Night run to the ‘Y’

I really wasn’t planning on running today, but it wasn’t looking like I would be able to fit in another long run before it was time to start tapering down for the Leadville Trail Marathon next weekend.

There is a big ‘Y’ painted on the mountain above the BYU campus in Provo. I’ve always thought it was kind of an eyesore, but it was created 100 years ago so I guess it gets a free pass from most people. At any rate, it would provide a good destination for my night run.

With the Bear 100 getting closer all the time, it’s important that I get in some good night time practice running with my headlamp (I’ll be going through almost 12 hours of darkness during the 100 miler). I loaded up my trusty Camelbak, scrounged some batteries for my headlamp from my parents, laced up the Montrails, and hit the road at about 9:30 pm.

Maple Mountain

I needed to get in a long training run while we are on vacation in Utah so I started thinking about possibilities a few days in advance. The idea that kept coming back to me was to attempt running to the summit of Maple Mountain from my parent’s house in Springville. I had climbed the mountain a few times years ago and thought it would make excellent training for my upcoming events - if I could survive it. The massive pile of rock and trees dominates the veiw from the south part of Springville and all of Mapleton.

I started running at 10:30 in the morning on a beautiful, but HOT day. It would reach the upper 90’s. I was fully loaded with a 70 oz. Camelbak, food, and gear for the trail. I also took a mirror along at the suggestion of my dad, to see if I could signal them from the top.

The magnitude of the undertaking was staggering to me as I started the run. Like Frodo and Sam approaching Mordor, I avoided eye contact with the summit for fear of being frozen in my tracks. Only stealing the occasional peripheral glance followed by shaking my head at the thought of where I was going.

Deer Creek Training Run

I’m definitely back in the ‘build’ phase again, feeling mostly recovered from Wyoming. I planned to do a good long run today with some climbing and technical trails to start getting ready for Leadville and the 100k in Utah. I hopped on mapmyrun.com and scoped out a route that would give me between 20-25 miles, convoluted though it was:

south valley + deer creek
Find more Runs in Littleton, Colorado

I got a later start at around 1:30 under dark and cloudy skies. A typical day in the Denver foothills. The first part of my route circumnavigated a large area called Elk Meadow. I was looking forward to it because it would be the flattest part of my run and give me a good 2-3 miles to settle in. What a letdown, I ended up walking most of it. The very narrow (8-10 inch) trail was eroded in several spots with a ‘V’ shape, and due to our very wet spring, the grass on either side was anywhere from waist to shoulder high. I just couldn’t get into a good rythmn and so just walked as fast as I could.

Locked and loaded

After scoping out racing schedules and calendars for the next few months, I finally decided on some events and have registered for my next 4 races:

7/4 - Freedom Festival 5k
Running this one with the kids along the parade route. Should be a lot of fun!

7/7 - Leadville Trail Marathon
Not your typical marathon. Starts in Leadville at around 10,000′ and takes a combination of 4WD roads and some singletrack to top out at 13,188′ on Mosquito Pass before heading back to town. I don’t have the time to go through a taper and recovery cycle for this one, so the plan is to just take it as a training run and continue my buildup for Katcina Mosa and use it as a test to see how I respond to the high altitude.

8/4 - Katcina Mosa 100K
62 miles and 12,000 feet of climbing on some VERY rugged terrain. This is a giant loop in the canyons and on the mountains near where I grew up. I’m familiar with most of the route, though there are a few sections I haven’t seen before. I’ll definitely be doing a couple of lighter weeks to taper down for this one and will hopefully have a good solid run without having to dig too deep. It’ll be a long day - the race starts at 3:00 AM! Looking forward to running through the old stomping grounds. This race captured my attention last winter and became my long-term goal back then. I’ve had the course map set as my computer background since New Years Day.

9/28 - The Bear 100
Yikes. September sounds like a long way off. Really it’s only 3 months from now. 35 hour cutoff time. I’m hoping to complete it in under 30 hours. Dang, that sounds like such a loooooong time to be on the feet. I definitely need to toughen up - I’ve got some work to do in that department…

Running with the bulls, errrr bikes.

I had the opportunity to run out in Fruita today. Back on some of the same trails I did my 50 mile race on last April. It was quite a bit warmer today - in the 90’s, and I didn’t start running until 1:30 in the afternoon. Good heat training, I guess.

Water was a concern. I had a 70z camelbak fully stocked and headed out to see how long that would last me. Running with the load on my back wasn’t the greatest feeling, but I kept the pace slow for the first few miles and just tried to ease into it.

Even though it was a Saturday, things seemed pretty deserted. I guess all the smart people got their fun in before things got too hot…

Fun Weekend

The kids were all out of school on Friday, so I took the day off from work and we went to the Zoo. It was a really nice day, not nearly as hot as it usually is when we go. We were all dragging by the afternoon and were definitely ready to get back home. It’s hard work having fun!!

On Saturday we put a decent effort into weeding and yard work before lunch. Then I took the kids over to the canyon for a little ride. It’s so nice to have such a great place to ride close by. People drive from all over the Denver area to ride in our neck of the woods.

This was the maiden voyage of Natalie’s new birthday bike. It’s on the big side, but she’s growing like crazy! I didn’t dare go with anything smaller (this was basically the smallest ‘adult’ size). She rode so great today! I was very happy, and so was she. It was great weather and we all had a super time. As I was riding along with her, she said “I’m sure glad I have an athletic dad like you, or else I would be home right now instead of riding bikes.” Made me laugh.

More pictures here.