25 miles on Antelope

Went out and ran on Antelope Island yesterday. Must have been nearly 100 runners out on the Island! There were people everywhere. I ended up running with a new group comprised of Craig, Dan, Matt, Kelli, and Scott. We also ran sections with the likes of Shane Martin, Eric Manning, and even Mr Antelope himself, Jim Skaggs.

Weather was perfect, company was great, trails were immaculate, and the 25 miles comprising of the 25k course, elephant head, and the northern campground loop, were awesome. It was great seeing so many people out on the island. Talked lots of shoes and running form. The Lone Peaks continue to impress as I have over 500 miles on my pair and they are still great to run in! More detailed report of the run check out Craig's Blog.

Here's some pictures of the run that I poached:

Winter Run

I have been pleasantly surprised to have my best week of running so far this year. Four runs for 48 miles, topped by a 13 mile 3 1/2 hour snowshoe journey this morning. Decided that I would embrace this late snowstorm and pull the snowshoes back out. Ended up having a great run with friend Ben Corrales.

On a separate note, in the back of my head I had been thinking about doing Leadville 100. Turns out that they capped the race to 750 entrants, and it's FULL already. Crazy. Sounds like I waited too long to run Leadville and in the future it's going to be a year plan ahead. What really frustrates me about this is the finishing rate at Leadville. It's 50%. There are no qualifications to run the race so it's filled with unprepared non-ultrarunners. Now I'm all about expanding the sport but running such a race is an earned privilege yet the spots are being taken by people who likely are under prepared and won't finish. This never was a problem before because there never was a cap. Now that it's capped, it should be filled with people who are prepared. I propose that you must finish a 50 miler to even be considered to run Leadville.

Anyway, there is my little vent. Feeling good about this week though. Felt strong and ran well. Never let the weather change your running plans...

For the Love of Running...

As I was having a perfect run yesterday up Rock Canyon in 2 inches of fresh snow, my mind was brought back to a humbling experience nearly 12 years ago. It was when I realized that regardless of winning or losing, fast or slow, up or down...that I loved to run.

I had just finished my senior season of cross country. My state meet had ended in awful fashion. Having tripped on a hairpin turn hitting my head and presumably getting a concussion I was in an emotional state. I hardly remember the second half of the race and barely stumbled to the finish. I was venting to my coach about my misfortune and getting beat by kids that never would have otherwise beat me. He only had one thing to say and as I was running on the beautiful trails yesterday it entered my memory as clearly as the day it happened. He simply told me:

"You have something better than this race, you have developed a love of running that will stick with you the rest of your life."

Despite my highs and lows, runs like yesterday remind me that despite everything else, I love to run!

Kahtoola Snowshoe Marathon '11

I decided to take a bit of a challenge to start off 2011. Having run the 25k for the last two years at the Kahtoola Bigfoot Snowshoe Festival I chose to go to the next level. The marathon consists of three 10k groomed loops through the golf course with an additional 2k (1.2 mile loop) during the middle 10k, as well as two steep mountain 5k loops. Total elevation gained is about 5,000 ft....in snowshoes. A good challenge.

The temps were a bit milder this year which was nice and as we started out I had little expectations. Having only been putting in 25-30 mile weeks I was not in the best shape for such a race. Bob, from S. Dakota, was a little different. He was running the 50k and had been training like a mad man for the event. As I was talking to him on the first lap I realized that this proud owner of 8 pairs of snowshoes was legit. The course conditions were very fast this year. We clocked our first 10k in under 52 minutes. (would have been the 10k course record prior to this year)

The 5k mtn loop we chewed up easily in 36 minutes. I started the second 10k loop strong. Bob was still moving well and then as I did the extra 2k loop he was gone and I was alone. I knew that both of us had our races won at this point. Finishing my 3rd loop my time was 2:34. I had run 27k 11 minutes faster then I had run the same 25k last year! Fast....too fast. As I started up the 5k mtn loop I purposely held back trying to save some energy for that last 10k loop. I ran the loop in 50 minutes.

I was at mile 20 with 6.2 miles to go. It was tough. The last 2.5 miles are all downhill but getting to the top was a struggle. My legs were so heavy, my quads and calves were cramping but I pushed it in to win the marathon in 4 hrs 41 minutes. Challenge accomplished.

Those first two laps were too fast but overall I ran well ate well and frankly had a great time. Miles 21-24 were really tough but it comes with the territory. I have yet to get a blister in myAltra Lone Peaks!! I've put at least 500 miles in them and they are bomb proof! The loop thing isn't all that bad. I typically shy away from such courses but having my drop bag there with everything I needed was quite nice. I'm not sure of the total number of participants but there seemed to be a great group of people out and about. Very fun festival and having run 3 different events over 4 consecutive years, I'll be back next year!

Results here.

Fun little video about the marathon made by Randall Davis

Winter Running

I had two great runs this weekend. I really enjoy winter running. There is little pressure to put the miles in, just relaxing runs. I've been doing a lot of miles on snowmobile paths with my Kahtoola Microspikes. It's been great.

Saturday however I decided to do the Kahtoola snowshoe marathon on Jan 29th so I buckled up my snowshoes and ran the Days Canyon to Kirkmans Hollow loop I did a few week earlier. Instead of 5 1/2 hrs it took me 2:47. The conditions were perfect with the paths already packed down and I had a great time. The only disconcerting part was the amount of cougar tracks I came across. In two spots along the route were not a set of tracks but 8-10 tracks criss-crossing the area. Definitely cougar terrain. Felt good and am hoping to hold up for the whole 26.2 miles in a few weeks.

Martin Luther King Day I ran south BoSho. With temps near 50 it was a slush fest but all fun as I was able to get another 2 hours out on the trail. I've only found two problems with winter running neither of which affected this past weekends runs. 1st-Lack of daylight. Since it's only light 8-9 hours of the day, getting a run during working daylight hours can be tough. 2nd- Late winter slush. It's great but I have this issue of following the slush through the whole spring as I attempt to run the high trails. During winter it's fine but by May I'm tired of it, yet I'm never content running the low trails all spring. Come April-May I'm anxiously attempting the high country a bit too early and end up post-holing through May and into June.

It comes with the territory though and my affinity for the mtns calls regardless of the temps or conditions. One of the allures of trail running though is the various conditions one finds. I've had 3 races in which it snowed during the race...and those races define my ultra experience becoming icons of the sport. However I'll complain about the snow until it gets too hot....man I hate the heat....:)

Days Canyon Loop

Ended 2010 with a bang! A group of us met at Jolley's Ranch up the Right Fork of Hobble Creek and headed up the canyon. We ended up going up Days Canyon and down Kirkmans Hollow for a cruel yet incredible loop. The person in front could usually only last 5-6 minutes due to the exorbitant amount of powder. The whole loop is packed down now which I hope is the case for the remainder of the winter. It took us 5 1/2 hours but it was great. I think I can do in 3 hours now that it is packed down. So far all this snow hasn't been too bad!