Utah Training - Summer 2015

I spent 6 weeks out west, mostly in Utah training for Ultra-Trail Mont Blanc this summer. A quick recap of the trip:
States Visited: 7 (Utah, Arizona, Nevada, California, Wyoming, Idaho & New York)
Races Completed: 5 (Capitol Reef, Speedgoat, Tushars, El Vaquero Loco, Skyline Mountain)
Miles Driven: 3,900
Miles Run: 470
Elevation Change Aggregate: 159,000 feet
Weight Lost: 22 lbs.
Parks & Forests visited: (11)
• Wasatch Mountain State Park
• Uinta-Wasatch Cache National Forest
• Capitol Reef National Park
• Death Valley National Park
• Zion National Park
• Grand Teton National Park
• Inyo National Forest
• John Muir Wilderness
• Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area
• Fishlake National Forest
• Bridger-Teton National Forest

Regardless of the outcome in Chamonix next week, this summer was one of, if not the greatest adventures of my life thus far. But I sure hope it helps.

 

I ran the Capitol Reef 50K the day after I got to Utah...

and had an encounter with a bull moose on day 4.

 

Week 2, I ran high up in the Uinta Mountains...

where I saw mountain goats,

and climbed Mt. Bald.

The next day, I climbed Mt Timpanagos...

 

and then descended it at breakneck speed with a couple of Olympic cross country skiers.

 

Patrick Bene flew in week 3 and we ran Karl Metzler's insanely difficult Speedgoat 50K.

The next day, we drove south and climbed Angel's Landing at Zion National Park

 

We continued driving south and ran Red Rocks Canyon near Las Vegas.

Finally, we continued south to run in Badwater Basin in Death Valley...

 

and then crewed Amy Costa as she gave her all (and then some) at the Badwater 135.

After the race we went high in the Sierras in the John Muir Wilderness...

 

And wrapped up our 9 day running extravaganza by running the Tushars Marathon in southwest Utah... 

where I climbed another mountain.

 

 The week after Patrick left, I ran the El Vaquero Loco 50K in Wyoming...

                                      

and continued north to run in the Grand Tetons on Sunday.

 The following week, I finished up my race circuit by running the Skyline Mountain 50K in the northern Wasatch Mountains where I finished 9th...

and took one really nice spill.

 

 

And all the while, I kept training high in the Wasatch Mountains in between races.

 

It was an adventure of a lifetime, and I hope had me prepared for UTMB.