Winter Replay - Eiger Speed Ascent (Video)

The link to this video made the rounds this winter, but I had to take another look at it with summer coming to a close, and the snow getting set to fall before too long.  Ueli Steck free climbs the Eiger in 2:47, in nothing short of amazing fashion.  The videography is great; the climbing is great, but what I'm always astounded by is how fast he moves once he hits the snow fields.  It's worth a viewing if you haven't watched it.

Photo of the Week - "Reflection at Sawtooth Lake"

Crossing the northern cirque of Sawtooth Lake on the way to Observation Peak; Sawtooth Wilderness; Idaho

Crumbling Will or Smart Racing - Today's Harriman Trail 10 Miler

There's a scene in the fantastically campy 1985 bike racing movie American Flyers (montage) where Kevin Costner's character - in leather hairnet, mustache, and the twilight of his pro career - shows his younger brother a video of the imperceptible moment in a previous year's stage race when he lost his drive - where he essentially handed the win to someone else.

I was thinking about this scene on-and-off this morning as I made my way through the Harriman Trail 10 Miler.  While on paper I had a great race - finishing 5th overall and only a handful of minutes down on the winner - I was left wondering about my will - not to win, per se, since that's rarely a chance I have, but to suffer and to excel.  

What really brought this issue into relief for me was the lead woman who paced off me for much of the race.  Now, she was suffering, and to a much greater degree than I knew I was. Yet she hung in there, huffing and puffing, right on my heels, until the last couple miles, where she barely lost contact.  

Despite a few surges, and a few tests, I just couldn't put myself through that today.

And maybe it was simply smart racing.  A hard, uphill 10 miles is on the edge of my fitness with the reduced miles I've been putting in, and one of my main goals was to race hard but also not to blow up and have the wheels fall off.  So I was constantly doing the self-checks - taking stock of all the sensations to make sure I had the legs, lungs, and energy to finish well.  

I accomplished that, which feels great - but not without concern that something's changed inside, that I've turned some corner when it comes to the will to excel, that I've become Kevin Costner in American Flyers.  The horror.  The horror.  

Singletrack Minds #4 - 'The Group Run'

[click to enlarge]

Any resemblance to runners past or present, real or imaginary, fast or slow, is purely coincidence

Annals of Summer: Photo of the Week - "Steri-Pen Meditation"

"Steri-Pen Meditation"
90 mindful seconds at Pot Creek, filling up and sterilizing ahead of the climb up Box Canyon

Annals of Summer: Photos of the Week - "The Long View" and "Miner Thoughts"

Travis, AJW, and Brad dropping like stones toward Miner Lake

A little HDR work, as the trio overlooks Miner Lake

Annals of Summer: When M9's in Town, We Run.

Summer's been much kinder to me than I would ever have predicted in spring.  Though my weekly miles haven't been that big, I've been able to get a nice string of runs in the 3 - 6 hour range and in some astounding backcountry. That said, my knee was ready for a rest this weekend - a preemptive strike before forced time off came to the fore.

Ahhhh, the best laid plans.

The Sun Valley crew got the word mid-week that our prodigal son, AJW, was making a 36 hour trip back to the Northern Rockies, so there was nothing we could do but break out the maps, exchange some proposals, and set the 4:00am alarms for a Saturday run.   And that's just what we did, with a great dawn patrol outing around Prairie Lake, Norton Lakes (lower & upper), and Miner Lake.

It was as fun as always - rehashing storied runs and sharing new rumors, all while trying unsuccessfully to keep pace with a peak fitness Brad Mitchell. And the knee wound up performing like a champ.

There's always time to rest after good times with fast friends.  

AJW (aka M9) at Prairie Lake

Miner thoughts: Brad, AJW, and Travis ruminating on the steep drop down to Miner Lake

Dropping in

Singletrack Minds #3 - 'Running'

Annals of Summer: Photos of the Week - "The Twins" & "Water Over Rock"

Coming off of Snowyside Pass looking through the ages at Twin Lakes in the Sawtooth National Forest; Idaho.

Nearing Snowyside Pass from Toxaway Lake; Sawtooth National Forrest; Idaho.

Annals of Summer: Photo of the Week - "The Pass"

So, how does trail running differ from road running?  A picture's worth a thousand words.  Closing out 19 backcountry miles with a grunt up from Box Canyon to Johnstone Pass (elev 10,000 ft); Pioneer Mountains, Idaho.