Trail Race in 2019?

Back in September, my boys and I went camping at Frontenac State Park. When we were hiking that night, we noticed signs for a trail race. And then the next morning, people were out getting ready to direct traffic for the race. It turns out I had at least 1 friend and 1 spouse-of-a-friend (of a YWCA Endurance Sports teammate actually) doing the race. In the post showing my boys and I camping, I shared part of race map that showed a HORRIBLE climb (that we hiked up and down) that was around mile 9 of the 10 mile race.

The race is called "In Yan Teopa" (named after a rock formation there), and I found lots of photos on this Facebook page. Here are about 20, and it makes me want to camp out and race next year!

The first 2/3 of the race or so are on rolling grassy hills.


Remember fast "soccer mom" duathlete/triathlete Jenny Wilcox who raced me a lot?!?
Here she is! She went on to win the female race by about 3 minutes!


Through the dewy sumac.


My teammate's hubby!


Jenny! (About to pass my teammate's hubby.)


I mean, doesn't this just look like a HORRIBLE place to race? :)






Jenny again.


Coming up to one of the park roads...


... and getting ready to cross it.


Just the ugliest race.


Here's the end of that 300-400 foot climb with less than a mile left.


Fun times. The boys and I hiked this the night before.


LOTS of switch-backs.


Lots of rocky stairs, and some ACTUAL stairs near the top.


More switch-backs.


Some of the final climbing. And then it's less than a mile of flat(ish) trails to the finish.


Coming to the finish!




A special award for "dead f*cking last." Local honey. Nice!

I really want to keep this in mind for next year. I don't have very strong ankles (bad sprain a few years back), so trail running makes me a little nervous. But half of this is just "grass" and not extreme "trail" like. It's 2 weeks before the TC 10 Mile, so it can be a nice final leg-burner before that race! We'll see how the summer and early fall shape up...

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BIG Week of Workouts, and River Bottoms Trail Run

Eight days ago, I raced Rocky's Run 8K - a nice, soft, golf course, CC race. Then, this past week, I got in some decent training because my body felt OK after racing on that soft surface:

Here's quick rundown of the week's workouts:

• MON: core.
• TUES: legs (and some old PT moves) and 200s in the pool.
• WED: 3.5 mile easy run, and then upper body at the gym.
• THURS: core and PT legs at the Y, and some 90 sec intervals on the trainer.
• FRI: 5+ mile moderate run, 300s in the pool, and some good PT moves for my legs.
• SAT: Good upper body, and an hour of mixed intervals on the trainer.
• SUN: 6 mile easy "long" run, and some core.

For my run yesterday, I thought I'd check out some trails along the river starting just south of where the Greenway Trail starts/ends. We've lived just about a mile from those trails for nearly 10 years, but I've stuck to running on the paved trails along River Road (almost exclusively on those paved trails for the last 6 years). I've done some exploring down there in areas with my boys, but I've never "connected" it all together. Time to try some soft-surface running:

Crossing the Mississippi River, ready to take the paved trail north
to that rail bridge, then hop down along the water on the left side of the River.


Heading down the "start" of that trail just south of the rail bridge.


After lots of potential ankle-turning rocks (and 1 iffy foot strike), it got nice and clear.


Heading under the Lake/Marshall bridge that I was just on.


Hopping and ducking.


I'd been in this area recently with my family on a hike, but not past this.
I had to run up that quick, steep little hill to the right (along that tree's shadow).


Really close to the water, hitting a little mud. Not much though.

That last photo was from just past "Mississippi Gorge Park" where I'd been with my boys a number of times. But I hadn't been past that. I only got BARELY around the corner 75 feet ahead in that photo when I would have been forced into the river. So I turned around and did a bit extra before climbing 122 steps:

122 uneven stone steps. I counted.


Running back over the Lake/Marshall bridge, looking down at 2 little streams
coming out of the bluff that I had to hop over 20 minutes earlier.


I started at the north end and went south 1.7 miles on trails along the river. Then
(not shown), I looped back north to about 33rd St, headed back south to Gorge Park, and
back north again to the stairs around 34th St for just under 3 straight miles of trail.

I've explored with the boys at 3 spots on that map: under the rail bridge at the north end of that run, a LOT under the Lake/Marshall bridge (where there's a rowing boathouse), and a few times in Gorge Park near the south end, but I'd NEVER connected those all until this run. (Now I've found another place to explore with the boys around 33rd street - a mini, sandy peninsula.)

According to the splits I took on my Garmin, here's how much time I spent on 3 different surfaces:

- Hard surface (sidewalk or paved trail): 2.65 miles in 20:19 (7:40 pace)
- Grass next to hard trail or sidewalk: 0.46 in 3:31 (7:39 pace)
- True off road trail by river: 2.91 miles in 26:02 (8:57 pace)

I was out longer than I expected because USUALLY on long runs, I do some middle miles at 6:30 pace or so. During this run, I slowed down on uneven surfaces nearly 2.5 mins/mile for those middle miles! So it's no surprise that this run was 5 minutes longer than my usual "long" runs, even though I've gone farther on long runs 5x in the last 2 months.

Now, time for an easier week. At least for a few days. Time to rest.

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Thirsty (for knowledge) Thursday: 8 Running Adventures

In January of 2013, my wife and I went to Vegas and ran the Historic Railroad Tunnel Trail that was created for the railroad to help with the construction of the Hoover Dam. It was just a few miles from the edge of Boulder City to the Dam, but it had great views of Lake Mead, along with awesome tunnels carved through the rock that were meant for rail cars:

That's been the closest we've come to an "epic running adventure." (Oh, we also ran around the Superstition Mountains in Arizona a few years before that - that was pretty cool too.) But here are "8 epic running adventures" in America's National Parks:

Zion Traverse

Ultrarunners gush about this run in Zion National Park in southern Utah. The 48-mile trek with 10,000 feet of elevation gain connects several trails in the park and is often done both east-to-west or west-to-east. The scenery of canyons, cliffs, flowers, trees and more make this route a must-do for ultrarunners. The FKT, according to the Fastest Known Time community, is 7:22:08, done by Mike Foote and Justin Yates going east to west in 2013.

Tetons Circ

Conceptualized in 2008 by Matt Hart, this route circles the Teton Range of Wyoming at Grand Tetons National Park, going about 33 miles with 8,100 feet of elevation gain. The scenery is unmatched—if you run it counter-clockwise, the west slopes of the Tetons suddenly reveal themselves at Hurricane Pass and it is something you’ll never forget. Asked why he was inspired to draw up this challenge, Hart said, “I just think every mountain range with amazing trails should have an ultrarunning test piece that we can all go hammer and see who’s fastest.” Hart, who now lives in Boulder, Colo., first ran it for speed in the summer of 2008 and finished in 6:29. Once word got out about the amazing route, the FKT got lower and lower. It now belongs to Evan Honeyfield, who ran it in 5:34:31. “I was somewhat fast, but I knew people could run it even faster,” Hart says. “That is exactly what happened.”

Grand Canyon Rim-to-Rim-to-Rim

Easily the most well-known running adventure in the national parks, this challenge typically entails starting on top of the South Rim, going down into the canyon, climbing up to the top of the North Rim, then going back to where you started. It’s about 42 miles round-trip, going down either the South Kaibab or Bright Angels Trails to the bottom, and up the North Kaibab Trail to the North Rim. Rob Krar, one of the best ultrarunners out there, finished the run in a blazing 6:21:47 in 2012 and has the FKT. He also has the FKT of the rim-to-rim run, going from the North Rim to the South Rim (about 21 miles) in 2:51:28. This run has gotten so popular that the National Park Service was forced to regulate it and issue special use permits for organized adventures. But the appeal of this challenge will surely continue. “One of the seven natural wonders of our world,” says Guillette. “There’s something universally colossal about it, especially when looking north from the South Rim.”

Smokies Challenge Adventure Run

This run stays on the famed Appalachian Trail for 72 miles, spanning from the southwest corner of Great Smoky Mountains National Park (in North Carolina) to the northeast corner of the park (on the Tenneessee-North Carolina border). The run has been done many times, but the FKT was done by David Worth in 2011. The ultrarunner and Great Smokies park ranger completed the distance in 14:50:22, going south to north. “It’s one of the most scenic trails in the country,” he told the Knoxville News. “I’d like to run it again, but next time, I’ll leave my watch at home.” The SCAR only covers a tiny portion of the Appalachian Trail, which spans more than 2,200 miles from Georgia to Maine. But it’s a tough stretch--the highest point on the entire trail is within this 72-mile challenge—at Clingmans Dome, 6,643 feet above sea level.

Joshua Tree Traverse

One of the newer national park adventures out there, this route explores the desert park in Southern California along the 37.3-mile California Riding and Hiking Trail. Runners get to run in remote desert wilderness, alongside rock formations and through the famed Joshua tree forests that are found only in America’s southwest. Guillette and his crew believe they are the first to make this trek in a single day, finishing the route in 2012 in a time of 7:49 (not so much a FKT, Guillette says, but rather an “only known time”). It has been done by other groups since, typically starting on the west side of the park at the Black Rock campground and finishing at the North Trailhead near Twentynine Palms.

Wonderland Trail

Perhaps the most difficult challenge on the list, this run is on a 95-mile trail that circumnavigates Mount Rainier at Washington’s Mount Rainier National Park. The route has more than 22,000 feet of elevation gain, with the highest point more than 6,700 feet above sea level. Due to the weather, there’s just a small window in the summertime to do it. While hikers typically take about two weeks to complete the loop, the record for fastest finish was done by Kyle Skaggs in 2006. He did it in 20 hours and 53 minutes.

High Sierra Trail

Starting in the Giant Forest of Sequoia National Park in California, underneath 250-foot-tall sequoia trees, the High Sierra Trail winds east toward the spine of the Sierra Nevadas, passing through the Great Western Divide and officially finishing at the John Muir Trail about 49 miles away. From there, many will join the JMT for 12 additional miles to the top of Mount Whitney, the 14,505-foot mountain that’s the highest peak in the lower 48 states, and finish at the Whitney Portal in Inyo National Forest. The adventure’s grand total is 72 miles with extreme elevation change. According to the Fastest Known Time community, Leor Pantilat has done this 72-mile trek the fastest, finishing in 15:46 going east to west.

Longs Peak Summit

The centerpiece of Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado, the Cables Route starts at the trailhead at 9,450 feet above sea level and goes 4.5 miles straight up to the summit of Longs Peak at 14,255 feet. A round-trip on this trail is about 9 miles, and the FKT was done by Andy Anderson in 2012 in a time of 1:56:48 (1:14:08 up, 42:40 down). Anderson broke his own record that day, but before Anderson, the FKT was set all the way back in 1979 by Chris Reveley, who finished in 2:04:27.

Related: here's a runner's guide to conquering the Grand Canyon.

For more "Thirsty Thursday" posts that highlight workouts, body science, and all kinds of interesting information, CLICK HERE.

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One Final Post of New Gear West Duathlon Photos

I think this will FINALLY be my last post about the Gear West Duathlon. Drew from Gear West Bike and Tri was out there with a camera all day, he posted over 500 photos in an album on the Gear West Bike and Tri Facebook page. Here are a few I'd like to share:

Teammate Pete trying to stay dry pre-race.


I think this was the first "official" photo of team "Itchy & Scratchy."


After a change-of-shorts after the first run, I tried to stay loose as Pete was biking.
I look like a princess. (Not in a good way.)


Pete looked like a bad ass (in bright shorts) hammering it home on the bike!


More bad-assery.

You all know Jeremy. He's the former student who's been racing with me since the start of the MDRA Grand Prix last year. I teased him in this post from over a year ago that he looked too photogenic at the finish of the 2012 New Prague Half Marathon where he had a big PR.

Well look at how freakin' photogenic he looked a mile into the 2nd run at the GW Du:

IT'S NOT FAIR, JEREMY!

He looks majestic, graceful, and floating on air.... and here's me at the same point:

I look like a hot, wet, horse fart.

I was trying to catch Jeremy who was also on a team. I was about 2 minutes back and TRYING to close the gap. But I didn't even get close.

Another unflattering photo.


Jenny with my camera - she's the one who took all the great photos in my race report!!

Local rockstar Dan Hedgecock took the win by 3 minutes, and that was after crashing on the bike and then taking it a little easy on the final run. When you're that fast, the race can get a little lonely:

You can see a little spray above/behind him - it wasn't SOAKING on the ride, but it was wet.


A lonely ride. #FastAthleteProblems


Jeremy's biker coming back into T2 (just as Jeremy was preparing his photogenic self).

Even though Jeremy looked pretty good in that photo of him running, I teasingly commented on the Facebook album that Kortney should be named "most photogenic" at the race. Here she is GETTING READY TO TAKE 3RD IN A SOLID FIELD on the final run:

Smiling with good form on her way to take 3rd? I don't know how she does it.

And I joked that "least photogenic" should be Jared from GWB&T. A mixture of his paleness, sweatiness, black socks, and the slightly mis-matched reds on his top and shorts makes for a slightly-less-than-sexy photo:

Jared, I love ya, but this is gross. (This coming from the man who just described
himself as a "hot, wet, horse fart," so take it with a grain of salt....)

Here's a final rundown of links from this race:

- My Gear West Duathlon race report
- "Crowning Ceremony" after the GW Du
- Photos from Devon's Mom
- Devon's Gear West Duathlon race report < see his take on the race

And here are 2 recent Examiner articles of mine:

- Photo Gallery from the GW Duathlon
- A local mountain bike time trial series is starting soon

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