7 x 7 min Interval Workout

I'm back to treadmill intervals now that we are out of Colombia and back to the gym.  Today I did 7 intervals of 7 minutes with 3-4 minutes rest between.  I ran at 7.7 mph on the intervals, with a heart rate of about 175-184.  That's a lot of 7's.  Today, for the first time I could maintain the 7.7 mph pace for most of the intervals, without slowing down the treadmill to keep my heart rate from skyrocketing!   It felt really good, and the graph of my heart rate looks very symmetrical :)    

Total workout was 8 miles in about 1:25.   Starting soon, I'm going to incorporate Zone 4 workouts into my program, which means running at over 9 mph for short intervals! Stay tuned.  

Jordan River Trail, Part 1

Now that we are back in Utah, it's a challenge to find trails that aren't snowy and icy.  It may not look like it from these photos, but we got 3 inches of snow just the other day!   It's warming up nicely though, and the valley is beautiful to explore this time of year.

While a lot of the Red Bull X-Alps might be walking uphill (so I can fly down the other side, hopefully) there will also be times when I spend a long time pounding the pavement through the valleys.   Especially if we get a day of rain or bad weather, I will be looking for the easiest way to hike my way along the course.

Walking along the flats can get monotonous, and can also be really hard on the legs.  Luckily for this walk I had the scenery to distract me.   I intend to do the whole length of the Jordan River Trail, which runs from Utah Lake up to the Great Salt Lake...it's about 50 miles between the two.   For the first leg, I started at Utah Lake, and followed the Jordan River down (yes it flows north into the Salt Lake) for about 15 miles.   The trail was delightfully free of traffic sounds, and followed a meandering course along the river.   The Jordan itself wasn't much to look at, this time of year it's not flowing much of course.    But it was a beautiful sunny day and I had great views of the snow covered Wasatch range. Unfortunately a stretch of the trail was missing, so I had to walk on a busy highway for a couple of miles to reconnect.  But trail work continues and eventually I'm sure all of the sections will be finished.

From 14600 S I diverted back to the road to walk the 5 miles back to my house, and was able to connect up to the Porter Rockwell Trail to get me almost back home again.  This gave me 20 miles for the day in about 6 hours.   I was clicking off each mile like clockwork in about 17 minutes 40 seconds...not back for carrying a 25 pound pack!

There are some pretty good maps for checking out the valley trails.  I would suggest trying out the websites listed below.

http://jordanrivercommission.com/jordan-river-parkway-trail-map/

For an interactive map, check this out even on a smart phone!  http://www.myjordanriver.org

http://www.daviscountyutah.gov/trails/

Flying with Friends, and Into the Blue Hole

When I wasn't hiking up the hill to launch, or sleeping to recover from hiking (that Colombian heat was getting to me by week 5!), I was flying.  I was even dreaming about flying...I think I had paragliding dreams for about 30 days in a row!  Come to think of it, I'm still dreaming of flying even after getting back to Utah?!?   I did dial my flying back a little for the last week...meaning that I was flying with the Eagle Paragliding gaggle rather than going off on my own for long solo flights.  

On one stellar day, six of us managed to fly a nice square of the valley and then head up north to Cartago and back.   The lift was so high I climbed to about 10,000 feet, which is the highest I've ever flown in Colombia (and the highest allowed).    The usual suspects came along for the over 5 hour flight, including Jim, Matt Beechinor, and Brian Howell.   The flights of the day, though, came from a new pilot named Rob Golden, who had tripled his flying time since arriving in Colombia (starting with only 10 hours!).   We were all the most excited for John Dudley, who had been flying for years, but who had plateaued a little  with his XC skills.  This was officially his longest and furthest flight, 60 km in 5 hours, 7 minutes and 36 seconds!  He was very excited :) (Dudley and Flacco pictured above)

Jim and I, Rob, Brian, John, and Matt

The very next day I went south on a light but punchy day with Rob Milley, who was on the Eagle tour and hankering for a big flight.   Everyone else seemed busy getting low and flying tandems (or both), so Rob and I stayed in the mountains and went about 30 km south, then crossed the valley near Tulua.   We managed to come back north a little ways before the west wind came in, and it came in with a vengeance.  I had picked out a little traffic circle to land in, but after hovering over it in strong winds, I decided it wasn't nearly big enough!  With a tweak of my brakes, I flew a little backwards to land in a cane field lane instead...at least then I didn't have to worry about traffic!  

I did have a nice solo flight as well, heading up to Ansermonuevo for an attempt on a big flight to the 

north.  Alas, it was shaded out further north, and with a south wind, I was unable to escape from Ansermonuevo to get back Roldanillo again.  I think we'd all agree to call Ansermonuevo a big blue hole.   It's a lower launch site, and it is absurdly hard to get back out of there once you dive into it from bigger mountains around it.  Not sure why even...the terrain isn't that bad.  Anyway, I ended up landing a few miles out of town, and I added a few more miles onto my daily hike up to launch by walking into town on a very hot afternoon.  Don't ask me why I didn't just catch a bus...I don't know either. 

Landing in Ansermonuevo near some curious cows.

Once I got into town, I had a long wait to find a bus back to La Union, but eventually one came by.   It then stopped in every piddly town between the two, so I got a donkey's view of the terrain I had flown over (much more quickly) just that morning.  The bus even stopped at a police checkpoint, where the soldiers made just the men get off the bus...I guess they were checking to see if everyone had completed their 18 months of military service.  

That's all from Colombia this year.   Now that I've gotten my hot weather training in, I'll be back into cold and wet weather outings from here on out.  I might even do some night training...I want to try out my headlamps provided by Black Diamond!   Mostly I think I'll be spending a lot of time on South Side of Point of the Mountain....it's a chance for me to do multiple flying and hiking laps of the 200 meter hill.  There I'll be able to really dial in my gear and get really good at packing and unpacking it quickly.  

Matt Beechinor photographs "glory" https://instagram.com/p/zluAPRKmAg/?modal=true

Polar bear and Brad on launch waiting for the clouds to lift

Dudley on the way to his longest flight!

Kiting my new wing to see how it handles

The Foundation for Freeflight travels with me!

Jim lands out next to a very friendly family!

Yes, this artwork graced the wall of our hotel room ?!?

Butterflies and Grapes, and a Long Hike Up

After 5 weeks in Colombia, we are home again in Utah.  So I'm writing this blog while sitting in front of a fire and watching the snow fall outside.   Hard to believe after sweating my way through 90 degrees hikes up to launch every other day.  Also hard to believe there is a whole country of people who don't need to own a winter jacket....

Our last week in the Valle de Cauca didn't come with any surprises, which is good...we were getting tired and didn't want to do anything too crazy.  Jim and I did hike up to launch 4 times in 7 days, a couple of them in really hot sunshine.  I had some really nice flights as well, just nothing record breaking.

The hikes up to launch were always entertaining...depending on the day, we would see fog, rain, or sunshine as we climbed up almost 3000 feet up to launch.   While we started at about sunrise, it was usually still pretty warm, especially down in the valley in the still air.   The road took us through a few vineyards.  The Valle de Cauca in Colombia is sort of the Napa Valley of this country.  They do produce a lot of wine, sadly not of a great quality (yet) but they have the quantity down I think!

Some days it would get hotter as we climbed though, and then the 2 bottles of water we carried didn't seem like nearly enough.    Usually by the end it was cool and cloudy on the mountain, we liked that much better.  Once we walked through substantial rain, but we kept moving and even in minimal clothing we were still warm enough.   (Yes, we flew that day too).

A couple of times we recruited some friends to join us for the early morning start.   Hugh, Matt and Marge were willing to get up early and eat our breakfast of fruit while it was still dark.  They also pushed the pace, and one day I made it an interval workout (I was the one carrying my gear and struggling to keep up).  That day I finished in 2:40, when it usually takes me about 3 hours to make the 9 mile climb!

 We've also been known to run into a few dogs and a smattering of cows.  My favorite thing to look for though, are the butterflies.  We saw some amazing ones of many different colors.   My favorite is always the elusive big blue ones.  I couldn't get any great shots of them, but try typing Blue Morpho Butterfly into Google images.  The photos on there will amaze you.   Here's a sample:

Napping on my wing after a tough hike up.   Some would say I'm color coordinated. 

Jim calls this the "Delta 2" after the Ozone's stock wing colors!

The inside of this Blue Morpho butterfly was as blue as my shoe

Medellin to Roldanillo Day 3

Our third, and what would be our final day of flying, although we didn't know it yet.  The hotel the night before was in a town so small I can't find the name on a map.  It was hopping though, even late in the evening when we rolled in.  We found out why when we got out hotel rooms...a tiny room with a fan and slits for windows...it was HOT.   Forget out about AC and hot water...but we weren't there for creature comforts.   

Things weren't looking so good on the short drive to Risaralda launch the next morning either.  When I had flown over this area a few days before, it had looked beautiful...but that was 3000 feet above it!   Now it was foggy and not looking flyable.   We sat on the shallow launch for hours, counting power lines and trying to see a landing zone through the fog, and amid the sidehills full of bananas, coffee plants and vineyards.   By 12 it was clearing, and by 1pm we had launched, everyone actually climbing out above the ridge.   Amazing.

The town of Risaralda sits precariously on a knife ridge

On the backside was our valley, and we wanted to fly home.   We made a valiant try at it, crossing low over the valley and losing Marty and Destin in the attempt.  They went on to have an adventure with the police at a checkpoint!  Read about the police story in Marty's blog: http://devietti.blogspot.com/2015/02/dies-y-nueve.html

Four of us were able to get high again, and at 4:40 caught the last thermal of the day, hoping to glide into Ansermonuevo.   Matt was the only one who made it, having gotten a little extra height climbing up on the side of the cloud.  He top landed on launch, and would drink beer for hours at a corner store, while waiting for us to collect everyone and  bring his cold dinner up to him.  I don't think he minded!  

Brian, Jim and I landed short, in a canyon near a river.  After packing up in a cow pasture, Jim and I had to crawl and claw our way up a steep slope out to the road.  We rolled onto the pavement sweaty and scratched from thorns, but happy to have made it that close....55 km for the day with such a late start was pretty good!  

Better yet, dinner that night was the best grilled chicken in Colombia.  It was late and dark by the time Marty had finished with his police stories, showed off his hat (again), and we rendezvoused with Matt up at the hotel near launch.   

It would be a short drive to launch the next morning, but unfortunately, the next morning it was raining and blowing off the back.  So for the second year in a row we were denied a triumphant flight back to La Union...I guess Ansermonuevo will be on the list again next year!   

Here's Marty's blog from our last day: http://devietti.blogspot.com/2015/02/viente.html

Here's my flight for the day: http://www.xcontest.org/world/en/flights/detail:westrumd/19.2.2015/18:09

Marty and Destin get the police to give them their hats!?!!

Risaralda

Jim looking colorful on launch

Jim looking down over Valle del Cauca

View from the Ansermonuevo hotel on the hill!

Medellin to Roldanillo Day 2

With four of our group actually making it to La Pintada from Medellin yesterday, we stayed the night there in a truckers town.   Those four flights might just be the longest ever flown out of Medellin, at least that we can find online!   Luckily in the 24 hour town that doubles as a truck stop on the busy highway, we found a nice hotel with a pool, and cooled off from a very hot day of flying and traveling.  No hot water in the hotel but it had everything else, even AC!

Here's Marty's blog for the day, showing Jim and I eating cake for breakfast! Like everything else in the bakeries here in Colombia, it was only moderately good.  Not sure why that is.  http://devietti.blogspot.com/2015/02/dies-y-ocho.html

Our launch for the day was back up the hair-raising mountain roads we had traveled the day before, and getting there involved some getting lost and back tracking.  But eventually we found ourselves in a cow pasture laying out amid fresh cow patties.

Matt (Farmer) Beechinor negotiates the hazards on launch.  Photo by Destin

All 7 of us climbed out together and got to base in a slow climb.   Our goal for the day was to fly a canyon that looked like not many people had ever flown in before.  Unknown territory as it were.   We were assured by our drivers that there were landing placing in the narrow canyon, even if it involved taking a cable ride over the river!

We spread out gradually over the hills.  Farmer had a knot in his lines, and top landed to get it out.  Later he accidentally top landed again and had an adventure getting a ride up to a spot where he could relaunch.   A friendly local at the bottom of the canyon when he landed (for the third and final time), took him for a ride across the river (just for fun)...in a cable car that fits one cow at a time!

5 of us more or less stayed together until a strong valley wind kicked up.  Destin and I made a helicopter landing next to the road.

Jim and Brian and Marty were able to climb above the valley winds a little further, and Flacco collected us all at various points down the road.  Marty seemed to have won the day with about a 50 km flight.  That also might be the longest distance flight from La Pintada!

Here's my XContest flight info for today: http://www.xcontest.org/world/en/flights/detail:westrumd/18.2.2015/15:58

Medellin to Roldanillo Day 1 Blog is here
Day 3 Blog is here

Matt gets a ride on the cattle car across the river!

I'm not sure which way is down in this photo!