Friday 26.2

I needed to get my marathon or further in today, but I also wanted to hit some trails and maybe get a peak in. Since I'm a wuss and backed out of the Wire Peak Rampage, and knowing I would be down here in Lehi today, I decided to try a run from my parents house all the way out to Lake Mountain, summit the peak, and come back. I was hoping it would be near 26.2 miles. It was almost dead perfect.

I woke up late after dealing with the kiddos all night, but that turned out to be a good thing. I left at about 9:30am, just warm enough to be outside. There was no wind and with the sun on me I was able to stay warm enough to maintain a good pace and positive attitude. I ran the trails through Lehi and Saratoga Springs, passing (I can only assume) near Crockett's house. I know I was near his house because I could smell the fear of me beating him next year at Pony Express 100 coming from somewhere nearby. I then continued along the paved trails until I got to the access road to Israel Canyon. That climb through the neighborhood was very pleasant and when I hit the dirt road I still felt pretty good (8.2 miles in).

I have struggled on my runs lately that are longer than 10 miles, but today was different. Once in the canyon it turned to more of a power hike. I was worried I was going to have to break snow most of the way up the canyon, but to my surprise I had a couple of day-old four wheeler tracks to follow, almost all the way to the top. I probably only had to break snow (that wasn't more than a few inches deep) for about a half mile. I then ran into the tracks again right at the top. I hit the summit in 2:31:06, 2.81 miles. I stopped to call my parents and check on my kids, eat a few things, take a couple of pics (to be posted later), and I was off again.

Running down I chose to follow the four wheeler tracks. It added a little distance, which I needed, but it was all runnable and I was having a great time blazing down the snow for the next several miles. I was worried that I wouldn't be able to run fast through the snow, but I maintained a 6:30 pace for more than 3 miles down the canyon. Near the bottom I still held a pace in the 7s and even maintained a pace in the 8s nearly the rest of the way back. I was pretty tired my last two miles. I had to walk a few times. I was energizing well, but I also did the mental math and found that I had burned almost 2600 calories and only taken in 700. I wasn't bonking, I was just tired. I finished strong though and am super happy with my effort today. It was a near perfect outing. I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving.

Time: 4:19:03
Avg Pace: 9:53
Vert: 3370