Thru Endurance We Conquer!

Just on the other side of the highway from Gooseberry, but a whole different mesa of trails. After vacating our campsite on Gooseberry, we relocated to Little Creek for some brand new trails and exploring. Found one of the best spots to camp, complete with a fire ring and plenty of room. With the temperatures a little warmer every day, we didn't bother with the hunting tent this time. Instead we had a fire every night and stayed up late (8:00!!) to watch the sunset, moonset and the stars. So many stars without any light pollution around us. And so quiet. We spent two nights up there, just enjoying the quiet and the solitude. My breakfast fire - I was quite proud of that little fire since I'm not usually the one in charge of fire. We'd found some good trail info online and stuck to the recommended route for the ride. A good mix of fun, tight single track through trees, then popping out into a field of slick rock. Some tech moves up and over rocks and lots of searching f...

At what point do you cast aside the weight of society and step into the unknown? It's a gamble - like creeping up to the edge of an abyss and peering over. Can it be crossed? And at what cost - or reward? It's so easy to take that look down into the depths and just back away. That is the safe route - staying with the known, no matter what the circumstances. Most people wouldn't even approach the edge, preferring to remain far away from any chance of danger. But what if the danger really lies in doing nothing? In staying "content" with the status quo no matter how much it chafes? Then what are the risks? Climbing to the edge of that abyss and looking over might be rewarded with a way to cross and a different life on the other side. It might not be any better , but it would be different. A chance to do something new. The opportunity to find a new sense of self and see the world from a different perspective.  Which is vision is reality? It is that crossro...

In past years, we always tried to get up to Goosberry early in the morning so we could set up camp and ride all in the same day. That works great on the weekends when the mesa is crowded and there's lots of people camping and riding. But in the middle of the week? Not as big an issue. So we took our time, riding in St George first - on Barrel Ride and Zen - and then making the trek up. We had plenty of light left to set up the tent and get camp organized before the sun dipped down and temperatures started dropping. It was a good thing we did opt for the tent this year - once the sun set it got cold fast. Morning lows were in the mid 20s when I got up both days. I was able to crank up our Mr Buddy heater, get warm after a chilly night and then enjoy the sunrise with my coffee. The perfect start to every morning.  Sunset on the first night atop Gooseberry Mesa Reflections at camp Even though I knew Gooseberry is either easy pedaling or big power moves, the kind my ha...

Sunrise. One of the only times I've been in the middle of a lap at a 24 hour race and wishing for my camera. It was surreal - the thin silver crescent of the moon hung low on the eastern horizon like a bowl with Venus, Mars and Jupiter dripping from the sky into the moon. Scattered clouds captured the light of the sunrise as the celestial quartet faded slowly into the magenta, fuchsia and oranges. Every turn on the road climb revealed an new phase of the sunrise, the colors ever changing. It was our 20th lap of the 25 Hours of Frog Hollow and one of the few moments where I was completely distracted from the bone chilling cold and ever present wind. A moment that was imprinted on my mind and one that will never happen again.  Rewind 21 hours and I was standing on the side of the road, holding Nick's bike and waiting for the clock to hit 10:00 and for the race to start. Dust clouds swirled around the footsteps of every person who passed. It had been windy since the sun has risen ...

It's a common issues with endurance racers and I am no different. No matter how great the race goes, I always search for what needs improvement or what went wrong. I am never satisfied with simply saying "that was a great race - had some issues but finished it out in the end." This was no different. Instead of looking at the results and thinking - wow those were so fast laps given what happen prior and the conditions we were racing in, I looked at the lap times and fretted. My laps were slower then I'd planned. I could have been more consistent. I should have been able to more closely match the women on the 4-coed and 5-coed team. Did it matter that I ended up doing twice as many laps? No. The women on the 4/5 coed teams are always among the fastest and so that's who I turn to for my comparisons. Which in turn leads to ever more criticism. It was no different out on course. On the climb, I kept thinking - oh, I'm giving away time here because I can't j...

Naturally. First run since my hamstring tightened up that I allow myself to get away from an easy bail out point. For the past week and a half I've been sticking close to home, never straying much more then half a mile away. And of course, things were feeling better and better with an almost normal run Tuesday. Still slower, but everything felt good. I felt like I was starting to turn the corner and would be able to enjoy so great trail runs on our trip as well as rides. I packed two pairs of running shoes, just knowing that I was would be able to run as much as I wanted. We didn't stop Wendsday as planned for an easy ride - the weather and trail conditions eliminated that option. Nick offered a run, but I demurred, saying I'd felt great Tuesday and really wanted to take the day off running. I would run at Frog Town Thursday. Which I did. First mile, out on the road along the course felt great. No pain at al. So I decided instead of doing a small loop on a mix of singletrac...

I think I hit a little harder then I had anticipated when I crashed last week. Beyond the normal aches and bruises, my right shoulder still aches and I've been really dragging and unusually cranky. I've had an AC sprain on that shoulder before, so I know that will just take time to heal up. It's the general fatigue and the abnormally tight hamstring that's starting to frustrate me. Like a bad athlete, I only took a few days off because my hamstring was hurting. I should have realized that my crash was harder then I wanted to admit and just chilled out. It's impossible to say if my hamstring wouldn't have flared up if I'd taken a few days off. But it wouldn't have hurt.  So now I'm dealing with a minor (major?) setback to not just my running but my riding as well. I was just starting back up with my track workouts and building up my speed. And now... Last Saturday my "run" was more of a frustrating shuffle where no matter how hard I tried to...