I have a few days off work so I needed to get some more outdoor training in for Elbrus. You might notice that I haven’t posted any outdoor training in a while because I had to cover for someone on vacation at work, and had a few business meetings I needed to be around for.
This morning I had just enough time to squeeze in a run up Olympus, one of the most familiar peaks on the East side of Salt Lake. Today I was going to commit to the Flexline Hydration tube system for my running. I’d already used it on the treadmill, stairmaster, and Jacob’s Ladder. Today would be the first trip outside. I connected it to a 1.8 liter Platypus bladder with one Camelback Electrolyte tab in it.
I got to the trailhead at about 5:45 AM, switched on the GPS and took off. I moved pretty quickly up in the dark with my little tiny headlamp, with the glowing city lights behind me.
I arrived at the saddle towards Raymond in 1:32, had a Hammer Gel, texted Angie, and took off up the Class 3 scramble to the top. I managed to make a wrong turn and ended up at the East Saddle so rather than retrace my steps I just went up toward the summit from there. It was mostly Class 4 with a few small cruxy sections of 5.3 climbing. Maybe about 80′ total. I managed to kick a rock loose and it fell, bounced for a few seconds. Seemed like 1000′ straight down toward the Northeast.
[map kml=”http://charlesmiske.com/files/2012-08-17-054857-Mt_Olympus-Running-CharlesMiske.kmz”]
I topped out in 1:58. I got a shot with the mailbox summit register (though it’s just barely visible behind my right hip). I hung out for four minutes, drinking my auxiliary Camelback Podium bottle with Accelerade Hydro for the sugar/protein energy to get me down. I managed to slip between the staggered blocks at the top and bruised my shin. I scrambled down further to the West than what I ascended, but still ended up with about one hundred feet of Class 4. I saw the right way as I passed it on the way, but not sure if I’ll remember it later.
When I got to the saddle I began to really take off, as there’s not much time saving until then, since the scrambling is tough going. I started passing people about halfway down, and most were respectful of my running. I did manage to pass a couple guys who pulled over to the side. One yelled to the other “I told you people run on this mountain”. Far out.
I got to the car, texted Angie and then took off for home after turning off all my electronics. The Flexline Hose system worked fine. I especially appreciated it for the scramble, where I was able to drink at will. In most of the pics it looks pretty well down on my left side. It’s actually a few inches out from my chest while down to the left. This is out of my line of vision, and all I have to do is duck my head and I can feel for it with my lips and tongue to center it and bite the valve. I’m eager to try it in the cold now.
My stats are on my Google Blog if you want to see technical details.
Note: in video I’m running at 11:15 pace according to my Polar, and it’s a compilation of a few clips, I’m not drinking every 10 seconds.