Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Road Trip!

Last Thursday, I left little Sisters, OR for road trip. So far, it's turning out to be pretty darn epic.

It started in Pocatello, ID, for the first-ever running of the Pocatello 50 miler. Epic, incredible, awesome course! 51.8 miles, 13,680' of climbing and descending, very rugged, super-fun glissade. I figured going sub-10 would be a good day on the trails. I was right. I pushed hard the last 5 miles to slide in at 9:59:28. I recommended to rd's Jared and Ryan that they bid for the USATF 50 mile National Trail Championship...it's that kind of course.

After Pocy, Powell and I headed south to Bryce Canyon NP for a sweet 9ish miler in the canyon. Sunday of Memorial Day weekend and we saw exactly zero people in the canyon. Crazy, kinda sad, kinda awesome.

Next stop, Grand Canyon. We got there on Monday afternoon, ran a short 5er on the Rim Trail before heading to bed eagerly anticipating Tuesday's run. Rim-to-Rim-to-Rim. Down South Kaibab, up North Kaibab, down North Kaibab, up Bright Angel. 45 miles + 11,000' vertical + 11:44 + a cool friend to run with = completely epic. This should be a definite must-run on any self-respecting trail and/or ultrarunner's list. WOW!

Next up - headed north through Death Valley, possibly Yosemite and Tahoe, but really on to the WS course for a little course-specific training. Anyone gonna be on that trail this Sunday, Monday, Tuesday? Give me a call, as I would love to run with somebody and arrange some car shuttles. (541) 549-1298

Running lots + eating lots + sleeping hard = a very happy Sean!!

6 comments:

Olga said...

It was great to see you, man, and yeah for an awesome training!

Darin Swanson said...

Now I am even more stoked to get to the Grand Canyon next weekend! Any recommendations on what to ensure to do or ensure not to do?

Matt Hart said...

awesome. brings back great memories. krissy and i ran a good 10:59 r2r2r a few years ago. it is a must run for all endurance runners no question.

http://bit.ly/17M1VG

wish i was there with you boss.

ultrarunnergirl said...

Jealous! Tom and I are scheming to do R2R2R with some VHTRC friends next fall!

Leslie said...

Yay for friends, running and roadtrips! Have fun!

JCaba said...

I thought you were supposed to be doing speed work...Can't believe you would pass up the oval for the Grand Canyon:) Sounds like a fun road trip. Your legs should be nice and tired, I mean nice and strong for the Dirty Half.