I love Facebook, it is a great way to meet a lot of other runners that live in the same state as you but no where near you. It is also a great way to find out about a fun get together with a lot of experienced ultra runners greeting us newbies with their presence. I learned about an all night run on the beach 45 minutes from where I live. Starting time was Friday, 7:30pm and Goal time was Saturday 7:30am. This would be perfect training for my first 100 miler. I would be able to train running through the night and get a decent amount of miles on my legs. After 12 hours of running I would be able to experience running through the night on tired legs. Plus there would be plenty of people to push me. It is so much easier to push yourself when you are not alone. Everything was perfect and I was in. Then I met with my coach and the race was out. He knows me well enough that I like to over do it all the time. After lot of begging, it came back in with a plan to follow. Training through the night and training through fatigue, but not put all the miles on my legs. I ran for two hours, stopped for three, ran two, stopped three, ran two. I ended up getting in 40 miles in the six hours of running.
I got the meet a lot of ultra runner in the area, and I love them even more. Especially when I am not competing and instead I am just training when they are racing. It was great. Until the next day. Apparently my mind wasn't racing, but I my body was racing. I hurt the next day more so than when I did my 100k. I like the FURbies :)
Sunday, August 14, 2011
The week before Speedgoat Training Runs
There is more to this race than the race itself. I am going to write a bit a about my training runs prior to the Speedgoat 50K, as I feel they have great experiences like the race. I could not enjoy life any more than race day and the week before the race. The week before consisted of running up West Mountain a couple of times, Payson Canyon, Bonneville Shoreline trail, and finally being able to run up Mount Timpanogos. I spent time running with my family; with Kevin and Celeste joining me on one of my West Mountain adventures. I met an amazing girl named Johanna while running single track in Payson Canyon. She joined me running up Timp and for the final five miles of Speedgoat. Andy brought me to a sunset run on the Bonneville shoreline trail. I have written up separate posts for each trail
Monday, August 8, 2011
West Mountain Running
The first couple of days in Utah after the epic event of pacing Jennifer Vogel in a second place female finisher at Badwater I took it easy on the trails. There is a nice dirt trail just up from my parents house where I was staying. I believe it is the canal road. It is less of a trail and more of a dirt road. Just like my Everglades running. Getting there is a nice climb. By climb, I mean a small hill to my family members. I chose to walk the first half mile to avoid dieing before the workout. I started my clock every time once I was on the trail/dirt road. I of course kept the clock running for the return to the house since it was a fast downhill. The first run was with Lisa, Celeste, and I running. My mom and sisters Tiffany and Kellie quickly walked the trail. I did this trail pretty much every day. Including the days of my single track and hiking trail days.
The West Mountain canal ru
nning got me looking at West Mountain. My first thought was I want to run straight up that. The first day I went out I decided to head South before jumping over the canal. I got lucky and didn't have to jump over the canal as there was a path that I could cross the canal and go in an open field which lead to the top. I warmed up for a mile on the canal road and returned to the crossing. I started running up the hill and my speed quickly deteriorated. It became more of a fast walk. Progressing up the mountain and lack of breath turned into a couple of steps, catch my breath event. I was going to make it up to the Cell Tower. However, I had to be back for church at 12:00 so I would have 15 minutes to shower, do my girls hair and be ready to leave the house. I didn't have time to spare because of how slow my climbing abilities proved to be. It took me 40 minutes to make it one mile up. Every time I thought I was at the top, another peak showed its face. I turned around just when I got to the spot where I didn't have to climb another peak and could easily get to the tower. Time was gone and I returned home. Going down the hill took me 20 minutes for the mile. It was that steep. This was my first climb, and it didn't go so well.
The second climb was with Kevin and Celeste. We started North and decided to do ridge climb, which had a bit more gentle climbing grade with a few more miles. Instead of 1 mile to the top it was 5 miles to the top. It still lacked switchbacks and an actual trail. I was glad at the moment to be wearing compression socks as nothing was itching my legs. Celeste broke ou
t in hives on her legs. There was one section of the run where we where almost stepping on sage bushes because they were too tight to go around. I didn't really like that part of the trail. Kevin and I went ahead and did a couple of runs up and down, while Celeste made her way up the mountain. I thought Celeste was going to hate me after convincing her to come with us. She didn't enjoy it during the moment, but I think she had fun after everything was over. The view of the city was nice. It was a little more hazy then my last climb, but I still loved the view. We were in the middle of nowhere and there was still a little city down below. The final 1.5 to 2 miles was on a four wheeler track and was a really easy run. Kevin and I ran this section then stopped to check out the view from the top. It was about the same as the first peak. Except now we had a view for b
oth sides. I liked the view of the lake. Celeste had a 3 month old at home waiting for her and we where already a couple of hours into the run as we mostly hiked it with a couple of sprints here and there. We decided that we could descend the face of West Mountain faster then returning down the ridge. I also didn't want to bush whack through the sages as I would prefer to avoid any unhappy tics. This required fresh legs and lack of 
fear. You couldn't really go down it without taking one step and sliding about three in the rocks, grass, or gravel. It was a great mix of all three. There where also sections where we got to climb down. I thought that the descent was a lot of fun. We also stopped by a big hole and a cool little cave on the way down. The cave was fitted with a couple bones to add to the freaky factor. Kevin went in first so I followed and Celeste came in as well. Then we exited and returned down the mountain. We encountered one almost unhappy rattle snake, but he left us alone and just let us know he was there. Another successful West Mountain hike.
The after affects of both West Mountain hikes consisted of a couple of bruises on the ankles from the sliding rocks and hours of tweezer picking time from my socks and shoes. I also decided that the trail running shoes would not be sufficient for the Speedgoat. They did not provide much support. Steep descents hurt my ankles because they slid all over the place. However, I decided that it would be better to go with the shoes that wouldn't be good over ones I had never tried. Besides, I didn't want to go into town and try and shoes. I could have done it since I had plenty of days to try the shoes before the race. I figured the race would not be as steep as West Mountain because it was at a ski resort and they would be concerned over vegetation and anything that steep would be done via switch backs. I like my shoes anyways, they are really light and pretty.
The West Mountain canal ru
nning got me looking at West Mountain. My first thought was I want to run straight up that. The first day I went out I decided to head South before jumping over the canal. I got lucky and didn't have to jump over the canal as there was a path that I could cross the canal and go in an open field which lead to the top. I warmed up for a mile on the canal road and returned to the crossing. I started running up the hill and my speed quickly deteriorated. It became more of a fast walk. Progressing up the mountain and lack of breath turned into a couple of steps, catch my breath event. I was going to make it up to the Cell Tower. However, I had to be back for church at 12:00 so I would have 15 minutes to shower, do my girls hair and be ready to leave the house. I didn't have time to spare because of how slow my climbing abilities proved to be. It took me 40 minutes to make it one mile up. Every time I thought I was at the top, another peak showed its face. I turned around just when I got to the spot where I didn't have to climb another peak and could easily get to the tower. Time was gone and I returned home. Going down the hill took me 20 minutes for the mile. It was that steep. This was my first climb, and it didn't go so well.
The second climb was with Kevin and Celeste. We started North and decided to do ridge climb, which had a bit more gentle climbing grade with a few more miles. Instead of 1 mile to the top it was 5 miles to the top. It still lacked switchbacks and an actual trail. I was glad at the moment to be wearing compression socks as nothing was itching my legs. Celeste broke ou
t in hives on her legs. There was one section of the run where we where almost stepping on sage bushes because they were too tight to go around. I didn't really like that part of the trail. Kevin and I went ahead and did a couple of runs up and down, while Celeste made her way up the mountain. I thought Celeste was going to hate me after convincing her to come with us. She didn't enjoy it during the moment, but I think she had fun after everything was over. The view of the city was nice. It was a little more hazy then my last climb, but I still loved the view. We were in the middle of nowhere and there was still a little city down below. The final 1.5 to 2 miles was on a four wheeler track and was a really easy run. Kevin and I ran this section then stopped to check out the view from the top. It was about the same as the first peak. Except now we had a view for b
oth sides. I liked the view of the lake. Celeste had a 3 month old at home waiting for her and we where already a couple of hours into the run as we mostly hiked it with a couple of sprints here and there. We decided that we could descend the face of West Mountain faster then returning down the ridge. I also didn't want to bush whack through the sages as I would prefer to avoid any unhappy tics. This required fresh legs and lack of 
fear. You couldn't really go down it without taking one step and sliding about three in the rocks, grass, or gravel. It was a great mix of all three. There where also sections where we got to climb down. I thought that the descent was a lot of fun. We also stopped by a big hole and a cool little cave on the way down. The cave was fitted with a couple bones to add to the freaky factor. Kevin went in first so I followed and Celeste came in as well. Then we exited and returned down the mountain. We encountered one almost unhappy rattle snake, but he left us alone and just let us know he was there. Another successful West Mountain hike.
The after affects of both West Mountain hikes consisted of a couple of bruises on the ankles from the sliding rocks and hours of tweezer picking time from my socks and shoes. I also decided that the trail running shoes would not be sufficient for the Speedgoat. They did not provide much support. Steep descents hurt my ankles because they slid all over the place. However, I decided that it would be better to go with the shoes that wouldn't be good over ones I had never tried. Besides, I didn't want to go into town and try and shoes. I could have done it since I had plenty of days to try the shoes before the race. I figured the race would not be as steep as West Mountain because it was at a ski resort and they would be concerned over vegetation and anything that steep would be done via switch backs. I like my shoes anyways, they are really light and pretty.
Payson Canyon Bennie Creek Trail
The next day I decided to go running up Payson Canyon. There was a mountain biking trail that I have rode down several times. I have never biked up it. I only go down. We (Robert and I) generally park a car at the bottom and start at the top. I have also parked a car at Robert's house and bike all the way down the canyon. This trail would give me a good solid five miles of uphill at once. I can't get that in Florida. It actually ended up being just under 4 miles. It was a nice single track trail with a few people. There where no cars at t
he bottom so I figured I would be pretty alone on the trail. I ended up coming across two guys coming down on their bikes together, and a girl biking alone. I chatted for a long time with the girl. Her name is Johanna. She was deciding on which path to take, and ended up taking the path I was running. Good for her, I don't think I would have made it up on a bike. I offered her a ride on her return if she didn't feel like climbing.
She is an awesome chic and didn't take up on the offer. We switched numbers and would meet up again. Running up the trail was easier. There was also two people on 2 stroke dirt bikes that stunk. I stopped and waited until their dust settled before going back up. The trail was a perfect combination of views. The entire trail was single track. The views changed from covered trees with a river, to open views of the mountains, and even a prairie view of colorful wildflowers. I didn't remember it being this pretty when I mountain biked it. This is one of the things I enjoy more about running. I really didn't think I would be running as much in Utah because how much I loved mountain biking. I actually didn't get on my bike once. My shoes
stayed in their suit case. I wanted to the last two days but ran out of time. The Payson Canyon trail was better than West Mountain because the view was better, there was a trail, and I could actually run the trail as it was not as steep. The elevation was higher because the starting point was higher than the West Mountain, but the actual terrain was not as steep. I think, I would need to check the stats.
Bonneville Shoreline with Andy
The next day, which is 
now day four of extreme hills, consisted of a run with my friend Andy on the Bonneville Shoreline trail. The timing of the run was perfect. We got a view of the city of Provo during the sunset. The trail was easy to navigate and had a good amount of ups and downs. He brought his dog along, which was great at staying close. There was only one time where she wandered too far and we waited for a good amount of
time for her to return. Andy was a little concerned because she had blood on her mouth but we continued our run. The trail is along the bottom of the mountain there is not a really big climb, there are just constant ups and downs. The first part of the trail was a good uphill. I was glad Andy let me walk it at the beginning. The next difficult part was running up Rock Canyon to the fence. I don't remember if the fence was green or yellow, but I am p
retty sure it was a green fence. Once we hit the fence we chilled for a bit and let his dog have some fun in the river below. The return was much easier. It felt like all downhill. During the return we found a dead squirrel where we stopped last. Andy and I made the assumption that his 
pup was the culprit. There was definitely a look of guilt. The rest of the run was nice. I have missed spending time with Andy. I have known him since he was so young. Kenny has known him even longer than I. After the run we then stopped by his parent house and picked up some trekking poles that I could borrow for the race. I got home about midnight, which wa
s bit late since I had planned to get up about 4:00 to summit Timp. I'd figured it would get me use to running hard with little sleep. It was planned, well actually that is a lie. I get carried away talking from time to time.
... Timp report to come for now I am going to bed.
now day four of extreme hills, consisted of a run with my friend Andy on the Bonneville Shoreline trail. The timing of the run was perfect. We got a view of the city of Provo during the sunset. The trail was easy to navigate and had a good amount of ups and downs. He brought his dog along, which was great at staying close. There was only one time where she wandered too far and we waited for a good amount of
time for her to return. Andy was a little concerned because she had blood on her mouth but we continued our run. The trail is along the bottom of the mountain there is not a really big climb, there are just constant ups and downs. The first part of the trail was a good uphill. I was glad Andy let me walk it at the beginning. The next difficult part was running up Rock Canyon to the fence. I don't remember if the fence was green or yellow, but I am p
retty sure it was a green fence. Once we hit the fence we chilled for a bit and let his dog have some fun in the river below. The return was much easier. It felt like all downhill. During the return we found a dead squirrel where we stopped last. Andy and I made the assumption that his 
pup was the culprit. There was definitely a look of guilt. The rest of the run was nice. I have missed spending time with Andy. I have known him since he was so young. Kenny has known him even longer than I. After the run we then stopped by his parent house and picked up some trekking poles that I could borrow for the race. I got home about midnight, which wa
s bit late since I had planned to get up about 4:00 to summit Timp. I'd figured it would get me use to running hard with little sleep. It was planned, well actually that is a lie. I get carried away talking from time to time.
... Timp report to come for now I am going to bed.
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