I really wasn’t planning on running today, but it wasn’t looking like I would be able to fit in another long run before it was time to start tapering down for the Leadville Trail Marathon next weekend.

There is a big ‘Y’ painted on the mountain above the BYU campus in Provo. I’ve always thought it was kind of an eyesore, but it was created 100 years ago so I guess it gets a free pass from most people. At any rate, it would provide a good destination for my night run.

With the Bear 100 getting closer all the time, it’s important that I get in some good night time practice running with my headlamp (I’ll be going through almost 12 hours of darkness during the 100 miler). I loaded up my trusty Camelbak, scrounged some batteries for my headlamp from my parents, laced up the Montrails, and hit the road at about 9:30 pm.

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I needed to get in a long training run while we are on vacation in Utah so I started thinking about possibilities a few days in advance. The idea that kept coming back to me was to attempt running to the summit of Maple Mountain from my parent’s house in Springville. I had climbed the mountain a few times years ago and thought it would make excellent training for my upcoming events – if I could survive it. The massive pile of rock and trees dominates the veiw from the south part of Springville and all of Mapleton.

I started running at 10:30 in the morning on a beautiful, but HOT day. It would reach the upper 90’s. I was fully loaded with a 70 oz. Camelbak, food, and gear for the trail. I also took a mirror along at the suggestion of my dad, to see if I could signal them from the top.

The magnitude of the undertaking was staggering to me as I started the run. Like Frodo and Sam approaching Mordor, I avoided eye contact with the summit for fear of being frozen in my tracks. Only stealing the occasional peripheral glance followed by shaking my head at the thought of where I was going.

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I’m definitely back in the ‘build’ phase again, feeling mostly recovered from Wyoming. I planned to do a good long run today with some climbing and technical trails to start getting ready for Leadville and the 100k in Utah. I hopped on mapmyrun.com and scoped out a route that would give me between 20-25 miles, convoluted though it was:

south valley + deer creek
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I got a later start at around 1:30 under dark and cloudy skies. A typical day in the Denver foothills. The first part of my route circumnavigated a large area called Elk Meadow. I was looking forward to it because it would be the flattest part of my run and give me a good 2-3 miles to settle in. What a letdown, I ended up walking most of it. The very narrow (8-10 inch) trail was eroded in several spots with a ‘V’ shape, and due to our very wet spring, the grass on either side was anywhere from waist to shoulder high. I just couldn’t get into a good rythmn and so just walked as fast as I could.

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