Sunday - Didn't do squat running wise. I did do a lot of stuff around the house and yard. That did help as far as keeping things loosened up.
Monday - I actually didn't feel too bad. I was barely sore, the legs didn't feel too tired. I thought "what the heck" and went for a run with Karen. Yeah, big mistake. We walked over to the trail north of Rainbow Gardens. I ran about 50 yards up the trail and decided that running wasn't going to happen. The legs weren't too bad, it was my chest. It felt like the muscles were really tired. Anyway, we actually hiked up to the canal road, then back down. That wasn't too bad. Miles - 1.6
Tuesday - Yep, took the day off. Figured I needed a little more rest.
Wednesday - Actually went out for about five miles. The legs weren't sore at all but were still a little tired. It felt good to get out for a few even if I was still tired. Miles - 5.0
Thursday - Yep, took another day off.
Friday - Went on one of my favorite runs, 22nd street south for about 3.5 miles then turn around and come back. The legs were still a little tired, but other than that, I felt really good. I was able to actually push the pace some. Miles - 7.0
Total miles for the week - 13.6
Restaurant review time -
So we went to a Thai restaurant Friday. We've been to Aroy-d before and the food was very good. For some reason, Thai sounded good again. We were really surprised at how busy it was. Seems as though word is getting out.
Anyway, I had a salmon dish with a red curry sauce that was excellent. Just the right amount of spice to warm things up. It was mixed with green beans, bell peppers, and brocolli. Good stuff. I don't remember what Karen had, but she really enjoyed it as well. I've had their Pad thai before and that was very good as well. If you want some decent Thai in the Ogden area, this is the place to go. Reasonably priced and they serve beer and wine.
Friday, May 11, 2012
Friday, May 4, 2012
Week of April 22nd plus Salt Flats 100 Race Report (with pictures and graphics!!)
Sunday - Had big plans to go out for a last kind-of-long run. Ended up not doing that at all. Instead we got a bunch more stuff cleaned and done around the house, then Karen and I went for our first horsey ride of the year. We took the horses up the North Ogden Divide trail for about two miles. Talk about out of shape horses. Dustin (my horse) is such an out of shape fat pig that after half a mile he was breathing hard. Both of them were sweating good by the time we turned around and came back down the canyon. Of course the day was warm too. After we got back down we turned them loose in the North Ogden horse arena and they started running around. Sandbaggers! Next time we go to the top of the pass.
Monday - Did a run by myself from Rainbow to the canal road and back. Just kind of a nice run to stretch the legs for a few miles. Miles - 7.84
Tuesday - Went out for a few miles with the always lovely Mrs. Skaggs. We started at 22nd street and headed south. Once we got to Waterfall Canyon, we took the low trail back. Not a big fan of that trail. Miles - 4.66
Wednesday and Thursday - Didn't do squat. Thursday I drove out to Wendover. Now there's a garden spot if I ever saw one. The entire way it was windy and once I got out to the salt flats area it really got windy. There was enough salt and dirt blowing across the road that visibility was pretty bad, probably less than 1/4 mile. I was glad that it wasn't supposed to be like that on race day. It would have been a mess. Did the check in thing for the Salt Flats 100, then headed for the Rainbow Casino and Hotel for the night. I slept reasonably well too. Usually I don't before a 100.
Friday - Well, here goes, my Salt Flats 100 race report.
One of the little perks of being a race director is that occasionally I trade race entries with other race directors, so when Vince asked about a trade I jumped at the chance to give his Salt Flats 100 race a try. Since this would be the earliest I have ever tried a 100, I decided that I would make sure the training was as good as possible thru the winter. I went into this race with way more miles than I have ever had at this point in the year. My hope was that maybe I had it in me to get one more PR at 100 miles.
The race was definitely a low key affair, Vince was limiting entries to around 50-60. The cool thing was almost 10% of the starters were Speedgoats. Scott, Cory, Tom, and myself were all running. Not a bad showing for a early season race.
One of the things that attracted me to this race was that I knew it would an extremely remote event. Other than having the start within sight of I-80, there wasn't going to be much civilization around. A lot of people were telling me how boring this race would be. I didn't find it boring, but at times it was rather monotonous.
If you're not familiar with the Utah Salt Flats, it's where the Bonneville Speedway is. Every year they have Speed Week, where people from all over the world come to see how fast their vehicles will go. Vince bills this race as the slowest event held on the speedway.
Anyway, race morning I got up, checked out, hit the McDonald's for breakfast and drove out to the speedway. It was a bit chilly, low 40's and breezy. I knew that we would warm up once the race started.
Right at 7am, Vince sent us off. For the first 10 miles, we ran on salt, flat, white salt, salt as far as you could see (kind of), salt six feet thick. The only way we knew where to go was the tire tracks and the occasional stake.
So at 10 miles we get to the first aid station. It looked like this.
After the first aid station we ran six more miles on salt, then mud flats. It did get a little sticky in the mud from the rain the night before, but it wasn't too bad.
After the second aid station (16.0 miles), we ran across a gravel "causeway" to the first of three "islands" that we would be running on.
Once on the island, we ran for a few miles to the third aid station. This marked the beginning of our first major climb of the day. That climb gained about 1000' over 3-4 miles, so nothing really hard. Parts of it were runnable. At the top of the climb was aid station 4. Once again just a car and a card table. The next section was some really nice downhill running, followed by a few miles of flat.
It was at this section where you began to realize just how remote you were. Other than the dirt road, there was no sign of civilization as far as you could see.
Aid station 5 was the one aid station that we would see twice. Davy Crockett was in charge here and was his usual self, putting a skeleton just outside the aid station complete with running apparel and a Garmin on. After this aid station we began a 19 mile loop By now, the field was pretty scattered. There were long stretches where I couldn't see anyone ahead or behind me. For the next 10 miles, I was by myself, I could see a couple of runners about 1/2 mile ahead, but there was no one behind. We had another shorter climb during this section that ended with another aid station at the top. Leaving this aid station brought runners to what I thought was the most challenging part of the course. Six mile of featureless mud flat.
Keep the island on your left, and the mud flat on your right and go from flag to flag. It seemed to go on forever. All you could do was put your head down, the mind in neutral, and run. There was a pretty good breeze blowing across the flat at this point, which didn't help matters any. Needless to say, I was glad to finally get back on some sort of dirt trail/road with a little vegetation around it.
After getting back to Davy's aid station, we had about five miles of dirt road running. I found it interesting that a lot of the roads out here were well maintained gravel roads and were marked as scenic backroads. Who knew? Aid station #8 appeared out of no where and after a stop, disappeared into no where.
I finally met up with Aric, my first pacer, at aid station #9 (61.7 miles). Up to this point I was doing reasonably well time wise. I had managed to run about 12:42 for a 100K distance. A little slower than I wanted, but I was doing ok.
Aric and I headed out across the island to the next aid station, about six miles away. We got there about dark and I was pleasantly surprised to see Carolyn Luckett. She paced me last year at Leadville and was a welcome face here. We had a nice chat for a few minutes, then Aric and I took off. I found I had cell service, so I gave Karen a call to let her know how I was doing. Now we had another climb back to the other side of the island and down a road to the next aid station. Once again, this one was a tent, fire, a card table and that was about it. I guess with only 50 runners, things don't need to be too elaborate.
Monday - Did a run by myself from Rainbow to the canal road and back. Just kind of a nice run to stretch the legs for a few miles. Miles - 7.84
Tuesday - Went out for a few miles with the always lovely Mrs. Skaggs. We started at 22nd street and headed south. Once we got to Waterfall Canyon, we took the low trail back. Not a big fan of that trail. Miles - 4.66
Wednesday and Thursday - Didn't do squat. Thursday I drove out to Wendover. Now there's a garden spot if I ever saw one. The entire way it was windy and once I got out to the salt flats area it really got windy. There was enough salt and dirt blowing across the road that visibility was pretty bad, probably less than 1/4 mile. I was glad that it wasn't supposed to be like that on race day. It would have been a mess. Did the check in thing for the Salt Flats 100, then headed for the Rainbow Casino and Hotel for the night. I slept reasonably well too. Usually I don't before a 100.
Friday - Well, here goes, my Salt Flats 100 race report.
One of the little perks of being a race director is that occasionally I trade race entries with other race directors, so when Vince asked about a trade I jumped at the chance to give his Salt Flats 100 race a try. Since this would be the earliest I have ever tried a 100, I decided that I would make sure the training was as good as possible thru the winter. I went into this race with way more miles than I have ever had at this point in the year. My hope was that maybe I had it in me to get one more PR at 100 miles.
The race was definitely a low key affair, Vince was limiting entries to around 50-60. The cool thing was almost 10% of the starters were Speedgoats. Scott, Cory, Tom, and myself were all running. Not a bad showing for a early season race.
One of the things that attracted me to this race was that I knew it would an extremely remote event. Other than having the start within sight of I-80, there wasn't going to be much civilization around. A lot of people were telling me how boring this race would be. I didn't find it boring, but at times it was rather monotonous.
If you're not familiar with the Utah Salt Flats, it's where the Bonneville Speedway is. Every year they have Speed Week, where people from all over the world come to see how fast their vehicles will go. Vince bills this race as the slowest event held on the speedway.
Anyway, race morning I got up, checked out, hit the McDonald's for breakfast and drove out to the speedway. It was a bit chilly, low 40's and breezy. I knew that we would warm up once the race started.
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| Gathering of the runners credit Michael Lebowitz/Long Run Pictures |
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| Running on salt photo credit Michael Lebowitz/Long Run Pictures |
So at 10 miles we get to the first aid station. It looked like this.
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| Aid station #1 photo credit Michael Lebowitz/Long Run Pictures |
After the first aid station we ran six more miles on salt, then mud flats. It did get a little sticky in the mud from the rain the night before, but it wasn't too bad.
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| More running on the salt photo credit Jim Skaggs |
After the second aid station (16.0 miles), we ran across a gravel "causeway" to the first of three "islands" that we would be running on.
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| Aid Station #2 photo creidt Jim Skaggs |
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| Aid station #3 22.6 miles photo credit Jim Skaggs |
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| Aid Station #4 photo credit Jim Skaggs |
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| Photo credit Jim Skaggs |
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| Aid station #5 and #7 photo credit Jim Skaggs |
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| Mud Flat Running photo credit Jim Skaggs |
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| Photo credit Jim Skaggs |
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| Aid station #8 photo credit Jim Skaggs |
I finally met up with Aric, my first pacer, at aid station #9 (61.7 miles). Up to this point I was doing reasonably well time wise. I had managed to run about 12:42 for a 100K distance. A little slower than I wanted, but I was doing ok.
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| Aid Station #9 with Aric photo credit Jim Skaggs |
Aric and I headed out across the island to the next aid station, about six miles away. We got there about dark and I was pleasantly surprised to see Carolyn Luckett. She paced me last year at Leadville and was a welcome face here. We had a nice chat for a few minutes, then Aric and I took off. I found I had cell service, so I gave Karen a call to let her know how I was doing. Now we had another climb back to the other side of the island and down a road to the next aid station. Once again, this one was a tent, fire, a card table and that was about it. I guess with only 50 runners, things don't need to be too elaborate.
After aid station #11, we headed south towards Wendover. Way off in the distance you could see I-80 and the vehicles on it. It must have been a good 20 miles away. As we got a little closer to civilization, we realized that we now had cell service, so Aric texted Breein, my next pacer, to have her car warmed up because I was getting cold. We also found out that Lori Burlison had driven all the way out from Ogden just to hang out and be a part of the race taking pictures.
I finally got there, sat in Breein's car for awhile, changed into dry, warmer clothes, ate a couple of hot dogs, and Breein and I took off.
From here, I knew that we had a long climb ahead of us, and it was long, and we got cold. It was just steep enough to not allow for running to generate some heat, and we had a slight breeze in our faces. I think the temp must have gotten down into the low 30's by the time we hit the aid station at 90 miles. Yay! Single digit miles left. This aid station was at the top of our climb, and once we started downt the other side, we were able to run (kind of). Within 5-10 minutes I had warmed up and was feeling not too bad, just tired.
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| The only time I dropped my pacer. Photo credit Michael Lebowitz |
As we descended, we could see the sun start to come up and by the time we got to the last aid station, it had risen, but it was still cold. Lori met us here, took some pics and let me sit in her car to warm up again. By now, I was down to the familiar death march and I still had five miles of flat paved road to trudge down.
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| Coming into the finish photo credit Michael Lebowitz |
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| Getting my buckle from Vince photo credit Michael Lebowitz |
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| Glad to be done photo credit Michael Lebowitz |
Aftermath - So my finish time was 25:38, I had hoped for something well under 24 hours, but it was not to be. How did I fuel? The usual, 1st Endurance Liquid Shot (the new Kona Mocha is pretty good) for about the first 70 miles, then some sort of real food after that (the two hotdogs at aid #12 were pretty good). I was surprised at how much water I drank given how cool it was, probably on the order of two gallons. No blisters, but I'll lose 2-3 toenails. I actually kind of kept track of my splits, so here they are. Missing data is from forgetting to hit the lap button on my watch. Time for the geeky Engineer in me to stand out.
Many thanks to my two pacers, Aric Manning and Breein Clark. You guys rock. I'll pay you back next week Aric.
| Aid station | Miles | Elapsed Time | Elapsed Pace | Lap Time | Lap Pace | Notes |
| Start | 0 | 0:00 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 1 | 10 | 1:37:00 | 09:42 | 1:37 | 09:42 | Flat |
| 2 | 16 | 2:35:00 | 09:41 | 0:58 | 09:40 | Flat |
| 3 | 22.6 | 3:48:00 | 10:05 | 1:13 | 11:04 | Flat |
| 4 | 25.5 | 4:34:00 | 10:45 | 0:46 | 15:52 | Long climb |
| 5 | 31.6 | 5:41:00 | 10:47 | 1:07 | 10:59 | Downhill and lfat |
| 6 | 40.9 | 7:40:00 | 11:15 | 1:59 | 12:48 | Rolling with climb |
| 7 | 50.4 | 9:57:00 | 11:51 | 2:17 | 14:25 | Steep down, mud flats |
| 8 | 57.4 | 11:41:00 | 12:13 | 1:44 | 14:51 | Flat, slightly rolling |
| 9 | 61.7 | 12:42:00 | 12:21 | 1:01 | 14:11 | |
| 10 | 67 | 14:25:00 | 12:55 | 1:43 | 19:26 | Climb followed by descent |
| 11 | 74.3 | |||||
| 12 | 80.6 | 18:30:00 | 13:46 | 4:05 | 18:01 | Climb, descent, gradual climb |
| 13 | 89.6 | 21:48:00 | 14:36 | 3:18 | 22:00 | Long climb |
| 14 | 95 | |||||
| Finish | 100 | 25:38:00 | 15:23 | 3:50 | 22:07 | Downhill followed by flat |
Monday, April 23, 2012
Week of April 15th and Restraunt 1107 review
Sunday - Did some hiking along the south rim of the Grand Canyon with the others. Generally spent the day playing tourist and having fun doing that. Miles - 2.5
Monday - Spent the day driving home from the Grand Canyon. Sat on my butt for almost 10 hours, ugh!
Tuesday - Did a run north from Rainbow with Sharon. We went to the Polk Trail turn off and came back. Nice and easy. Felt good to get back out. I noticed that my legs weren't sore at all. Maybe a little tired, but the run didn't present a lot of effort. Went for my Pilates class after. Either the class is getting a little easier or I'm slacking, but it doesn't seem to take nearly the same effort as it did three weeks ago. Miles - 6.2
Wednesday - Took the day off. Tapering for Salt Flats in a week and a half.
Thursday - Went to 22nd street and ran up to inspiration point, then headed back to the trailhead to meet Karen for a run. We got in another few miles by running over to Waterfall canyon, then down to the lower trails and back. Nice little run. Miles - 7.25
Friday - Took the day off again
Saturday - Helped out with the Gib Wallace Trail 10K. Directed runners at one intersection, then went out on the course after to clear course markings. Miles - 5.84
Restraunt 1107 - This is a fairly new restraunt on the 11th floor of the Ben Lomond Hotel. I think it's been open a month or so. We heard about it from some friends who had gone there and thought it was pretty good. I think we were expecting it to be a bit more crowded than it was. We were immediately seated by a window overlooking Ogden, and just as the sun was setting. Very nice. Their menu selection is somewhat limited, only abut a dozen main dishes are listed. I got the chicken fusilli and Karen got the chicken catcitore. Mine was quite good, small pieces of grilled chicken sun dried tomatoes, broccoli, onions, all tossed with some olive oil and spiral pasta. Plenty hot too. Sometimes when you order a pasta dish, it's not as warm as it could be, maybe pasta cools off quickly. This was fresh out of the kitchen hot. The salad was a field greens with blue cheese, also quite good. Karen said she enjoyed hers as well. Service was good. One thing I kind of have a pet peeve about, especially in a higher end place is when the wait staff says "you guys", as in "how are you guys doing?". First, it's a low class move in a high class place, second, my wife is not a guy, far from it. So if any wait staff are reading, how about "how are you folks doing?" instead. It's a little more formal and doesn't call my wife a guy. Still, we'd go back, the food was good and it's a little something different than the usual Ogden fare.
Monday - Spent the day driving home from the Grand Canyon. Sat on my butt for almost 10 hours, ugh!
Tuesday - Did a run north from Rainbow with Sharon. We went to the Polk Trail turn off and came back. Nice and easy. Felt good to get back out. I noticed that my legs weren't sore at all. Maybe a little tired, but the run didn't present a lot of effort. Went for my Pilates class after. Either the class is getting a little easier or I'm slacking, but it doesn't seem to take nearly the same effort as it did three weeks ago. Miles - 6.2
Wednesday - Took the day off. Tapering for Salt Flats in a week and a half.
Thursday - Went to 22nd street and ran up to inspiration point, then headed back to the trailhead to meet Karen for a run. We got in another few miles by running over to Waterfall canyon, then down to the lower trails and back. Nice little run. Miles - 7.25
Friday - Took the day off again
Saturday - Helped out with the Gib Wallace Trail 10K. Directed runners at one intersection, then went out on the course after to clear course markings. Miles - 5.84
Restraunt 1107 - This is a fairly new restraunt on the 11th floor of the Ben Lomond Hotel. I think it's been open a month or so. We heard about it from some friends who had gone there and thought it was pretty good. I think we were expecting it to be a bit more crowded than it was. We were immediately seated by a window overlooking Ogden, and just as the sun was setting. Very nice. Their menu selection is somewhat limited, only abut a dozen main dishes are listed. I got the chicken fusilli and Karen got the chicken catcitore. Mine was quite good, small pieces of grilled chicken sun dried tomatoes, broccoli, onions, all tossed with some olive oil and spiral pasta. Plenty hot too. Sometimes when you order a pasta dish, it's not as warm as it could be, maybe pasta cools off quickly. This was fresh out of the kitchen hot. The salad was a field greens with blue cheese, also quite good. Karen said she enjoyed hers as well. Service was good. One thing I kind of have a pet peeve about, especially in a higher end place is when the wait staff says "you guys", as in "how are you guys doing?". First, it's a low class move in a high class place, second, my wife is not a guy, far from it. So if any wait staff are reading, how about "how are you folks doing?" instead. It's a little more formal and doesn't call my wife a guy. Still, we'd go back, the food was good and it's a little something different than the usual Ogden fare.
Week of April 8th
Sunday - Didn't do squat. Had plans to run a few but ended up getting a mess load of yard work done now that spring is here. Felt good to get that stuff done.
Monday - Double day for me. Did some intervals at lunch, 4 x .5, plus a little extra, then went out for a few miles going north from Rainbow. I was kind of surprised there weren't more people out, especially mtb'rs. It was a pretty nice day. Miles - 10.5
Tuesday - Another double day. Went out for an easy 5 at lunch. Nice warm day, little breezy though. Did another 4.2 with Karen after work. Went to Pilates again. Miles - 9.2
Wednesday thru Friday - Didn't do squat except drive to the Grand Canyon on Friday.
Saturday - Ran the Grand Canyon for the 5th time. This time things were a little different. Usually there is gorgeous weather for the run. All week the weather forecast had been pretty ominous, snow, rain, cold. We drove the truck down since my car really sucks on icy snowy roads. Turns out we didn't need to. The roads were fine going down an coming back. Still, when everyone met in our room at 5am before starting down, it was snowing, the wind was blowing and the temp was about 28 degrees. There was about 2 inches of the white stuff ont he ground. Nothing like a little winter run in April. I knew that once we started down, the wind would ease up and the snow would go away, but I figured it would turn to rain. I figured that the snow level was around 6000' and once we got below that, the trails would be clear. Well, they were pretty much clear, but muddy. By the time we got to Indian Garden, the snow and rain had stopped. The temp was about 38 and we were doing just fine. At the river, the weather was actually not too bad. Probably in the upper 40's and cloudy. The further we headed up the North Kiabab trail, the more we could see that the north rim was completely socked in. As we climbed up from the caretaker house, the wind picked up and the snow started again. Several of us who had been to the north rim before elected to turn around at the bridge that's about 3 miles from the top. There was about 4 inches on the ground and it was cold, plus we figured that there weren't going to be any good views that day. The kind of cool thing about this year's run was that there were very few others doing a R2R2R. We counted six others and that was it. Needless to say, the trails were kind of empty. Anyway, we got back to the ranch, took a short break and headed back up the south rim. I had plans to see how fast I could go up Bright Angel tral to the top. Last year I did it in about 3:15, so that was the time to beat. It did rain on us pretty good for about 20 minutes as we came up thru devil's corkscrew, but after that, the weather was fine until near the top. I did well on the climb to Indian Garden. Felt good and going strong, actually running portions of it. Then I hit the steeper part after Indian Garden and that's when the wheels kind of came off. I slowed way down, but still wasn't doing too bad. We could see that teh south rim was still socked in with bad weather, and sure enough, about 2 miles from the top we were in snow again. One of the highlights was a herd of mule deer right on the trail that styed just in front of us. We could get within 30-40 feet and they would walk on down the trail. Very cool. As I got within about 1/2 mile from the top, the wind picked up. By the time I got to the top, it was blowing hard and snowing hard. Good thing our room was only about 100 yards from the trail head. I did manage to go from the ranch to the top in about 3:30, so not too bad. I did kind of bonk for the last three miles.
The next day was gorgeous, sunny, cool. We should have done the run that day. Oh well, we all had a great time. Several people that had never made the run managed to make it to the north rim (shin deep snow). I managed to get in 41.5 miles. So not a bad day or weekend. Time to go into a taper for Salt Flats.
Total for the week - 61.2 Total vert was probably around 17,000'
Restraunt review time - So while at the Grand Canyon, we obviously ate at the restraunts there. Friday dinner and Sunday breakfast were at the Bright Angel cafe. The food wasn't too bad. I don't remember what I had for dinner, but for breakfast I had one of their skillets. Couple of eggs on top of hash browns, bacon. Just the thing to have after an epic run the day before. Saturday dinner was at the Maswick Lodge cafeteria for pizza and beer. Pizza didn't really sound appealing to me, so I pretty much drank my dinner, OJ, chocolate milk, beer. I was good with that. Sunday dinner was at the Arizona Room. Karen and I had the rib eye steaks and I've had better. For a rib eye, there was way too much fat on this hunk of meat. It was cooked properly (medium rare) but the steak was still tougher than it should have been. Karen's was much the same. Others had good luck with thier steaks. Still, for the price I should have gone with the filet.
Monday - Double day for me. Did some intervals at lunch, 4 x .5, plus a little extra, then went out for a few miles going north from Rainbow. I was kind of surprised there weren't more people out, especially mtb'rs. It was a pretty nice day. Miles - 10.5
Tuesday - Another double day. Went out for an easy 5 at lunch. Nice warm day, little breezy though. Did another 4.2 with Karen after work. Went to Pilates again. Miles - 9.2
Wednesday thru Friday - Didn't do squat except drive to the Grand Canyon on Friday.
Saturday - Ran the Grand Canyon for the 5th time. This time things were a little different. Usually there is gorgeous weather for the run. All week the weather forecast had been pretty ominous, snow, rain, cold. We drove the truck down since my car really sucks on icy snowy roads. Turns out we didn't need to. The roads were fine going down an coming back. Still, when everyone met in our room at 5am before starting down, it was snowing, the wind was blowing and the temp was about 28 degrees. There was about 2 inches of the white stuff ont he ground. Nothing like a little winter run in April. I knew that once we started down, the wind would ease up and the snow would go away, but I figured it would turn to rain. I figured that the snow level was around 6000' and once we got below that, the trails would be clear. Well, they were pretty much clear, but muddy. By the time we got to Indian Garden, the snow and rain had stopped. The temp was about 38 and we were doing just fine. At the river, the weather was actually not too bad. Probably in the upper 40's and cloudy. The further we headed up the North Kiabab trail, the more we could see that the north rim was completely socked in. As we climbed up from the caretaker house, the wind picked up and the snow started again. Several of us who had been to the north rim before elected to turn around at the bridge that's about 3 miles from the top. There was about 4 inches on the ground and it was cold, plus we figured that there weren't going to be any good views that day. The kind of cool thing about this year's run was that there were very few others doing a R2R2R. We counted six others and that was it. Needless to say, the trails were kind of empty. Anyway, we got back to the ranch, took a short break and headed back up the south rim. I had plans to see how fast I could go up Bright Angel tral to the top. Last year I did it in about 3:15, so that was the time to beat. It did rain on us pretty good for about 20 minutes as we came up thru devil's corkscrew, but after that, the weather was fine until near the top. I did well on the climb to Indian Garden. Felt good and going strong, actually running portions of it. Then I hit the steeper part after Indian Garden and that's when the wheels kind of came off. I slowed way down, but still wasn't doing too bad. We could see that teh south rim was still socked in with bad weather, and sure enough, about 2 miles from the top we were in snow again. One of the highlights was a herd of mule deer right on the trail that styed just in front of us. We could get within 30-40 feet and they would walk on down the trail. Very cool. As I got within about 1/2 mile from the top, the wind picked up. By the time I got to the top, it was blowing hard and snowing hard. Good thing our room was only about 100 yards from the trail head. I did manage to go from the ranch to the top in about 3:30, so not too bad. I did kind of bonk for the last three miles.
The next day was gorgeous, sunny, cool. We should have done the run that day. Oh well, we all had a great time. Several people that had never made the run managed to make it to the north rim (shin deep snow). I managed to get in 41.5 miles. So not a bad day or weekend. Time to go into a taper for Salt Flats.
Total for the week - 61.2 Total vert was probably around 17,000'
Restraunt review time - So while at the Grand Canyon, we obviously ate at the restraunts there. Friday dinner and Sunday breakfast were at the Bright Angel cafe. The food wasn't too bad. I don't remember what I had for dinner, but for breakfast I had one of their skillets. Couple of eggs on top of hash browns, bacon. Just the thing to have after an epic run the day before. Saturday dinner was at the Maswick Lodge cafeteria for pizza and beer. Pizza didn't really sound appealing to me, so I pretty much drank my dinner, OJ, chocolate milk, beer. I was good with that. Sunday dinner was at the Arizona Room. Karen and I had the rib eye steaks and I've had better. For a rib eye, there was way too much fat on this hunk of meat. It was cooked properly (medium rare) but the steak was still tougher than it should have been. Karen's was much the same. Others had good luck with thier steaks. Still, for the price I should have gone with the filet.
Monday, April 9, 2012
Week of April 1, back at it
So, now that the 2012 edition of the Buffalo Run is over, time to get back with the training and writing down useless drivel for people to read when they have nothing better to do.
The Buffalo Run went really well I thought. Much better than last year's edition. There were roughly the same number of runners, although it was distributed a little differently. Roughly 710 showed up to run one of the four distances available.
This year I had the luxury of having the McKay-Dee Hospital Sports Medicine Team as my medical providers. There were doctors, nurses, sports trainers all in attendance. And they even had a crew out for Friday night while the 100 mile runners were running. It was also the warmest Buffalo Run ever. Major heat was the order of the day Saturday with temps hitting the mid 70's and sunny. We went thru about 150 more gallons of water than I thought we would, as well as about 250 lbs. of ice. There was plenty of buffalo stew for everyone and once again there were no leftovers. Once again, I was cleaned out of beer. That's a good thing. At least I got to have a couple of them.
Glitches? Yeah, there were a few that will need addressing for next year. The main one was the lack of enough people at the main gate for check in. At times the line got pretty long from what I understand. More people there and better organized for next year. The other little glitch was that a few people had a hard time finding drop bags. We got them back in time for the most part, but people had a hard time figuring out where they were. Next year I think we'll have a central roped off bag corral, attended by a volunteer. Good things? I rented a 40 x 60 canopy and it was worth every penny spent. It was awesome and beat the crap out of setting up my own canopies. Not sure I'm ever going to do that again. We had a new location for the start/finish. It meant an uphill finish for everyone, but it also meant we had much more room and didn't interfere with the day use folks.
So, on to the resumption of training. I did take the entire week of the race off. I had plans to run, but couldn't justify taking the time to so it when there's so much to do. Plus I didn't want to be up until midnight every night dealing with race stuff. I did run last week, but it was pretty sad. I caught a cold and it generally sucked. So I'll just start again with this week. I have two weeks left before I need to taper for Salt Flats. The plan is to hit it hard these two weeks, then start to rest and recover. We'll see how that goes.
Sunday - Had big plans to run 30 or so with Britta on the Bo Sho course. A driving snowstorm put an end to that after about 10 miles. We were all soaked and cold. Yeah, it sucked. Miles - 10.3
Monday - Just a one workout day. Ran Indian Trail from Rainbow with Breein and Shawn. Got a little cool as most of it is in the shade. Good news is, no snow. Generally took it easy but this run still gives you 3200'+ of vert in just under 10 miles, so my legs felt it. Miles - 9.84
Tuesday - Double workout day. My lunch run was a six mile tempo run on the bike path. Most of it was a sub 8 pace. The afternoon run was a nice and easy run with my lovely wife. We went about five miles going north from Rainbow. Saw some of the crew heading out as we were finishing. Tonight I also went to my first Pilates class. It was a men's class and it was tough. Who knew I was that unbalanced (not mentally, everyone already knows that). I survived and I'm actually going to do it again. It'll be nice to develop some upper body strength and better balance. Miles - 11.17
Wednesday - Now I'm really felling the aftereffects of the Pilates class. My upper body is sore, not terribly so, but noticeable. Went out for what I thought would be an easy 8 or 9 miles. At the turn I met up with Breein's husband Jared and a friend. I followed along behind and they worked me as I tried to keep up. Ended up falling further and further behind, but got a good hard run in anyway. Miles - 11.7
Thursday - Another double day. The lunch run was an easy 5.2. My legs are pretty tired from hitting the training hard. Need to keep it up though. After work I met with the crew and we made the trip from 22nd street up Malan's Peak. I was surprised at how much snow was still on the trail. Made for some slippery conditions as I wore my Quantums and the traction in those things suck unless the trail is dry. It was a little chilly as well. Miles - 10.9
Friday - Woke up to it snowing outside. By the time I got done feeding critters and heading to work, there was almost an inch on the ground. I need to put in a few miles today just to get the mileage up for the week. Was planning on heading out at lunch, but decided against it. Then, after work I called my lovely wife and asked if she wanted to go out for a run after work. Sure, so we went to Rainbow andheaded north on the trail. When we got up to the canal road we looked at each other and decided it just wasn't happening today. We did manage to get a couple of miles in, but then headed out for dinner at our favorite Indian restaurant. That was a much better idea. Miles 2.0
Saturday - Went to Smokey Bear (Indian Trail trailhead) with Britta to go out for around 20 miles. The plan was to run from Smokey Bear, over Indian Trail, on to the BST, and down to Beus Canyon, then turn around. The day was gorgeous. We met the HUMR crew as they were coming down to Smokey Bear. They were doing a Rainbow, Smokey Bear, Malans trip. Well, not thinking about the previous day's snow, I wore my Quantums. Wrong choice for this run. Indian Trail was treacherous going out and very treacherous coming back. I couldn't get any traction at all on the snow. I must have gone down at least 6-8 times just on the way back over Indian. There were times when Britta had to basically push me up the trail. I felt like an idiot. Other than that, it was a great run. Got my miles in and all was right with the world. Miles - 19.0
I got in the miles I wanted for the week. I was looking for 70-80 and I managed. If I can get that next week, then I figure I'll be pretty well set for Salt Flats. Grand Canyon is next Saturday. Weather right now is looking kind of cool and possibly wet. That would be a change from previous years. Still, I'm looking forward to it.
Miles for the week - 74.91
The Buffalo Run went really well I thought. Much better than last year's edition. There were roughly the same number of runners, although it was distributed a little differently. Roughly 710 showed up to run one of the four distances available.
This year I had the luxury of having the McKay-Dee Hospital Sports Medicine Team as my medical providers. There were doctors, nurses, sports trainers all in attendance. And they even had a crew out for Friday night while the 100 mile runners were running. It was also the warmest Buffalo Run ever. Major heat was the order of the day Saturday with temps hitting the mid 70's and sunny. We went thru about 150 more gallons of water than I thought we would, as well as about 250 lbs. of ice. There was plenty of buffalo stew for everyone and once again there were no leftovers. Once again, I was cleaned out of beer. That's a good thing. At least I got to have a couple of them.
Glitches? Yeah, there were a few that will need addressing for next year. The main one was the lack of enough people at the main gate for check in. At times the line got pretty long from what I understand. More people there and better organized for next year. The other little glitch was that a few people had a hard time finding drop bags. We got them back in time for the most part, but people had a hard time figuring out where they were. Next year I think we'll have a central roped off bag corral, attended by a volunteer. Good things? I rented a 40 x 60 canopy and it was worth every penny spent. It was awesome and beat the crap out of setting up my own canopies. Not sure I'm ever going to do that again. We had a new location for the start/finish. It meant an uphill finish for everyone, but it also meant we had much more room and didn't interfere with the day use folks.
So, on to the resumption of training. I did take the entire week of the race off. I had plans to run, but couldn't justify taking the time to so it when there's so much to do. Plus I didn't want to be up until midnight every night dealing with race stuff. I did run last week, but it was pretty sad. I caught a cold and it generally sucked. So I'll just start again with this week. I have two weeks left before I need to taper for Salt Flats. The plan is to hit it hard these two weeks, then start to rest and recover. We'll see how that goes.
Sunday - Had big plans to run 30 or so with Britta on the Bo Sho course. A driving snowstorm put an end to that after about 10 miles. We were all soaked and cold. Yeah, it sucked. Miles - 10.3
Monday - Just a one workout day. Ran Indian Trail from Rainbow with Breein and Shawn. Got a little cool as most of it is in the shade. Good news is, no snow. Generally took it easy but this run still gives you 3200'+ of vert in just under 10 miles, so my legs felt it. Miles - 9.84
Tuesday - Double workout day. My lunch run was a six mile tempo run on the bike path. Most of it was a sub 8 pace. The afternoon run was a nice and easy run with my lovely wife. We went about five miles going north from Rainbow. Saw some of the crew heading out as we were finishing. Tonight I also went to my first Pilates class. It was a men's class and it was tough. Who knew I was that unbalanced (not mentally, everyone already knows that). I survived and I'm actually going to do it again. It'll be nice to develop some upper body strength and better balance. Miles - 11.17
Wednesday - Now I'm really felling the aftereffects of the Pilates class. My upper body is sore, not terribly so, but noticeable. Went out for what I thought would be an easy 8 or 9 miles. At the turn I met up with Breein's husband Jared and a friend. I followed along behind and they worked me as I tried to keep up. Ended up falling further and further behind, but got a good hard run in anyway. Miles - 11.7
Thursday - Another double day. The lunch run was an easy 5.2. My legs are pretty tired from hitting the training hard. Need to keep it up though. After work I met with the crew and we made the trip from 22nd street up Malan's Peak. I was surprised at how much snow was still on the trail. Made for some slippery conditions as I wore my Quantums and the traction in those things suck unless the trail is dry. It was a little chilly as well. Miles - 10.9
Friday - Woke up to it snowing outside. By the time I got done feeding critters and heading to work, there was almost an inch on the ground. I need to put in a few miles today just to get the mileage up for the week. Was planning on heading out at lunch, but decided against it. Then, after work I called my lovely wife and asked if she wanted to go out for a run after work. Sure, so we went to Rainbow andheaded north on the trail. When we got up to the canal road we looked at each other and decided it just wasn't happening today. We did manage to get a couple of miles in, but then headed out for dinner at our favorite Indian restaurant. That was a much better idea. Miles 2.0
Saturday - Went to Smokey Bear (Indian Trail trailhead) with Britta to go out for around 20 miles. The plan was to run from Smokey Bear, over Indian Trail, on to the BST, and down to Beus Canyon, then turn around. The day was gorgeous. We met the HUMR crew as they were coming down to Smokey Bear. They were doing a Rainbow, Smokey Bear, Malans trip. Well, not thinking about the previous day's snow, I wore my Quantums. Wrong choice for this run. Indian Trail was treacherous going out and very treacherous coming back. I couldn't get any traction at all on the snow. I must have gone down at least 6-8 times just on the way back over Indian. There were times when Britta had to basically push me up the trail. I felt like an idiot. Other than that, it was a great run. Got my miles in and all was right with the world. Miles - 19.0
I got in the miles I wanted for the week. I was looking for 70-80 and I managed. If I can get that next week, then I figure I'll be pretty well set for Salt Flats. Grand Canyon is next Saturday. Weather right now is looking kind of cool and possibly wet. That would be a change from previous years. Still, I'm looking forward to it.
Miles for the week - 74.91
Monday, March 12, 2012
Week of March 4th and Timbermine review
Sunday - Gorgeous day. I was going to take the day off after yesterday's 26 miles, but Karen wanted to go for a run. Who am I to turn down a chance to run with my wife? We headed north of Rainbow for about three miles then turned around. She didn't do too bad considering it's been a couple weeks since she last ran. The sun was out, the snow was starting to melt, and the visibility was easily 100+ miles. We could clearly see Pilot Peak in Nevada fro the high point on the trail. The run also gave me a chance to play with my nifty new GoPro Hero2 video camera. I managed to shoot some rather boring footage of us running along the trail. Still, knod of cool to watch later. Miles - 6.1
Monday - Did some speed work at lunch. It was a nice warm (relative) day, so I took advantage and ran outside at lunch. Did 6 x .5 repeats on the bike trail not too far from work. I hate speed work, but I need to keep it up. Did a little bit of a cool down after. Didn't get a run in after work. Instead I went to Walmart and spent money buying supplies for the Buffalo Run. Miles - 5.1
Tuesday - Did another outdoor lunchtime run. Weather was a little cooler. Ran a route that I used to run a lot a few years ago when I worked at ATK. Miles - 5.2
Wednesday - Was going to run at lunch, but passed. Was also going to hit the trail after work. It was pretty windy and cool, so I opted for the mill at home after work. Managed to get about five in, most of it at a sub 8 pace. Miles 5.0
Thursday - Ran to Striders at lunch to buy Karen a pair of Hokas. The run actually felt really good. I ran most of it at a sub 8 pace. The weather was a little cool and I wish I had brought my gloves. After work I met Forrest and Shawn at Rainbow and we did the usual route. I opted to turn around at the three mile point and go up a jeep trail I had never been up before. I got part way up and realized that if I kept going it would be dark before I got back and I didn't have my headlamp, so I turned around. I need to go up that road, maybe Sunday. Miles 13.65
Friday - Went out for a few miles with my lovely wife and couple of others. I made Karen turn back after two miles so that she would give her back a rest. The day was great, sunny and cool. Miles 6.1
Saturday - Headed out to the island for another run. Met up with Curtis and we cruised the 25K course. The weather was perfect for it. Sunny, cool enough to run, but not too cool. Saw lots of other runners out there. There must have been about 30 cars in the day use lot. Everyone trying to get those last few miles in before the Buffalo Run.
Restraunt review time - So this Friday Karen and I went to the Timbermine. It's a steak place near the dinosaur museum that we've been to once before. The decor is pretty cool. Lots of old knick knacks and such scattered all over the place, including a bathtub filled with Pez dispensers. After a 15 minute wait we were seated. Service was fast and friendly. Karen had the top sirloin and I had the bacon wrapped filet. We both ordered them medium, but mine was very much medium raw. I ended up sending it back for a few more minutes on the grill. Much better after that. Not a big fan of raw cow meat. Both of us enjoyed the steaks, alsthough we both agreed we've had better. The salads were ok. It seemed as though mine was a little on the old side. The lettuce could have been a little crisper. I know, picky, picky. For desert we split a mud pie. It was pretty good. Frozen and chocolaty. Yeah, we'll go back, but it's not our favorite place.
Monday - Did some speed work at lunch. It was a nice warm (relative) day, so I took advantage and ran outside at lunch. Did 6 x .5 repeats on the bike trail not too far from work. I hate speed work, but I need to keep it up. Did a little bit of a cool down after. Didn't get a run in after work. Instead I went to Walmart and spent money buying supplies for the Buffalo Run. Miles - 5.1
Tuesday - Did another outdoor lunchtime run. Weather was a little cooler. Ran a route that I used to run a lot a few years ago when I worked at ATK. Miles - 5.2
Wednesday - Was going to run at lunch, but passed. Was also going to hit the trail after work. It was pretty windy and cool, so I opted for the mill at home after work. Managed to get about five in, most of it at a sub 8 pace. Miles 5.0
Thursday - Ran to Striders at lunch to buy Karen a pair of Hokas. The run actually felt really good. I ran most of it at a sub 8 pace. The weather was a little cool and I wish I had brought my gloves. After work I met Forrest and Shawn at Rainbow and we did the usual route. I opted to turn around at the three mile point and go up a jeep trail I had never been up before. I got part way up and realized that if I kept going it would be dark before I got back and I didn't have my headlamp, so I turned around. I need to go up that road, maybe Sunday. Miles 13.65
Friday - Went out for a few miles with my lovely wife and couple of others. I made Karen turn back after two miles so that she would give her back a rest. The day was great, sunny and cool. Miles 6.1
Saturday - Headed out to the island for another run. Met up with Curtis and we cruised the 25K course. The weather was perfect for it. Sunny, cool enough to run, but not too cool. Saw lots of other runners out there. There must have been about 30 cars in the day use lot. Everyone trying to get those last few miles in before the Buffalo Run.
Restraunt review time - So this Friday Karen and I went to the Timbermine. It's a steak place near the dinosaur museum that we've been to once before. The decor is pretty cool. Lots of old knick knacks and such scattered all over the place, including a bathtub filled with Pez dispensers. After a 15 minute wait we were seated. Service was fast and friendly. Karen had the top sirloin and I had the bacon wrapped filet. We both ordered them medium, but mine was very much medium raw. I ended up sending it back for a few more minutes on the grill. Much better after that. Not a big fan of raw cow meat. Both of us enjoyed the steaks, alsthough we both agreed we've had better. The salads were ok. It seemed as though mine was a little on the old side. The lettuce could have been a little crisper. I know, picky, picky. For desert we split a mud pie. It was pretty good. Frozen and chocolaty. Yeah, we'll go back, but it's not our favorite place.
Saturday, March 3, 2012
Week of February 26th, running plus a restaurant review
Sunday - Went out to the island with Britta, Bj, and Curtis. Had planned on around 15-20, but I wasn't feeling the love. The other three ran ahead and I pretty much ran by myself kinda slow. It was a gorgeous day to be out there though. Sunny, no breeze, warm sun, cool air. Saw lots of other runners out there training for the Buffalo Run. Miles - 13.75
Monday - I was just going to hit the trail north from Rainbow, but Breein said something about speedwork and I thought "sure, why not". So she, Shawn and I met at Rainbow and ran up to the canal road. We figured we'd do about four 1/2 mile repeats along the road. Naturally, on the first one we all took off way too fast and by 1/8 mile we were ready to quit. The last three weren't too bad. I managed to hold a 6:22-6:25 pace for them. Needless to say, I was a little sore the next day, even though I've been doing speedwork pretty regular on the t-mill. It's a little different on the ground. Miles - 5.25
Tuesday - Met with the usual crew for our Tuesday run north of Rainbow. Went to the canal road and back. I just kind of took it easy. Miles - 7.75
Wednesday - Hit the gym for some mill work at lunch. Nothing spectacular. It started snowing ahrd just before I left for home, so Ithought I'd try a workout I saw in Scott Jaime's blog. He calls it a Kenyan cutdown. The premise is that you start with a two mile warmup, then set the mill at 7mph. Every .25 miles you bump the speed up by 0.1mph until you can't go any further, then cool down for a couple miles. Well, I did a one mile warmup at 6mph then set the mill for 7mph. Every .25 mile I bumped it 0.1mph. I got up to 8.6mph before I shut things down. I think I could have gone further. We'll see next time now that I know what it's like. It was tough and I'm definitely feeling it. Miles - 10.0
Thursday - Did the usual t-mill thing at lunch at the gym. Met with a few at Rainbow after work and went for about five. Snowed hard for a time, plus we were pushing thru about 4-5 inches of fresh snow. Not too bad. Actually kinda fun running in the snow. Miles - 9.0
Friday - Managed to get some t-mill miles in before work. I figure with the race this close, I can't really take time to run after work, so the plan is to get up at my regular time, well maybe a bit earlier, go feed critters like I do now then hit the mill before work. Unfortunately I wasn't able to get my usual lunchtime mill run in. Oh well. Miles 4.0
Saturday - The last official training run before the Buffalo Run was today. We had a great turnout. There must have been 40 people out on the island today. We ran the 25k course, threw in the Elephant Head trail, then ran over to and around the Lakeside trail. Great run. The weather wasn't too bad. A little cool once in awhile. Miles 26.0
Total miles for the week - 75.75 Not a bad week at all.
I'm going to try something a little different. Karen and I go out for dinner just about every Friday. It's our little date night and we've been doing it for years. We generally like to hit local restaurants instead of national chains. The food is usually better and not as generic. So, I think I'm going to try posting a review. Here it is.
Soul and Bones - Washington Ave. Ogden
They advertise as having bbq and cajun food. So we thought this could be interesting. We used to live in southern Arkansas in a small town, so we're pretty well aquainted with good southern cooking as well as some cajun food. We ordered the bbq catfish on flatbread as an appetizer. It was actually pretty good. Just the right amount of spice, nice crunch to the flat bread, plus they threw on some candied lime slices. Next came the entrees. Karen ordered the etoufee. This is a bed of rice with shrimp and such on top. She said it was pretty good, good flavor and not real spicy. I ordered the two meat and two side platter. For my meats I had their brisket and pulled chicken. For the sides I had their black-eyed peas and collard greens. I figured the greens would be a good indicator of how "southern" this food really was since we used to get them all the time when living in Arkansas. The brisket had good flavor, you could tell it was smoked rather than just cooked. The sauce was good as well. Authentic southern bbq? Hmm, not really but it tasted good. The chicken was kind of non-descript. Not much flavor to it and what flavor there was, was overwhelmed by the sauce. That's all you could taste. It was good sauce, but let's have a little more chicken flavor. Collard greens. These were pretty bland. I'm used to collard greens being cooked with bacon and plenty of salt. These had neither. Not impressed at all. The black-eyed peas were probably the most true to the south. Good flavor with just the right hint of heat. We did order a side of hushpuppies just to see how those were. Pretty bland here too. Lots of onion flavor, but not much else in the way of seasoning. For desert we had a slice of the key lime pie. Not impressed, I've had way better key lime pie, and for six bucks the piece sure wasn't that big. About three bites each and that was it.
On to the service, or lack thereof. We were seated at 7:40. The place was not full, there were empty seats. It took about 10 minutes to get the beers we had ordered. It took 25 minutes to get our appetizer, and a full 50 minutes to get our entrees. Unacceptable in my book. There was plnty of help around. So, when we hit a new place, we always ask each other, would we go back again? We both agreed that the food was good enough to warrant another visit. However, if the service is just as bad, that's it.
Monday - I was just going to hit the trail north from Rainbow, but Breein said something about speedwork and I thought "sure, why not". So she, Shawn and I met at Rainbow and ran up to the canal road. We figured we'd do about four 1/2 mile repeats along the road. Naturally, on the first one we all took off way too fast and by 1/8 mile we were ready to quit. The last three weren't too bad. I managed to hold a 6:22-6:25 pace for them. Needless to say, I was a little sore the next day, even though I've been doing speedwork pretty regular on the t-mill. It's a little different on the ground. Miles - 5.25
Tuesday - Met with the usual crew for our Tuesday run north of Rainbow. Went to the canal road and back. I just kind of took it easy. Miles - 7.75
Wednesday - Hit the gym for some mill work at lunch. Nothing spectacular. It started snowing ahrd just before I left for home, so Ithought I'd try a workout I saw in Scott Jaime's blog. He calls it a Kenyan cutdown. The premise is that you start with a two mile warmup, then set the mill at 7mph. Every .25 miles you bump the speed up by 0.1mph until you can't go any further, then cool down for a couple miles. Well, I did a one mile warmup at 6mph then set the mill for 7mph. Every .25 mile I bumped it 0.1mph. I got up to 8.6mph before I shut things down. I think I could have gone further. We'll see next time now that I know what it's like. It was tough and I'm definitely feeling it. Miles - 10.0
Thursday - Did the usual t-mill thing at lunch at the gym. Met with a few at Rainbow after work and went for about five. Snowed hard for a time, plus we were pushing thru about 4-5 inches of fresh snow. Not too bad. Actually kinda fun running in the snow. Miles - 9.0
Friday - Managed to get some t-mill miles in before work. I figure with the race this close, I can't really take time to run after work, so the plan is to get up at my regular time, well maybe a bit earlier, go feed critters like I do now then hit the mill before work. Unfortunately I wasn't able to get my usual lunchtime mill run in. Oh well. Miles 4.0
Saturday - The last official training run before the Buffalo Run was today. We had a great turnout. There must have been 40 people out on the island today. We ran the 25k course, threw in the Elephant Head trail, then ran over to and around the Lakeside trail. Great run. The weather wasn't too bad. A little cool once in awhile. Miles 26.0
Total miles for the week - 75.75 Not a bad week at all.
I'm going to try something a little different. Karen and I go out for dinner just about every Friday. It's our little date night and we've been doing it for years. We generally like to hit local restaurants instead of national chains. The food is usually better and not as generic. So, I think I'm going to try posting a review. Here it is.
Soul and Bones - Washington Ave. Ogden
They advertise as having bbq and cajun food. So we thought this could be interesting. We used to live in southern Arkansas in a small town, so we're pretty well aquainted with good southern cooking as well as some cajun food. We ordered the bbq catfish on flatbread as an appetizer. It was actually pretty good. Just the right amount of spice, nice crunch to the flat bread, plus they threw on some candied lime slices. Next came the entrees. Karen ordered the etoufee. This is a bed of rice with shrimp and such on top. She said it was pretty good, good flavor and not real spicy. I ordered the two meat and two side platter. For my meats I had their brisket and pulled chicken. For the sides I had their black-eyed peas and collard greens. I figured the greens would be a good indicator of how "southern" this food really was since we used to get them all the time when living in Arkansas. The brisket had good flavor, you could tell it was smoked rather than just cooked. The sauce was good as well. Authentic southern bbq? Hmm, not really but it tasted good. The chicken was kind of non-descript. Not much flavor to it and what flavor there was, was overwhelmed by the sauce. That's all you could taste. It was good sauce, but let's have a little more chicken flavor. Collard greens. These were pretty bland. I'm used to collard greens being cooked with bacon and plenty of salt. These had neither. Not impressed at all. The black-eyed peas were probably the most true to the south. Good flavor with just the right hint of heat. We did order a side of hushpuppies just to see how those were. Pretty bland here too. Lots of onion flavor, but not much else in the way of seasoning. For desert we had a slice of the key lime pie. Not impressed, I've had way better key lime pie, and for six bucks the piece sure wasn't that big. About three bites each and that was it.
On to the service, or lack thereof. We were seated at 7:40. The place was not full, there were empty seats. It took about 10 minutes to get the beers we had ordered. It took 25 minutes to get our appetizer, and a full 50 minutes to get our entrees. Unacceptable in my book. There was plnty of help around. So, when we hit a new place, we always ask each other, would we go back again? We both agreed that the food was good enough to warrant another visit. However, if the service is just as bad, that's it.
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