Bouncing Back

Sorry, I've been really lazy about updating this lately. As a matter of fact, I've been really lazy altogether. While I've been trying to recover from my IT Band issues (which isn't going well, by the way) I have been doing some more climbing and hiking. I've gotten in a few decent runs, but nothing to rave about.
At the beginning of December I was asked to go hiking with Devin, Jami's brother. He had already been up Olympus and wanted to do another good hike that wouldn't take a lot of time. Considering the amount of snow that had fallen in the mountains I thought something near the city would be better, so I chose to do Grandeur Peak. It is a short hike, 6 miles round trip, with an exposed south facing slope, which means little snow as it sees the sun all day long.
We were off and hiking by 6am; me and Devin, with Tyler in tow. It was cold, but as usual, after we got going things heated up nicely and we were unzipping our coats and taking our gloves off. The trail was in pretty good shape. For about a quarter of a mile after the Church Fork / Pipeline Trail crossing it was really icy, but beyond that it was dry trail to the top. We hit the top in under two hours. The views were very good and there was little wind. It was much colder up there, so we didn't stay long, but I was able to shoot some photos of us on top, including a few peak jumping shots. You can see them below.



In the couple of weeks after that I got in some running, putting in about 20 - 30 miles a week. I've continued to battle my knee problems and I know I just need to take a bunch of time off, but I just hate the thought of losing all the fitness I built up this last year. So, as usual, I'll continue to work through it and retain some level of fitness.
On Friday, Dec. 18th, I met up with Devin again, but this time Scott W. and his friend Jackson came along for an attempt on Olympus. There was even more snow now than when we did Grandeur, so the top beyond the saddle would be even more challenging. We were moving against a short clock on this trip as Devin needed to be to work by 11am. We met at 6am, which means we only had about 4 hours to complete the hike so that Devin could get home in time to shower and eat some breakfast before heading into work. We moved out at a quick pace and after a half mile Devin and I had opened quite a big lead over Scott and Jackson. Devin mentioned that he felt bad leaving them, but if he was going to summit we would have to leave them behind. I didn't argue and we took off at an even faster pace.
The trail was well traveled, with packed snow all the way up past the switchbacks. Beyond that the trail was still in decent shape, but it was certainly far less traveled. As we got almost to the saddle we knew we were running low on time and were coming up to our turn-back time. I mentioned that even if he had to turn around that I would keep going, being so close. He agreed, but then said that he would tag along no matter what and just risk being late. When we got to the saddle he mentioned that the last time he had been up on Olympus this was the highest he had gotten because it was getting dark, so today would be his first time on the actual summit. Beyond the saddle we had to break our own tracks, sometimes in snow as deep as our thighs. Once we were in the gully up to the summit the snow was a little shallower and more solid, which made traveling a little easier, but the rock was icy and slick. Instead of turning right and moving up the last easy gully we decided to head up some 4th class right and then traverse over to the true summit. It was funny, not very scary, and made for dry travel. We only stayed on top for a couple of minutes, snapped a few photos and were off back down to the saddle. About half way down the gully we met up with Scott who was alone. Jackson was just cresting the saddle. They were a good 30 minutes behind us. We shot down the trail as quickly as possible and were down to the cars by 10:15, leaving plenty of time for Devin to get home and showered. It was a great morning. I only wish T could have been there. He still has yet to summit Olympus. Next time for sure.

Recovery

I've still been working to recover from an inflamed Ilio-Tibial Band. Wanting to run I have been focused on running shorter distances and whenever possible, barefoot. I'll save the barefoot discussion for a future post, but for now will discuss my immediate training. It is common knowledge that downhill running causes significant stress on the ITB and therefore should be avoided during a recovery period. I have been focused on running uphill as much as possible. Not only is it low impact, but I just love it. The problem is that 'what goes up, must come down'. I've tried to take it really easy on the downhill and, for the most part, have not put any undo stress on my ITB. Yesterday was a longer day, about 10 miles, and I could feel tightness with about a mile left, so I decided to walk off and on just to make sure.
I'll continue to focus on running hills through the winter months. I want to be a climbing machine come spring. I've reflected on races this year and going uphill could be a way for me to shave precious minutes off of race times in the future. I also have a bunch of adventure runs planned for 2010 and all of them have a huge amount of elevation gain and loss. But I need to be healthy, first and foremost. So I'll keep taking it easy and finding ways to strengthen my ITB.

End of Season Thoughts

Well, my racing season has finally come to an end. It was a long running season with my first race (a 10k) taking place in March. When I started running this year all I wanted to do was get good enough to run a half marathon in the fall. I had no idea at the time what I was actually capable of and what I would accomplish. My whole outlook on running, racing, fitness, and fun has changed forever. While I am still passionate about climbing, running has definitely taken a front seat in my list of activities. It is something I plan to stay with for the rest of my life and I have some amazing goals I plan to achieve. Below you will see a list of my 2009 accomplishments followed by a list of 2010 goals and then a few goals further out. I'd like to know people's feedback and what you think of what I'm doing now and planning to do in the future.

2009 Accomplishments
First 10k - Time: 46:16, 5th place overall
First Half Marathon - 1:36:28, 187th place overall (out of more than 3000)
First Marathon - 3:31:19, 198th place overall (out of more than 2500)
First Ultra-Marathon (50k) - 5:39:00, this was a fun-run.
First Ultra Marathon (50 miler) - 10:42:49, 3rd place overall (out of 14)

Other notable accomplishments include:
Ran Mt Baldy (8 miles) in just over 2 hours
Ran Mt Timpanogos (15 miles) in 3:18:31
Ran King's Peak (26 miles) in 5:48:34
Paced Davy Crockett for 14 miles in the Wasatch 100. I also crewed him later that night until 2am.
Completed multiple trail runs in the Wasatch Mountains up to 16 miles long.

2010 Goals
1 marathon length run or race in each of the 12 months of 2010.
Sapper Joe 50k in May
Squaw Peak 50 miler or Pocatello 50 miler in June
Zion Traverse (48 miles) from the east entrance to Lee Pass trailhead in Kolob.
Mt Timpanogos in under 3 hours
Grand Canyon Rim to Rim to Rim (42 miles)
Set a new course record at the Lake Mountain 50k (under 5:18:00)
Run King's Peak again and break 5:30:00 (Quest for King's Marathon, my race)
Pony Express 100 miler in October

Future Goals (maybe not in 2010)
Run a marathon race barefoot (or in Vibram 5 Fingers)
Run multiple 100 mile races in a single year
Run the Wasatch 100
Qualify for the Boston Marathon (hopefully barefoot)

How's that sound? Ambitious? Would I do it any other way? You know the answer to those questions.

Pony Express Video - Finally

I finally got off my butt and made a short video about the Pony Express 50 miler. It is probably the worst video I've made so far, but then again, I didn't have as much video or photos and just wasn't willing to put the time into it considering everything else that is going on. I hope you enjoy it though.

Pins and Needles

I haven't posted recently because I have been fighting a bit of a leg injury as a result of the Pony Express race. My IT Band flared up and has been severely irritated. I am working on getting the issue resolved, but I fear it might take a while. I've been taking the opportunity to climb while the weather is so good. I apologize that I haven't been taking any photos. I may be going out today. I'll try and get some and post them later.

The last few days have been a lot of fun. It is the perfect time of year and great weather to be climbing in Utah. Tuesday was my birthday and I was able to go with several friends and my brother down to Joe's Valley for a day trip. We had a great time cruising around different problems, just enjoying the sun and each others company. This trip was just about having fun, nothing more. I didn't care about projects how many problems I did. In fact, I probably laughed myself off the rock more times than I topped out. Here are a few photos.

Steve on Wills of Fire V5

Me on some arete eliminate problem

Me on Runt V7

The day before going down to Joe's I took a kid from my neighborhood up to LCC. He has only been climbing for a few months and even though he has a guide book, he doesn't know his way around very well, and certainly doesn't know all of the classic lines to try. I put him on some good problems at the Secret Garden and he spent the whole time thanking me for showing him the problems. For only 3 months of experience he certainly is strong and shows a lot of promise.

Larson on Twisted V4

Me on Bear Hug V8

Birthday Challenge 2009

The challenge I selected for my Birthday Challenge this year was to run 37 miles. I had selected a trail in Zion National Park, but considering the cost of going down there I decided maybe I should do something else. A friend of mine and fellow ultra-runner puts on a race called the Pony Express 50/100 Miler. This is a free race that follows the old Pony Express Trail out in the West Desert of Utah. It is a self-crewed race, requiring only a runner and someone to follow along in a car to provide support. This year there were 114 people running the 100 mile race and 8 people running the 50. While my primary goal was just to run 37 miles of the 50 mile race, I figured if I felt good enough I would try and keep going. As additional support I was able to get my friend Matt Ricks to join along, too. It would be his frist attempt at running 50 miles also. Matt and I met at 5:50am in Lehi and were to my mom’s (who would crew us) by 6am. 10 minutes later we were packed up and heading west to Lookout Pass along the Pony Express historic trail. There were already a number of cars there, including Davy Crockett and several we didn’t recognized. Within minutes we were out and talking with others; saying hello to those we knew and introducing ourselves to those we didn’t. I will say now that I met some truly wonderful people at this race. The sun was not yet up and we all walked around trying to stay warm. But once it rose, just before race time, it warmed up a lot and many people started to remove layers. Crockett had a few inspiring words and even more subtle insults and we were off by 8:06am. All of the cars at the starting line.

The starting line with all the crew cars.

The first couple of miles are a good downhill. I chose to hang back and run with Smooth (a friend from my running blog) for a while. I couldn’t see any reason to head out fast. While I chatted with Smooth about her birthday and her friends race, Matt was off making new friends with Olaf and Pablo. This lasted for only a mile, when Smooth realized she was running a sub-nine pace and decided to slow things down. I caught up with the other boys and joined in on the discussion. Our first aid stop was at mile 4. We didn’t feel a need to stop so we just handed over our gloves and kept going. The plan was for my mom to crew us every four miles and make stops at every major landmark to take split times. Therefore, her next planned stop was at mile 8. It was during this 4 mile section between miles 4 and 8 that a couple of interesting things happened. 1) I put some distance between Twinkies and myself while he chatted. I listened to some music, but was quickly bored of it. 2) I also realized at mile 6 that I could feel my IT Band. It didn’t hurt, but it was letting me know it was there and sensitive. I think it got into my head because I became very aware of it over the next few miles. Our first major milestone was at Government Creek, mile 9.1. By 'milestone', I mean it was a turn in the road with a dry riverbed next to it. I believe our split time at this point was around 1:26:00. Matt had caught back up and my iPod was turned off. It would be all conversation from here on out. We were leap-frogging with several runners, most of who were running the full 100 miles. We found out later that many of the 50 milers had started early, around 6am. While we weren’t crewed at this point, we did yell out our split time and continued on. At mile 12 we stopped for a bit longer to get a bite to eat and make sure that we were staying on top of our salts and electrolytes. Running past mile 12, out into the desert.

Mile 10, past Government Creek

During the next four miles until we got to our next crew stop and major milestone (Simpson Springs) we would encounter a long, gradual hill, and my ITB would start acting up a bit more. It was at Simpson Springs that I started to get a little worried and started into one of my two low points of the race. I was working hard to keep my spirits up, but I was worried all the same. A long downhill took it’s toll on my knee and by the time we hit mile 20 I was in severe pain in my right knee. We decided to take a longer break at this point, sit down, and enjoy some food and drink. It was hard to get back up. Standing on the road at mile 20, Riverbed Station.

Riverbed Station - Mile 20

Over the next 10 miles I would wage this small war in my head about how far I thought I could actually run. I thought maybe I would just finish a marathon distance of 26.2 miles, but then my own desire to finish my Birthday Challenge won out and I settled on just getting to mile 37. Between miles 20 and 30 I focused very much on my stride, my cadence, and trying not to flex my right knee. This put a ton of pressure on my left leg as it was doing the majority of the work. We hit the marathon mark in 4:40:00. By mile 33.5 (Topaz Well) I had developed a working rhythm, but one that would only allow me to run for .75 miles and then we would have to walk the next .25. Step after step we continued this way. By mile 35 we started to pass some of the early starters and at mile 36 we finally caught up to a new friend and fastrunningblogger, Leslie. She threw out a big high five and we stopped to chat for a short minute. We passed a few others in the next mile and as we came to mile 37, there was my mom with arms out-stretched, waiting to give me a hug for completing my Birthday Challenge. Not to be daunted, we told her to drive ahead to the top of Dugway Pass, our steepest and tallest climb of the race, only a mile further. At the top of the pass we sat down again, ate, and spent almost 10 minutes recovering. This stop caused my ITB to freeze up. Unlike other crew stops, I didn’t have flat road to walk and stretch it out. The drop down from Dugway Pass to the Dugway Geode Beds is steep and consistent. Even walking caused searing pain. This would be a very low point for me in the race. We juggled walking and running for the next several miles. My mom attempted to crew us again at mile 41, only 3 miles further because she could see me limping and knew how much pain I was in. But we were down to single digits now and I wasn’t going to quit. I think my ITB got the hint because after we had a proper, yet very short stop, at mile 42 I got back into my run/walk rhythm and when we hit the 10k mark to go Matt and I were as jovial as could be. We were joking with other crews and having very positive conversations. We met Crockett as he was heading back towards the start/finish at mile 47. He had positive words for us and looked good himself. Matt's wife made us Triple Chocolate Cheesecake for mile 43. It's an inside joke.

Dugway Pass - Mile 38

Mile 45 - Matt's wife made us cheese cake

We passed our last major milestone at mile 48.8, Blackrock Station. The relay team had already finished and had returned set up a tarp and food station. They were in full-on party mode. Just one more mile to go and Matt and I started to speed up a little. With 100 meters to go we increased the pace down to a 9 min/mile and finished with arms raised. A short stop for hugs with my mom and Ann Watts (she was crewing her husband Matt and someone we saw throughout the whole race) and a few photos and it was back to pick up Phil Lowry and we were headed back to the starting line. Sprinting to the finish.

Crossing the finish line

It was an amazing race. To think that my previous long run was only 31 miles and Matt's was only 28 is amazing. I have to thank Matt for literally carrying me emotionally for about 10 of the 50 miles. Without him I would not have finished. It was great to see Smooth again and to meet Leslie and others. Davy puts on a great race and it was a TON OF FUN. I can’t wait to do it again next year. Now it’s time to heal and start to rebuild. A celebratory handshake at the finish line, which was just a Children at Play sign placed along the road at mile 50.

50 Miles - Complete