Whitney In A Day

I got a call on Tuesday from my wife's uncle saying that we might be able to get on Mt Whitney on someone else's permit. Lucky for me I had finished my project at work. Since it was only my second week there, I was a little worried about asking for half a day off. It worked out. So I left work on Friday around noon, packed up the truck and drove to Lone Pine. Three and a half hours later I was in Lone Pine. Things got a little crazy for me about now. The plans on meeting the guys with the permit were a little fuzzy not to mention I really was not sure where I was sleeping that night. Needless to say everything worked out. Shelb went back to Lone Pine to sleep in a cozy hotel and Larry and I spent the night sleeping under the stars at the portal. Up at 3:00 to pack, eat, break camp, and hopefully use the restroom before we left. Not so lucky on the bathroom visit. I did not really want to have to use my "wag bag". Great idea, just the thought of having to poop into a plastic bag AND have to pack it out. The packing it out would not have been bad except for the fact that everything in my camelbak was crushed when I left. I need a bigger pack for these longer trips. Once we got started I was on a mission. I wanted to get to the summit and head back down asap. Not that I wanted a record but if you read the last entry I have been neglecting my wife a bit. I was going at a good clip passing people as much as I could. I was using the people ahead of me for motivation to move at a steady pace. I enjoy being on the trails meeting people along the way. Nine times out of ten they are very nice. I knew that the air would get thinner as I went up so the labored breathing was not too bothersome. After about 12,000ft it did not seem to get any harder to breathe. I was trying to conserve my water as I ran out on the way down on my San Gorgonio trip. I had a full 100oz in the camelback and two handhelds with cytomax. I figured one bottle for the way up and one for the way down, sipping on the water intermittently. Well the water in my hose froze so I was relegated to the handhelds. I was a little too conservative on drinking. I did not pee for at least six and a half hrs. Not good. It was a push to keep going to the summit but well worth it. I hit the summit in five and a half hours. I spent about fifteen minutes checking out the view and warming myself in the hut. Then it was time for the descent. I basically ran every section I could. There were many that were much too rocky to risk a broken ankle over. I was about two thirds of the way down when I got really bummed that my lovely wife was at home, a four hour drive away not to mention however long it was going to take me to finish the trip. Well after ten minutes of that I got a good wind and ran some smooth single track enjoying everything the trail had to offer. I made it back to the car in three and a half hours making for a nine hour one day summit of Mt. Whitney. Yipeeeeeeee I got back to the truck ,changed clothes, gave my unused "wag bag" to the rangers to give to someone else, and got the heck out of there. I wanted to see my wife! It was a great day and I'm a little tired.................

Angles Crest

WOW!!!!!
What a night. I told Catra I would pace her the last twenty five miles of the race. Boy howdy was I clueless about pacing when I said I would do it. Not that I regret any of it, it was awesome. I have to thank my wife from the get. She was a sport in the truest sense. She really had no idea what I was asking her to do for me AND women she or I had never met. We hung out all day and evening watching the live feed on the web to judge when we would leave the house. I have to say that when it was getting close to my usual bedtime the thought of leaving the house and driving an hour plus was not really on my list of favorite things to do at that moment.

We got to Chantry flats with no problems. It was cool to see all of the people milling about in the middle of the night in some remote parking area on the side of a hill. As usual, we were early. I just did not think we were THAT early. But after a bit, the aid workers asked if there was someone to pace runner 18? Yes, I'm here I said. Well the hammy radio operators had a closed circuit TV to the previous aid station so I was able to meet Catra via TV. Cool...... Then I got to hang out some more.....
Do they call it pacing because of all the nervous walking I did around the aid station waiting for her to come in. Yes, I was a nervous Nellie. I'm mean come on I was going to pace a hardcore athlete and I am but a mere mortal.

Well she came in, ate some soup and it was on. We had a nice climb in the dark to get to know each other. We passed the mad napper about half way up the climb. I'll get back to him later. It was nothing but up for a while. Frankly I enjoyed it. Once we got to the top the view was spectacular. I hate being in any kind of city, but the lights sure looked cool from the top. We kept going from aid station to aid station, there was not anything out of the ordinary between them. Except when we were being followed by something in the bushes above us...............Never found out what it was.

The mad napper eventually came cruising past us ......Oh yea when we first saw him his pacer was patiently sitting on the side of a switchback with the guy curled over on his side snoozing away. After they passed us, could have been an hour could have been twenty minutes we found the pacer sitting comfortably again this time the guy was face down snoozin away.
Then I realized the first time I saw him was when he came into Chantry flats ate drank, and promptly fell asleep in the chair.

Catra had a little sleep issue took about two minutes to get over that. She had some stomach issues. Gave her some ginger chews, she got over that. She did not stop moving. I was really impressed that somebody could be that upbeat after seventy five miles. I was fresh so I would run a head and snap photos when I could. What a good time! Watching the sun come up was really nice. I don't think the weather could have been better. Not cold, and just warm enough. I was wide awake the entire time, nary a yawn throughout the night. As far as the race went, it was great to hang out with a racer of that caliber. I was able to learn some valuable lessons on Saturday night and most of Sunday morning. I must say that was a total blast. I think my next foray will be as a runner in a 50miler.

Oh, and the mad napper. He came in to finish about ten minute behind Catra. Good Job to all

And it truly was my pleasure

Last minute run

I unexpectedly had to bring my wife some dinner at her work. It has been a crazy week for the both of us. I would have rather sat down an had a nice evening picnic with her but since I am pacing an uber ultra runner this weekend I thought it best for me to get out and pound some dirt. Man was it worth it......... I have been having trouble with my camelbak rubbing my lower back raw. So I needed to find a way to keep it in place. The little one inch strap that comes on it is fine for bike riding not good for running. I have a fuel belt that sits nicely on the hips but the bottles area small and a pain to use. Hmmmmmm....
So being Magaiver like I went to the garage pulled out an old mtn. bike helmet, removed the chin strap and adjusting buckles slapped them together and bam!. I am happy to say .......... It worked like a charm

Saturdays Run

AHHHHH..........
Did the Saturday morning hustle to the peak of Baden Powell along the PCT. Next week a few hundred people will be partaking in the AC100. Today I was dropped off a few miles before the parking area at the base of the trail. It added an extra four miles to the outing. Running along the PCT on the "other side" was really nice. Amazing how different the trails are from on ridge to another. I can't wait till spring when all the flowers are blooming on that trail. It will be spectacular. We ran to the base of Baden and ten it was mostly a Powerhike to the top. I ran when it flattened out maybe 10 to 20 yards at a time, but still kept a good pace. I should have eaten a bit more. Was feelin a bit flat. Split a Cliff bar at the top and headed down. Took me a bit to get pumped for the run down ,it wasn't long before we were at a nice steady jog to the bottom. All in all a great day to be on the mountain.

Oooh it's warm

This is one of the main trails that mountain bikers use out in Loma Linda. Got off my butt for an hour run in the hills today. I was only going out for an hour so I could make it home to shower and get ready for an appointment. Got home to find the app. had been cancelled. Shit..... I would have rather made a day trip to the mountains. Oh well.... It was a little warm at 8:00am. I have been running with my camelbak lately and I let it bounce around a bit and got some nice "rug" burns on my lower back. Don't mind them on my knees...... ;-) So I'm giving my back a break and running with two handhelds. I could get by with one but I want to get used to using two. I do not want to run out again next time I head up San G. I figure two bottles and a full bladder should get me through.

Here's the deal

Was not to motivated today to go out and run first thing. I was feeling rather squishy this morning for some reason and did want to hit the trails after I dropped my wife at work. This poses a problem for me. How ? Well I need a game plan in the am or before I go to bed. My job has not started yet so I am getting really lazy with my time. Plus I'm getting a little bored with the thought of running in the local hills. It's fine once I get my lazy ass out there, just getting there sometimes is a problem for me. I will load a pic just cuz it makes a blog interesting Mmmmmmmmmm.................. Pie, who doesn't love pie

Friday........

Who says you cant get a good work out when you find one of these a few miles out? I went out for a good exploration run today. I am running a couple of hours a pop in the local hills linking different trails together. I am pretty sure I can string a bunch of the trails into a three hour run with out having to run the same trails twice.