Justin Park

A.M. - I woke up late and on the wrong side of the bed this morning. Down at the gym, started my run as follows:

5 minutes @ 9.5 mph, flat
5 mins @ 10.0, flat
10 mins @ 10.0, 1.0 incline
30 seconds @ 10.0, 1.5 incline. Then the shoe came undone and I stopped to tie it.

Started back up for a couple mins at 9.5 mph, flat. But at that point I lost the will to continue. I wasn't feeling great and I was late for work so I cut my loses and left. A little frustrated. Total 3.7 miles (Aegis)

P.M. - Decided to get a little redemption this afternoon. Was working down at Tahitian Noni today down near the Shops at Riverwoods in Provo. Used my lunch break to go do a little out-and-back on the Provo River Trail. It was warm. Probably 80s, maybe high 70s. Luckily there was a bit of a breeze. 7.25 miles; 6:48 ave./mi. (Ravenna 2)

A.M. - Long run. Longest I've done since last September. Did the extended Little Cottonwood Rd/Wasatch Blvd route and then the standard 9 mile Little Cottonwood run to the park and rid and back (minus the first mile). 6:48 ave/mi. Felt alright. Stomach was stirring a little, but it held up and I didn't have to make a pit stop. I started a lot later than I should have (~9 A.M.). Next time I'll need to get up earlier to beat the traffic and take advantage of the cooler temps.

P.M. - 40 mile ride to the top of Millcreek and back. Same ride as Wednesday in almost identical time. Felt good. Temps in the canyon were perfect. I really like this ride.

Good day.

A.M. - Rest day. Walked to and from church.

Dave Holt and his family came to my church today because he was up staying with his in-laws (who are in my ward). He looked great for having just conquered Squaw Peak on Saturday. Nothing but respect for the guy.

A.M. - Today was supposed to be a gym/treadmill day, but becasue of another late night last night and an early morning meeting today, I just had to get done quicker. Did the standard 9.1 mile out-and-back and man was it a slog. Real tortoise-like. Not surprising given what I done to myself the last 48 hours (decent size run and bike on Saturday, Fast Sunday, sleepless Sunday night). Looking forward to the pillow tonight.

Wow, I've really fallen off the logging/blogging wagoon the last little while. It's 6/17 when I'm writing this. Better the blogging than the running though... Luckily, I've been writing it down.

A.M. - Treadmill run at Life Centre:

5 minutes @ 9.5 mph, flat
5 mins @ 10.0, flat
3 mins @ 10.0 at 1.0 incline - treadmill stopped about here for some reason...aggrevating. Hopped on a different one, but lost some momentum/enthusiam...

12 mins @ 10.0 with 3 minutes at inclines of 1.5, 2.0, 2.5, and 3.0 (wanted to do 5 more mins at 3.5, but it wasn't happening today)
5 mins @ 10.0, flat
15 mins @ 10.5, flat
2.5 mins @ 11.0, flat

47.5 mins is all I could muster today.

A.M. - Treadmill run again. 60 minutes:

5 minutes @ 9.5 mph, flat
5 mins @ 10.0, flat
17.5 mins @ 10.0, with 3 minute inclines of 1.0, 1.5, 2.0, 2.5, and 3.0 and 2.5 mins at 3.5. Couldn't stick 5 mins at the 3.5 like I wanted to

7.5 mins @ 10.0, flat
15 mins @ 10.5, flat
10 mins @ 11.0, flat

Better than yesterday, but not quite what I'd hoped for. I normally don't like doing the 20 min progressive hill set so close to a race, but I was a little peeved about yesterday (I'll have to stay peeved until the next try too since I didn't hit it again). It shouldn't really matter though come Saturday.

A.M. - Modified extended Little Cottonwood Road/Wasatch triangle. Started on my normal 12 mile route, but when I got down to Eastdell Dr. and 10000 So., I went south on Eastdell and straight home rather than heading North and west down 9800 So. and back around. Ended up with 9.5 which is enough distance for me today. Energy was pretty good today.

A.M. - Little 35 minute treadmill run before the race tomorrow, all flat:

5 minutes @ 9.5 mph
20 mins @ 10.0
10 mins @ 10.5

Felt sluggish today. Probably because my body knows a race effort is expected tomorrow.

Today was "Impact Day" for my work. Its a Firm-wide service day that all the U.S. Deloitte offices do each year. This year, our office volunteered at Globus Relief doing a variety of tasks. We got done in the early afternoon and I carpooled down to the race expo at the Marriot in Provo with a couple of my work buddies (Mike Mansfield and Bill Park) who were also signed up to do the Half.

Had a decent night's sleep and got up around 2:45. Got ready and grabbed a little breakfast (oatmeal and PB) and headed out to my friend Sheila's house to pick her up and then to Southe Towne Mall to pick up my work buddy, Mike. At least where I live (Sandy), the wind had been ragging until late Friday night, but at this point, it all seemed calm. We drove downn to the Provo Towne Center Mall and met up with my other work buddy Bill and got on the buses. This was to be Bill's first half marathon and Mike's second. Also Sheila's first half although she's done a marthon and several 10-K in the past and was a state qualifying-level high school track runner.

Once up Provo Canyon at the bus drop-off, it was the apparent the wind was back and was definitely going to be a factor. It didn't seem too strong, but it was blowing straight up in the canyon into our faces and I was having fears of Moab all over again. Hit the potties and got in a very small amount of warm-up and light stretching. Saw and talked to a few people I knew, including Ryan Jonson. The weather wasn't as cool as I expected it to be (because of the warm wind from the south), but the temps weren't bad.

We made our way to the start and I noticed fast guys Brad Osguthorpe (last year's winner and course recordholder), Kyle Perry (last year's second place finisher, I think), Iain Hunter, and several other fast, or at least fast-looking, guys. Last year I had set my half marathon PR here, but I was doubtful a 1:10 something effort was going to happen today given the headwind, and more importantly, my lagging fitness compared to last year because of the recent injury. That said, I was feeling pretty good. Energy all right and no noticeable aches or pains. The right knee had been feeling a little off earlier in the week, but was fine now.

The gun went off and Brad, Kyle, Iain, Ken Richardson, and Conner Maitz quickly formed the lead pack and start slowly started pulling away. I was in the second group with Ryan Jonson and one other faster-looking gentleman who's name I didn't know. The wind was immediately noticable. The lead group didn't put much space on us the first mile and they appeared to be working mostly in a single file line, drafting aganist the wind. I ran with Ryan and the other fellow for about the first mile and towards the end of it, I began pulling away. At that point I was alone and in 6th place and that's the way it would stay the rest of the way. First mile split was 5:38. A far cry from last year's 5:24 ave/mi pace, but okay since I usually prefer to start races a little on the slower side and work into a faster pace. Last year's start was slower too. But I could tell I was already working harder than I wanted to and speeding it up was going to be a tall order.

Wind still in the face pretty good for mile 2, 5:39 pace. The lead group is building their lead. I never intended to catch them, but hoped someone might eventually fall off the back that I could use as bait. But that wasn't going to happen.

Miles 3 and 4 were both 5:57. In my opinion, the wind was worst at this point and also had a little bit of a incline here. Effort feeling pretty hard. Getting a little discouraged as I knew I wasn't going to be anywhere close last year's time. Oh well. Let's try and salvage something decent and not embarrass myself.

Mile 5 was 5:38. Better than the last two. Wind was still there, but there was some pretty steep decline here.

Miles 6 and 7 were both 5:30. Now that I'm lower in the canyon, the winds don't seem as bad, but are still present. Lots of downhill that I'm trying to take advantage of. Feeling pretty good, but not totally smooth. Though this pace is closer to what I want, I just can't find that faster gear. Current fitness level, wind, and the energy I'd already lost battling the wind the first few miles were all factors.

5:34, 5:32, 5:36 for miles 8, 9, and 10 respectively. Last part of the Canyon and on to University. More of the same. Feeling better than the first few miles now that the wind has eased up, but not able to go any faster. Feeling good and like I'm moving okay, just can't find any speed.

At mile 11, there's a small climb that slowed me up some: 5:44.

5:38 and 5:35 for miles 12 and 13 as I cruise home towards the line. Crowds were plentiful and supportive.

Crossed the line in 1:14:20 per my Garmin. Mileage showed slightly off at 13.16.

Got a little food and a quick massage and ran back out on the course to help run in my friends. Saw Sheila first, she ended up just under her goal of 1:45. I was surprised because she injured her hip a little over a week again and hadn't been running much since then. I ran back out and got Mike and ran him in. He broke 2 hours which was his goal and a substantial improvement over his first half (Salt Lake a couple months ago). Went back out and got Bill who ended around 2:05, about what his goal was. So all of them had good races.

Stopped at this point and met up with Sheila to watch the top marathoners come in. I was particularly interested in seeing if Scott Keate and Riley Cook were going to get their sub-2:30's today. Both are in incredible shape and tearing things up this year. But I had some doubts knowing they'd be contending with the same wind I had just fought. Unfortunately, my suspicions were confirmed and the winners (who weren't Riley or Scott) didn't even cross until around 2:29. About 10 minutes off last year's winning time. I watched as Jon Kotter (2:31:56), Byrant Jensen (2:32:00), Jordan Perry (2:35:51), and Scott Keate (2:37:27) came in.

Then I headed back out on course to find my work buddy Jason Clegg. He had been training hard for this, his first marathon. He's lost a ton of weight over the last couple years, has been meticulous about his training and diet, and has put up some good half times. He was hoping to get a BQ. A tall order for a first marathon, especially in today's conditions.

As soon as I was on course, I saw Sasha coming in. About a mile in, I saw Walter Brown who looked pretty roughed-up. I decided to try and help him in. Not sure if I did or not. Sorry if you didn't want that Walt. Good race though buddy.

Headed back out again to find Jason and passed several other folks I recognized: Craig Green, Seth Wold, Steve Anderson, and Dan Varga. Sorry if I missed anyone. It soon became apparent Jason won't be getting his sub 3:10. At this point I was mostly doing a slow jog, but would stop and walk for parts. I finally meant Jason at about mile 23.5. He looked pretty rocked. Calves cramping. I took his water belt and we battled on towards the line. He was in quite a bit of pain, but showed a lot of perseverance to keep running with only short walk stops at aid stations and a few other points. I tried to keep him cool poor water down his back. He ended up crossing the line in 3:45. Certainly a commendable first marathon time, but I know it wasn't what he'd hoped for. Hang in there Jason. Rest up and get back on the saddle buddy. You'll have substantial improvement on your next one.

I accumulated ~9.3 miles per the Garmin helping people. Some of that was walking, I'm going to say a mile and a half give or take. So almost a total of 21 running miles for the day.

I have a couple other thoughts I want to add to this later....

Rest day. Strolled daughter to and from church. Later on, strolled my boy down to in-laws for dinner (~1-1.5 miles). Caught a pretty cool little lizard on the way down. Kids loved him. Let him go in the flowerbeds.

A.M. - 60 minutes on the treadmill down at the Life Centre:

5 minutes @ 9.5 mph, flat
15 mins @ 10.0, flat
20 mins @ 10.5, flat
15 mins @ 11.0, flat
5 mins @ 11.5, flat

Good workout by my standards. I was a pleasantly surprised by the good effort so close to Saturday's race. But that's why I love half marathons as they don't require a lot of recovery time afterwards.

P.M. - 40.25 mile ride to the top of Millcreek and back. I love this ride!

Good day. My 3 week paternity leave is off to a good start.

A.M. - Little Cottonwood Rd/Wasatch Dr triangle route. Reverse direction.

P.M. - Mountain bike ride. 2 times up and down the Little Cottonwood Creek Trail. Wanted to get some pedaling in today, but wanted to switch it up and hit the mountain today. My mountain bike's seat is softer (~20 miles give or take)

A.M. - 51.5 minute treadmill run at the Life Centre. Somewhat of an interesting run and, in the end, a bit disappointing. I was a little pressed for time this morning as my office was having its annual golf day. I needed to make it to Bountiful Ridge Golf Course for a 7:30 AM tee time. Original plan was to get in about a 10-mile/60-minute run. Legs were feeling somewhat heavy last night and in the morning mostly due to the afternoon bike rides the last couple days. Initial plan was to get the run done quick, but at the same time not go too hard:

Started with 5 minutes @ 9.0 mph, flat
5 mins @ 9.5 mins, flat
5 mins @ 10.0 mins, flat
Feeling in a pretty good groove here, so decided to go to 10.5 mph.  My mindset at that point was to stay there for 15 mins and then bump it up to 11.0 and see if I could hold at least that the remainder of the run. The 15 mins at 10.5 went fine, but toward the end, I was having doubts about being able to hold 11.0, so instead of going up to 11.0, I backed down to 10.0 for the next 10 mins.
Thought I'd try my luck again and went to 10.5, but after 5 mins, my body was telling me it didn't want any faster than 10.5 mph today. So I back it down to 10.0 again. At this point I was feeling a bit discouraged and feeling pressed for time. So after about 6.5 mins at 10.0, I chicken-out and decided to call it a day. Total run time of about 51.5 mins for ~8.6 miles. In retrospect, I should have stayed easy/conservative from the start. Would have felt better about the run had I got the 10 miles.

P.M. - Golf day and lunch ended around 2'ish. My work buddy Aaron and I had brought our road bikes so that we could do an easy flat ride on the Legacy Parkway Trail. Unfortunately, would couldn't convince any of the other road bikers in the office to join us. Many of them were going to be participating on the Deloitte Ragnar team Friday and Saturday and didn't want to risk blowing their legs on a bike ride. Aaron got on the trail around 5th South, rode south for a while and then headed back north just past the Frontrunner station. We kept the ride relatively easy, but there was a pretty good headwind while going north that increased our perceived level of effort. 26.5 miles.

A.M. - Modified Little Cottonwood out-and-back. With Ragnar tomorrow, 9.5 fairly easy seems just about right for me today.

Wasatch Back Ragnar Relay - This is the 4th (consecutive) year that I've done this run. Kind of hard to call it a race as it is more of a social event than a race. The first two years I participated (2010 and 2011), I ran with my work team. It was a lot of fun. But my friends convinced my to defect over to there team and that's what I did last year and this year. We were by no means in it to win it. The team consisted of some good buddies of mine and their spouses and a few other extended family members of those folks. We qualified as a co-ed team meaning we had a lot of girls. Our team name was "Wish We Were Runners"... Very dumb name and not very representative if you ask me, but someone picked the name long before I joined the team and it has just kind of stuck. This was my first year being in Van 1 and I was 'Runner 1' (Legs 1, 13, and 25). My leg involved running the most miles of any of the 12 runners (~21 miles total), but my legs weren't necessarily the hardest or most technical.

Leg 1 - 7.7 miles (rated "Hard" in the Ragmag for the relative length, I think?) - My team had a 6:45 A.M. start, so we were one of the first teams out on the course. The earlier start times are generally given to the slower teams, so you can see that neither we nor the race organizers had high hopes for us pulling out a competitive time. I was happy to have the 6:45 start. It meant I could run my first leg close to the same time I'd usually be doing my normal morning runs and I'd get to run before things started getting two warm. The gun sounded and everyone in my start group of ~30 runners headed northeast out of the USU stadium. I didn't go out real fast, but took the lead before we even reached the end of the track. Knowing that our team was never going to be competitive, similar to prior years, I didn't want to approach my Ragnar legs as an all out race. Any fast running I was going to do would just be negated by some other team members' slower pace, so why kill myself? So, my strategy was to run reasonably fast, but not go all out. At the same time, there wasn't any excuse for me to get passed by anyone as I didn't expect anyone real fast to have started the race the same time we did. The fast runner teams would all be starting later and I theoretically wouldn't be running against them unless they caught up to us which wouldn't likely happen, but if it did, it wouldn't be until the late stages of the race. For my first leg, I knew the first 1.5 miles or so would be the most difficult as they were mostly uphill heading west to the Bonneville Shoreline trail. Once on the trail, the route would continue to ascend for the next ~0.5 mile and then start dropping off the face of the earth for the third mile. Miles 4 and 5 were on the road and almost all downhill. Mile 6 flatted-out and had a pretty decent little climb. The last ~ 1.7 miles were mostly flat with little up at the end. I felt good and ended with an average pace of 6:03 for the leg. Total time of 46:42. I think I had ~57 kills on the leg (all of people who had started in earlier heats) and didn't get passed (Kinvara).

Leg 13 - 8.5 miles (rated "Very hard" for the relative length and steep decents, I guess). We took over the race again at about 3:30-3:40 in the afternoon up at Snow Basin. Temperatures were quite warm at this point (low 80's I believe). The first 0.25 to third-of-a-mile starts by running a steep incline underneath some chair lifts. There was a faint trail, but not much of one. I wasn't able to move very fast through this section. Once at the top of the lift, it was virtually all downhill from there. You make your way out of a little parking lot and onto the road and then its just a drop off the fact of the planet for the next 7+ miles. There were a few flat and slight uphill spots, but for the most part, it was steep downhill. Additionally, there was a bit of a tail wind. I just let gravity and the wind carry me and had several splits well below 5:30. The only negative factor was the heat. I felt very hot. But I tried to hydrate at each aid station and averaged 5:28 for the leg. I measured it as actually being 8.5 miles compared to the stated 8.2 miles. I passed 52 people and didn't get passed. My body would later pay a little bit (but not too bad) for all the pounding downhill on this leg (Kinvara).

See Saturday entry for my report on Leg 25.

Wasatch Back Ragnar Relay - Leg 25 - The last of my three Ragnar legs. Run at about 2:30 AM in the morning after less than 2 hours of sleep. Started to move okay, but he legs were tired and I really didn't feel the best during this stretch. The portebello sandwich from Redrock that I had about 10:30 PM didn't seem to have settled as well as I hoped it would have. The route was a relatively flat and should have been easy. I only pulled out 6:13 ave/mi. for this one.

Rest day. Strolled my daugther to church, but got a ride back home afterwards.

A.M. - Up pretty early this morning to fit in the run before a 7:30 AM tee time at South Mountain (golf day with one of my clients). Standard Little Cottonwood Rd/Wasatch Dr triangle route, normal direction.

Had a bunch of stuff going on this afternoon including grandma's 80th B-day party. So no afternoon workout today.

A.M. - 60 minutes on the treadmill:

5 minutes @ 9.5 mph, flat
5 mins @ 10.0, flat
20 mins @ 10.0 with progressive inclines, 3 mins each at 1.0, 1.5, 2.0, 2.5, and 3.0 and 5 minutes at 3.5
5 mins @ 10.0, flat
10 mins @ 10.5, flat
15 mins @ 11.0 flat (wanted to do the last 5 at 11.5, but didn't have the gas)

P.M. - 40.25 ride to the top of Millcreek and back.

A.M. - Extended Little Cottonwood Rd/Wasatch triangle route, normal direction, with climb to the top of Sego Lily. ~6:50 ave/mi.

P.M. - 50 mile ride to the top of Emigration (Little Mountain Summit) and back.

A.M. - 60 mins at the Life Centre. Legs felt a little fatigued (I think from the biking the last couple of days) so the plan was to go relatively easy and play it by ear.

5 minutes @ 9.5, mph, flat
10 mins @ 10.0, flat (feeling good here, bumped up to 10.5)
5 mins@ 10.5, flat (whoa! Legs don't want to go faster than 10.0 today, so I knocked it back down and held)
40 mins @ 10.0, flat

No biking today or tomorrow to rest my legs (and more importantly, my rearend) for the MS this weekend

A.M. - Wanted to do a long run this morning since I won't be running the next couple of days because of the MS ride. I didn't get started until 6:45 AM at which time is was already 75 degrees. By the time I finished, I think it was in the low 80's. So the run was quite warm. Also had to deal with that pesky southwest wind that has been plaguing the region for so long now. Ran very slow. Felt okay, but just didn't seem to have much spunk. Was happy to get the mileage in though.

Buddies and I are meeting at 5 to head up to Logan for the bike ride. We're staying at Russ's aunt's house. Awful nice of her to offer us her house for the weekend.

Harmon's Best Dam Bike Ride - Day 1 - 100 Miles. Blog entry to be redone again later. I had a bunch of stuff typed in, but accidentally hit something on my computer and lost it, irritating...But too late to try and redo tonight, so I'll do later.

Harmons Best Dam Bike Ride Day 2 - 75 miles. Blog entry to come later.

A.M. - 60 minute treadmill workout at the gym. Surprisingly good effort despite the big cycling miles the last couple of days:

5 minutes @ 9.5 mph, flat
10 mins @ 10.0, flat
20 mins @ 10.5, flat
25 mins @ 11.0, flat

Was happy to be able to hold this pace today. Endurance seemed to be good. I certainly didn't feel like I could take on inclines today. Maybe on Wednesday.

Had to go into the office today and tomorrow for mandatory training. No P.M. ride today as I want to let my back side recover a bit.

A.M. - Extended Little Cottonwood Rd/Wasatch triangle with the Sego Lily stretch. Warm morning (at least 75-78 degrees when I started at 5:45 AM). The pesky southwest wind continued. No watch, but I was going pretty slow. Tomorrow is supposed to be a gym day, but if I was smart I'd take advantage of the cooler morning temps and go outside.

P.M. - Yesterday, I reached $600 in total donations for MS which meant I qualified for the 'spokes club' jersey. Thank you to any reading this who contributed to my drive! Our work training got out early today, so I stopped by the Utah MS Society Chapter at Highland Dr and ~6400 So. and got my jersey. Its actually pretty good quality. I wore it for this afternoon's 40 mile ride to the top of Millcreek and back. Awesome ride, as always. Climbing legs are still feeling a bit tired from this past weekend which is to be expected.

A.M. - 60 minutes on the treadmill at the Life Centre. As suspected yesterday, it would have been a good morning to go out today, but my wife took the early shift and slept in a bit. So I decided to stick with the original gym plan.

5 minutes @ 9.5 mph, flat

5 mins @ 10.0, flat

15 mins @ 10.0 with progressive inclines of 3 mins each at 1.0, 1.5, 2.0, 2.5, and 3.0 (couldn't hold for the 3.5 today).

5 mins @ 10.0, flat

25 mins @ 10.5, flat (didn't feel like going any harder than this effort so I stayed here for most of the run)

5 mins @ 11.0, flat

Just an okay overall effort.

P.M. - 40 mile ride up Big Cottonwood Canyon to Brighton and back. Got a flat while screaming down the canyon, but was able to fix it quickly and get home just fine. I should be most grateful that it didn't cause me to wipe-out.

A.M. - Standard Little Cottonwood Rd/Wasatch Blvd triangle today. Was warm and windy throughout, as is the norm lately. Went real slow, it was a slog. I think the afternoon bike rides impact the quality of the next mornings' run. I want to go riding tonight, but I'm debating whether I will or not.

A.M. - 60 minutes on the treadmill:

5 minutes @ 9.5 mph, flat
5 mins @ 10.0, flat
15 mins @ 10.0 progressives inclines with 3 minutes each at 1.0, 1.5, 2.0, 2.5, and 3.0 (again, still couldn't hit the 3.5 today)
5 mins @ 10.0, flat
10 mins @ 10.5, flat
20 mins @ 11.0, flat

Similar to Wednesday's run, but today's effort was a little better.

A.M. - Long run. Two times around on the Little Cottonwood Rd/Wasatch Blvd triangle route. Once in the normal direction, once in reverse. Up nice and early today to beat the heat. Cooler and less wind than last week. 6:54 ave/mi.

P.M. - 68.5 mile bike ride up Emigration and East Canyon to the Big Mountain summitt. First time that I've biked up Big Mountain although I've driven it a million times going boating to East Canyon Reservoir with the family. It was a bit harder than I anticipated, but definitely a good ride and one I hope to continue doing. It was kind of an eventful ride. I got a flat on Wasatch (about 7 miles into the ride). I fixed it and rode to Millcreek Bicycles where they gave me a tube, adjusted my pedal tension, and got my tire pressure where it needed to be. It's so nice to have a good bike shop on the route! The climbs up Little and Big Mountain were good (although, as mentioned, Big Mountain was a  little tough). I saw a few other cyclists, but not as many as I would have normally expected, probably because of warm weather. On the last hairpin of the Big Mountain climb I caught up to a cool dude named Ben. We chatted at the top for a bit and I learned that he's a LOTOJA vet and has done it several times. He'll be doing it again this year as a Cat 5, which is the lowest racing category and also the one I'll be in. He is also doing the Ultimate Challenge in August which I'm also planning to do. So hopefully our paths will cross again. He shared some of his bike racing/LOTOJA wisdom which I'm grateful for and will gladly take whenever people are willing to share it with me. He was riding from Cottonwood Heights, so we ended up riding most of the way home together and we made one stop to fill our water. We rode mostly at an easy pace, but we pushed it a little in a few spots. On Wasatch Blvd on the way home at about 5500 S. there were a ton of cops, firetrucks, and ambulances, and a helicopter and they had Wasatch completely blocked off and wouldn't let us through. I don't know what the deal was, I've haven't bothered to see if its on the news, but maybe some bad car wreck or someone was stuck on the mountain or something like that. Needless to say, we were forced to back track to 4500 S. and then down to 2300 E. Ben and I parted ways at the Cotton Bottom intersection and I took 2300 E. and Highland home. Ride was good, but took quite a while to do. Sad thing is, it was a good bread-and-butter ride, but not long enough to constitute the type of "long ride" I need to be doing for my LOTOJA training. Somehow I'm going to have to figure how and when to work those rides into my training schedule.