2nd Annual Sandy to Provo Self Supported Ultra Run

This weekend was a 3 day weekend in Utah because of the Pioneer Day holiday. Thursday I started debating the benefits of doing long back-to-back runs on Friday and Saturday, or doing a challenging training run on Saturday. I ended up deciding to do a really long run on Saturday.

The plan: Run from my house in Sandy to my dad's house in Provo. Previously done in February, 2009 - with mild winter weather. A little over 8:15 in trip time.

The distance: 35+ miles

The challenge: Heat was going to be in the mid to high 90's.

After arranging with my father to drive me home after the run, I started packing my Nathan running pack for the next day. Included were several packs of Gu/Shot Blocks, S Tabs (salt tabs), emergency running supplies, Ibuprofen, gum, charged iPhone with a couple of good books for listening to, 70 ounces of ice water. In my insulated Nathan hand-held bottle, 2.5 cans of Ensure - frozen overnight.

I wanted to get up around 3 a.m., but had a hard time sleeping the night before because of nerves. I reset my alarm to 4 a.m. and focused on resting and dozing as much as possible. I did my usual job of vaselining areas that are prone to chafing, used a coban wrap in the right ankle for insurance, put on sunscreen and found a bandana at the last minute.

The run starts down 7th East to Draper. When I passed the train tracks in Draper, I switched over to the Trax Trail. I shifted over to 9th East at 12300 South and then ran by the Draper city buildings up to the Porter Rockwell Trail. I alternated between the Porter Rockwell Trail and the Draper Canal Trail to Point of the Mountain. My goal for most of the run was to run 8 minutes, walk 2 minutes and I did not want to push speed much because I knew the heat of the day would be hard on my body for as many hours as I would be out there.

Once the PR Trail ends, I switch over to Frontage roads until Lehi, then over to State Street and then Main Street in American Fork. At mile 18, I stopped at the Chevron in Lehi to refill my water pack, load my hat and neckerchief with ice and get some Gatorade. The heat was starting to build up and I knew that I needed to work harder to prevent dehydration since I hadn't needed a bathroom break until then.

In American Fork I stopped again to eat some mashed potatoes and root beer at a KFC and picked up a cup of ice to chew on for a while. I walked for about 20 minutes after this stop to allow myself to digest food.

Once I got on Geneva Road in Pleasant Grove I knew I would be able to finish the training run, but knew I would end up walking more because the heat was really getting to me. I started taking a sip of water or gatorade in every 10 minute cycle and that seemed to help. The last three miles I ended up doing a lot of run 200 steps, walk 100 steps cycles. I wasn't sweating as much anymore, so knew that my body was struggling with the heat.

Finally - arrived at my Dad's house. He came home with some ice for me, so I took an ice bath and shower and then he drove me back home to Sandy.

The total run took 9 hours exactly. A little slower than the previous run, but I think the heat was the main cause of that. The legs felt strong. No pains or aches.

I didn't sleep well last night. I never do the night after a marathon or ultra-marathon. Today I have mainly been resting, but took a 2 hour nap in the afternoon. The good news, I have a couple of aches, but no stiffness or pain. I am really happy about that because the worry with a long training run is that you injure yourself and not be able to train any more.

BodyBUGG data from 5 a.m. to 2 p.m.:
5165 Calories Burned
79621 steps