Outside Playing: utah

Spending winters in the high desert of Western Colorado has enabled us to do a lot more of the outdoor activities we love that are difficult this time of year high up in the mountains where we spend our summers. This is our first full winter season in Fruita, CO and we're taking advantage of it by getting lots of time on the fantastic trails.

Bang's Canyon 30K/60K Trail Run

The weather forecast for January 13 was absolutely perfect to explore some new-to-us trails outside of nearby Grand Junction, so Jennifer, Bella, Penny (PB&J) and I showed up for the Bang's Canyon 30K/60K (20/40 mile) Trail Run. This is a mock-competitive run built all around fun and not taking any part of it too seriously, other than making sure everyone got back safely. This is not an easy course, by any measure. It's rugged and remote terrain with over 3,400' of climbing in the 20 mile distance.

We hadn't been running big distances, or ascent in the prior weeks. The most mileage we'd put in was on the flat beach in Florida over the holidays. So, the 30K distance on a tough course would be a stretch, but the night before we decided to do it. We went into it with the approach that we'll go as far as we felt like, and for as far that Bella and Penny were looking good. Many others did the same. In the end, we finished the entire loop and had a great time. It was especially fun racing with Jennifer for the first time, and of course B&P!

Funny note is that we've never done an event where a big group of people start out together with the dogs. Well, Penny apparently LOVES racing! We started toward the back of the pack of 40+ people and within a couple minutes, Penny bolted to the front with the really fast guys. I spent the first few miles running full speed over technical terrain trying to catch up to her. I finally caught her way up front. So much for pacing at the beginning! Penny wants to be out front and she's got the legs to do it!

Anyway, we had a great time with fun people in a beautiful environment. Here are some pics from the day.

The Start - Penny Itching to Take Off

PB&J with Grand Junction and the Book Cliffs Beyond

Descending to the Colorado River

We'll Check out Hell Hole Another Time...Maybe

TKA


*Party at the Finish*

Kirk and Jenn

Moab Red Hot 55K

Funny thing is that 2 days before each of these events, I didn't think I'd be running either. Bang's was spur of the moment and didn't require a fee or signing up ahead of time. I'd signed up for the Moab Red Hot 55K several months back and paid an entry fee. However, I had a back spasm 3 days prior and figured there was no way I could do it. But, by the day before, I was feeling better than I'd expected. Only about 60% there, but that's better than I normally am after a lower back spasm.

I realized earlier in the week that this race had no crew access points for Jennifer to meet me and take care of me during the race, and the finish had no parking, so only way to get there was with a van shuttle. So it would be very hard for her to manage to see me at all, considering that she would have Bella and Penny along. In the end, we decided it would make most sense for me to do this solo for the first time and she could do whatever she wanted with her day, rather than just waiting around for me.

Moab, Utah is only about an 80 minute drive, so I just drove there that morning and got there about 90 minutes before the 8:00am start.

It was another perfect day, not a cloud around, temp at the start was 30 and got up into the low 50s. Overall though, I felt pretty good and finished in 6hrs 11min, good enough for 77 out of 211 finishers and only one older guy ahead of me. It was a touch course to follow and I did take a wrong turn around mile 8 adding a bonus mile on that excursion. :-(

Remarkably, the back wasn't much of an issue, but I did have some calf and quad cramping, which I've never had before. I spoke with several others who had similar issues. My theory is they were due to a combination of it being an early season race, so I was nowhere near being in top shape for it and the course had a lot of slickrock, which is like wavy pavement...lots off-camber running. Definitely not my favorite.

Moab, UT is a beautiful area, a lot like Fruita, CO and the course has some great views into Arches and Canyonlands National Parks and the snow-capped La Sal Mountain Range in the distance. Here are some pics of the day.