Climb 13 - Saturday July 19 - Yes, Climbing

After the race this morning I took a bit of nap, then mowed the lawn, then I was ready for some more recreation. Mark came over at about 4:45 and we drove up Little Cottonwood Canyon then hiked a bit to the Pentapitch Buttress. The idea was to climb all five pitches of Pentapitch, but this didn't work out for us. First we started climbing the wrong crack. We were about 15 meters up canyon for actual Pentapitch climbing something completely different. The climb seemed really hard for a 5.6 and I just wasn't figuring it out. Then I did. You have to realize that the one time I have been to Pentapitch before was with Jer and there was a massive snow field at the bottom of the climb, so I didn't know what it looked like. Once we figured it out, we made our way down to the actual Pentapitch crack. Some people were just getting off the climb, so we probably would not have been able to climb it before this time, anyway. It took me a little while to lead the first pitch as I just haven't been trad climbing much lately and it takes time figuring out which gear to place and where. Mark quickly climbed up to me cleaning the gear. I lead the second and third pitches next (I skipped the second pitch belay station on the way up). These were fun pitches. 5.8 and some fun climbing moves. Mark came to meet me after struggling to get a nut out, but eventually succeeding. We then had a quick rappelling lesson (as it was already beginning to get dark and we had three pitches to rappel - not to mention the hike back out), and then we were on our way. We had to rappel off the second belay station on the way down since we were only on half of the rope. By the time we reached the first belay station it was getting pretty dark out. Mark went first so he would have a little light to get his stuff together at the base. I followed and arrived at the bottom in the dark. Good thing I had my trusty Petzl headlamp. We quickly cleaned up and then began the hike back to the car. This includes a walk across a large talus/boulder field which we had to take slowly so we could both take advantage of the headlamp. We didn't get back to the car until nearly 10:30. It had been a long outing. It had been a fun outing. I think Mark dug the multipitch action. I know I did. I love tris and all, but I am looking forward to the end of the tri season so I can focus a little more on climbing. On Rock.

Saturday July 19 - The "Sprint" To The Summit

I may have stopped working at Voile a couple of months ago, but I really like the people I worked with so I wanted to keep in touch. This weekend was a perfect opportunity to do so as it was the weekend of the now annual "Sprint to the Summit" Trail run 10K put on by Mark and his wife, G. When I signed up, Stacy was a bit leary about her knee issues so she volunteered to help G with the signing in process as well as the finish line duties. We met Mark and G at the old firehouse in Summit Park around 8 so Stacy could magnify her calling. I knew a few people there and there were others I just knew of. I prepped for the race as usual. The race began at about 9 o'clock. This is not your average 10K (in fact, it ended up being about 7 miles, so a little further than a 10K). No, this race was basically straight up to the summit, then straight down back to town. I looked around as the race began and tried to figure out who I was going to pace myself with. As we got a bit further I found that Andrew McLean and myself were going similar speeds... so I tried to keep up with him. For the first half of the race, he and I basically traded off pacing one another. I figured if I could keep up with the world premier ski mountaineer then I did alright for myself. When we finally reached the top we were greeted by another local skiing celebrity, Bob Athey, in Bob's usual way. We all chatted for a second and then I took a second to have a Gu. Before I knew it, Andrew was headed down the trail for the finish line. I tried to catch up, but was never able to do so as I just don't quite know how to run down hill. I was more worried about not breaking my ankle than I was about being speedy. I ran the last quarter of the race with a dude from my ward, Adam Hunt (sorry, but I don't think he has a website). I finished in 1hr and 26min. I felt pretty good about this. The winners only came in 26 minutes earlier. I took second in my age division (men 20-29), but this was easy since there were only two of us that did the race. There was a potluck lunch afterwards and Stacy and I hung out and chatted with the many people we had met over the course of the morning. I won some sweet cycling socks and a water bottle in the raffle then we thanked Mark and G and made our way home. It was a fun race. It was a good day of training. I was able to meet and chat with people I have wanted to for a long time. I had a good time. On Run.

TRI 2 - Saturday July 12 - ECHO...Echo...echo...

It had been a while since we had raced. There remains another month before the Half. We wanted to do an olympic distance race with the time we had. The Xango Echo Tri proved to be the best fit. I was feeling good about this race since we have been able to get out in the water a few times recently to mentally prepare. I have been pretty busy lately with just a lot of different stuff going on, so I haven't been able to train as much as I would like, but I was ready nonetheless. Stacy and I woke up this morning at 4:30. We packed up our stuff and were out of the house by 5. We arrived in Coalville, UT around 6. Due to limited parking at the lake, we had to park in town and ride our bikes down to the race site. This was a good way to get blood flowing and everything, but the problem was that it was COLD outside. I had brought a jacket, but I was sporting shorts and flip-flops at this point. My feet were freezing. We signed in, got our transition areas ready, met up with Jer and Mallory, then headed down to the water. We stood on the beach for a while before we got in thinking that would be even colder. We were wrong. When we finally did get in the water we found that it was much warmer than the air outside. We did a little warming up and we were ready for the race. My wave start was second only to the elite men's division. We started five minutes after they did. I had a great swim. I cut like seven minutes off my last olympic distance time at Pumpkinman. I only got lost on the swim once, but that's okay because that was probably another 2 minutes or so I can easily shed off my time in the future. I came out of the water in a little over 28 minutes. I struggled a bit in transition, but not too bad. I just haven't had the chance to really work on these yet this year. Here was another minute I can cut. The bike felt good. It took me a little while before I passed Mallory (who started her swim 10 minutes later than me, but came out of the water a good amount of time before me). I kept expecting to see Jer. I could have sworn I saw him at the transition area when I came out of the water. I finally saw him after I had turned around on the bike and he was still heading out. It wasn't much longer before he passed me. I tried to keep up for a while, but couldn't do it for long. I passed Stacy a little while later on her way out. She had a great swim for her and was busy pushing hard on the bike. I don't think she would have even noticed me had I not cheered. I was able to pass a number of people on the final couple of hills on the bike. Hill climbing has always been my strongest point in biking simply because of all the hill climbing I do on my skis in the winter. My second transition was a bit faster, but I almost bit the dust while running my bike in. Running out is always a weird feeling. Your body just is not prepped to start running. It is in bike mode. You usually have to just push through the awkwardness for the first mile, then you can start to get into a groove. I paced myself on the run as I wanted to be able to run the whole thing. With the exception of a couple of times walking to take a drink of water, this was the case. As I was nearing the turn around point, Jer passed me on his way back. He was going strong, and I knew I had no chance of catching up. I turned around and passed Mallory at about the same point Jer had passed me. A little while later, I passed Stacy on her way out on the run. It was nice to keep seeing her. I had paced myself a bit too much since I had a lot left in me for the last mile. I cranked it that last mile, but I need to figure out my ideal speed for that distance so I don't waste as much time. Oh, well. I crossed the finish line 2hr and 46min after I had started. Stacy's time was: 3:32:01. Jer: 2:34:47. And Mallory: 2:49:10. It was a great race. We all had a great time. The race was well put together and there was a lot of good competition. I think I will try to do this race again next year. I must apologize for the lack of photos. It wasn't until we were past Park City on the drive up that I realized I had forgotten a camera. I will try to post any photos I can find as time goes on, but I don't know if I will be able to find any. Thanks for reading. On Tri.

TRI TRAINING

Over the past couple of weeks, I have had the chance to participate in a few triathlon training clinics. The first was up at East Canyon Reservoir (all the pictures come from this one) with Stacy, Ryan, and our neighbor, Brooke. It was put on by the Desert Sharks Tri Club and it cost $10. It was worth it. It was an open water swim clinic. I just don't get enough opportunity to swim in the open water in training. Swimming in a pool is great, but the open water with a giant group of people hitting you as you swim is just a totally different experience. Did you ever see that Clif Bar commercial? See it HERE. The swim was nice. We got some good instruction on some open water techniques and some pointers of how to sight the buoy, navigate around the buoy, and avoid freaking out during the race. I brought my GoPro camera along to take my first underwater shots. What do you think? I am surprised how well they came out. The water was dark and it was hard to see anything under there. We were given the cheesy hats pictured as well. Most of these pictures were taken while my and Ryan's group was done, but Stacy and Brooke were still going. Then this past Saturday I went up to Echo Reservoir for another training/clinic day with Stacy, Jer, Mallory, and Mallory's parents. We started in the water with some dude Jer knew that has done several Ironman races. He gave some good pointers, but again I was primarily there to just be in the water with a bunch of people. I learned how to draft in the water and I think I am totally going to do it this week when we go back up to Echo for the actual race. This clinic was free as it is kind of part of the race (although, anyone can do the clinic - even if you hadn't signed up for the race). We then did the bike course. I was glad we did it. I now feel like I know what to expect rather than most races where I end up preserving strength simply because I don't know what's coming up. Mallory and her mom did the run while we were in the water, but none of the rest of us bothered with it. It was nice to be at the race site doing the sports. I am really looking forward to the race this weekend. I am sure you will hear all about it. On Tri.

Climb 12 - Saturday June 28 - Dogs, Friends, Family, and Fun

We had a few hours this afternoon so we decided to head up Ferguson Canyon for a little climbing and time with the dogs. Jer met us up there and we worked on our trad skills. I led the first climb - one we have done before - finding it difficult to place gear. I just need to do it more often so I can get faster at it. I spend so much time hanging out trying to figure out which piece to place that I get pumped on these easy 5.7s. Jer and Stacy both climbed it after. I really do like to watch Stacy climb because she is creative in the way she finds ways to go forward due to her smaller stature. I often see her use holds that I passed up in an effort to get something a little further away. There is also something just a bit sexy about seeing your wife doing something so cool. Jer led the second climb which was another we have climbed recently (he was pretty sexy, too). The dogs had a good time. The one person not climbing or belaying was in charge of making sure they didn't bother all the climbers up there. Ferguson tends to get pretty crowded on summer afternoons since it is so shaded and thus remains a bit cooler. I had difficulty on this second climb last time I attempted it. Today I had no problems at all. I am sure this had something to do with being on toprope, but I am confident that I will be able to lead it with no issues next time we come up here. I am just at a loss right now. I am determined to train hard for triathlons, but I also want to climb when I get the chance. It is hard to decide what to do. I am actually looking forward to September after the Yuba Tri so I can have some time to devote to just climbing before winter comes along again. On Rock.

Saturday June 28 - The Mountair Mile Part Deux

For the second year now, Stacy and I volunteered our services today at the Mountair Mile. This is a children's multisport race that takes place in a neighborhood not too far from our house put on by a coworker of Stacy's. I feel good about it since it gets kids excited about getting outside along with raising money for a children's local charity, The Sharing Place. We were, once again, put in charge of the finish line this year. There were a few changes that we had to figure out this year, but we did so and everything seemed to go relatively smoothly. The Herrschers participated again this year and I think the boys had a good time. Brinton came in pretty quick - I think due to his hightened competitive nature. I, too, have that hightened nature. It showed to a great deal in high school and shortly thereafter. I have learned to keep it controlled to a great degree for the most part, but every now and then in a race I feel it come forward. This race was a good one. The kids had a good time and we were happy to be there. I imagine we will do this again next year. On Race.