Cursed Realm of the Faceless Ghost

Squaw Peak 50 recon, take three. For those who are keeping score, it's now Squaw Peak 2, Eric 1.

Catherine dropped me off at Nunn's Park on her way to run with a group in Orem. I covered the short portion on the BST quickly. I overestimated how cold it would be and had to stop after a mile to shed some layers, and the light of my headlamp was making me dizzy, but I made it to the first turnoff with no problem. And thanks to the cairn Jun and I made on Saturday, I actually found the trail without any drama.

The trail from the BST to Hope Campground is a nice one once you're on it, and it should be completely runnable, but I was a little off this morning so I ended up hiking some of the steep and loose sections.

I knew exactly where to find the trail out of Hope Campground, but after less than half a mile I realized I was in a creek bed instead of on the trail. I backtracked, sidetracked, and generally wandered around for quite a while before conceding that I had lost the trail. (I also nearly had a heart attack when I came around a tree and found myself staring right into two glowing eyes--fortunately, it was just a deer). I wasn't surprised, given the difficulty of finding an overgrown trail in the dark, but I was disappointed. I decided to backtrack to the camp site and then run up the road until I found the trail again. But almost immediately after turning around I realized where I had gone wrong, and I was back on course.

Of course, no sooner was I back on course than the course disappeared. As Jun mentioned on Saturday, there's been a little tractor-induced mayhem in the mountains this summer. I wandered through the fallen trees and chewed up earth, but it was hopeless--the trail was gone. (And I'm not sure why--if there's a reason for what they've been doing up there, it's not obvious to a city slicker like me). I just walked up the hill, trusting that I'd eventually hit the road, and I did. From there, I had to decide whether I was above the place where the trail meets the road or below it. I guessed I was above it, and for perhaps the first time in my trail running career, I was right. Result!

The trail is pretty clear from this point, and it was light enough for me to turn off my headlamp, so I cruised on up to the Squaw Peak overlook and down to the road at Rock Canyon Pass. I descended the trail through a meadow surrounded by changing leaves and big mountains (I apologize for not bringing a camera), and after a little more than half a mile I was back at the road, right on schedule. It then occurred to me that I had no idea whether I was supposed to find another trail or stay on the road (after getting lost two times before, I hadn't actually reviewed the course directions after the pass). I decided to stay on the road, which quickly deposited me at Rock Canyon Campground. From there it was a quick descent through the canyon, past the temple, and past campus. 

Just as I hit Center Street, Catherine drove by on her way home from the gym, so I hopped in the car with her instead of running the final mile home. Good morning.

2:03:10

I got out for another run on the Slate Canyon to Y Mountain loop, because it looks like the weather may shut it down soon. Rather than pushing myself to run as much of the four-mile, 3400-foot climb as possible, as I did on Friday, I decided to keep my effort steady, walking several of the steepest portions. Even so, I hit the pass several minutes faster than I did on Friday. Let that be a lesson to me about pacing, I guess.

Because of the rain last night, the descent was slippery and wet, and my feet were soaked within half a mile. When I got to the bottom of Y Mountain, I took the BST back over to Slate Canyon, because I had stashed my hat and my gloves there on my way up. The little change in the route added only one mile to the route overall while adding two miles of trail. Not a bad deal.

2:07:18

Catherine gets back tomorrow, which means her trip is really almost over. Awesome.

While she's been gone, I've spent most of my time in the law library, but I've also put in some good miles on the trails. I decided to try something new today, and after browsing the trails on utahmountainbiking.com, I settled on Little Baldy. Basically, I was supposed to run to a ridge, then double back, then take a side trail that would loop back to the car. As I neared what should have been the top I came to a fork and decided to follow the better-travelled branch. That must have been the wrong choice, because I was supposed to come to the ridge at 5.1 miles, but by 5.6 it was nowhere in sight. So, I doubled back, because it was starting to rain and I had no idea where the trail I was on would take me (although I'd like to go back and find out sometime). It began raining hard on the descent, so I skipped the loop and simply retraced my steps back to the car.

It looks like I've put in 37 miles and more than 9,000 feet of vertical over the last three days, which should be exactly what I needed to run a fast 5K on Saturday. Or not. At least I had a good time.

1:35:51

AM: Five easy miles on the road before going to pick Catherine up. 

36:17

PM: Catherine is back home, so I went to the gym with her and ran another 6.5 miles (3.5 easy, with three 1 miles repeats at 6:30). We were going to run the BST, but the rain put an end to that, so instead I watched Mama Mia in the Cardio Cinema. To paraphrase Melody, I got my estrogen fix for the day.

Five easy miles at the gym this morning. My next run is the BYU Homecoming 5K. Hopefully my legs will have recovered enough by then to go sub-17.

AM: I wanted to run a 5K before the Mountain View trail half marathon next week, so Catherine and I ran the BYU Homecoming 5K this morning. The course was harder than the two other 5Ks I've run. The first half mile was up a hill past the stadium and onto 9th East. From there we bombed down 9th East and around the south end of campus before finishing on a circuit through the grass and around the track.

I felt okay at the start, and I felt okay on my way down 9th East, too, but by 1.8 miles I was off. I felt a little sick to the stomach, and I just didn't have the heart to push through. I slowed up more than I should have, and it didn't help my motivation that the guy behind me was losing ground while I was gaining on the guy in front of me (if they weren't going to push, why should I?).

As I came onto the track, I realized I could break 17 if I could run 300 yards in about 50 seconds. Didn't happen. I crossed the line in 17:11, which, surprisingly, was good enough for fourth overall. I was disappointed not to break 17, but I think I could have on flatter course or with a better mental game. At least now I have an updated PR.

A couple of hours later, Catherine and I went for a run on the BST from Bridal Veil Falls. We were both pretty tired after the race at the end of the week, so the trail run was short and mellow.