Winter Running

Found this over at Hang Nine. Makes me want to run in the snow right now!

James Carney NB Commercial in Sedona

Gotta love winter running in Sedona...although it pains me to watch him run on the road in the video. The trails there are SICK! Who wants to run pavement...well, I guess he does.

Oh yeah...all that stuff I said last weak about R2R2R being in season still...that time has probably passed. We just got some snow (finally) and I'm thinking that it is now winter time in Flagstaff.

...so glad we have Sedona. Gotta keep getting the left knee back in shape so I can start doing longer runs down there sooner than later. It continues to be testy on anything longer than 3 0r 4 miles so I am almost completely backing off of running for the next few weeks, doing some knee stabilizing exercises, icing and taking ibuprofen and getting it back to being completely happy I hope. Better to be over cautious now and take it slow (very, very hard for me to do!) so that in the spring and summer I can go big again.

Did I mention that I entered the Leadville 100 Run in August 2011? My first 'actual' ultra race! Pretty excited!!

So, I better be smart and take care of my knee now so that I can put in the miles later...

Sedona Traverse...it has begun

As noted in my last post, Jeff and I have started work on The Sedona Traverse, a 1,000+ foot limestone band traverse in Sedona that has been a half baked dream/joke of mine for some time. I'm really excited to be on the wall putting in pitches after all these years of looking up at the wall wondering if it would ever happen.

I will try to post updates as we progress, pitch by pitch, along the wall. We have only just begun to sink our teeth into it and after two days of work we have three pitches in. Our systems are getting more dialed and pitches should go in more smoothly as the days go on. Oh boy, the fun has just started!!!

Here are a few photos of the adventure so far...

(Looking up at the route. Pitch 1 is 5.4, Pitch 2 is 5.10 and Pitch 3 is 5.11. These are rough grades and we will have a better idea as we get to clean and climb more on each pitch.)

(Approach with heavy packs at the crack of dawn!)

(First look at the route up close.)

(Jeff leading Pitch 1)

(Gotta be dainty when cleaning them rocks!)

(Jeff leading the awesome Pitch 2. Really cool pitch around a tower.)

(Cleaning supplies at the end of Pitch 2. Cleaning Sedona choss is serious business!)

(Jeff getting a photo of me leading out on the EXPOSED Pitch 3. There is a big roof under me that you can't see in the photo. This will end up being a wild pitch as you down climb right over the left side of the roof to get past one of the cruxes! Good stuff!)

More pitches will fall after the New Year! Psyched!!!

Getting worked

The last few weeks have been non stop getting crushed for me.

One thing that worked me was the 26ish miles I ran in the Canyon, without running much for a couple months before hand, and the other is putting in a few days of work on a huge limestone traverse sport route Jeff and I are putting up in Sedona.

This route is going to be a monster with at least 10 pitches and maybe even 14 by the time it is all said and done. That's over a thousand feet of traversing, all on a 8 foot tall band of limestone that cuts perfectly horizontal through a huge wall of sandstone. Pretty amazing feature to climb on.

All has gone well so far, with 3 pitches down of 5.4, 5.10, 5.11 (rough estimates until we climb them a few more times and get a little bit more cleaning done). We are getting our system down for bolting the traverse and making things more efficient but the work is hard and I am thrashed after each session on it. Lugging drills, tons of bolts, a full rack of gear and other hardware around on that traverse is hard, hard work. To add to it the weather has been unseasonably warm and we got torched on the wall yesterday. It's very satisfying though to see our progress inching along the wall and the route is really amazing so it's all worth it.

Hermit/Tonto/Bright Angel Loop December 2010

I know, I know... my knee hasn't been the best and I should be taking it slow right now. The last week has been really good recovery for my knee though and I had an opportunity to do one of my favorite loops in the canyon with some friends yesterday so I made the call to go.

They weren't in it to break any records so I figured the pace would be easy enough to not do too much damage on the knee. Luckily, I was right and my knee did really, really well. I did have some dull pain for the last few miles of flat running on the Tonto Trail (around miles 17-19) but when we charged up the steep Bright Angel Trail the pain subsided and my leg felt really good again.

It felt good to put in a long run in the canyon again as I was feeling like I wasn't going to get in there again before the New Year and to do it with friends made it all the better.

I think that even though my knee did pretty well in the canyon I am going to continue to keep it slow and steady for now with shorter mileage and hills and do some more climbing.

Note: If anyone is interested in running a R2R2R still this year, they should. We are having very unseasonably warm temps and there is no snow on the South or North rims. No joke. Temps are perfect right now throughout the canyon for fast times and our good weather is supposed to hold for weeks.

Below are a bunch of photos and video that were my favorites of the trip.

(from left to right: Aaron, Me, John, Wyatt)

(Aaron starting down the Hermit)

(Nice running form...)

(Going through my favorite part of the Hermit Trail, the limestone band. Tonto Trail junction is at the bottom of this band)

(We saw a few big deer along the Tonto)

(Monument Spire)

(Yes, the Grand Canyon has moss!)

(Monument Campground. I love this spot.)

The video below is of Aaron running one of my favorite stretches of the Tonto.

The video below shows another deer sighting.

(Nearing the Bright Angel Trail)

The video below is of John running near the junction with the Bright Angel Trail.

(Bright Angel)

Where did I get it from?

Wondering where I got the bug to run and why I do ultra trail running now?

Probably not... but I'm going to tell you anyway!

Obviously, running is in the family with the distance running of my grandfather that I blogged about recently. But, I also got it from my grandmother, mom (and her siblings), dad and even my siblings. My family likes to run!

I definitely fought it for most of my life opting to run sprints when I had to and sticking to the pole vault from a young age into my first year of college. The pole vault was way more my speed with minimal running, a big pad to lay around on and catapulting my body way in the air for fun. Pretty sweet.

After I got the bug for climbing in college, I stopped running for the next 15 years and devoted myself to climbing and exploring for new rock.

I'm still not sure exactly why I started running so much again in the last few years but it probably has something to do with getting older, a little bored with climbing and needing a new challenge. And, because my favorite activity, even over climbing, is exploring in the middle of nowhere, I probably turned to running again to explore further, faster and get worked in the process.

I guess I went back to my roots of running and added my own angle on it. I basically took what I have grown to love during my adult years in 'exploration' and mixed running in there to make it my own special version of the old family pass time. Funny how things can come full circle in life...

Well, I think it's fun to see what some of my other family members are still doing with running and making it their own. Read up and maybe you will will learn a bit more about me in the process. Here are a few reports from my mom and brother to show you what's going on in their running lives.

'Hello! I have started my triathlon training again and for the next 9 months I will be sharing it with you. The big race that I have chosen is the Super Triathlon at the Grand Columbian. This triathlon consist of a 3.1mile swim, 125mile bike, and 31mile run, all in a 17 hour time limit. The reason for me to share this with others, is to motivate anyone reading this to be active and do something.' -Josh Henrie

Read more on his blog here.

'We finished in 2 hrs. and 55 mins. and 47 sec's (Dick) 2 hrs. 55 mins. and 48 sec's (me). 4 min.'s faster than I ran last year. It was so nice to run together, and to finish holding hands. Even though he kindof drug me across the finish field! We got to keep our room key as we stayed in the runners block of the hotel. Every finisher got a long sleeved shirt and medal. After the race, it was nice to walk back to the hotel for a shower and change of clothes. After our 2 hr. drive home we soaked in baths to keep from getting sore and stiff. Dick in an ice bath, I just couldn't bring myself to sit in ice water, so I just filled the tub with cold water.' -Kim Henrie

Read more on her blog here.