BOSHO


     Last weekend was the Bonneville Shoreline Trail marathon.  It is affectionately know as the Bosho.  It was truly an amazing and yet humbling run for me.  The Bosho is a race put on by a few passionate local runners who choose to remain anonymous.  There are no entry fees and no bib numbers.  It does not have a website for race registration.  It is just a bunch of enthusiastic trail junkies getting together for a run.  Such a cool vibe.  I heard about it running the Shoreline a few weeks ago.  I ran into a gentleman named Jim who told me about it.  He simple stated that if I was not doing anything next Saturday morning, I should show up at 6am with a few food items to contribute to the aid station and go for a run with some awesome folks.
     I have been running the Shoreline Trail for a while now and felt quite familiar with the trails but was not sure of the exact course.  I looked around online and found this hand drawn map of the course.  How cool is that???

     There were definitely some burners that shot off on a blistering pace as the race started.  I settled into a comfortable, yet hard pace as I knew it was going to be a long day on the trails.  I was holding strong through mile 6.  This is where Dry Creek ends and the trail usually takes a hard left on a switchback.  Instead, we continued up a narrow creek bed and made the first of several nasty climbs.

Dry Creek

At the base of "Unkle" hill

     The race then continued down into City Creek to the aid station.  I grabbed some water and a quick banana and headed out, still feeling strong.  We would be on our own for the next 11 miles until we returned to the same aid station at the end of the loop.  Hydration was key as the sun began to bake me.  There was absolutely zero shade cover during the next stretch.  I had plenty of water but committed a cardinal sin in not eating enough during the run.  Unlike a road marathon where you can slam a couple gels and be OK, trail races require constant fueling of your body.  I hit the wall about mile 17 just as I hooked up with a cool guy who was passing me.  His name was Charlie and he was in his early 60s.  He stuck with me for the next 4 miles and told amazing stories of his previous 14 Wasatch 100 races to keep my mind occupied.  That's right.........14 Wasatch 100 finishes!!!  That is just one of the many aspects of trail running that I have grown to love; the sense of community.  He could have just as easily blown by me and given a simple hello.  Instead he drug me through those tough miles and lent valuable insight and words of wisdom about running ultras.

  

Coming back down City Creek to the final aid station

     I have never had my ass kicked so many times by significantly older people.  I consider myself in pretty good shape and have been doing a lot of hill work in preparation.  It is humbling yet awesome to see these old timers just killing these climbs.  Definitely an inspiration and a motivation.  

     There is only one way to gain experience and knowledge and that is to get out there and learn, for better or worse.  The final 5 miles were painfully slow for me.  I knew I was not going to reach my goal, but the next few miles gave me time to reflect on the lessons learned.  Eat, eat and then eat some more during the run and most importantly to enjoy the experience.  I am out here doing this on my own free will.  No one is making me do this.  I might as well enjoy the day.  I can think of a lot worse places I could be.

     I finished the day with a time of 5 hours 53 minutes.  My Garmin showed 15,000 feet of elevation change.  7500 feet each of ascent and descent.  Respectable but not great.  It put me middle of the pack.  All in all it was a great day.  It only fueled my passion for this crazy but amazing sport.  Thanks to the anonymous few who put this great event on.

And we're off.

Training is under way and in full effect. I will speak of mine and Luke will jump on in the next few days and speak of his. Our routines have been very similar.

During the week, I have been climbing Mt. Olympus and Granduer Peaks west spine. Depending on what elevation chart you look at and what site you read these climbs have been in between 3,000 and 4,000 vertical feet and 5 to 6 miles in length. I have been trying to push myself hard on climbing. Hills, hills and more hills. The way I see it is that I can burn the lungs on the way up and burn the quads on the way down.

I have been leaving right after work hitting the trail at about 5:20 p.m. local time. This is just one of the many reasons that I LOVE living and working where I do. I can leave work, change and be on the trail in 20 minutes. The routine is starting to take shape.

I do love the Oly and Grandeur trails but I am really looking forward to some of the higher country opening up so that I can get some level of variety. Oly and Grandeur are steep and technical and I hope that repeating them often will pay off in September. Twice I have left about an hour before Luke and have met him on the trail. In my opinion he is in the best shape of his life and it is inspiring to watch him maneuver on the trail. I can tell that he loves what he is doing. It is apparent in his effort.

Luke on his way up "Blister Hill"

On the weekends I have been playing on the BoSho. I have been starting across the street from Hogle Zoo and running North past Red Butte and all over the various trails in that direction. This last weekend I ran over to Dry Creek canyon up that canyon and Northwest toward the Shriner's Hospital and downtown. I felt very good and was able to run up most of Dry Creek. The conditions were in a word MUDDY! It was a blast!!

Me on the upper Bonneville Shoreline (SLC in the background)



Evidence of the mud.

So far I am really loving this. I feel at home on the trails and love to see my times, conditioning and attitude improving. I am nursing a small case of plantar fasciitius and get a little muscle sore but by and large I feel great. I am working on getting my in-run nutrition dialed in, regular icing and flexibility/stretching. I am learning more and more each day that the more I take care of my body in ways that I never have it responds significantly better on the trail.

So here is to another great week of training.

Happy trails!