This project began with a team from the Rocky Mountains of Utah and Colorado at the International Elbrus Race on Elbrus, one of the Seven Summits, an 18,500' volcano in the Caucasus of Russia. We took 3rd and 5th place in Fall 2013. Follow training, test races, goals, technique, theory and fun as we work to achieve our dreams. Right now I'm alone here [Charles] so this reflects my own races, runs, training, and challenges. Please subscribe and comment when/if you can. Please share.
Hey peoples,
First, thanks to everyone who came out today. Other than the rather large mosquitoes, it was a pretty good day for a hill climb. Hopefully everyone had a reasonably good time, well, except for that little climb. Anyway, results are now posted on https://ultrasignup.com/results_event.aspx?did=33962
Anatoliy set a new course record of 54:51, besting last year's mark by a bit over 30 seconds. Don't forget the half marathon and 50k next month if you're so inclined to run something a bit longer. Buffalo chili, beer, soda, and coffee mugs at the finish line. Hope to see you there.
We arrived at the parking just before the gate and checked in. We drove past the turnoff for Frary Peak, but that allowed us to see buffalo at sunrise, so it was a good thing we did. At the Frary Peak Trail Parking I checked in for a 9:06 start.
The trail was a blast, and the few runners I talked to were also having fun. I got an official time of 1:24:47, which coincides with Strava pretty well.
I'm totally digging that suffer score. I came in 22nd of 31. It's a great start as I train for my goals next year.
Pikes Ascent (half marathon)
Big Sky VK
Elbrus Race 2016
I'll have to do a half at a 11:00 pace or better to qualify for the ascent. For me that pretty much equates to a very flat trail, or a slightly downhill road half. I was going to attempt a Halloween Half, but I won't be able to peak that quickly after this one.
I also want to do a few more VK's over the year, so I'll have to stay on top of that. You too, stay in the loop.
Well, tomorrow [as of last night] is the big day. Here's the particulars for tomorrow.
Race check in is at the large parking lot near the main entrance to the island. Check in starts at 7am and will go thru 8:30. After that, oh well, better hurry out to the start.
Once you check in, drive out to the island, bear left, then turn down the road that goes to the ranch. Drive south for about 5 miles and you'll see the Frary Peak turnoff. Go up to the upper parking lot and that's where we'll be. I'll have a couple of signs out.
The race starts at 9am with the first two runners. After that, two runners will start every minute until everyone is on the course. Your starting order is largely based on who shows up first, so basically random.
There will be a couple of people up at the radio repeater to make sure you know where you're going. You touch the side of the housing and head back down. Lindsay will be up there taking your picture as well, so suck those guts in and make it look easy.
Trader Joe's is supplying all sorts of goodies for post race, bars, fruit, bagels etc. I'll bring some sodas along as well as some sort of sports drink and water.
Weather looks pretty good right now but there is a storm rolling in during the afternoon, so hopefully we'll beat it.
There will be race day sign up for your friends that want to pay an unreal amount of money to run a 10K, so bring them along.
FWIW: MY RANKING based on my previous registrations at Aspen Backcountry Marathon and Flagstaff VK. I'm hoping to do a bit better than that 2:00:51 they have me pegged at.
Salt Lake City at dawn. Training on Mount Olympus.
Finish Line for Flagstaff Vertical Kilometer October 2, 2015
Frary Peak Hill Climb
October 17th, 2015
Want to run a ~10K on Antelope Island? Want some serious vert during that ~10K? Want a shirt with a cool logo on it?
Here’s The Scoop
Basically you run up the Frary Peak Trail, touch the radio repeater near the summit, then run back down. But there’s a little twist, it’ll be a time trial type start. We’ll start 2 people every minute. The reason for this is that first, it’s something a little different, and second, the trail is so narrow, that in order to accommodate 50-75 people, we have to do it this way. Plus, there’ll be tourists and hikers on the trail and a huge herd of runners bearing down on them may scare them a bit. Start times are randomly assigned, so you might be paired with the eventual winner. You won’t be sure of your finish place until well towards the end of the race. Adds a bit of interest.
I mean, have you ever seen the sunrise on that side of Antelope Island before? No?! What the heck is wrong with you?! It’s stunning. The light is golden. Seriously. The trail is epic. Narrow, winding ridgeline trail that serpentines its way to the peak and gives you a glimpse of the back of the island you’ve probably never seen before. It’s pretty cool. Plus, it’s short. I mean, don’t get me wrong—it’s freaking steep. But, the payoff is worth it, if you like the downhill.
Anyways. I know you’re doing that thing you do, where you’re like, “yeah, but I don’t know. What if I’m kinda lame, and I want to chicken out and not do it, and sit at home instead?” I gotcha. Don’t worry. I’m waaaaaay ahead of you. Here’s a quick list of the top 10 reasons the Frary Peak Hill Climb is your must do Fall race:
So, the Frary Peak Hill climb is a new race on the island. Basically you run up the Frary Peak Trail, touch the radio repeater near the summit, then run back down. But there’s a little twist, it’ll be a time trial type start. We’ll start 1-2 people every minute. The reason for this is that first, it’s something a little different, and second, the trail is so narrow, that in order to accommodate 50-75 people, we have to do it this way. Plus, there’ll be tourists and hikers on the trail and a huge herd of runners bearing down on them may scare them a bit. Here’s a link to the route. http://www.usatf.org/routes/view.asp?rID=514500
It’s just under a 10K and I guarantee that you won’t PR unless it’s your first 10K.
I arrived in Flagstaff right at rush hour, just a bit before the sunset, which left me blinded facing into the sun while negotiating traffic in an unfamiliar town. I dropped into Safeway and stocked up on supplies for the night, the next day, and some post-race goodies for recovery. The primitive camping area up the road near the Arizona Snow Bowl ski area was up a very rough, very rugged dirt road but my trusty AWD wagon got me to the end of the road and back well enough. The spots were all full. Some were obviously homeless people living out in the national forest to spite the time limits, which was frustrating.
Agassiz Peak (just right of center) from the hwy north of Flagstaff
The gates were closed at the ski area, but there was a spot suitable for guerrilla undercover camping, so in the dark, in the forest, it was possible to set up camp and make it work.
It was a cold, clear night, with beautiful stars and I awoke to the sounds of trucks, maybe hunters, heading up the switchbacks toward the Arizona Snow Bowl. It was 5:50 AM and the gates at the resort claimed to open at 8 AM, so I broke camp, got out the MSR REACTOR stove and cranked up some herbal tea and oatmeal. I let the oatmeal sit for a bit and then added in some protein powder RECIPE.
I took my time stretching, adjusting my trail running pack from Ultimate Direction and staying hydrated. At a few minutes after 8 I went up to the resort and parked near the Check In Station. There were a few other early-birds, primarily some of the presumed front-runners. It was, after all, the final VK in the US Skyrunners series. I finally changed into my Asics short tights, Zensa compression sleeves, TNF arm warmers, TNF Breck Independence Day 10k Tech-Tee, Point6 Summit Socks, Altra Olympus 1.5, Goal Zero tech cap, and Hestra cycling gloves. I popped in my contacts and added my wife's Julbo sunglasses. I was ready to go. I dropped off a bag for the summit, with my Nike sweatpants and puffy jacket. It was windy and cool in spite of some sun between the clouds.
My number for the Flagstaff VK
It was time to get my Suunto Ambit 2S on, and start "running" the race. The first stretch of uphill wasn't too bad, in spite of several erosion control ditches, some over 4' deep and 4' wide. I was able to jump some, and step in and out of others, but uphill it wasn't that bad. Downhill though was killer. It was like deep scree, dirt, silt, gravel and loose grass to glue lava rocks the size of toasters. I "screed" down quite a bit, fell some and generally was unhappy. Very unhappy. The next uphill felt a bit harder, and the downhill after was even worse. I slowed down to around a 50:00 pace just to stay upright, though I did fall and tweak both wrists. I had wisely decided not to use my poles. I would have broken them by now.
Walking the course before the race, this is an erosion control ditch. 1 of about 20?
Finally the last stretch before the summit and I was up at the top. 1:32:47 on their clocks. I had beat my Quandary PR by 3 minutes. It was dang cold so I snapped a few pics, a video, and then headed down to the lift to get my warm gear on and have some snacks and water before the cold miserable chairlift ride down.
At the bottom they said the tee shirts were delayed by yet another few hours and maybe by 6 PM at the store in Flagstaff. I had to get home because my son has a CX race on Saturday, so I booked it through the night to Utah.
Summit, the finish line for the Flagstaff VK, October 2, 2015
Today, Sunday, I had a chance to mess with my stats on Movescount, separating out the uphills from the downhills. I was really frustrated that the downhills were so slow, much slower than my uphill pace, so I stitched the uphill segments together to create a simulated uphill-only VK, That gave me a finish time of 1:17:27. That's way better than my previous best on Olympus-to-the-saddle of 1:23. That gives me lots of hope for the future.
How about an online Meet and Greet and you can ask me about how I trained and prepared?
