A Great Utah Day...

Yesterday was a great day. It was one of those "Utah is the best place ever type of days!!" I started out the day by skiing at Solitude with John, Dustin and Gordon. These three are the best friends that any guy could ever ask for. They kept me laughing so hard all day. Whether it was Gordon throwing snowballs at Tate or Peterson pretending to be out of control, my sides really got a work out. I need to do that way more often. Laughter is an amazing drug!

 

There was hardly anyone on the mountain and we skied right on to every lift of the day. Conditions were great for a spring ski day. Solitude in word and deed. That resort incapsulates what the Wasatch really is. Steep. Unforgiving. Remote. Beautiful!

 

Coming down one of the runs I fell quite hard. It knocked me out and totally jacked my back. I can't remember that last time I hurt like that. I have no idea of what or how it happened. All I can remember is waking up with a pink substance draining from my nose and goggles stuck in my mouth. Full on yard sale! My phone even came out of my zipped pocket. I eventually gathered all my gear, dusted myself off and caught up to my friends. We finished the day with 13 runs, 13 ski miles and 13K of vert. Tate and Peterson hit a top speed of 65 MPH!!! Not bad for 4 hours of skiing.

 

I knew I wanted to get some trail miles in but was not sure how to make it happen logistically. I had a few errands to attend to and wanted to go watch a trail running movie that was showing at Brewvies that night. I determined that rather than watch trail running, I would run my errands and then hit the trail. Lunch, car wash, REI (a staple) and some time with the fam all were tended to.

 

I threw my gear together and headed for BoSho. The Bonneville Shoreline trail (BoSho) is rolling and offers both runnable and climb worthy terrain. As I started out I felt very strong. I reminded myself that it was early and anyone can feel good for the first few miles.

 

I ran past the Huntsman Cancer Institute where my friend Bryce was as he fought cancer to the end. Thinking of him invigorated me and I pushed my early feel good pace a touch harder. I was running an out and back and before I knew it my watch chimed to turn around. I had run all but the climb up above Red Butte. I have never done that before. I ate a Lara bar and began my way back to the barn.

 

I continued to feel strong. In fact I felt stronger with each mile. I came to a hill and thought this is where I walk. I encouraged myself to "just try" and run up. I shortened my stride into what I call my chip stride. As in chip away at the mountain. Soon I realized that I had crested the top running the entire distance.

 

A final push back to the car ended my run with a euphoric feeling. It was only 10 total miles but I negative split the last five miles by 15 minutes. The thoughts of "you keep this up and you will finish the Wasatch again" came to mind. It was encouraging and exciting.

 

In the next weeks I will push myself hard. I hope to eclipse a 20 miler in the month of April. My foot is feeling 95% and improving.

Running Up For Air 2014 - Mark

Salt Lake City's air quality worsens every year. This last winter we had worse air quality than Beijing, China 3 consecutive days. On a "red air day" 15 minutes outside is roughly the equivalent of smoking a half pack of cigarettes. Last year in SLC there were 22 red air days. SLCers that spent anytime outside roughly smoked 11 packs of cigarettes. It is a disgusting problem!! Jared Campbell, a local ultra-runner, organized a fund raiser for Breathe Utah. Breathe Utah addresses the root causes of air pollution in Utah by engaging affected local communities, creating partnerships and fostering collaboration. Read more about them at www.breatheutah.org Jared's fundraiser is called Running Up For Air (RUFA).

The fundraiser consists of runners/hikers summiting Granduer Peak via the west side route. The route has over 3,300 feet of vert in just over two miles. It is extremely taxing. Each time a runner/hiker summits a pledge or donation is made. My goal this year was 3-5 summits. Jared's was 15. He is an animal. 

This was my first day of major climbing since my surgery. I was unsure what to expect but excited to spend a day on the hill with several friends. On Friday night the wind and rain beat against our house. It kept me up a fair part of the night. I was really looking forward to a great nights rest but it was not to be. As such I started an hour later than the other runners. I figured I would see them coming down as I was headed up. 

I started my first lap and felt really good. I was taking it easy but pleased with my pace. A little under half way up I saw Jared and Luke Nelson coming down. These two are legit! Luke took second at the Wasatch a few years back and is a member of Patagonia's ultra team. They were both jumping into the wind and it was moving them back a bit. It was crazy. The wind howled more than I had ever seen. It beat against me so hard a couple of times that I became fearful that it would blow me off of one of the many open faces. 

I trudged up the hill and ran into many other great runners and great running friends. The higher I went the more the winds beat and the icier the conditions. I ended up putting on my micro-spikes and that helped with the ice. Nothing would help with the wind. At one point I literally had to lay down to protect myself. Many runners making their way down said that it had literally blown them off of their feet. I saw this happen to two different runners. The other report was that the wind calmed on the summit. I heard it was peaceful up there. 

I pushed on and ran into QB and Kara. It is always good to see them. I reached the summit and was greeted with beautiful clear skies and temporary respite from the wind. I ran into a great gal named Bethany. She was flying up the hill and we had a nice chat on the summit. We would leap frog each other on the way down. 

The decent was awesome until about a quarter mile from the bottom. That is when I realized that I do not have the quads that I once did. They were FRIED. It hurt bad! When I reached the bottom I was pleased with the first go. I decided to drive home, shower, get fresh clothes and shoes and head back for lap 2. 

I felt good for the bottom half of lap 2. I ran into Ty Draney who I have seen at a race or two. He is the race director for El Vacquero Loco in Afton, WY. He is a very strong athlete and later this year will attempt a double Bear 100 or in his case Bear 200. We climbed together for a bit and had a nice chat. He is a good dude. 

I hit the hole and really started to struggle through the wind. I caloried up and started to feel better but I had no bounce in my legs. After a grudge match I reached the summit for the second time of the day. Conditions on the way down were brutal. I can best describe it as running down a very steep grade on soft butter. I fell three separate times. One of which was feet to shoulders. OUCH! My foot began to ache and by the time I reached the bottom I had a pronounced limp. I figured two summits would be enough today. 

I look forward to climbing this mountain several more times this summer. It is an essential trainer for the Wasatch. Today I can barely walk. My quads are DESTROYED. My foot is sore but not injured. I will continue to nurse it and ease my way back in. All in all it was a great day. Jared finished with 12 summits. I was able to raise $620 to donate to Breathe Utah. I was pumped about that.  I will likely remember that wind for the rest of my life.

Here is a view from the top. Summit 1 and summit 2.

  

A Very Broad Update - Mark

I was thinking during my run yesterday that I would re-activate the blog.

I largely took 2013 off. Except for the following;
- In February of 2013 Luke and I ran the Moab Red Hot 55k. It was a fun time.
- In May Luke, Craig Hall and I ran the Grand Canyon R2R2R (I came up a few miles short as I was not feeling well. I did about 40 of the 44 miles that we should have done)
- In June I had my first official DNF at the Bighorn 50. I missed the cutoff at mile 35 by 6 minutes. Great race and I plan to redeem myself later this year.
- I paced at the Salt Flats 100, Wasatch and the Bear.

While pacing Craig Hall at the Wasatch I realized just how much I love this sport. I decided to give the Wasatch another go right then and there. On October 15th of 2013 I had foot surgery to repair a bunion. The surgery was a little more intense then planned and I left with two pins, 5 screws and a metal plate. The timeline for recovery still fit my Wasatch training plans so I decided to throw my name in the hat again.

Rehab went well and on almost every visit the doc and therapist told me that I was ahead of schedule. I started to "run" again on January 1st. I am taking it nice and easy but rebuilding a good base and feeling great about 2014.

On February 1st I dropped the family off at Park City Mountain Resort for a great day of skiing. I then traveled to Midway for the Wasatch 100 lottery. When I arrived my thoughts were that if I don't get into Wasatch that I would register for the Bear 100 the same day. That seemed like a good thought. With each name drawn I wanted the Wasatch more and more. The Bear became, as Luke puts it, like kissing your sister. About 2/3 of the way through the lottery I heard, "Mark Robbins from Cottonwood Heights, Utah". My heart raced and I realized that I was in again. Thoughts of excitement and feelings of nerves rushed through my body. Time to get to work.

I don't plan on doing many official races in 2014. My plans are to redeem myself at Bighorn in June and get my second Wasatch buckle in September. I will run the BoSho marathon, Granduer Peak fun run, maybe the Millcreek night run. I most likely will pace at the Buffalo, Salt Flats and the Bear. Should be a fun year!

My race strategy for 2014 is wide open except for two ideas that I have been thinking about. Strategy #1 is to run 15-25 lbs. lighter than my first Wasatch finish. Strategy #2 is to not set a goal time for finishing before the race but to get to Point Supreme (mile 76) and set a finish goal time there and push hard to the end.

I look forward to documenting my training and adventures on this blog. It is much more for me than anyone else. I see it as a journal of sorts. If you happen to read it I hope you enjoy. Thanks!

The Finish 2 (Greg's camera)

The Finish!!!

Wasatch 100 - Mark

I will post videos and pictures as I get them but thought that I would get my race report out as soon as possible while it is fresh on my mind.

To start off, I FINISHED! My time was 34:36:57. I could not have done what I did without the help of my amazing crew and pacers. Let's start with my crew which was led by my wife Sarah. She was amazing! She took charge and made sure that everyone knew their part. She made sure that the pacers were at their spots and that everything went smooth. My sisters Cathy and Suzy made t-shirts that everyone wore that said "Bulldog's Crew 100 miles of UnMarked territory". They treated blisters, fetched food and water, set up my chair, laid out all my gear and most importantly fed me the most positive vibes I could get. Thank you to Sarah, Cathy, Suzy, Greg (he hiked to Desolation Aid Station in the middle of the night just to say hi), Riley (my daughter who was so organized in the layout of my gear that people were taking pictures) Emmie, Grace, Gordon, Britt, Shane, Cooper and Carla.

My pacers could not have been better. A major thank you to Matt Bennett who kept me laughing the entire evening. Craig Hall who was as attentive as they come and Brian Robbins who pushed me hard at the end. Thank you to them as well!

Now for my review...

Suzy and Cathy gave Luke and I a ride to the start on Friday morning. We left our house at 4 AM and arrived at 4:40 ish. Luke and I checked in and took a couple of pictures then lined up to start. I was grateful that Luke and I could start together as we have been together for the majority of the year. 10 seconds of countdown and we were on the trail. The race, as expected, was congested at the start. I ran in two or three different packs all the way to the start of the climb up Chinscraper. The early race was mostly uneventful but I kept telling myself "you are running the Wasatch 100!" The Chinscraper climb started and I got caught in the "conga line". No real passing was to be done so I settled in and made my way up the hill.

One of the other runners kept taking my picture. At first I was annoyed by this but later found this runner to have a contagious positive attitude and ended up being a great guy! He has run several ultras and really was enjoying the journey. I topped off with water at Cool and Landis Springs and again at Groben's corner. As I crested Chinscraper I was taken back by the view. It was amazing. I also thought that it was fitting that as I was literally summitting the song "How you like me now" by The Heavy came on.

At mile 12 I hit a bad spot. I was majorly bummed that negative thoughts had hit me so early. I started to doubt my ability and could not find a rhythm. I fought this for about two miles. After that I would be fine the rest of the way. Looking back, I am thrilled that I got it out of the way.

I hit the Francis Peak AS (aid station) and was fully rejuvenated. I felt good en route to the Bountiful B but was surprised by the climb to the AS. It reminded me of an elk hunting area down on the Skyline Drive. Steep! I had good climbing legs though and mad it to Bountiful B AS strong. At this AS they had lemon infused hand towels. It felt like the Ritz. I had a ham sandwich and some ice cold coke. It was awesome. Off to Sessions.

I was excited for the next stretch as I was very familiar with the course from here on out. I ran hard to Sessions and quite frankly it snuck up on me. As I rolled in I asked the volunteers for ice. Tons of ice. I wanted tons of ice as I knew I was headed into the hottest part of the course for me. Heat absolutely zaps me. The kind volunteer said "we're out of ice". I was majorly deflated. I filled up with warm water and was on my way. The climb up Sessions and beyond was good but I felt my guts starting to go. I was struggling to eat solids and was relying more on gu. Not my favorite, especially this early on. I was simultaneously starting to over heat. Swallow Rocks, the next AS seemed to be farther than ever before. I finally made it in but was in a foul mood. I was able to have a couple of Popsicles. I had ice in my bottles again. My mood started to change.

I made great time getting into Big Mountain and was blown away when I got there. Big Mountain is the first AS where crew is aloud. It sits at mile 39. As I saw the crew I was overwhelmed and for the first time of the day I felt emotion.  They were great and worked much like a NASCAR pit crew getting their driver back on the road. Here is where I picked up my first pacer, Matt Bennett.

Matt was flat out amazing. He let my entire family write messages to me on his legs. This turned into arms and neck etc. It was really anywhere that there was open skin. They were all words of encouragement, it was great. As Matt and I pulled out of Big Mtn., my family had placed signs along the trail. More words of encouragement  My personal favorite was from my 9 year old son Cooper which read, "Dad, go the extra inch". What a character! Matt and I ran good. There was one climb that kicked my butt and baugh bearing hill was no joke but all in all we did well. Matt told me many jokes and really kept me laughing. We made it in to Lambs and Matt passed me off to Craig Hall. Matt then went and rode on a bike relay team from Logan, Utah to Jackson Hole, WY (LOTOJA). Matt's team took first place. He is a ROCKSTAR!!

At Lambs I fixed up some blisters, put on some warm clothes, grabbed my head lamps, drank some soup and off we went. The crew at Lamb's was awesome! Craig Hall (A real Ironman) was great. He was the perfect mix of fun and support. We climbed over over Lambs and into Millcreek Canyon. The Lambs climb hurts me everytime and this was no exception. It hurt! We passed another runner who was literally being carried of the hill by his pacer. They were headed back to the Lambs AS. The runner looked like he was in BAD shape. I have thought a lot about him and pray that he is alright. It was a huge wake up call to see just how bad this can get.

The descent into Millcreek was fun. Once there we hiked up the canyon road. I had to chase a porcupine off of the road. It was a good laugh. The Upper Big Water AS was FREEZING COLD. I was shivering out of control. I was finally able to eat solids again in the form of hot bread. It was so good. I ate some noodles and soup and felt good to go. That AS looked like a morgue! It was probably 1AM at this point and depleted bodies seemed to be scattered everywhere. As if I needed it, here was another reminder of the gravity of this race. I killed the climb up to Dog Lake but struggled my way to Desolation. Greg was at Deso and helped me get packed up and back on the trail. Before I left I made my way to the tree line to do my business. This was a relief and made me feel tons better! I know that may be over sharing but it really helped a lot!

We made good time on the crest trail to Scott's AS. That AS went by quick. I should have had more coke as I was wearing down. For the next several miles I zombie walked. At one point I even held Craig's arm and "rested my eyes" as we made our way down the road. Into Brighton we went at about 6:20 AM. We had made it through the night but I was fighting to stay awake. At Brighton the crew took major care of my feet as they were blistered badly. I drank hot cocoa and soup. Ate some bacon and eggs and really felt fully refreshed. Brian and I were on the trail with 10 hours to cover 25 miles.

Brian set a good pace and I fought to stay with him. I had my best Katherine's Pass climb ever. The descent to Ant Knolls was strong. We were passing people right and left and even had one runner say " I wish I felt that good". Something in my right shin popped and put me in pain management the rest of the way. As I type this my shin is swollen and black and blue. A medic at Ant Knolls tried to tape it but within a few miles that tape was off. Oh well, if I didn't feel some pain, it wouldn't be the Wasatch :)

The climb out of Ant Knolls was robust but short and I felt we did well there. We ran the rest of the way to Poll Line. At Poll Line I started to do finish math and realized for the first time that I probably had the finish in the bag. We made up more time en route to Rock Springs. Rock Springs was my least favorite AS. It was covered in wasps and all the water was warm. Oh well I was almost there!

The stretch from Rock Springs to Pot Bottom is just under 6 miles but runs like 12. It has two steep descents! They are known as the plunge and the dive. They are tricky on fresh legs but on tired legs they are down right not nice. None the less we kept moving and made it in to Pot Bottom. This AS has sentimental value as this is where I volunteered a year earlier. I said hello to the volunteers. A few of which I had worked  with a year prior. It was nice.

From Pot Bottom to the finish was mostly uneventful. Brian kept me on good pace and we ran strong down the stretch. As we came off trail we had a mile of road to the finish. We ran into my bro-in-law Rob. He was riding his bike and began filming me. He mentioned that we had a huge crew at the finish. I started to get emotional. As we rolled over the top of the hill I saw my new friend Quinton Barney (QB). Quinton has several 100 finishes and has helped me a lot this year in prep and understanding. He is a mentor. When he saw me he started jumping up and down, fist pumping and showing a lot of excitement. When I saw this, I LOST IT! I was crying quite hard and ran to QB. We shared a hug. It was a special moment. He pointed me to the finish line and said "20 yards left, go enjoy it, go enjoy it!".

As I ran on the grass negotiating the last 20 yards I saw familiar face after familiar face. Family and friends many with tears in there eyes. It was amazing! I crossed the line and began hugging whoever was in front of me. It was special. I later received my buckle and plaque but they would be a distant second to the realization of what I have in my family and friends. With them, we finished the Wasatch.

The wait is almost over.

Friday is the first of the two big days. It is surreal that it is almost here. I have put all of the finishing touches on my prep and now all I can do is wait for the gun to sound Friday morning at 5AM.

Luke came over for dinner last night and we tied the bow on all last minute details. Luke is dialed and ready and I see a good day for him. He is as strong as I have ever seen him and all of his hard work will pay off.

I know that I have what it will take to get to the finish line. I have put in the work and the homework and have mentally prepared for both good and bad. The bottom line for me is that I am not the same person that I was in February when all of this became official. I have learned so much about running, mountains, gear, nutrition, technique and more. I have learned that trail running and road running are two different sports. I have learned the most about me! I have learned that far too often we limit ourselves on what we think is or is not possible. There was a couple of moments this year that during a long run I have doubted myself and this process but in each and every case I have learned to overcome. The ability to overcome is one of the greatest learnings of my life.

Now it is time to go put the icing on the cake that has been this year. A FINISH!

You can track me throughout the race at www.wasatch100.com I will be wearing bib # 75. Thank you for all of the love and support I have recieved all year long.

The runners prayer, "Lord you pick em' up and I'll put em' down"