Running on Twinkies

Buffalo Run 50 Miler

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Location:

Bountiful,UT,USA

Member Since:

Jan 24, 2009

Gender:

Male

Goal Type:

Other

Running Accomplishments:

Winner of 1994 Teton Dam Half Marathon, 1:25:01.

Best Marathon: 3:23:40. (Deseret News 2006).

Completed Utah Grand Slam (2006).

Completed 8 Marathons in 1 year, the last four were each two weeks apart.

Marathons to date: 25.

Short-Term Running Goals:

Stay Healthy

Sub 3:15 Marathon

Train consistently

Finish in the top 10% at all races 

Long-Term Running Goals:

Sub 3 hr marathon

Complete a 100 miler

1st Overall at any race

 

 

Personal:

Hi, my name is Matt and I love to run! I especially enjoy trail running. I am married to Susie and we have six children Connor-10, Jed-8, Jaxine-7, Evan-4, Eliza-2, and Susanna-0. Look for me at your next race, I wear the same bright yellow Twinkies shirt at all my races.

Favorite Course: Mid-Mountain Marathon, Park City, Utah

Favorite Blogs:

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Miles:This week: 0.00 Month: 0.00 Year: 0.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
129.850.000.000.00129.85
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
8.200.000.000.008.20

Sometimes my big running goals can seem a bit overwhelming, so I have to set smaller goals that are easier to accomplish. The goal for today was to get out of bed and go for a run. I nailed it.

Comments(2)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
0.000.000.000.000.00

Yesterday was my birthday. I turned 33. So to celebrate, I am going to run 33 miles tomorrow. I will start at my house, go up to Bountiful Blvd and head South to the Bonneville Shorline trail. From there I will go up to the radio towers, drop into City Creek Canyon and head up to the capitol. Craig and Scott are going to join me at the capitol. Together we will run up City Creek, get on the Bonneville Shorline trail heading South again, run down Dry Creek canyon, across Red Butte, and over to Sunnyside Drive by the zoo. Then we will turned around and head back to the capitol over the same route. When we get back to the capitol, Craig is going to continue on with me back to my house. If my calculations are correct, it should be 33 miles.

Comments(4)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
33.000.000.000.0033.00

The alarm went off at 4 a.m. I got up and made the necessary preparations for the day. I was out the door and started running at 4:32 a.m. Today's run was a challenge run. I turned 33 years old this week and decided to run 33 miles as a Birthday Challenge. I ran up to Bountiful Blvd and headed to the Bonneville Shoreline trail. When I got to the trail, I also got to the snow. Earlier in the week, when I planned this run, the trails were dry. Then Thursday night it snowed 6 inches. Some of the snow had melted, so there was a thin crust of snow over most of the trail. I headed up the the radio towers, then down into City Creek. I was coming down the trail where it meets the road. It was still dark out and there was a thin sheet of ice across the road. When my feet hit hit the ice they were swept out from under me. I scraped my elbow and got a bruise on my backside, but it was nothing serious. I headed up to the capitol building. I got there at 6:02 which was two minutes late because I was meeting Craig and Scott there. The three of us ran back up City Creek and back onto the Bonneville shoreline trail heading south. The trail was very choppy. There were several sections that had been heated up the day before and were now frozen. We took the trail all of the way to the bottom of Dry Creek. At this point I had gone 16.5 miles which was half way so we turned around. Coming up out of Dry Creek was difficult and slow for me. Towards the top of Dry Creek I passed a fly. The level parts of the trail were runable, but I was walking the uphill at this point. By the time I got to the bottom of City Creek I was out of water. I had to borrow some from Scott. Thanks Scott. When ran back to the capitol and the vehicles. Scott had brought some food, so I refueled. After resting for a few minutes, I said goodbye to my running partners and headed off on my own for the last nine miles. The hill coming out of City Creek was a challenge. I ran when I could but walked most of the way up. I was very excited at the top of the hill. I only had five miles left and it was easy running. I made it back to the paved roads, which were quite boring. The last three miles were on the road. I crossed the 50k mark at 7:01, which is an hour faster than the 50k I ran a month ago. I made it all the way to mile 33. It took me 7:25:34. 

Conclusion: I ran 33 miles up and down hills big and small, through snow, ice, slush, and mud, and finished with a smile on my face. A big smile. 

Comments(11)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
2.000.000.000.002.00

I was feeling pretty good this morning, so I cranked out 2 miles. If you missed Saturday's post, be sure to check it out.

Comments(1)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
4.000.000.000.004.00

Four miles in a button up shirt, slacks, and dress shoes.

Comments(4)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
6.500.000.000.006.50

6.5 miles on the treadmill.

Comments(1)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
9.440.000.000.009.44

I met Craig and Scott at the Sunnyside trailhead across from the zoo at 6 am this morning. We headed up the Bonneville Shoreline trail, then veered off and up the ridge line to Mount Wire. That is the mountain with th two square screens on top of it. Heading up that way is steep and more of a hike than a run. I made it up in 45 minutes. Craig came up shortly after. We were graced with a beautiful sunrise over Emigration Canyon. While on top Craig and Scott taught me the art of peak jumping. Look for pictures on Craig's blog. We headed down from there the up the smaller summit of Red Butte. At the top of Red Butte the was a bald eagle perched on a rock. He took off as we got close. From Red Butte there is a very technical downhill. Which took took us down to the living room. The living room is a group of rocks that look like a couch and a recliner. More downhill after that but it was runable. We came down pretty fast. After that we were thinking about summiting Mt Vancott, but decided to run the Red Butte loop instead. It probably had as much elevation gain as Vancott but it wasn't all at once. Then back along the Shoreline trail to our vehicles. Ended up with 9.44 miles. It was a great morning.

Comments(7)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
11.710.000.000.0011.71

I wasn't able to get my run in until around 7 p.m. I ran on the Legacy Parkway trail starting at Center Street. At 24th South I crossed over Legacy Parkway on the pedestrian bridge. Legacy Parkway trail is very flat and the only resemblance of hills is when you cross the parkway. At 5th South I crossed back over the parkway. Just passed mile marker 5 I crossed the parkway again, this time through a tunnel underneath, and headed over to Bountiful Pond. To my surprise, the restrooms at the pond were open. I'm glad it's Spring. Not that I don't love Winter, but most of the restrooms at public parks and such are locked during the Winter. I made one loop around the pond, then headed back the way I had come. 11.71 miles total, average pace: 9:10.

Comments(1)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
4.000.000.000.004.00

Four miles nice and easy. I am running the Buffalo Run 50 miler this Saturday. I might do another light run tomorrow, but if not, this will be my last run before the race.

Comments(3)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
0.000.000.000.000.00

Somehow my race report got posted on Thursday instead of Saturday. It has now been moved.

Comments(11)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
0.000.000.000.000.00

No miles today. I pick up my race packet for the Buffalo Run 50 Miler last night. It got me very excited for the race. I hope the weather tomorrow is better than the weather today.

Comments(5)
Race: Buffalo Run 50 Miler (50 Miles) 08:59:55, Place overall: 27, Place in age division: 12
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
51.000.000.000.0051.00

Last night for dinner I had a pasta bread bowl from Dominos Pizza. It tasted great, but was  a bit greasy. I went to bed at 10:30 p.m, and woke up all excited to the alarm at 3 a.m. I was out the door at 3:45 a.m. to jog a real easy mile down to Kmart where Steve picked me up. The was his first 50 miler. As we drove in we talked about race strategies. I was hoping to finish in under 10 hours.

The race got off at a few minutes after 6 a.m. A line of headlights headed up the mountain. The first aid station was at mile 5.5.  From there we had a little out and back to do out to Elephant Head. The out and back had some technical sections, but I was having fun and moved along pretty quick. The wind was cold and blew right through me a few times. During the out and back I saw that Bryce was just ahead of me and decided I was going to try to catch him. The next section had some good downhill and then some great uphill with lots of switchbacks. On each switchback I could see that I was rilling him in. At the top of the hill I caught up with him. Bryce and I ran together for about the next 15 miles. 

The course heads back to the start at mile 18. There was a large buffalo about fifty yards off the trail, but he didn't bother us. After the first loops I felt great and was ahead of schedule. I hit the half marathon mark at 2:06. The aid stations at this race were awesome. I ate cookies at most of them and never felt hunger pains. After getting back to the start the race headed over to the West side of the Island.

This was the mentally challenging part of the race. There was a short out and back to the trail head and a port a potty. I'm glad the potty was there because I needed it. I was still running with Bryce at this point, but then he turned of the jets and left me behind. I couldn't keep up. The course follows the road and is pretty flat with few rolling hills. I really struggled to make it to the next aid station. I refueled and was felling good, but wasn't moving real fast. I hit the marathon mark at 4:15 and hit the 50k mark at 5:14. An unofficial 50k PR.

There was an aid station at the south end of the island at mile 32.8. Craig was supposed to meet me there and pace me to the finish. I arrived there a half hour early and he was no where to be seen. Davy Crockett was there though. He was at mile 82.8. He had started the night before and was doing the course twice for a hundred miles. He is a trooper. I told the volunteers at the aid station to send Craig to the next aid station when he showed up.

I left the aid station and was about 1.5 mile from it at a point where the trail crosses the road. As I approached the road, Craig drove by. I waved at him and he turned around. He cheered me on and said there was a trail head turn off about a half mile up that he would meet me at. Having a pacer along was great. We talked the whole way and the conversations helped keep my mind off the pain. After going back up along the West side we had a steep hill up to the next aid station. At the aid station the volunteers told us that it 6.5 miles to the finish. I drank two cups of Mountain Dew and ate some more cookies and we were off. I did a very good job of being fast in and out of the aid stations at this race. From that aid station to the finish, I ran the whole way.

The final section of the course goes around Buffalo Peak and out to a point on the island. This section was a bit technical with lots of large rocks. On fresh legs I would've flown through this section, but on legs that had ran 45 miles, I had to take it slow. The finish could be seen from the last 2.5 miles. Craig kept looking back at the runners behind us and told me that they were gaining on us. This was a ploy to keep me moving strong. When we were within the last half mile, I looked at my watch and realized that I had a chance to come in under 9 hours. I picked up the pace. I thought I was at the finish and started my sprint, then Craig yelled at me that it was a littler further ahead. I pushed hard around the next two corners and looked at my watch again. I had 20 seconds left. I poured it on as hard as I could. The crowed was cheering me on and I was flying to the finish line. I crossed the line at stopped my GPS. It read 8:59:56. I couldn't believe it. I was shooting for sub 10 hours and actually came in sub 9. This is a PR for me by 1 hour and 43 minutes. Very awesome.

After the race I mingled a bit and ate some buffalo stew. Bryce gave us a ride back to Craig's car, and Craig gave me a ride home. It was a great day.

Craig took a bunch of pictures that he will post next week. 

Comments(7)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
129.850.000.000.00129.85
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