Do you believe in destiny?

This last weekend Luke and I decided to do a long run that would take us from Big Mountain in East Canyon to Mill D in Big Cottonwood Canyon. The route would encompass 4 major canyons in the Wasatch range. East Canyon, Lambs Canyon, Millcreek Canyon and Big Cottonwood Canyon. In all we would travel 28 miles 22 of which would be on the course of the Wasatch.

On Saturday morning we dropped a car in Big Cottonwood and traveled to East Canyon. As we started down the canyon road Luke had remembered that he forgot his iPod. This was worth a turn around and posed the question from Luke to myself, "do you believe in destiny?" For example, what might happen the rest of the day due to the time delay of the turn around. For some reason I thought about this a lot and have determined that I do believe and will explain why. For now we'll get back to the trail.

The weather called for a chilly, rainy, windy day. Luke and I are both believers of the "there is no bad weather just bad gear" mindset. It was actually fairly warm when we started on the Great Western trail out of the Big Mountain parking lot. In fact after the first mile we were both shedding clothes.

We were to follow the Wasatch course description to Lambs canyon. This stretch spans 13 miles or 14 if you go the wrong way. Things were going great through mile 5. Physically we both felt strong and the newness of running this area was euphoric. We came to a split in the trail and actually started down the correct trail and determined that perhaps the other way was the correct route. It looked like it may be used more and we even talked ourselves into landscapes matching the printed description that we had. Shortly after we ran into some other trail runners that we had met a time or two before. For some reason this solitified that we were on the right course.

Me on the at mile 2 of our run. The scenery was amazing.

Luke closing in on Bald Mountain. A peak which gives a 360 panoramic second to none.

After stopping several times to read the map Luke had determined that we were off course. I refused to believe. We both kept talking ourselves into making the description make sense. We found ourselves on a pipeline that rolled UP and DOWN. We followed this pipeline for several miles which in hind sight is really quite comical. The pipeline was steep and deep with really no trail to be followed.

Steep

Deep. I really wish that this picture did the length and pitch of the hill in the background justice.

We did find this poached Elk carcass. Makes for a cool picture.

Shortly after we realized that we were off course the weather turned. It turned quick. Rain and wind pelted us and it got flat out cold! We ended up coming off the trail at Mtn. Dell golf course. We debated back and forth and determined that we would call it a day and try again another time. We called Luke's wife April and she came to our rescue. Not after we took a few hacks.



Sunday night Luke called and after a quick chat we decided that we try again. Luke studied the map and saw where we had gone wrong. The weather was to be much better. We decided to take one car and we would go until we felt like we were done and would call Sarah for a ride. We started again at Big Mountain and again felt great. I was curious to see how my legs and body would hold up after going 14 just two days before. I ended up being pleasantly surprised.

As we approached the wrong turn I saw a huge smile on Luke's face. Someone had actually put rocks across the wrong trail and drew an arrow on the right trail. We both had a good laugh about how nice it would have been to have that there on Saturday.

Right is right straight is wrong.

The course sweeps the East Canyon and Little Dell area and offers some very cool scenery. I snapped the shot below of Luke in the Alexander Springs area. This section was hot even at 9:00 AM. We have both been told that this is a rough stretch on race day as it is wide open and gets very hot. It spans mile 38 to 51 ish on the course.

Once we reached Lambs we both determined that we were going all the way! Luke made short work of the climb from Lambs into Millcreek. I was slower but felt much better than I had anticipated. We made good time to Upper Big Water and into Dog Lake. From Dog it was all down hill into Mill D. It was Memorial Day so the trail was scattered with hikers. It was such a cool vibe and people seemed to look at us as though we had come from another planet. When I saw the Mill D parking lot, which was PACKED, I let out a big YYYAAAAHHHHHOOOOO. I was excited to see the end. I was excited that I had just gone further than I had ever been. I was excited that I felt like I could keep going.

Luke was great and hung with me all day. He has the ability to bury this course but stayed with me and ended up saving my day. At mile 20 my guts started to churn. Luke suggested that I eat some snow to cool my stomach thus making digestion easier. I packed both of my handheld and chewed the snow as we went. Placebo or not my guts felt better shortly thereafter and I finished strong.

So, do I believe in destiny? Yes! Would I have done 42 weekend miles otherwise? No! Would the right way arrow have been there? No! Would we have run into the other trail runners that had the pack on that we decided that we both want on race day? No!Would there have been stomach cooling snow? No! In short, thanks for forgetting your iPod Luke.



Big Mountain to Mill D Teaser

Luke and I had a debacle coupled with some destiny. In all we had a 41 mile weekend. If at first you don't succeed try and try again. Here is a video to wet your appetite. Story and pictures to follow.
This video is brought to you by Double Realty.

GRANDEUR FUN RUN

     This last weekend was another informal race dubbed the Grandeur Fun Run.  By informal, it is similar to the Bosho event I ran last month.  Just a bunch of people getting together to test themselves against one hell of a climb and for some friendly competition.  The run climbs up the west spine of Grandeur, down Church Fork in Millcreek Canyon, two miles on the Pipeline Trail, one last small climb and a steep decent back to the start.  A killer pancake breakfast was waiting at the finish.

     

Grandeur is one of the four major peaks in the Salt Lake Valley along the Wasatch Front.  Starting on the north end next to Parley canyon is Grandeur, then Mt. Olympus, Twin Peaks and finally Lone Peak in the south end of the valley.

     The race began at 7am with approximately 100 runners.  The canyon winds made for a chilly start.  The climb to the summit is 2.2 miles but covers 3,400 vertical feet.  It is relentless.  There are two short 50 yard flat sections where you can get a little recovery and then right back to having the hill right in your face.  Passing on the climb is difficult because it is a narrow single track so I just buried my head and set in for a long grind.  I made the summit in 1 hour flat.  My best time by about 4 minutes.  My buddy Peter Bland went up early in the morning for a climb and waited for me at the top (quick side note.......Peter saw a black bear as he was coming back down the trail about 1/2 mile from the start!!!)  I ditched my jacket with him as he gave me a few encouraging words to push it on the decent.  I have become a fairly strong downhill runner lately and I knew I could pick off a few people here.

     My legs were feeling surprisingly fresh and strong.  I was able to pass 6 people down Church Fork and 6 more on the Pipeline Trail to the finish.  I caught up to a kid early on the Pipeline.  We ran the rest of the way together and finished about 15 seconds apart.  Chatting with him at the finish, I explained that I was doing my best to pull away from him and he was pushing hard to try and catch me.  We pushed and pulled each other to a pace much quicker than we thought we could hold.  Pretty cool when the competitive juices kick in.

     

Final steep decent

     There is one last 1/3 mile climb up a hill named Bambi.  Not sure why it got this name.....not quite so gentle and cuddly as the name implies.  For a relatively short climb, it is a killer.  Then a bomber downhill to the finish.  I finished the day with a time of 2 hours 8 minutes.  My best time on that loop by nearly 13 minutes.  I ended up in 27th place.  Not a bad day considering a strong pool of local runners.

     Knowing I need to start getting more quality back to back long runs in, I banged out a 20 mile run Sunday morning on the Bonneville Shoreline Trail.  My legs were dead from the start but managed to pull it off in 4 hours.  All in all a great weekend.  

Catching up.

It has been too long since my last post. I will do my best to catch you all up. Training has by and large been going good. I have only had one injury and it didn't keep me down long. I'll explain as we go.

I am continually impressed by the sheer amount of time that my brain thinks about this race. I have Wasatch thoughts all day every day! By and large I have been okay at avoiding distractions at work but it is HARD. I have an app on my phone that does a days countdown and we are now only 113 days away. I should probably delete the app but I think it helps with my urgency in training.

So by way of re-cap here we go....

Last month I decided to run the SLC Marathon for a second time. My sixth full marathon overall.This year the marathon was under stress as ownership changed late in the game and the race even happening was in question. John Peterson, my good friend and potential pacer, was running it and I decided the Wednesday before to join in the fun.

The day was hot! My strategy was to run it with a low heart rate and practice "crewing" with my wife Sarah. I asked her to meet me at mile 15 and we would change out some clothes and GU's etc. I am glad that we practiced as it did not go well. At least we have 113 days to get it right :) Sarah is an amazing support and often pushes me out the door and encourages me to go harder and stronger on my runs. There have been a few times that I have felt that I have to finish the Wasatch to pay her back for all of her support and sacrifice. I am not sure that there is anything that I can do to pay her back.

I finished the race and felt totally fine. In fact that day and the next I was out playing basketball with my son. The first marathon that I did I laid in bed for two days. I attribute all of my hill training and a by chance ice bath to my speedy recovery.

This is me ice bathing in the fountains in front of KSL news studio.

I have been spending a lot of time on Mt. Olympus. It is close to home and a great place to get a lot of vertical. I will be spending less time there as the rattlesnakes are out in full force. I did go to the saddle a couple of weeks ago and was treated to this great scene.



One of my other favorite runs is Bells Canyon. Bells is a small canyon located at the mouth of Little Cottonwood Canyon. It is flanked by towering granite cliffs. There are waterfalls and a couple of small lakes up there. Luke, Anton and I spent one night up there in which we all fell.

This is where my injury comes into play. I was running down a medium grade hill and running faster than I have ever run. I felt like I was on rails. It was dusk and visibility was not ideal. I had a headlamp on but was losing the trail in the shadows as the dusky light was essentially cancelling out that of my headlamp. I must have side stepped a root or rock or something because I severely rolled my ankle. I heard it pop over my tunes that were blaring in my ears. I was able to close the remaining 3/4 mile down the trail and with the RICE method (Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevate) I was back on the trail 4 days later.

Luke and Anton pose under the Granite Cathedrals.

Luke snapped this shot of me with Salt Lake Valley in the distance.

Last Saturday I ran 19 miles 9 of which were on the Wasatch course. I parked at the mouth of Lambs Canyon and ran up the canyon road to the Lambs Canyon trail. The Lambs Canyon trail climbs up into the high reaches of Millcreek Canyon. The trail eventually leads to Elbow Fork and up the Millcreek Canyon road to the Upper Big Water trail.

This picture was taken in the saddle of Lambs and Millcreek Canyon. I was pretty puckered at this point as I had been cutting moose tracks for a half hour. Five minutes before I snapped this pic I cut the biggest cougar track that I have ever seen. I prefer cougars to moose but the combination had the juices flowing.

Here is the sign for upper big water. This is located at the top of Millcreek Canyon. There was still a significant amount of snow here but with the temps as high as they've been we should be snow free soon.

This picture was taken last night. The subject is my 10 year old son Camden. He has a major mountain goat motor. If I wasn't so worried about a mental breakdown on my part I would have him pace me on the big day. He said to me while we were climbing Oly "Dad, you are gonna nail the Wasatch!" I said "I hope so buddy" to which he replied "you don't need to hope! You've got this!!" I hope that I can remember his words of faith and encouragement when I am deep in the pain cave in September.