Maple Mountain
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.
Deer Creek Training Run
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
Find more Runs in Littleton, Colorado
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.
Locked and loaded
After scoping out racing schedules and calendars for the next few months, I finally decided on some events and have registered for my next 4 races:
7/4 – Freedom Festival 5k
Running this one with the kids along the parade route. Should be a lot of fun!
7/7 – Leadville Trail Marathon
Not your typical marathon. Starts in Leadville at around 10,000′ and takes a combination of 4WD roads and some singletrack to top out at 13,188′ on Mosquito Pass before heading back to town. I don’t have the time to go through a taper and recovery cycle for this one, so the plan is to just take it as a training run and continue my buildup for Katcina Mosa and use it as a test to see how I respond to the high altitude.
8/4 – Katcina Mosa 100K
62 miles and 12,000 feet of climbing on some VERY rugged terrain. This is a giant loop in the canyons and on the mountains near where I grew up. I’m familiar with most of the route, though there are a few sections I haven’t seen before. I’ll definitely be doing a couple of lighter weeks to taper down for this one and will hopefully have a good solid run without having to dig too deep. It’ll be a long day – the race starts at 3:00 AM! Looking forward to running through the old stomping grounds. This race captured my attention last winter and became my long-term goal back then. I’ve had the course map set as my computer background since New Years Day.
9/28 – The Bear 100
Yikes. September sounds like a long way off. Really it’s only 3 months from now. 35 hour cutoff time. I’m hoping to complete it in under 30 hours. Dang, that sounds like such a loooooong time to be on the feet. I definitely need to toughen up – I’ve got some work to do in that department…
The Scene Begins 