MonkeyBoy Camp Summary

I am back in Idaho after a great four-day camp on the Western States Course. After 44 miles on Tuesday and 48 miles on Wednesday I decided to take it easy on Thursday and Friday and just get in some heat training with casual 10 milers both days. All in all, it was a great camp and I am thrilled to be slipping into taper mode as I write.

In summary, the camp was outstanding! The first day I ran pretty hard down to the river so that I was a tired for the return trip. After pushing the pace up to Green Gate (21 mins) I knew I needed to revover on the trip to ALT and was pretty much running tired the rest of the day. At dinner that night I knew I was depleted.


Then, Robinson to The River on Wednesday was just epic! After the climb up to Little Bald Mountain (almost no snow!) the long, steady downhill to the Swinging Bridge was excellent. The trail down to Miller's Defeat is in really great shape and the run into Last Chance is nice as well. We decided to take it easy down to Swinging Bridge and then cruised up to Devil's Thumb. By this time it was starting to get warm and we were getting what we came for.

The run from the Deadwood pump down to El Dorado went quickly and the climb up to Michigan was solid although we were surprised by the clearcut near the top amking it hotter than normal. We were psyched to see Carol Hewitt at her house and we decided to take it easy through Volcano to save sa little something in the tank for Cal Street.


We dropped about 25 bucks at the Foresthill store on Pringles, Beef Jerky and Soda before beginning the final stretch to the River. In 90 degree temperatures, it was perfect:
:29 to Cal 1, :49 to Cal 2, 23 to Cal 3 and then :49 to The River for a clean 2:30. The walk up to the car, on the other hand, was brutal.


Reflecting back on this year's training cycle I think I am ready to go. I feel like I am close to 2005 shape and in a bit better shape than last year but being a few years older will certainly have some kind of impact. Nonetheless, this is what many of us live for and I can't wait to get to the dance. The Trail is calling and I am on my way.

Hapy Father's Day everybody!