Elk on Mt. Elden

That's right, I saw my first Elk sighting in Flagstaff this morning.

I ran the Elden Lookout road, having a great run, feeling strong on the way up and blasting down. I finished in maybe my fastest time of 1 hr 35 minutes. This may not be a fast time for many runners but it felt like I was flying and gives me hope to beat a goal of mine, 1 hr 30 minutes.

Like I said, I saw some Elk... The sighting happened right as I finished the run and was walking to my car. I heard the sound of animals moving in the snowy forest so I turned to look and sure enough there was a group of about five elk 100 yards from my car.

I haven't seen an elk this high up since Fall and it can only mean one thing...Winter is on it's way out and Spring is coming. All this pesky (yet beautiful) snow is on the way out and in a month or two we will see our regular forest floor again, the elk will be out again looking for grasses to nibble on and the aspens will start to grow their leaves. Yay for spring!

Note: Maybe I shouldn't get too excited...the forcast for the next few days is calling for 2-4 inches of snow. Winter isn't ready to role over and sleep yet!

First 20 mile run of 2010

Just broke through in to what I consider the "long runs." I don't have a really good reason for 20 miles being this distinction but I do know that after running 20 or more miles I feel different than after a shorter run. The rhythm of the run changes somehow and my mental state morphs into a sort of sustained low level survival mode, as if my body senses a need to sustain for the long haul and quietly adjusts. A wonderful and rare state for me as I don't run 20 miles or more in one push all that often. Right now I can get away with doing it once a week and even in my strongest training weeks of the year I don't do it more than a couple times a week.

The trails I chose for this adventure were the Brin Mesa Trail (starting and end point), part of F.S. Road 152, the complete Dry Creek Trail, the complete Bear Sign Trail, David Miller Trail and the Secret Canyon Trail.

The whole thing went better than expected. I was thinking that I would be pretty beat down after running my first 20 miler of the year (it has been almost 3 months since my last 20 mile run) but I felt really good at the end, running the second half faster than the first half. I will saver the feeling as I suspect there will be plenty of 20+ mile runs that will kick my ass this year.

Some highlights of the run...
-Observing some Javelinas near the start of the Brin Mesa Trail.
-Exploring Dry Creek and Bear Sign, two trails I have not explored before. Bear Sign trail is a fantastic trail that wanders along the bottom of a narrow canyon through thick forest. Very enjoyable running as it's climb is very gradual, almost feeling flat, and with little to no rocks, roots or other things to disrupt the rhythm.
-A unique group of "frozen Lilly Pads." Ice in Dry Creek that broke up to form interesting Lilly Pad formations. These little floating disks were there when I ran up the canyon and then 30 minutes later on the way down they had completely melted away. I felt very lucky to see such a fragile formation.

Yet again, a wonderful run in one of my favorite places anywhere, Sedona.

(Red line shows the path of the run)

(Dry Creek was flowing as were all the other creeks in the area, including the creek in Secret Canyon)


(Ice "Lilly Pads" in Dry creek)

(View from the saddle on the David Miller Trail)

A special weekend

Susan and I are very lucky. We live in a wonderful place, have each other to love and lean on and have some of the best friends and family we could ever hope for. Here's to being thankful for what life has given!

Why all the mushy-mushy? Susan and I had a great weekend. Saturday, we had a very pleasant hike on Brins Mesa and were surprised to run into some friends out on a lonely point. It was a nice place to find oneself, chatting it up and absorbing the warm winter desert heat. Sunday, we finished our Wedding Website (whew...that took a while to finish up but we are really happy with it-can't wait for the party!), sent out some save the date emails and then went to a really nice concert with some good friends to see Anne and Pete Sibley (Winners of the Prairie Home Companion duet competition). They were amazing...see them perform one of the beautiful songs we heard below. Monday, we went to The Solarium, a sport climbing area in Sedona, and it was great fun. Really warm (I think I got a sun burn) and some great routes too! I felt like I was on vacation with the warm weather after the nasty cold weather and snow we have been having this winter.

We experienced so much good the last few days that I am really feeling thankful for the life I have! I'll try not to muddle up this blog with sappy stuff but sometimes I just gotta express a little mushy-mushy (I'm not so good at being sappy so this is about as good as it gets anyway)!

5 degree "must run" up Mt. Elden

Some days I just have to run. Early, the day before one of these "must run" days I usually could care less about exerting myself. Then, something later in the day happens like watching a cool clip about a bad ass trailrunner, reading about a new trail to explore or just plain gathering energy throughout the day that needs to be expended through the effort only running can give.

The day before my weekly run up Mt. Elden I felt that slug feeling. I wasn't really psyched about doing anything more than the bare minimum run the next day.

Slowly, but surely, I seemed to gain steam throughout the day and then happened to watch a few episodes of Kilian's Quest on the Salomon Running website. That was it. I was psyched and ready to exert some real effort the next day. Note: I am always amazed at how one moment I can be not psyched in the least and then be totally inspired the next moment to go out and go for it. Just because of a silly video I happen to see on line, no less!

Kilian is an amazing young trail runner that just floats over massive elevation changes like he was running down hill the whole way. Unbelievable. He got me psyched to try and keep getting stronger on hills. I was ready for my weekly bout with Mt. Elden.

So, the only time I had to run up Mt. Elden was before work. I needed to be to work by 9 am so I was going to have to get up early to make it happen. GOOD because when it's early and still cold out the road is frozen like a sticky pop sickle and it is easier running. Sticky morning ice is waayyy better than the super Slurpee that it turns into in the middle of the day. BAD because I was going to be running in the frigid morning temps...meaning 5 degrees on Thursday morning. BAD II because I was going to run in shorts (I have this idea that if I get used to running in shorts no matter what the weather then I will not need to bring the extra weight of pants on ultra length runs).

Seems that there could be a fair bit of suffering on a run like this but, no worries, all turned out well. The road was somewhat deep snow but I moved well on it once I figured out a rhythm to punching a couple inches through the top layer every step. Also, the shorts thing worked out o.k. The front of my thighs were frozen for a while but then warmed up (probably because the temps got a bit warmer...somewhere in the teens to twenties by the end of the run). My beard froze...something that hasn't happened in a long time on a run. Oh my...that reminds me of when my shoes froze running in Paria Canyon a couple months ago...that was not good.

The run itself was really nice. I felt energized and thought I moved well for the conditions.

Thanks to Kilian for giving me the extra little spark to make Thursday a "must run" day instead of a couple mile, I don't really feel like running but need to get my legs moving today, uninspiring road running day.

Here's to "must run" days and the inspirations that get us there! Cheers!

Check out this video of Kilian below (it is just one of many on the Solomon Running website) to get an idea of what an amazing runner he is. Maybe he can get you psyched too!

Loy Canyon Trail Run: Another one knocked off the list

This was a "squeezer" day. The weather was bad everywhere but I really wanted to get down to Sedona for a run. Some days the weather shuts you down but not this day. I was able to just barely squeeze in a 8 mile run on the Loy Canyon Trail, yet another trail that I hadn't been on. It was raining on the way to the trail head, stopped for the run and then proceeded to rain hard again right after. On the way back up to Flagstaff it even snowed before going up the switch backs at the top of Oak Creek Canyon! Just got the run in...barely.

Glad it worked out because the trail was a real treat. Very enjoyable running on rolling terrain along a really nice singletrack trail. Here are some shots to give an idea of what Loy Canyon is all about.

There is a ruin in the above photo...can you see it?

Very nice open views of Sedona red rock low on the trail.

There was a really cool tower low on the trail. Does anyone know if this has been climbed??? It is impressive and should be!!!

Typical views on upper section on trail. I really enjoyed this part. It was a nice change in scenery after the open lower sections.

This is where the snow got a bit deep and I turned around. It was probably less than a mile to the rim and the end of the trail. I will definitely be back sometime to finish this section and soak in the views from the top...there's also some nice looking limestone layers up there to explore.

I would recommend this trail to anyone looking to get off the beaten path and explore the backwoods of Sedone Red Rock Country. The trail is definitely out there and travels through some stunning country. Go here for more information on the Loy Canyon Trail.

Revisiting an old friend

Winter can be a difficult time to get any vertical while running. Most of the time is spent on pavement or in Sedona (some vertical but not much). Luckily, good ol' Mt. Elden Lookout Road, a dirt road that climbs a couple thousand feet over roughly 3.5 miles to the summit, is plowed during the winter. The cell companies use the road to service their towers on top of Mt. Elden.

After a couple winters of running this road, I have come to think of it as an old friend that I get to visit every winter.

Today was the day where I got to visit my old friends summit for the first time this winter and for 2010. It was a good visit and I can't wait to make it a weekly one for the next few months.

That's the goal...run Mt. Elden at least once a week until other steep trails loose their snow. Thank goodness for such a good winter friend as Mt. Elden.

Turkey Creek Trail Run: Just what the doctor ordered

Should a person rest a cold or burn it off through activity? I'm not sure anyone really knows the answer. I have had success resting colds and it did give me an excuse to lay around and whine for a few days. On the other hand, I have had the few times where I had to work, was about to go on a climbing trip to a place I was really excited about or other times where I have been death bed sick and still got out the door and was active right through the sickness. In fact, I'm not sure if my recovery time has been faster resting over staying active.

Yesterday was one of those days where I chose the burn the sickness off through activity. This was the second time I had been sick in as many weeks and I wasn't in the mood to sit around and recover. I wanted to get out on the trails and move my body.

I picked out another new trail to run in Sedona, the Turkey Creek Trail, and made it happen. I drank a bunch of water and orange juice all morning and by afternoon was off down the trail.

Now, I wouldn't say I felt all that great but I didn't feel death bed sick either. I had that kind of sickness where your head is messed up and your throat feels like crap.

I thought that running this day would be a struggle but quite the opposite happened. As I started down the trail I felt light and loopy, making for some surprisingly enjoyable running. This sensation stayed with me the entire run. There was a bit of a climb near the end of the trail to the top of House Mountain but it didn't really faze me. I just kept plodding along and maybe even enjoyed the loopiness more during this section.

Very curious and fun. I was out for over an hour and a half and wasn't thirsty or hungry the whole time, had ample amounts of energy and enjoyed a serious loopiness. All together a very strangely enjoyable run.

I'm not sure if if I was just lucky or if going for a run was the best medicine for having a bit of a head cold on this day. I'll have to try this again during some future sickness to see if I get similar results.

Sick or not, the Turkey Creek Trail was very enjoyable and I recommend it for those looking for a great trail off the beaten path. The majority of the trail is flat to rolling terrain on a nice trail through typical forested yet open Sedona terrain. There are many interesting sandstone buttes and towers to view along the way, a nice tank after a few miles, and a final reward after a climb onto the ridge of House Mountain of a fantastic view the whole expanse of Red Rock Country. Very nice.

The whole run was about 8 miles (I started about .5 miles before the start of the trailhead) out and back making a nice distance to run, but if someone was looking for a shorter run of about 3-4 miles there is a nice singletrack you can get on that heads off left (east) part way out the trail that connects again later to make a really enjoyable shorter loop.

Final verdict on rest vs. activity for a sickness... Hmmm... I would say that if I could experience the cleansing effect I got from this run along with the strangely pleasant loopy sensation every time I got sick then I would say a big + for activity but we will have to see the next time I get sick...especially if there are new episodes of The Office, Parks n Rec, The Daily Show, Caprica, 30 Rock, American Dad, Simpsons, Saturday Night Live, Fringe and Family Guy on Hulu and new climbing videos to watch... come to think of it...maybe staying home and laying around when I'm sick isn't such a bad idea.