Huntsman 140 Mile Bike Ride, 18 June 2016

Our big adventure this July will be RAGBRAI, a 7 day bike ride across Iowa.   So we need to prepare by riding our bikes...a lot.  To that end, we signed up for the Huntsman 140 bike ride here in Salt Lake City.  140 miles seemed like a long way, but my motto is usually go big or go home.    Plus the ride is raising money for the Huntsman Cancer Institute...and it turns out the son of my dentist is getting treated there.  Small world.

We watched the forecast calling for 90s the day of the race, and suddenly 140 miles seemed like a long way indeed.  The ride would start at 6 am in SLC, and then made its way south, near our house, down to Utah Lake, and then all the way along the lake to Elberta.  There we would turn around and do it all over again to get back.   The forecast was also calling for south winds, which would speed me back home if I could just get to the turnaround!   But it's a ride, not a race, so I could use the help of the peloton to help fight the wind and go faster.

Sunrise over Salt Lake City

At the start, it was cool enough to use my arm warmers, which would help protect against the brilliant sunshine later in the day.   There were about 750 riders, but I think most of them were doing shorter options of 30, 50, or 75 miles.  So the group at our start was fairly small, about 50 riders.  We started out together through a myriad of turns before settling into a straightaway.  So settled in fact, that we missed a major turn which didn't seem to be marked properly.  Not to worry, it's not a race so we just took the next road instead to get back on course.

Jim, by the way, was enjoying cruising with the peloton until about mile 5, when he hit a nasty patch of gravel on a downhill and flatted both tires.  :(  After trying to fix them repeatedly, he realized that he had actually shattered his carbon rim and was out for good.  I didn't know until later but he would spend the day getting his bike into the repair shop, very disappointed not to get to finish the ride.

Meanwhile, I was redlining the first hour trying to keep up with the peloton and thinking they were going really fast.  We averaged 22 mph and that was with stops at red lights!  I realized why later...the leaders knew we needed to beat the strong south winds to Elberta before it got really gusty. But after an hour of riding with everyone, I made the crucial mistake of cruising down a hill rather than speeding up.  The lack of momentum on the subsequent uphill made me terribly slow, and the entire peloton sprinted ahead and were out of sight before I could blink.  Never to be seen again.

I felt like I was now the last person on the course.   With 115 miles to go I settled down to a solo ride.   But of course I wasn't last, and occasional small groups of riders would catch up to me.  I tried to stick with them, but I just wasn't fast enough usually.  So I spent a good part of the first half getting dropped by every group that passed me.  They were mostly guys, so I didn't feel too bad...but a little bad.    Sometimes I would stick on the back wheel for a mile or three.  Sometimes I couldn't even catch their wheel at all....they would pass me like I was standing still!

The day started to heat up, and it was nice to get to the first water stop at mile 37.   I knew I was now more  than halfway to the turnaround...breaking the distance into smaller chunks is good for the psyche.   The ride, which had a few small hills so far, flattened out along Utah Lake as I turned the corner to the west.  From here I could see Elberta!  Bad news...I was still 20 miles away.   It was so clear and so flat that distances were deceiving.

But the miles clicked off pretty fast and I was averaging a faster speed than I had hoped for.  Even better, there seemed to be no wind...I stopped once, in disbelief that the air was totally still!   Too good to last though, as with about 6 miles to go to Elberta, the wind finally kicked up, right on schedule at 10 am.   Suddenly I realized why the peloton had been riding so hard to beat this nasty headwind.  I struggled against it alone, seeing riding coming back already from the checkpoint.   Luckily with 3 miles to go, two guys caught up to me (they had been fixing a flat earlier) and I determined to stick with them to fight the headwind.  It is really, really nice to tuck in behind a wheel and suddenly go a few mph faster with less effort!   I did take a few turns at the front but I was grateful for the help.

The checkpoint at the turnaround was well stocked with snacks, but I didn't stay long.  It seemed a shame to not be riding, now with a tailwind!  The tents were threatening to fly away, the day was getting quite hot already at 10:30 am, and I wanted just one thing...to get to the finish line.

It was a breeze going back north this time....I didn't care if I had a peloton, I was going 25 mph and I held that speed for almost an hour.  It was like I had a sail or something.  A rider near me said he hoped it would never end.  I wasn't sure if a never ending bike ride was a good thing, but flying along on a flat road felt pretty nice.   I had time now to count the dead snakes on the road (three), and evaluate the bunny population (lots of expired ones on the road), and swerve to avoid a sheep in the middle of the road with a broken leg (yikes).

Back along the lake, the wind wasn't quite as strong or as helpful, but it blew me into the food stop at mile 102 about as fast as I could have dreamed it.   I downed a Dr. Pepper, subway sandwich, cookie and chips while talking to a man who had helped pace me earlier in the day.   Didn't stay long though,  it was uphill to the finish and there were 38 miles left.  I did most of them alone, but finally stuck with a group in the middle.  I felt really strong, but hot.  At each water stop, I would fill my bottle with ice, and then top it off with water.   This felt blessedly cool to drink for about 10 minutes before it melted and got hot again.   Luckily water stops and volunteers came at regular intervals...it was hot.  

Even drinking a lot of water wasn't enough for my effort levels over the day.  For a while now, if I stood up and straightened my leg to stretch it, my muscles would lock up and cramp.   Nothing for it but to keep riding.   A bit of shade during the final few miles was welcome, but the short-but-steep hills were not.   I slowed for a couple of deer crossing the road (in the middle of SLC!) and then sprinted to the finish line with a flourish.   My time for this not-a-race was 9 hours 30 minutes, faster than I had hope by a ways!

A water stop in Sandy

Wasatch Trail Running Series HEATS Up, 8 Jun 2016

There's a fun little trail running series along the Wasatch mountains around Salt Lake City.  Each Wednesday evening (and some Saturdays) there is a trail run, and each time it is a different trail in various locations, including Draper, Park City, and the local ski resorts.   Check out the locations and dates here:  Wasatch Trail Run Series

I was hoping there would be more races in Corner Canyon, which is the closest event to where I live.  But reality hit home as I was driving to my first race, which just happened to be in Corner Canyon.   It was still over 90 degrees at 6 pm, and the course faced the west and would be in full, sweltering late afternoon sunshine.    Driving up to the ski resorts to run didn't seem like such a bad idea anymore!

There are two courses each week, short or long.   I guess they can be anywhere from 4 miles to 7 depending on the location.   I choose the long course, then cringed.  I was already sweating just standing in line to register.  Luckily this week, long was only 5.5 miles....any more and someone would probably get heat exhaustion.

This would be my first summer in Utah, since I've spent the last two summers in Europe for the Red Bull X-Alps race and training.   It's already hotter than I though it would be in June, but I can do anything for 5.5 miles, right?

Salomon shoes were at the race to offer free demos of their newest shoes.  I was already wearing a pair of their shoes, but I took them up on their offer and tried a newer version of my model.   At least it would be their shoes getting full of sand and dust on the trail!  :)

Corner Canyon is a bit torn up right now, with construction workers putting in a pipeline straight up the middle.   Luckily some of the trails are still open, and our route took us past some contraction, then up and up near the Bonneville Shoreline trail.   I was unable to run uphill in the heat, and forced myself to take small sips of my water bottle so it would last me the whole race.   It felt like about 4 miles of uphill, but finally I was able to point back down the hill and down to the finish.

It was a fun little race, and $20 rather than some trail races where the entry fee is much higher.  I look forward to doing more of these!   Hopefully next time it will be cooler...at 7:45 pm when I finished, the car still showed 90 degrees.  Like running in a sauna.

RESULTS    I'm not proud of my finish place, but my legs were dead from a hard bike ride the day before.   Not that I would have been much faster in that heat regardless!   A note about results....they are further broken down in the SHORT and LONG courses by A, B, and C designations.   When you register you can self-select whether you want to race in the Fast (A), Middle-Of-The-Pack (B), or Beginner (C) groups.   I couldn't possibly declare myself to be a beginner runner (!) so I selected B.  This only really applies to the series results if you compete in at least 5 races, and all the runners start together, so the designations aren't too big of a deal.

AXS Moab Adventure Race, 9 Apr 2016

My favorite race series of the year!  The folks at AXS Racing do a standup job of organizing these races, and I always look forward to them.   I missed racing this series in all of 2015, (due to a little race called the Red Bull X-Alps), so it was doubly fun to come back and race this year. Plus, I'm now a little bit more familiar with Moab mountain biking trails, and I actually have a full suspension mountain bike!

I did my best to guess the trails that this race would cover (there are only so many options when the Colorado river is involved).   But everything I thought turned out to be incorrect, which was both surprising and pleasing.  I like a challenge and AXS always provides.  

They also seem to provide huge climbs on the bike, usually soon after the start!   This year was no exception, we started the race at Gold Bar campground outside Moab, and climbed up through Long Canyon to start the race.  Long Canyon is a very steep but smooth jeep road, climbing up 2000 feet above the river before leveling out on the high plateau near Dead Horse Point State Park.  

I've never been a strong hill climber, so I was happy just to maintain my place among the streams of racers heading uphill.   With only one sprocket on the front of my bike, I didn't have a true "granny" gear, but I was able to keep riding along with everyone else most of the way.    Almost everyone stopped and pushed their bikes up in two places where the grade got insanely steep.  Except for one guy who just motored on through...no idea how.  

After climbing for about an hour I arrived on the plateau.  Several women around me seemed to be in my category, and I pushed hard to leave them behind on the pavement section.  With a tailwind, it was a quick descent to Gemeni Bridges road.   A mountain bike trail called Getaway parallels the road, and our first checkpoint was on the trail.  However it was faster to bomb down the jeep road for a few miles first, before diverting to the checkpoint.  Unfortunately, I missed the correct trail junction and ended up going too far.   Along with a few others, I had to ride the trail backwards a little to punch my passport.   One of the women with me said she thought we might have actually been faster to do it this way...and when I re-rode the trail a couple of days later, I realized that she was right...our mistake had bumped us up a few places!  

I continued on the trail past another checkpoint, meeting a few lost men in the race who had completely missed the first checkpoint and were riding backwards for miles to go back and get it.   Then it was time to ditch the bike for a while and switch to ropes.  The rappel was near the Gemini Bridges viewpoint, and looked over some amazing slickrock, arches, and a cool canyon.  The rappel was about 300 feet of decent, and they had set up 5 or 6 ropes, so all of the racers could get through this quickly.   It took a while to descent, as the rope was really heavy to lift up and through my belay device.  Then near the bottom my gloves started getting hot!   I stopped in the middle to look around and enjoy the moment.  

At the bottom, I quickly stowed my harness and started the trail ascent back up to my bike.  Unfortunately my legs felt like jello and I found it difficult to run.   A solo woman passed me like I was standing still, and left me in 3rd place for the moment.    The trail was sandy, bumpy, mostly uphill, and I didn't have very much fun.  I could never get my legs to work right after such a hard effort climbing on the bike, and I walked most of this 4 or 5 miles.   I was really happy to get my wheels back again!  

Starting the second leg of the bike on top of a hill is always nice.  I knew there was another small hill but it turned out to be minor, so now I had a fast 2000 foot descent down to the river near Moab.  I also had a headwind but for the most part this was a fast section.  

Kayaking with rain over the La Sal mountains

The final leg of the 50 mile race was the Colorado River.   I left almost everything with my bike, and slid into the kayak with just some water and snacks.  I knew it would be about 8 miles and 2 hours of padding to the finish line.  With no women in sight ahead or behind me, there wasn't much I could do to affect my place.   And I hadn't paddled in a kayak for about a year and a half!   So I paddled as hard as I could and tried not to let anyone pass me.   The river was flowing pretty well for flat water, but the headwind coming up the river made forward progress a struggle at times.  

It was a relief to turn a corner, see the finish line, and have the wind behind me for the last section.   A nice kid helped me carry my kayak up the ramp, and I crossed the finish line with tired arms that felt like limp spaghetti. 

My final time was 6 hours 58 minutes over about 50 miles.   This put me solidly in 3rd place in Solo Women, and 24th place out of 96 total teams.   Ironically, I have finished 3rd in the women's category 3 times in a row in this race...perhaps next year I might win... if I do a bit more kayaking practice!  

Results are HERE

Check out more info and photos on Facebook, listed under Gravity Play Sports.  

The Start

Long Canyon 

Rappel ropes faintly visible, what a beautiful place to go down a cliff!

Run SLC 15k Race, 2 Apr 2016

Finally, a chance for Jim and I to race locally, a nice little 9 mile road run near Salt Lake City.   This one would be the third race in a series, of 5, 10 and 15k.  We hadn't been in town for the first two but heard about this one with enough time to train for it....at least a little bit!

This is the second year of the RUN SLC Series, put on by the Salt Lake Running Company.   The flat route was up and down quiet streets in town, with a nice section through a park and around a lake.  Every intersection was manned by police cars stopping traffic, even though it was a relatively small race.   That was really nice.   The weather was too, sunny and bright with temps in the 50s.

My race went really well, I managed to stay under a 9 minute per mile pace to finish in 1:18.   Fast for me anyway.  Jim was only a few minute behind me, despite having run only four times since recovering from a knee problem!  

Awards were a cool metal cup (we drank cider out of ours that evening by a bonfire).   Since there were dogs and strollers and other oddities in this race, perhaps next year we will bring Spot with a chest harness....and fight over which one of us gets to let him pull us around the course!

Here's the Results:  RUN SLC 15k Results

Antelope Canyon 50 Miler, 20 Feb 2016

Page, Arizona has two iconic locations to see when visiting there, and the Antelope Canyon Ultramarathons visit both of them.    The Antelope Canyon slot might be the most beautiful, most visited slot in the world, and it's amazingly gorgeous.   Plus there is Horseshoe Bend, a gigantic curve in the Colorado river just outside town, as the river drops from Lake Powell and begins to form the Grand Canyon.  We would see both of these on the race, and that was the reason I had signed up for the 50 miler, as the 55 k wouldn't pass through Antelope Canyon.

I haven't done a 50 mile run in a while, since I spent most of 2015 hiking while training for the Red Bull X-Alps.  So I confess I was a little nervous going into this race.   My training had consisted of only TWO marathon runs in the last few months, and really nothing else long since the X-Alps.   What I did have going for me was the fact that we now have a dog.  Spot is about 6 months old now, and I spend time each day walking him (and a few miles of extra walking each day adds up!).

Conditions were perfect for the race, light winds, moderate temperatures with full sunshine.   The 6 am start was a little chilly, but with a super light windbreaker and light arm warmers I was fine.  I had to laugh later when I passed a lady still wearing long sleeves hours later, with not one but TWO other jackets tied around her waist.  Conditions were just too nice to need much of anything.

Headlamps needed at the 6 am start

The start turned into a gigantic bottleneck, as 250 runners tried to funnel into a single track trail up the slick rock.   I wish I had known to get to the front of the line, but found myself in the middle with no where to go.  After almost 10 minutes we finally got to a wider trail, but by then the leaders were already a mile ahead of me I'm sure.    The wider trail was our first taste of sand (aside from the gigantic expanse in the check-in/expo area).   I jokingly asked the guy next to me if there would be much of it on the race, and he replied very seriously that he thought there would be 38 miles of it!   Ugh.  (I calculated later that it was actually about 32 miles of sand, which is still A LOT).

Sand.  I couldn't decide if I loved it or hated it.  On one hand, it was very soft running, and easy on muscles and joints.  The elevation grades were very gentle for most of the race, and on flats and downhills this made running pretty enjoyable.  On the other hand, each step seemed to lose energy as I sunk into the deep red fluff, and going uphill was sort of miserable.  Running at a 10 minute per mile pace (effort level) only seemed to net me about 12 minute miles, with the sand soaking up the rest of the time.   My shoes and socks soon filled up with the stuff, but I managed to make it to mile 17 before I dumped a cupful of it out of my shoes.

Antelope Canyon

At mile 4 we dropped into our first slot canyon of the race, and it was just getting light enough to enjoy the curvy sandstone walls.  We climbed out of it shortly before it dropped into a technical section.   Then we were down to wash leading to Antelope Canyon.   Three more miles of deep sand, broken by multiple tracks of the jeeps that bring tourists here all day long.   Each runner tried to find the hardest bit of trail, which often descended back to the deep stuff.  I weaved back and forth just like everyone all day long.

Antelope Canyon appeared at the end of the wash like a narrow line of darkness.  At 7 am, it was still quite dark inside, and with the walls so high above me, I had to use my headlamp to see where I was going.   Definitely not the beautiful slot it is during the daylight :(  

Getting back to the wash meant climbing up and over a hill and back down another short slot, this one airy and open with a couple short ladders.  Then we backtracked (all that SAND!) all the way to Page, before heading over to Horseshoe bend.

At mile 20 I reached my 4th aid station, which was super-well stocked with snacks and drinks.  WARM quesadillas and chocolate brownies, yum!  Jim and Spot were waiting for me here, although the poor pup had puked up his breakfast so Jim had his hands full.  Here also was my halfway bag, so I was able to drop all of my extra clothes and headlamp to lighten my pack.  I set off from there with not much besides a full load of water and a few snacks.  I had sent all of my ziploc bags (empty?!?) in my halfway bag the night before, and wasn't sure how to repackage my snacks for the start.   Luckily now that we have a dog, we have dog poop bags stashed everywhere.  I snagged a few of these (CLEAN!) ones, and brought some twizzlers and a bit of cheese.    That's really all I ate outside of munching at the aid stations.

I was looking forward to the next 8 miles as they were supposed to be on the slick rock above the Colorado River.  The views were outstanding, to be sure, as our little pink flags showed us a trail along the rim, then through the middle of a huge rock plateau.  But it wasn't smooth slick rock like Moab, rather it was pushed up into thin ridges, which would break off under my feet.   The terrain was very undulating, and added to the rough rock, this would be the slowest section of the race.   Everyone was feeling it I guess, because as I dropped to a walk and power hiked through the miles, no one passed me.  It was startlingly beautiful, and I just hoped that my water would last through the hot dry afternoon.   There was no trail to speak of here, just flags that often were hard to follow.  I had to stop a few times and scan the horizon to find the next clue.

Crossing the plateau slowly but steadily, I finally could look over Waterholes slot canyon, which would lead me to my next aid station.  My water barely lasted, and I was grateful to refill and drop into the deep canyon that is Waterholes.  Most of the slot canyon is very technical, and a LONG rappel will even get you right down to the Colorado river!   Thankfully a section of the slot above the bridge is non-technical, aside from a few rickety ladders.   It was also over a mile long, so there was great scenery, shade, and an occasional break from the deep sand.

Waterholes Slot Canyon

After climbing out, it was a few relatively hot sandy miles back to Horseshoe bend aid station and Mile 33.  I dug into my halfway bag again, this time for new shoes, a dose of Ibuprofen, and my trekking poles.   This proved to be a perfect combination to speed me into my last 17 miles of the run.     Even better, there was going to be an end to the sand eventually.   The trekking poles worked particularly well in the deep sand, allowing me to float above it a little, get less sand in my shoes, and move faster.  No one could keep up with me here.   I continued to pass almost everyone in sight for the rest of the race, as my legs just felt better and better.

This is somewhat unusual, as near the end of a long race, almost everyone around you is going the same pace (slow).   After all, if you have stayed together in a race this long, chances are your paces are similar.    Case in point.  If you want to find compatible running partners, enter a local marathon, run to about the midway point, then look around you and start making friends.  These people have kept the same pace as you have for hours!

The last 11 miles of the race were on the Page Rim Trail, a (thankfully) dirt trail following the rim all around town.  It was very runnable, and I was happy to have enough bounce left in my legs to run it.   Again the poles came in handy, as they helped me power up and down the small washes as the miles ticked off.   My goal all day had been to finish before dark, which was effectively 12 hours of racing.   The slick rock at Horseshoe had slowed me down a little bit, but I was making up time at the end, and back to averaging 13 minute miles, pretty good considering I was taking some walk breaks.

At the north end of the rim we had great views of Lake Powell (and the white bathtub ring of low water levels), plus the aid station down here was frying up fresh bacon!   With snacking on bacon and a pickle, and the watered-down Mountain Dew in my water bottle, I felt like I was a poster-child for the weird stuff people eat on ultra marathons.

From there it was only 7 miles to the finish, and although I felt tired, I was able to keep running strongly, even at 4800 feet of elevation.  I started thinking as I ran that this might be the strongest finish in an ultra that I've ever had.   Lots of dog walking probably helped with that, but I also believe trekking poles really helped me push through and keep some weight off my legs (up to 16% can go to your arms).

It was twilight as I dropped the last 1/2 mile off the mesa and had a last bit of deep sand to the finish. I actually sprinted to the line, dropping my phone in the process, but crossing in 12 hours and 15 minutes.  That was enough for 95 place out of 260 entrants.    At the finish I picked out a handmade finisher medal, and Jim and I had Navajo tacos for dinner.   Not bad!

2016 Results

The next morning, Jim and I took Spot out to the slick rock near Lake Powell...he went for the first swim of his life!  The water seemed to excite him, as he ran back and forth across the beach at full speed.   He absolutely loved running around the rocks, and by far was better at climbing them than we were.   It won't be too long before he's joining us for the long runs!

This beach was trackless before Spot arrived!

Jim and Spot above Lake Powell

Waterholes

Horseshoe Plateau (the flat part of it at least)

Slot canyon #1

Wonderful Aid Stations and helpful volunteers!

Spot above Lake Powell

Wasson Peak, Saguaro National Park

This spring I'm training for a 50 mile run in Page, Arizona.   It's called the Antelope Canyon race, and it's part of a series of races near the National Parks of the Southwest.   I'm actually not in shape for a 50 mile run (as usual), but I'll get through it (as usual), by walking the last part, however long that might take.  In fact, I probably should have signed up for the 50k, which is a significantly shorter option for the race, but...the 50 mile version goes through Antelope Canyon, and the 50k doesn't.  Antelope might be the most beautiful slot canyon in the world, and with no technical sections, it's also easy to get to.  As long as you are willing to pay a local tour company to take you there!   So a chance to run through it on my own in a race seemed really cool.   I might be regretting that decision by mile 45, but....oh, well.

It's been cold and snowy in Utah, so my first chance for a run outside came in Tucson.  We had just arrived in Arizone, but I was going to fly out for a working vacation in Iowa the next day, giving me one day to get a long run in!   Luckily the weather cooperated, and from our campsite, I was able to run to the highest point of Saguaro National Park (West) in the Tucson Mountains.    Along the way, I got my first introduction to the full desert.  It was mostly flat for the first 10 miles, and the trail deviated from straight only to go around the multitudes of cactus growing everywhere.

Wasson Peak, at 4687 feet, is surrounded by (you guessed it) Saguaro cactus by the thousands.  These beasts can grow over 40 tall and live for hundreds of years.  They stick up above the landscape of Tucson like half-buried forks, and I pity the person who ever runs into one.  It seems like every plant in this desert has vicious spines, and I was very careful where I put my feet and how I stepped.  I have been known to trip over an imaginary stone and take a header on the trail...but not today, hopefully!

From relatively flat terrain, I crossed into the National Park and climbed steeply up to the summit.  The trail was rocky, loose, and hot.  The relatively cool morning had passed and I knew the rest of the way would be pretty hot.  With temps in the 70s it was hard to stay cool enough to run.    There were a few other people on the trail but it wasn't crowded at all.

I was very happy to see the summit, because it meant I was now on the second half of my run.  Actually a little more, as I would cut off a few sections of trail and return a shorter way.  It meant running on a road for a little while, but the trail had been exceptionally slow, what with dodging cactus and running around each obstacle.   After a few road miles, and a water refill at the Desert Museum (worth visiting if you're in the area), I had a final few flat miles to be home again.  

Jim had been tracking me, and brought Spot out on the trail to meet me for the last mile.   Australian Cattle Dog or not, he doesn't like the heat, and he was grateful for a sip out of my water bottle!    My mileage for the day was about 25 miles and that was good enough for a training run.   Some of my distance for the day was on bike trails, and I am looking forward to riding them, too.