100 Mile Redemption

Prologue –

I went into the Pony Express 100 looking for a bit of redemption.  In general, my racing this year has been less than stellar.  Indeed it’s been a bit abysmal.  I fell apart during Moab Red Hot, Timp Trail Marathon was ok, nothing to write home about, Squamish 50K, while a lot of fun, was pretty darn slow too.  Couple that with my slowest Wasatch 100 finish ever plus abject failure at the Bear and this had me wondering if I would ever run semi decently or was age finally rearing its ugly head.  Was I going to have to resign myself to just running ultras for fun and not worrying about time, not being able to compete at the level I was used to (certainly not elite, but at least in the front half of the pack).  I am pretty competitive by nature and doing my best at a race is part of what makes it fun for me.

Ideally, I was hoping for a sub-24 hour run at Pony.  I hadn’t run a sub-24 hour 100 since Vermont back in 2011 and certainly wasn’t sure I could do it.  Realistically, I didn’t feel like I had the training needed for a run that fast, but I was going to give it a shot. 

Since I know that 100’s are a very mental game, especially late in the race, I started mentally prepping for the hard end miles a couple of weeks before.  Knew the first half wouldn’t be too bad, but that the last 30 miles or so would make or break my effort to go under 24 hours.

I also found out that Misty, one of my good friends would be running Pony as well and was looking for a bit of redemption herself.  She also wanted to try and go under 24 hours as she had never accomplished that before.  I created what I thought was a reasonable pace chart giving us a bit over 23 hours and sent it to her.  She thought it was very doable.  I knew the key for me would be to hit the 50 mile mark at or under 10 hours.  After that I figured I could hang on by my fingernails and get the last 50 in under 14 hours.

Race Time –

Davy has Pony Express setup with staggered start times.  Your start time is based on your expected finish time.  The slowest runners will start at 5am, with other runners starting at 6am, 7am, and 8am.  This has the advantage of spreading out the field ahead of time so that crew vehicles aren’t creating congestion for the runners.  Davy also requires that each runner supply their own crew.  There are no aid stations, just check points roughly every 10-16 miles. 

Misty and I were in the 6am starting group.  We took off and managed to settle into an easy pace, around 9-10 min/mile.  This felt really good since the first several miles were a slight downhill.

 

Sunrise in the west desert

Most of the race was pretty mundane.  Long straight stretches of road.  We clicked off the miles, occasionally meeting up with Steve, Misty’s significant other.  The day was stunning, beautiful crystal clear skies without a cloud, temps warming up from the 30’s to the lower 70’s.  The scenery was also beautiful, not nearly as desolate and devoid of vegetation as I thought it would be .  We did manage to see three herds of wild horses, a couple of snakes, and a tarantula crossing the road.

 

Trail Buddy

As we ran along we did fall behind our pace chart goals and at one point we thought that a sub-24 was out of reach.  We resolved to just keep plugging away and do the best we could.  Since I was pretty unsure I could go sub-24, I told Misty that she was to take off and not wait for me at all.  I did have my usual down spot between miles 30 and 40 and found it to be a struggle to keep up, but somehow I managed, then snapped out of it.

Looking west from Dugway Pass

 We managed to hit the halfway point at 10:05, so behind our pace but still possible to go sub-24.  We got to the turnaround at Fish Springs before sundown, something that Misty really wanted to do as it was dark when she got there the last time she ran this race.  As we got near Fish spring we were able to kind of gauge where we were in the pack.  We thought that only one runners from either the 7am or 8am groups had passed us and we did know that there were a couple of 6am runners and a few from 5am ahead of us as well.

Almost to the turnaround

We tried to keep up as steady of a pace as possible, running the vast majority of the time.  Even though this race only has about 3000’ of gain, I was surprised at how much uphill running we actually did.  Lots and lots of very gradual uphill miles.

As it got dark we just continued to click off the miles, occasionally passing another runner.  At no time during the last half of the race did anyone pass us that we couldn’t answer back.  By the time we got to the last check point at Dugway Well, we were both ready to be done but still had 17 miles to go.

The night didn’t get too cold.  Crossing the old riverbed was the coldest at probably the low 30’s.  The stars were brilliant with no moon out and no city lights around.  We could see the lights of Dugway Proving Ground way off in the distance.  We could also see the lights of the finish from I think around five miles away.  So close yet so far.  We kept plugging away.  This last section from Dugway Well was all mental.  We both withdrew into ourselves, just willing our legs to keep running.  It was so hard to just keep running as opposed to just walking, but we knew by then that we really could go sub-24 if we just kept running.  Now it became how much could we go under.

Eventually we came to the junction and turned down to the finish line ¼ mile away.  That last quarter was the most satisfying of the entire race.  Knowing that we were way under 24 hours.  Knowing that we were the 2^nd and 3^rd people to cross the finish line (with the different start times, we didn’t know our placing yet).  For me, this finish was one of the most satisfying finishes I can think of.  It was a nice redemption run.  Our final time was 23:18:24 for Misty and 23:18:25 for me.

Aftermath –

Like I mentioned earlier, I wasn’t very sure I could actually go sub-24 anymore, especially since I’m 58 years old and have never been what you would call fast.  I did manage to pull off a 7^th place finish out of roughly 35 starters, so finishing in the top 20% was very satisfying.  This was my fastest 100 mile run since 2003 and my second fastest ever.  Yep, it was good.

Misty was super happy to have gone under 24 hours.  Her fastest 100 by a large margin.  Later in the day, she found out that she had also won the women’s race by a substantial margin.  She did fantastic.  I was very happy for her.  Made me smile big.

As far as following our pace chart, we fell behind by more and more until we got back to the Blackrock checkpoint, then we started gaining that time back.  In the end we were only behind our hoped for pace by 13 minutes.  Not too bad at estimating.

Shoes – I wore my Altra Paradigm’s for the entire race.  These are road shoes that are very similar to the Altra Olympus but much lighter.  I figured that since we would be on gravel roads the entire time and not any trail, this was the shoe to use.  Between my Darn Tough socks and the Altra’s, I ended up with two small blisters on the sides of a couple of toes.  Nothing that slowed me down at all.

Food – I fueled for the most part using Tailwind.  I love this stuff and kept a bottle with me at all times.  I supplemented that with the occasional “Simply Fruit” from Powerbar, various kinds of Campbell’s soup,  and bacon.  I felt I fueled just fine with no stomach upset unless we really pushed hard going uphill.

As an Engineer by trade, I tend to look at my race performances analytically.  I don’t get into the life changing spirituality or any of that stuff.  I run for fun, and analyzing my performance and trying to see where I could have done better is part of that fun.  I really enjoy the strategy when a race is going well.  How do I catch other runners, how do I stay ahead, etc.  All in all, I think I had a great run.  Next year?  Hmmm, well, I’m thinking about it.  I really seem to do better at flat races instead of mountain races.

I highly recommend running this race.  Davy does a great job, the staggered start format is interesting, the history you run through following the Pony Express trail.  The monuments to those times.  Misty and I were chatting about how much more desolate it was 150 years ago when those riders were riding on a trail instead of a nice gravel road.  I would be willing to bet that the scenery hasn’t changed at all except for the presence of the gravel roads.

A lot of people think that running out in the west desert has got to be boring, long straight stretches of road, no real change.  But I found it to be enjoyable.  The scenery was starkly beautiful.  Flat grasslands, salt flats, mountain ranges, clear blue skies, more water than I would have thought out at Fish Springs.  When you get to Fish Spring and see a sign telling you the nearest town is 104 miles away, you realize just how far in the middle of nowhere you really are. I really like that feeling.  Super quiet, only the crunch of gravel and your own breathing to be heard.  Your foot steps and breathing acting like a metronome as the miles click away.  Being able to manage the discomfort, paying attention what your body is telling you.  All extraneous stuff stripped away.  Long stretches where you don’t see another soul.  Dust trails from vehicles visible from 15 miles away.  Then occasionally seeing a friend at a checkpoint and getting a hug from them.  I found joy in all of this.

Below is some of the info from our race.

Check Point	Mileage	Actual Clock Time	Pace Chart Clock Time	Difference	Section Actual Pace	Section Pace Chart	Overall Actual Pace	Overall Pace Chart
Simpson Spring	16.4	8:53	9:00	7	10:33	10:58	10:33	10:58
Dugway Well	33.3	12:17	11:55	-22	12:04	10:21	11:19	10:39
Blackrock	48.5	15:31	15:25	-6	12:45	13:49	11:46	11:39
Fish Springs	58.2	18:04	17:25	-39	15:46	12:22	12:26	11:46
Blackrock	67.9	20:36	19:25	-49	15:40	12:22	12:54	11:51
Dugway Well	83.1	0:36	23:55	-41	15:47	13:49	13:25	12:56
Simpson Spring	100	5:18	5:05	-13	15:55	18:21	13:59	13:51

I did manage to capture every mile split through 95.5 miles using my cell phone in airplane mode and using Strava.  Here's those splits.  Yeah, I'm a data geek.

	Mile	Time		Mile	Time
	1	11:27		51	12:49
	2	9:32		52	13:55
	3	9:44		53	12:46
	4	10:02		54	12:47
	5	9:54		55	19:25
	6	9:24		56	11:30
	7	9:58		57	12:09
	8	9:55		58	13:26
	9	9:52		59	29:52	Fish Spring
	10	11:54		60	14:05
	11	10:09		61	11:31
	12	10:17		62	12:07
	13	11:36		63	22:06
	14	10:55		64	12:02
	15	11:00		65	12:53
Simpson Spring	16	13:35		66	11:45
	17	14:13		67	12:31
	18	13:30		68	13:54
	19	10:27		69	27:51:00	Blackrock
	20	10:31		70	14:29
	21	10:52		71	12:39
	22	10:34		72	12:55
	23	13:10		73	12:20
	24	10:21		74	19:06
	25	10:30		75	14:27
	26	18:37		76	13:46
	27	10:57		77	14:08
	28	11:06		78	14:55
	29	11:09		79	14:51
	30	11:01		80	16:31
	31	11:13		81	15:15
	32	11:08		82	16:10
	33	13:13		83	12:50
Dugway	34	19:57		84	14:00
	35	13:32		85	24:36	Dugway
	36	12:39		86	14:07
	37	13:33		87	14:08
	38	14:41		88	14:54
	39	13:32		89	14:55
	40	10:12		90	14:36
	41	10:04		91	18:56
	42	11:07		92	17:44
	43	10:58		93	13:38
	44	10:42		94	15:53
	45	12:49		95	16:23
	46	13:29
	47	11:49
	48	11:10
	49	11:37
Blackrock	50	31:31

My 7th Wasatch 100 Finish

Well, another Wasatch 100 is in the books.  This year marked my 10^th trip to the starting line and my 7^th finish and the first 100 that I’ve finished since the 2014 Wasatch.  Needless to say, having gone two years without a 100 finish, I was a bit nervous.

There really isn’t a lot to say about this year’s race for me, so I’ll try to keep it short.

Prerace

So my training has been on a bit of the lacking side.  I just haven’t gotten into it like years past..until the first of July.  Then I figured that I had better get some miles and vert in if I wanted any chance of finishing Wasatch.  So July and August saw me put in the most miles and vertical for those two months ever.  Good thing too.

Race Time

That first climb?  Yeah, it was a doozy.  Dusty, narrow, serious conga line, complete stop at times waiting for people in front to get moving.  Still, I got to the top in about the time I expected.

The run to Bountiful B.  Not too bad.  I usually dislike that climb, but this year I felt pretty good.  Had some awesome friends running that aid station and managed to have my very own pit crew.  Debbie, Curtis, Christy Jo, you guys rock.

The trot to Sessions, felt good, mostly ran by myself and I’m always good with that.  Weather was prefect, scenery, spectacular.  Loved seeing the folks at Sessions.

Sessions to Swallow Rocks.  Always a downer time for me but I really do enjoy running the ridge once you get past that climb out of City Creek Pass.  I don’t know why, but this section is always one of my low points.  Still, I made pretty good time.  Once again, scenery was spectacular.  Swallow Rocks aid actually had Forest Service people helping out.  That was awesome.  Thanks for that.

Swallow Rocks to Big Mountain.

Swallow Rocks to Big Mountain.  I always like this section.  My mood seems to lift, it’s mostly downhill and the vibe at Big Mountain can’t help but lift your spirits.  I had no crew this year, but a wonderful aid station volunteer tended to my needs, fetched my drop bag etc.  I left there feeling pretty good and looking forward to the trek to Alexander Ridge.

Big Mountain to Alexander Ridge.  Exposed and warm like usual but there was a wind (not a breeze) blowing across the trail, so that kept things cool.  My mood was good.  As usual, the Alexander Ridge aid station looked like a field hospital with people strewn about due to the heat (field hospital was their theme this year).  I cruised on through feeling pretty good.  Still on pace I think, I had lost my pace chart somewhere on the first climb.

Alexander to Lambs Canyon.  Not a bad section.  Not as fast as two years ago, but I didn’t expect to be.  Still, it was solid effort and I was looking forward to picking up my first pacer at Lamb’s.  It was kind of weird not having the huge crowds like last year, but in reality, I liked it.  I didn’t have to fight my way out of the aid station and I think I got out of there faster than I usually do.  Part of that is I felt pretty good, and Misty hurried me along.  I had had cramping issues for the past 20 miles or so and Misty fed me some electrolyte caps.  Cramping gone within 20 minutes.  Legs were still a bit trashed, but I didn’t have to worry about calves seizing up on me at the slightest misstep.

Lamb’s Canyon to Upper Big Water.  Picked up Misty, my first pacer, at Lamb’s.  The trek was pretty good.  Felt strong making the climb up to Bear Ass Pass, cruised down into Elbow Fork and hiked/trotted the road to Upper Big Water.

Upper Big Water to Desolation Lake.  Kind of cool (like usual) at Upper Big Water.  Tanked up on food, took care of a couple of blisters forming on toes, and got out.  Like usual, the temps warmed up once we got 200 yards up the trail.  Now it was dark and during the climb to Dog Lake we encountered and couple of moose bedded down just off the trail.  Did you know they rumble?  Sounds kind of like a lion rumbling.  A bit unnerving.  Dog Lake came and went, the downhill to Blunder Fork was a bit slow as the legs were starting to get tired.  The climb up to Deso was a bit slow.  This is where I noticed that my climbing on steeper sections was going to be an issue.  Breathing was tough.  I would go a couple hundred yards and have to stop to catch my breath.  Unlike the first time this happened to me, I knew what was going on.  The huge amounts of dust on the trail was getting into my lungs.  I could do reasonably well as long as the trail was flat or downhill, but uphills were becoming a slow go.  With dusty lungs cropping up, I knew that a sub 30 hour time was out the window.  At that point just a finish became the goal.

Desolation Lake to Brighton.   The climb up Red Lover’s Ridge was slow going, but I made it just fine.  As usual, the stars on Scott’s were spectacular, and as usual I made my pacer stop and looked at them for a couple of minutes.  It was a bit cool, maybe the low 40’s, on Scott’s with a bit of a breeze blowing across, but nothing too bad.  The descent into Brighton was uneventful.  Seemed to be less traffic than normal.  Picked up my second pacer at Brighton.  I also spent a bit of time regrouping for the final 32 miles.  Ate plenty of food, changed into dry clothes, and hit the trail.

Brighton to Pole Line Pass.  The climb up to Point Supreme was a bit of a grind.  Once again, being able to breathe would have helped, but I made it up that climb in about my usual amount of time.  Aric and I stopped at the top and looked at stars.  No moon makes for a brilliant sky.  The descent into Ant Knoll’s was slow and painful.  The quads were pretty well shot, plus I was getting the sleepies.  Once into Ant Knoll’s I ate some sausage and had Aric let me nap in a chair for 15 minutes max.  I felt like a new man.  The legs were no longer sore.  The climb up the grunt was just that, a grunt.  Then just cruised to Pole Line Pass. 

Looking across at Mineral Basin

Pole Line Pass to Pot Hollow.  I couldn’t believe the Pole Line Pass aid station.  Their menu was incredible.  More selection than  lot of restaurants that I’ve been to.  It was hard to decide since everything sounded good at five in the morning.  Anyway, I grabbed some food and we got out.  Now for the long trek to Pot Hollow.  The sun started to come up and there’s nothing like a spectacular sunrise while in the Wasatch backcountry to lift you up.

Mt. Timpanogos at sunrise

Pot Hollow to the finish.  I took another short nap at Pot Hollow. 

Beer and perogies at 8am?  Why yes, I think I will

Now it was a matter of just getting the damn thing done.  I knew I had at least three hours left and I really wouldn’t be able to shorten that any.  Plus it’s gravel road, not trail.  Ugh!  Just shuffled along trying to get it done.  Went through Staton aid, by now it was starting to get a bit warm.  I tried to get into a one minute run, followed by 30 seconds of walking.  I managed to do this all the way to the wall.

At the wall, we came across another runner who asked if either of us had an inhaler.  I did, and asked her why.  She said that her climbing ability had become nonexistent and she couldn’t breathe.  She seemed a bit panicked about this.  I explained that it was the dust and that I was having the very same issue and you just kept going.  I did give her a hit off my inhaler and we basically kept her with us to the finish.  It was her first 100 mile race.  It was nice to have someone else along for those last boring miles along Deer Creek.  Her family came out to run her in the last half mile or so.  That was nice to see, her kids all excited to see Mommy.  Good job Marci!  It was very nice to meet and spend some trail time with you.

So I crossed the finish line in 34:53.  My slowest Wasatch ever by 20 minutes, but I got it done for the 7^th time.  For that, I’m happy.  It was so nice to just hang out after the race, chat with friends, drink beer and eat food, lots of food.

Aftermath

Like usual, I went on my three day eating binge.  If it looks like food and is slow enough, it’s fair game in my book.  Leg soreness went away by Wednesday.  I ended up with some minor blisters on the toes of one foot and a little bigger one on the ball.  Nothing serious and it didn’t seem to slow me down during the race.

Gear.  I wore my Altra Olympus for the entire race plus a pair of Darn Tough socks.  Love those socks and shoes.

Food.  Tried eating the Simply Fruit packs from Power Bar.  100 calories like gels, but more like pureed fruit.  Definitely a go to food in the future.  Did Tailwind in my hydration bladder for the latter part of the race.  I like the stuff, but the taste does get old after 30-40 miles and I went back to plain water.

Lessons learned.  I’m getting older.  The speed (what little I did have) is not as fast.  I should train more for these things if I want to do better.  I need caffeine at night.  I end up walking like a drunk sailor because I’m so sleepy at night.  

Next up.  The Bear 100.  Two weeks after Wasatch.  I’ve never run two 100’s that close together.  Weather looks like it could be a mess, rain/snow, so think mud.  I will finish that damn thing though.

Nothing Quite Like a Personal Worst

Prologue

I ran the Moab Red Hot 55K last Saturday.  This was the 3rd time I've run it over the years and the other two times I managed times down close to six hours.  Yep, not this year.  So what went wrong?  Did anything go wrong?
My training so far for the year hasn't been what it was last year, but not my worst start to the year.  I'm healthy, solid in the gym, solid on the trail, solid with my speedwork.  In other words I should have been fine.  And I was fine during the race.
It was indeed a beautiful day for running in Moab.  Clear sunny skies, patchy snow on the red rocks, solid snow in the La Salle's.  Very pretty.

Race Time

When the race started, I felt great.  I took it easy up the initial hill.  I wasn't out to break ay speed records, just have a solid day.

Amie pulling away

I spent a few miles chatting with Amie Blackham, she's always fun to run with, but she's also faster than me and after a couple of miles, she pulled away.  I got to the first aid station and grabbed some coke and took off.  I felt really good.  My uphill running was actually running, I was catching people.  Lots of fun.  We climbed up to the overlook and headed to the next aid station.  Here I grabbed some coke again, nothing solid though.  I didn't feel like I needed it yet, I'd get food later.  Got back to the first aid station and once again, just grabbed some liquid.  This was at about mile 16.  See a pattern starting to develop here?  Yeah, no calories.  I was drinking fine, but not fueling properly.
Anyway, I made the climb up to the aid station at 22 miles still feeling pretty good.  Here I grabbed 1/4 of a PBJ sandwich, filled my bottles, and took off.  Here is where the wheels came off as well.  as in no lug nuts were holding anything on.  I was reduced to a walk.  I could barely run downhill let alone flats or uphill.  I could walk just fine though.  Now everyone that I had passed earlier was starting to pass me.  It kind of sucked, but my general attitude was, hey it's a great day, I feel fine other than I can't run, so enjoy it, and I did.  Eventually I crossed the finish line.  There was barely anyone left there.  At least my lovely wife and sister-in-law were,  Karl Meltzer was waiting for me there as well, although I think he was just drinking  beer.  So, my final time was 7:57.  Yeah, a full hour and a half slower than ever before at this race.  Still, I had a good time, it was a beautiful day for a run.

This gave new meaning to the term "slickrock"

Aftermath

So what went wrong?  Well, I think there are several factors at play here.  So here's the list.
1. I'm 57, maybe I should be slowing down......Nah!
2. I did two very heavy leg workouts at the gym the week prior.  The legs were a bit dead.  That could have something to do with it.
3. I did a climb up Malan's that week at a solid pace.  That will wear you out too.
4. I didn't fuel early and fuel continuously.  I think this is probably the biggest factor.  I basically hit the wall just like you would in a marathon.
So all you young kids out there, let this be a lesson to you, don't get old, keep going to the gym, hit the hills hard, and make sure you fuel properly and adequately.  Oh, and have fun.

La Salle mountains

A Tale of Two Runs Part 2

The second run was also a much needed run, but for different reasons.  After I had told my friends Misty, Debbie, and Jeremy about the Teton run, they wanted to go.  So we planned a small group run there for two weeks later.  The plan was to drive up Friday afternoon, sleep in the truck at the trailhead and hit the trail early Saturday morning, then drive back home Saturday night.

This looked like fun.  I’d get to hit the trails with some of my favorite people, enjoying it together.  Well, as the days progressed, the weather forecast deteriorated.  It was to the point where there were predictions of 1”-3” of snow above 10000’.  Yeah, I didn’t want to do that at all, and neither did anyone else.  So Thursday, Jeremy suggested that we head south and west to run the Ruby Mountains in Nevada.  I was all over that because running there has been on my running bucket list as well, probably for longer than the Tetons.

The Ruby Mountains are in east central Nevada, just south of Elko.  The mountains are part of the Ruby Crest Wilderness Area and there is a 34 mile north to south trail that traverses the length

We all agreed to do that run instead and went with the same plan, drive out to the trailhead Friday afternoon, sleep at the trailhead and hit it the next morning.

Thinking the weather would be much better, we were pretty shocked to get hit by a thunderstorm driving across the west Utah desert.  It rained so hard we had to slow down and pull over to the side of the freeway.  Wow!  Haven’t seen rain that hard in a very long time.  Eventually, it quit and we had calm for the rest of the way.  The forecast was calling for the skies to clear by Saturday morning.

We got to the trailhead just after dark, and apparently we weren’t the only ones with the same idea as there were quite a few cars in the lot, some with people in them, some empty.

The ladies crashed in the back of the truck while us guys slept on the ground. 

The girls slept well, us, not so much

The skies cleared some, and with no moon or city lights around, the stars were spectacular.  I went to sleep just staring at the sky.  I woke about 2am and realized I was getting wet.  It must have sprinkled some and the water soaked thru my bag, so into the cab of the truck I went.  Needless to say, I didn’t sleep too well after that.

Once daylight hit, we got up and got ready.  It was kind of a dreary, cloudy morning. 

Kind of a dreary start

Temp about 45, clouds at about 9500’ (we were at 8700”).  We knew we would be in the clouds during part of our run, we just didn’t know for how far or long.

I'm the one in safety orange

Even with the clouds, the scenery was breathtaking, huge trees, numerous lakes, huge cliffs.  After about 2 miles, we were definitely in the clouds and could see very little in the way of scenery.  Every once in a while they would thin and we could get a small glimpse of what lie out there.

Pretty obvious

We climbed pretty steadily for the first 3.5 miles, dropped down a bit, then made our way above treeline on the next climb. 

Now the conditions got somewhat bad.  Steady wind at about 20-30 mph and colder, wind chill definitely in the 30’s, not to mention that we had no idea of where we were going.  We could see the trail just fine, but that was it.  No scenery, nothing. 

Trying to find something to take a picture of

Couldn’t see more than about 100 yards at most.  Thank goodness it wasn’t raining.  We would have probably turned around had that started.  We did come across the occasional backpacker and to a person they all looked a bit miserable.  Chatting with a few we found out that the previous couple of nights on the trail had been epically bad weather.

Entering the wilderness area

Storms, rain, snow, hail, lightening.  Yeah, none of them were real happy.

So as we’re going along these ridges, the sun keeps trying to poke out.  It would get lighter, we could see faint shadows.  Finally a bit of blue sky poked thru and within about 15 minutes we had full sunshine.

Clearing off

The clouds just blew away.  The scenery that unfolded around and beneath us blew us away.  Huge mountains, some with snow still on them, huge glaciated valleys sweeping down to the desert floor, ranches 6000’ below.

Our original plan was to do an out and back, going to Overland Lake, about 18.8 miles out.  We decided to cut it a bit short and make the turnaround at 15 miles. 

Prayer flags?

Right at 15 miles, we found the perfect place to stop, eat, enjoy the views, warm up in the sun a bit and just enjoy where we were.

Eventually, we decided to begin the trek back, but now with the clouds not in our way and the wind dying down, we could really marvel at what we saw.  And marvel we did. 

Lunchtime

There were certain sections of the trail that we had been on in the morning and in the clouds that were now clear and were totally different than what I expected.  We saw crystal clear high alpine lakes, towering cliffs and peaks, wide open meadows.  Who knew that something like this existed in east central Nevada.  What a hidden gem.

Lamoille Lake

Liberty Lake

The run back took about the same amount of time, but it felt faster.  We did finally have to fill up on water.  We just dipped out of Liberty Lake, one of the clearest lakes I have seen in a long time.  We didn’t see much in the way of wildlife, heard and saw lots of birds, including hummingbirds, saw one mountain goat, a good sized buck.

The end is near

We finally got back to the trailhead, well before dark and cleaned up a bit before heading out.  We did stop in Elko for dinner and then made the long drive home.

A last look 

So why was this run much needed?  I got a chance to run with a few close friends.  We got to share a run in a phenomenal part of the country, share a bit of adversity, shared a lot of jokes and good times, and did some bonding while doing something we all love.

When you do a couple of runs like I did, epic, beautiful, difficult, fulfilling, then come back to civilization, the job seems a bit mundane.  I have that urge to get out and do something like that again, either with friends or by myself.  Doing stuff like that just makes you feel much more alive, connected with yourself and nature.  We’re out there doing things and seeing things that very few people will ever get to see or do.  There’s something magical about that and I look forward to the next running adventure I have.

A Tale of Two Runs, Part 1

Like many of you that run trails, run ultras, just run a lot, I get asked why by non-runners.  “I don’t even like to drive that far” seems to be a standard response.  If I had a nickel…..

Well, in the past three weeks I have had the opportunity to tick off two of the epic adventure runs that were on my running bucket list.  Both were about the same distance, 30-35 miles.  Both took about the same amount of time, roughly 10-12 hours.  So I certainly wasn’t going for speed.  Both opportunities popped up quickly and I had to jump on them in fairly short order.  Both runs were just what I needed at the time, but for completely different reasons.  Runs like this, and the ability to do them, are one of the big reasons I run.  So here they are.  Warning, this may get to be a long and tedious post.

Teton Circumnavigation

This run has been on my list for a few years.  I have seen a few pics, chatted with a couple of people that have done it and I knew I had to do it one day.  It was hard to try and get a few friends together for this one.  Since Karen and I were going to be rafting on the Snake River with her work trip, I thought this may be the one opportunity I have to go.  I asked my lovely wife and she gave me the ok to go for it.  She was a bit nervous since I would be in some pretty remote backcountry by myself, plus bears, big grizzly bears.  I was a bit nervous as well.  Going out this remote by myself is something I don’t do very often, and I’m kind of a worst case scenario guy, but I thought stepping outside my comfort one wasn’t a bad thing.  I knew I could cover the distance, not an issue at all.  My big concern was bears (bear spray), and affecting a self-rescue if needed.  I knew that I would probably see backpackers on a regular basis while out.  For gear, I took the bare minimum I thought I would need if I had to spend the night.  Plenty of calories, matches and a candle in a baggy, rain shell, space blanket, headlamp, gloves, beanie, extra dry shirt.  Water?  Not an issue.  I knew there would be plenty of sources.

Looking forward to this

Route –

I started at the Lupine Meadows trailhead.  My plan was to run the Valley trail south to Death Canyon, then head up into the mountains.  These first 7-8 miles were filled with running past beautiful lakes, quiet trails, lots of wet foliage, and a nice easy pace.  If I felt like walking, I did.  The sun was just rising and casting its light through the trees, and I was in my happy place.  I’m trotting along, smile on my face, when Bam! I trip over a root and go down.  As I typically do, I rolled to a stop.  As I got up, some sort of stinging insect decided my ear was an inviting target and nailed me.  Still, nothing more than a bit of dirt on my legs and hands and I was good.  I carried on, still smiling.  After a couple of hours, I came to Phelps Lake.  J

Death Canyon

As I started up Death Canyon, I came across a few other day hikers out.  To this point I hadn’t seen a soul, and it was wonderful.  As I climbed up the trail into Death Canyon, I marveled at how much water was coming down.  The roar was almost deafening.  Up and up I went, eventually making it to a flatter area where there was an old log ranger cabin.  Tucked back in a quiet area, under some trees.  How idyllic.  Now some serious climbing began.  I found the Alaska Basin trail and started up that.  I knew that I had about 2000’ of climbing in just a couple of miles, so it was going to be a stout one. 

As I climbed up, the views got more and more expansive.  I started seeing peaks around me, I was able to really look out over the valley below.  I encountered a couple of other runners.  They had started at Jennie Lake and were going down to Phelps Lake.  We chatted for a minute and they were on their way.  I saw the occasional backpacker heading back down after spending some time in the backcountry.  I caught up to some other day hikers that were going up Static Peak.  So I wasn’t as alone as I thought I would be.  Still, just being out by myself with my thoughts was really nice.  All I can hear are the voices in my head.

The view from Static Peak Divide.  Phelps Lake below

I stopped at Static Peak divide for a bite to eat and to just admire the view of the Teton Valley.  I finally got up and headed down the other side.  I came around a corner and was stopped by the view of the Alaska Basin.  Huge, empty, seemingly barren, and beautiful.  As I traversed along the side of a mountain, I just kept stopping to take it all in.  This was stuff I had never seen before, and it.was.awesome.  As I came around another point, there was another section of the basin, even bigger.  I stopped again just to look.  This was a recurring theme, lots of stops to just look, take pictures, just enjoy the solitude.  Of course trying to trot along for a sustained amount of time at 10,000’ means getting out of breath quickly, so I had an excuse to stop.

First view of Alaska Basin

As I ran/hiked along, I did pass the occasional backpacker, usually a couple of people an hour, so I was never truly isolated.  Alone?  Yes.  It was wonderful. 

I went past numerous small streams coming off snow fields, crossed several stubborn patches of snow still covering the trail, stared in wonder up at the peaks that surrounded me.  I was definitely in my happy place. 

This run was truly good for my soul and I was enjoying the hell out of the day.

Eventually, I started up the last climb to Hurricane Pass.  I knew that after that, it was all downhill back to the Teton Valley.  As I went uphill, I noticed Grand Teton starting to peak above the ground. 

Grand Teton in your face

When I reached the top of the pass, that peak was in my face.  From the valley floor, you can see Grand Teton some 6500’ above and several miles away, and it looks pretty big.  Now Grand Teton was only 2000’ above me and the top was about 2 miles away as the crow flies, yeah, in my face.  As I looked down where the trail led, I saw the Schoolroom glacier.

Schoolroom Glacier

I would be running past that, how cool.  I had never been near a glacier before (I lead a sheltered life), so I had to go over and stare at that for a while.  So much to look at, so much fun.

Now I had 9 miles of trail to run down Cascade Canyon. 

Looking down into Cascade Canyon from Hurricane Pass

I knew that I would encounter many more people along this trail, hikers and backpackers, day tourists out for their little strolls.  What I wasn’t prepared for was the scenery.  The shear amount of water cascading off the mountainside from glaciers and snowfields. 

Roaring so loud it was almost deafening.  So many times I wanted to just stick my face in the water and drink, so I did.  Cold, clear and so good.

The closer I got to Jenny Lake at the bottom of the canyon, the more people I saw.  Sigh!  My alone time was done.  Eventually, I ended up running along the trail beside Jenny Lake and back to the truck.  One encounter with some tourists really stuck with me here.  I turned off on the Moose Lake trail and came across a family.  They stopped me to ask if there were moose along here because the guidebook said there should be.  I looked out over the lake and surrounding marshes and said “well, it looks like perfect moose habitat, but I don’t see any”.  They looked disappointed and headed back to their car.  If they had gone another 100 yards down that trail and just looked at the world around them rather than the guidebook, they would have seen evidence of recent beaver activity, deer tracks, a snake, all sorts of stuff.  I really found it kind of sad for them.  All this wonder around them and they were focused on seeing a moose because some book said it would be there.  Another sigh!

Anyway, made it back to the truck right at the 12 hour mark, so yeah, pretty dang slow, but pretty dang amazing.

I finished off my adventure with pizza and beer while watching the sunset over the Tetons.

Overall, it was a perfect day of running.  Like I mentioned earlier, it fed my soul.  The beauty, the solitude, the grandeur.  I needed this run.