Well the 2011 battle with my nemesis "the snow" continued. After our basement fiasco I quickly emailed Bruce to see if he had room for me to run the Logan Peak Run, a 28+ fun run on the first part of the Bear 100 course. He was able to squeeze me in, albeit on a shortened snow course, so we made plans to take a mini-family vacation to Logan to make use of my taper for Bighorn. By the time we checked into our hotel Friday night, Bruce emailed everyone that we were now running an 11 mile course due to dangerous snow conditions. I have to admit I was a bit disappointed but know better than to look a gift horse in the mouth and I knew I'd have my work cut out for me keeping up with the roadies with these "ultra-legs." I may even have to (gasp) run uphill. The new course would leave the park, go straight up 4 miles, then traverse north 1.5, and then come right back down. I knew it would be a test to keep the leaders close enough that I could make up the difference on the technical downhill. The run up was a bigger challenge than I expected. I kept an eye on my heart rate as we slogged to toward the top. After the first mile there wasn't much talking going on because I was too busy sucking wind and listening to my heart pound in my ears. I moved from 5th, then to 4th by the turn around. The last 1.5 was sketchy with snow, tree wells, and a few ankle-busting snow bridges on the trail. Leland was waiting at the top handing out stickers as proof of not cutting the course. I quickly added my "terrific" sticker to my bib then bombed off the top. By this time we were about 5.5 minutes behind the leader with only that many miles to make up the difference. We hammered through the snow, dodging trees and runners coming toward us. Just below the aid station Cheryl Meltzer told us the leader still had 2.5 on us, but that we were gaining, encouraged we continued to freight train down the hill. A bit later another runner told us we were 4 minutes back. I couldn't figure out how that could be but I decided to push harder to drop the guys with me and make another stab at catching the leader because I knew that once we cleared the technical trail section I was in trouble. Part way down the canyon Chris (who ended up 4th) took a huge digger and the chase pack was down to 2. A few minutes later I dropped Joe and the next thing I knew I passed Seth?? to take the lead. I was excited but knew that we would empty out of the mouth of the canyon shortly. I continued to press but sure enough, as soon as we hit the dam I was in second again, then 2 minutes later Joe passed me, bumping me to 3rd. I was in survival mode but managed to keep the gap under a minute finishing in 1:47 and change. Video of part of the downhill and finish can be found HERE and HERE The data from my SUUNTO: Average heart rate: 169, time spent above 175- 35:12, above 165- 1:12, below 125- 10 seconds, 3604 ft. of climb and descent. It took me 1:12.32 to get to the top and under 35 minutes to get down. If I only had another 4 miles of technical downhill I might have been able to come away with the win. Thanks to Bruce and crew for putting on such a fun event and Cody Draper for the photo and video.
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