August 08

August only had one race on the calendar but it was a local trail run which is always fun. In place of a race I climbed South Sister with a good friend and a friend of his from Seattle. Middle month of the 3 month plan and we were building up the miles.

Early August was the Haulin Aspen 1/2 marathon. Beautiful scenery, plentiful climbing, great organization, and a killer food and beer at the end. What more can you ask for in a race. Oh, I had a PR for the race but not the 1/2 distance. It was really a training run and Coach Andy said to go out conservatively and just calmly climb the hills. He said at about mile 10 start to pick it up and see how many people you can pass. I went out at about 7:25 pace for the first 10 miles and passed the guy from Sunrise Classic 15k at Smith Rock that pounded the pavement so hard that it sounded liked it hurt and that felt good. Then I kicked into gear and ran the last 3.1 in 6:40 pace and passed a dozen people. When passing people looked at me like how or why is he running so fast. It was a good feeling and it got me to a 1:40:53 for the 1/2 that ended up being about 1/2 mile longer than 13.1. Good for 25th place.

A couple weeks later Chris, Adam and I set out on Friday afternoon to climb to Moraine Lake on our way up to South Sister Summit. South Sister this time of year is just a long hike and can be done in one day by most and will take anywhere from 8-10 hours for the average person. We wanted some guy time and enjoy the outdoors so we hiked to Moraine Lake and set up camp for the night. A beautiful day and a good short 4 mile hike to the camp site. Clear night with lots of stars and good conversation over a few beers. The next morning we took our time knowing that we didn't have as far to climb as others that would be starting from the parking lot. The hike up was great and we just took our time and enjoyed the scenery and company. It was a hot day but as we neared the top the wind picked up which kept us cool. At the tip was amazing. Could not have had a better day as it was so clear we could see North all the way to Mt. Adams. Got some great pictures, had some snacks, seeked a little shelter from the wind that was hallowing and then headed down. Long treck down but worth every step. We were enjoying ourselves so much that we didn't know how long it took us. Great trip, Great experience and can't wait to do it again in 2009.

Logged approx 170 miles