Bachelor party recovery

Well, my body is in a weird state right now. Kelly, Wes and I celebrated Zack's upcoming wedding with a full 24 hours of drinking, junk food and video games. Today, in an effort to start recovering from it, I went to the gym. I'll need to go one more time extra to help knock off some of those extra calories.

So, today I started with a walk on the treadmill on a heavy incline, which kicks my ass worse than running at 6 mph. I did that for 20 minutes and then rode the bike for 20 minutes more. I finished up the afternoon with some upper body weight training before calling it a day.

Tomorrow, if my shoulder is feeling up to it, I might go for a light swim. No guarantees, though.

Total distance: 1.25 miles uphill treadmill, 8.2 miles cycling

Mount Ogden summit success

So we finally made our 2012 attempt to summit Mount Ogden and all went well. Wes and I met at Kelly's place before we went and packed everything away and we were on the Beus Canyon trailhead by 9:30. The two of them brought their dogs Luigi and Leia. My initial goal was to be at the top within five hours. The last time Kelly and I attempted this in 2009 we only make it a bit past halfway in almost five hours. I was fatter then, so what can I say?

Shortly after making it through Beus Canyon. Note the colors everywhere. Beautiful.

We made our way through the 2.5 miles of Beus Canyon and it was pretty cold outside. There was still frost on the leaves, which provided a scenic climb through the fern fields. Autumn really is the perfect time to make this hike.

After that, we crossed the creek and went up the south side of the canyon before turning into the next canyon, which I don't know the name of on the other side. We worked through the mountainside 2.7 more miles before cutting back west to go up the traverse to the saddle to Mount Ogden, before finally hitting the saddle itself. Once the towers and helicopter pad at the peak were in sight it made things a little more frustrating because it was deceivingly far away.

Wes in the canyon south of Beus.

Eventually, we hit the road that comes up from the east side at Snowbasin. That road was a bitch. It was easily the hardest part of our ascent. We were all sucking wind the whole way. It was worth it though, because out of nowhere we saw a line of about five mountain goats a few dozen yards ahead of us, seemingly making the exact same climb we were. That was pretty cool.

Mountain goat sighting. Unfortunately, no Goat Man sightings.

Finally, after three hours and 45 minutes we made it to the top. We ate lunch and just relaxed for about 45 minutes before heading back down at 2 p.m sharp. It took us a little longer than I had hoped to get back down, trudging into the parking lot on 46th Street at 4:30 and we were dog tired. Even the actual dogs were dog tired.

I don't know if this road has a name, but it should be dubbed Hell's Climb.

All in all, it was a successful hike. Round trip, including the 45 minutes we took to stop, it took us seven hours from start to finish. Not bad. Novice climbers are expected to take eight to nine hours and we dicked around on the helipad for a while, too. We started at 5,000 feet and finished at the top at 9,500 feet making a total ascent of 4,500 feet. I'm sure I burned a crap-ton of calories.

We made it. Almost four hours later.

Total distance: 13 miles hiking (round trip)

Our route, excluding the crappy climb up the final road.

More photos from the hike ...

Cold weather in the morning. Mid 30s.

Traversing the saddle. Mount Ogden about two mile further on the left.

Texting Jen to tell her we made it up safely. Dunno what Kelly's doing.

The view of Weber and Davis counties from the top. We had a perfect 360 degree view as far as we could see.

The road to Snowbasin and the tram on the left.

Ben Lomond peak off to the north.

It's not what it looks like. Well, maybe it is.

Gangster poses with Morgan County behind us.

Bike ride at Ogden River Parkway

Today's workout was a blast. Wes and I took his mountain bikes to the parkway to enjoy more of the trail that we normally don't reach while running. Instead of taking the bikes there, we decided we were close enough to just ride them to the trailhead. It was only about two miles away and downhill the first time around.

You can see my route in better detail if you click on it.

It was a lot of fun to really push myself and still stay focused as to not hit any other bikers or runners on the trail. There are a bunch of windy areas that you have to slow down for if you don't want to wipe out hard. I lost Wes early, but we agreed to meet up at the four-mile mark of the trail. Surprisingly, it wasn't hard to reach it, but he wasn't there when I rolled in. I thought he must have pressed on, so I did too. After a while, though, I realized I would have seen him on his way back at some point, so once I hit the six-mile marker, I turned back. I finally saw him again with about one mile left until the trailhead. He said he looped around the pond at the four-mile marker (six miles overall), which explains why I didn't see him and kept going down the trail.

The two miles uphill on the way back was probably the hardest part. I was seriously feeling it in my lungs and thighs. But we made it no worse for wear. We immediately hopped in the car and drove to Quiznos to get some calories in our system. It was so effing good.

Total distance: 16.1 miles cycling

Cool weather: Perfect day for running

I hit the Roy High track today with Wes, because it was cloudy and cool outside. Perfect day for running. I did an easy 1.5-mile jog before we did some sprint sets. We ran the straightaways, doing push-ups and sit-ups at the end, walking the corners inbetween. I normally only do two of those, but we went a little harder today, doing three full laps of them. In the end, it wasn't a ton of mileage, but it was intense, so I didn't feel like I slacked off much. And on the bright side, for the first time in a while, I was able to do push-ups with very little discomfort and absolutely no pain in my shoulder. Hopefully the rehab is starting to work.

Total distance: 2.25 miles running

Back in the saddle

Wes joined me at the Roy Rec Center today and it was definitely a good one. The treadmill I wanted to use was broken, so I settled for the stationary bike, but I'm glad I did. My body was itching for a good sweat, so I really pushed it, attempting to break my 1-hour record on the bike, which was 17 miles.

I set the resistance one level higher than normal and went for it, and felt great the whole way. I even had a little extra in me once I hit that 17-mile mark, seeing that I still had about 2:30 left on the clock, so I notched it up two more levels to 12 (I think the max is 15) for the remainder, finishing with 17.75 miles before cooling down. A new high!! And it didn't feel particularly hard. I think the Bear Lake swim really helped boost my overall endurance, even though I've pretty much taken the last two weeks off.

I followed it up with some easy weight work, doing my shoulder tendon exercises and some light bicep/tricep sets. Wes and I are gonna go back at it tomorrow and mix it up a little more. We both are still battling that damn IT band. Perhaps I'll build up the guts to get in the water, too.

Total distance: 18 miles cycling

Four-mile run with Wes

Today, Wes and I went to the Ogden River Parkway for a run. I wanted to test my knee and see where I stand in the pain department. I've been using the foam roller on my IT band for two days now, so I'm not sure that will make any huge difference yet. We ran into Jessica in the parking lot before we got started. She just finished a 9-mile run, which is pretty impressive in my book.

Wes taking a Gu Shot before our run.

The run was tougher than expected in the cardio department. Running is completely different from swimming when it comes to fitness level. Swimming for almost four and a half hours last week still doesn't make me breathe as hard as I did today when I was running. My knee, to my surprise felt fine for the most part. I started feeling the usual discomfort and then pain by about 3.5 miles, so I didn't go for too long after that. Shockingly, I finished in 38:40, just a few minutes behind Wes. I don't think I've ever ran four miles that fast before. Maybe that's why I felt so winded. Perhaps I took it out a little too hard and need to slow down a bit.

It's still hard to say how much my knee can take. I certainly am not capable of running a half marathon on it right now, but I have two solid weeks to work at it before the Huntsville Half Marathon registration deadline passes.

Total distance: 4 miles running.

What's next? Half marathon?

It's been a full week since Bear Lake, which is the longest I've gone without working out since I started exercising again over a year and a half ago. I saw the specialist on Tuesday and, to my disappointment, he really didn't give me any new information about my shoulder. The only thing I learned is that I haven't seriously damaged anything, so surgery or anything like won't be required. He offered me another cortisone injection, but I turned it down, because it only seemed to piss my shoulder off even more last time.

It's torture to use, but it is very highly reviewed for helping with IT band injuries.

I think I'm going to take one more full week off from swimming while trying to strengthen my tendons a bit with exercises the doc gave me. In the meantime, I bought a foam roller to help toughen up and stretch out my IT band in my knee. I say this because Wes is trying to talk me into running the Huntsville Half Marathon with him in a little over a month. That isn't a ton of time to train, but cardio-wise, I think I'm already in moderate shape. A half marathon and perhaps even a full marathon are both on my bucket list, but the knee kind of stopped me the last time I trained for one, although I was making very good progress, reaching eight miles at one point.

I'll start tomorrow with a 3-4 mile run with Wes and see how it feels.

More stairs with Wes and Kelly

Today's blog isn't actually for today. I'm not working out until Saturday, but I went into work early yesterday, so I didn't have time to update with a new post.

Yesterday, Wes and Kelly came over and we went to Roy High's track to run and do some stairs. All in all, it was a good little workout. Wes is coming with Jen and I to Bear Lake tomorrow and he's going to kayak with Jen during my swim. Kelly was going to, but he got stuck working through the weekend. Still glad someone is coming to keep Jen company while I'm in the water. Four to five hours is a long time to sit in a kayak by yourself for.

Anyway, we leave tomorrow afternoon and are staying overnight in a campground at Cisco Beach, right where the race is starting. You won't hear from me until after the race. BRING THE PAIN!!

Total distance: About two miles running

Return to Causey

Wes came to my house bright and early this morning so we could go up to Causey Reservoir. The weather was supposed to be beautiful and he wanted to do some fishing, so I figured I could get a good swim in while he was doing that in the kayak.

The water level was really low, making for some big jumps off
the cliffs. Note the previous water line above me.

Just as predicted, the weather was perfect and I set out on the same course I did on Saturday with Kelly. We hit the first cliffs after about a half mile and did a few jumps. We then swam (well, I swam while Wes kayaked) to the other cliffs and did the bigger jumps. I had to kind of coax Wes into it, but after a while, he finally jumped off the big one. He then did some fishing while I swam back and forth across the reservoir a few times to increase my yardage a bit.

Swam back to the car, strapped the kayak on my roof and hauled ass to get home so I could shower and make it to work on time.

Total distance: About 1.5 miles

Day at the beach

I joined Wes and Dani for an afternoon at Pineview Reservoir before heading into work. It was the first day in a while where the wind wasn't blowing, so it was perfect for a day at the beach. Jen was shacked up at home with a dislocated knee, so I felt kind of bad leaving her there, but she was in no shape to be swimming.

I didn't plan on doing any ACTUAL swimming, but it only took about two minutes once we got there for me to cave, slap on my Speedo and head out. I swam out to the first buoy with my safe swimmer and then turned around and went back. It probably wasn't more than half a mile. It was a nice little swim though, considering the sad state of my shoulder at the moment. I wish I would have taken pictures...

Total distance: 1,000 yards (roughly)

Sluggish one-mile test

I was determined to set a new one-mile pool best today. However, three things didn't bode in my favor. First, I stayed up way too late, playing video games with Kelly, Zack and Wes, so I woke up with only an hour of lap-swim time remaining. Second, while in the pool, stupid kids were messing around in my lane during lap swim, which was really distracting, when I got kicked in the face twice. The Roy Rec Center is usually pretty good about keeping them out, but hey, at least I got some open-water "combat swimming" experience. Haha! And third, my shoulder is still effing sore. I think I did too many bloody push-ups earlier this week and it hasn't fully recovered.

Anyway, I still felt relatively good during my swim. I gave it everything I had and for the first time in a long while, I honestly thought I might puke once I finished. I was encouraged until I looked at my watch and it read 28:51. Crap!! I didn't even beat my best mark for 2012 (28:47), let alone my all-time high (28:36). I'm sure I didn't lose count this time, and its frustrating to see that you only missed a mark by just 15 seconds over the time span of almost a half-hour. That's less than a half-second per lap difference.

Oh well. When I left, they had another 50-mile swim certificate waiting for me at the front desk. That's the third one I've earned and call me a 7-year-old child, but I took it home and slapped it on the fridge. Yes!!!

On a side note, Gordon showed me the design for the GSL marathon swim medals yesterday, and I thought it was pretty dang cool. I love the local "brine shrimp" tribute. That's only one of many reasons GSL is unique, so I think the design was particularly cool.

Total distance: 2,850 yards

Long night on the mountain

Wes and I finally went for our overnight camp at the top of Hidden Valley, last night. That hike is always difficult, but with 40-pound packs on, it was an intense workout. For once, I didn't feel guilty for missing a swim. All was well when we got camp set up. The weather was nice, we got a fire going and cooked dinner.

All smiles halfway up the trail. I had no idea about the misery that was in store for me later that night.

However, just before hitting the sack, we walked about 50 yards to a clearing by the rock cairn where we had cell-phone reception so we could call our wives and say good night. It was getting dark and as I was walking, I heard a shuffle near my foot, followed by the dreaded RATTLING sound. I looked down, and sure enough, about a foot away from my shoe was the snake. I immediately jumped back and Wes' dog ran after the snake as we yelled and called for her to come back. Fortunately, no one was hurt. But I was freaked out and retreated to the tent for the night.

Our view from camp, right near where I almost stepped on a rattler a few hours later.

Then it got worse.

I woke up at about 1 a.m. with what might have been the worse headache of my life. I was shaking uncontrollably, sweating profusely and I'm certain I was running a fever. Wes, being the good friend he is, helped me pack up camp a few hours later when I wasn't getting any better. I started vomiting, so we decided to quickly make our way down the mountain in the dead of night, so I could get some medicine/help. It didn't help that my knees were already shaky when we went downhill, plus the rattlesnake scare was still in our heads as we trekked down the trail in the dark. After what seemingly took forever, we made it to the bottom by 4 a.m., and I was home by 4:30 where Jen made me sit in a hot bath after swallowing a handful of ibuprofen. It made a world of difference. After about another hour, I was feeling a little better and I could finally lie down. My own bed never felt so good and I was out. I didn't wake up until 11:30.

I feel fine now, and I'm not quite sure what overtook me last night. Very rarely have I felt so scared. Jen thinks I was severely dehydrated, but I have my doubts, because Wes and I took a ton of water with us. I drank at least two liters before we went to sleep. With a ton of black widows in our garage lately -- where we store our camping gear/sleeping bags -- Jen also thinks I may have been bitten by a spider and that made me sick. Personally, I think I may have gotten food poisoning from dinner. But who knows... It may have soiled me on camping for a little while, but I'm glad to have a good friend in Wes, who didn't mess around and helped me get down the mountain when I felt like death. Jen, as always, was up late at night with me, too, and I am thankful to have the both of them in my life.

Thanks guys...

Hidden Valley hike with Wes

Wes and I finally tackled the Hidden Valley Trail this morning. He's already been up a few times this year, but we wanted to go up and see if it would be a good spot for an overnight camp. It's graded as a difficult 2.5-mile hike with an elevation change of 2,046 feet and "difficult" it certainly was.

Nice little map of the trail. It's a pretty dramatic elevation increase.

We made it up in fairly good time (about an hour and 20 minutes) and added stones to the rock cairn to mark our reaching of the end of the trail. It was a tough hike, but it was short enough that I think we can certainly haul 50-60 pound packs up there within a few hours to stay overnight. The scenery, as usual, was beautiful and we made it back down within 30 minutes or so. I'm excited to go back up to camp.

Wes and I about half way up the trail, before we reached the valley.

The rock cairn at the end of the trail.

Hiking, getting lost and more hiking

Trying to keep pace with the beautiful weather we've been having over the past few days, Wes, Kelly, Jessica, Jen and I all went for a hike this morning. Well, it started out this morning and ended up lasting longer than three hours. We took an 'alternate' route up Waterfall Canyon and ended up hiking for an hour before we even found the correct trail. By the time we reached the top, Jen and I snapped a few photos and went straight down.

Early in the hike, trying to find the right canyon

Thinking the other three would catch us fairly quickly, we went on without them. Big mistake. Jen and I ended up at the bottom of the 29th Street trail head when our car was parked at the 31st Street trail head. We humped through a golf course before finally running into Wes, Kelly and Jess. Apparently they took a much faster route down. By then, Jen and I were exhausted, so we all met up at Noodles & Company for some chow and went home. All-in-all, it was a nice hike right up until the end when I got lost. By then I was starving and pretty cranky. Hopefully the next hike will be a little less chaotic.

Not a bad little canyon hike, once you find it.

Another long run outdoors

After having a sub par workout week last week (other than my 8-mile run), I wanted to get a strong start this week. My friend Wes and his wife Dani joined me for a run at the Ogden River Parkway. I didn't have any lofty goals other than I want to run 10 miles this week. I also want to cycle 45 miles and swim one.

A small part of the Ogden River Parkway

 Wes has always been a fast runner, ever since high school when he ran track, so I knew I wasn't going to outpace him. However, not long after I reached my first turnaround point at Mile Marker 2, Wes stopped to walk with Dani and his dog. I suspect he stopped to keep her company and make her not feel so 'left in the dust.'

After I returned to the start of the trail (4 miles), I was still feeling good, took a swig of water and turned around. I hid my water bottle behind a pavilion this time so nobody would throw it away again. Wes, Dani and I crossed paths again and I told him I was only planning to go back to Mile Marker 1 and turn back around. When I reached it, I felt like I could keep going, but I suspected the two of them didn't want to wait on me, so I flipped around and finished the day with six miles in 1:00.12. It wasn't the long run I did last week, but it was a good start to this week's goal. I think they liked the parkway as much as I do and we are going to go back again on Wednesday.

Total distance: 6 miles running