted as the toughest 50K on the planet and more difficult than many 50 and even 100 milers. It takes place at Snowbird ski resort and serves up over 11,000 feet of vertical climb. Should be ROUGH!!!

The Lottery

The lottery! What a crazy way to determine the fate of almost an entire year of your life. For weeks leading up to the lottery all plans were met with the response” let’s wait and see what the lottery does.”

Basically it looks like this. About 500 people want to pay around $200 to run 100 miles through the Wasatch Mountains. The race allows about 350 runners in the field. The way that they determine which 350 are in is by the old fashion pull names out of a hat.
The drawing took place at the clubhouse of the Soldier Hollow golf course. Luke Larsen, also in the lottery, and I made the 45 minute trip from SLC to Midway. As we drove up the canyon our guts turned in and out. I had not felt that level of emotion since my last son Cooper was born. I am not joking, I wish I was!

Luke and I walked in and met many members of the race committee. They were great! The names began to come out of the bowl. The emotions increased. Luke got off relatively easy. He was roughly pulled in between 30 and 50 ish. Then the Marks started. They kept coming. Mark…Jenkins. Mark…Reynolds. In all 10 Marks would be drawn. They took a break at 150 and still no Mark Robbins. The second half began and clipped along. My guts were in knots. I began to think of what I will do this year in lieu of the Wasatch. I nervously ate a lot of watermelon. Runner 266 MARK…ROBBINS, Holladay, Utah.

Tears welled in the bottom of my tired eyes. I had only slept 4 hours the previous two nights respectively. Luke and I were both pumped! I could not stop my nervous giggle. We waited for Brian Robbins name to be called but to no avail. I was bummed for him.
As we left the clubhouse I still could not believe what had just happened. My mind was flooded with thoughts of training, possibility, expectation, accountability and simply put EUPHORIA. I had a strong sense of responsibility to my friends, family and really those 141 names that were not drawn.

I came home and ran 12 miles before it got too dark. I thought for a minute about taking the day and celebrating with the family. I gave the excuse that I was tired and worn out due to lack of sleep. My next thought was that I better get darn good and used to running tired! I had kind of a cool thought while I was running. KEEP YOUR HEAD UP. In several sports that I have played in my life the main rule is to keep your head down. Maybe I like running so much because you, ideally, want to have your head up. I relate keeping your head up to positivity. This journey is going to take all the heads up that I can muster.

Throughout the day I received calls, texts, FB messages and tweets congratulating me and offering support in any way. I was pretty touched by the support crew that I have right now. I imagine that it will grow as WE train and get closer to the race. Thank you now and then for being such great people.

View the post video here.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=puWOA3bw0IE&context=C31e923cADOEgsToPDskJS7OblT1eLH2QpKV-osqa4

Why the Wasatch?

Why do you want to do that? Is the FAQ I get when I tell people that I put in the lottery for the Wasatch 100 trail endurance race. I am not sure that it can’t be answered without a long descriptive psycho analysis of me and who I am and what makes me tick. The easy answer is either I don’t know or as Sir Edmund Hillary once said in reference to his pursuit of summiting Everest “because it’s there”. The best analogy for me is that from the Jack London classic “Call of the Wild”. The lead character, a dog, “Buck” lives in sunny, easy, restful and relaxing California. He is stolen away and becomes an Alaskan sled dog. As time progresses he hears the call of the wild and recognizes that deep within his soul that it has always been there. The book, my favorite of all time, ends with “Buck” joining a wolf pack and ultimately returning to his heritage, his roots.

I have run a good part of my life. When I was young I ran all the time. As I developed into a wrestler, I ran. My goal was to be able to outlast my opponent on the mat so I ran to increase endurance. I once took 4th place in a church mini-marathon. I recall it being a 5K but it had several GREAT runners in it. I often remember that day as a great accomplishment. I served an LDS mission, got out of shape and for a while abandoned running. A content married life and 3 kids only added to me getting out of shape. (I could actually say that I got in shapes…round)
I had wanted to run and did a few around the blocks now and then. In May of 2006 I ran the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure, a 5k, without training and more importantly without stopping to walk. (I need to note that I did this to honor the life of my sister-in-law Meagan. Had it not been for my thoughts of her I probably would have walked) it was the kick-start that I was looking for. I turned the around the blocks into a mile. The miles increased and before I knew it I was running races of distance again. In all I have completed 5 marathons and several other ½ marathons, team relays, 5K, 10K and even a few triathlons. Like “Buck” I felt that I was doing something that I loved, something that was inside me.

I give this history not to boast or even establish credibility but to note that if I can be in the position that I am in, YOU CAN TOO!

Luke and I have decided to chronicle our pursuit of completing the Wasatch 100. We do this for several reasons. 1- Is so that family and friends can follow in the journey. When I heard that I was in the race I had an immediate sense of responsibility to all of those that have supported me along the way. I hope to keep you all updated as WE go. 2- I hope that this will serve as a good journal. 3- Therapy! I need to get my feelings on paper. Often when I have a thought, I will write it out to sort through my real feelings. I imagine that it will get personal at points, be funny, have time lapses and probably not get read but in the end I simply hope it helps.

So here we go! I hope you enjoy the trails, mileage and cheese with us.

Welcome.

We have many friends and family that have flooded us with support after learning our fates as entrants into the Wasatch 100. We have been amazed and excited to receive such support. One of the main things that is said is "keep us posted." We know of no better way to do this than through a blog format.

The title of this blog is two fold. Revelation speaks to the apostolic theme of Mark and Luke, our two favorites. More importantly the revelation that we have both had while on the trail. We both feel that this was "made for us." Cheesy to be sure but it is what it is. The second part of the name speaks to elevation. We will be climbing and descending close to 27,000 feet both ways. Up and Down! Plus I love the word elevation. I think it speaks to rising up.

Erik Weihenmayer was the first blind person to summit Everest. He is an incredible inspiration to me and once said, “A lot of people say that they summit the mountain for
the view. The beautiful view but I just think, and I may be biased, but I think
it is hogwash I think it’s a complete lie! You don’t suffer for twenty days or
a month to see a view. A lot of times you are just looking into a sea of clouds
anyway. I think a summit is not a place on a mountain at all. A summit to
me is a symbol. It’s a symbol that with the force of our minds, our
bodies, our souls and with the power of these two small hands that we can transform
our lives into something miraculous!”

It is our hope to do something miraculous!

This blog will include training plans, re-caps of training runs, product reviews, race reviews and much much more. I imagine that it will be cheesy at points and serve somewhat therapeutic.

Enjoy!