Thru Endurance We Conquer!

August in Moab conjures one word for me. Hot. It is after all in the destert. There might be the Colorado River right next to town, but it's still a desert. When we decided to finish out our trip in Moab, I was worried about the heat. How would we be able to get some good rides done with temperatures soaring? I figured we'd have to get up early at least once - beat the heat and greet the sun. But when we rolled into Moab, the clouds were already building and rain drops sprinkling from the sky. A little humid, but pleasant. We got the keys to the condo and some grocery shopping done. Finally - a place to cook and be able to eat real food! Being able to cook and eat normally is so important - and it doesn't take more then a few days without that ability to make it even more evident. Nick's first priority while we were in Moab? Captain Ahab. He loves that trail. He would be happy as a clam just doing laps on that trail all day. I'm starting to like it even more - I g...

How much of the 400 miles of trails that Park City claims can you cover in two days? Not much really, but we made a valiant effort for sure! After landing in the only campground even close to Park City, we made tentative plans for a big day Wednesday. Two rides on the Park City mountain, one just the two of us and the other a little later with Cam. The first ride we climbed up Armstrong - and kept climbing up until we hit the Mid-Mountain Trail. So nice having a dedicated climbing trail - just being able to ride without worrying about people coming down at you. We don't have any directional trails here in COS - even if a few should be directional! The Mid-Mountain Trail seemed like a good place to start heading down, or in this case traversing the slopes. So we turned left and started winding in and out of tree and ski slopes. The trail was well manicured, if just a tad dusty. I wasn't able to follow Nick that close because of all the dust. Short little climbs, fast swtichba...

Why a last minute trip to Ogden? Well, there's a lot of out door industry jobs in Ogden and the city keeps bringing in more. Nick has been looking for a change in work for a number of years and there plenty to choose from along the Salt Lake corridor - but most of them in Ogden. And while I've been out there several times for the Xterra USA championships, we never really explored the city and the trails in town. So without an agenda or an important race, we could spend the time getting a feel of the city. Of course, any long drive has to be broken up a few times. It's a good thing the North entrance to Klondike Bluffs is really close to the interstate... Nick ran Saturday night, I did yoga on the rocks. And then we rode Sunday before heading up to Ogden. Nothing like yoga on the rocks to clear the mind   Sunset from Klondike Bluffs. A nice quiet evening. Our goal in Ogden was to find as many in town trails as we could. And while the bike shop we stopped in had...

Fifty miles is a long way - regardless of how you travel. As I was training and preparing for Sheep Mountain Endurance Run, I knew that it would be a long day - I knew that there would be ups and downs, that the plan would have to be fluid and goals adjusted mid-race. That is the nature of endurance sports and the people who achieve are the ones who can go with the flow and find the ability to turn things around if they do go south. Obviously, for my first 50, I was hoping for nothing but smooth sailing - with no dark spots, no demons and smiling the whole way. A girl can always hope, right? Runners assembled for the start Photo - Human Potential Running The sun was just starting to brighten the clouds as we walked to the starting line with nearly 100 other runners. The race director went through a few things, noting that there had already been some DNS's due to the elevation and to be smart. Smart... Most people would say smart would mean not doing something like a 50 mile ...

And that was just for the runners, who were out for anywhere between 11 and 16 hours! The volunteers and race crew on the other hand? They faced an equally long day, and in some cases days to prepare for the race and get everything organized so that we as runners were able to focus on one foot in front of the other. While this was my first 50 mile running race, it wasn't my first long distance event  - I've done enough marathons and mountain bike races that I know what I want and what I'm looking for in a race. I don't need the frills - the swag bag of trinkets and advertisements, the pre-race dinner I'm not going to eat anyway; the herds of people and the trash they bring; or the cheap medal for finishing or placing. And I have to say - Sheep Mountain delivered in almost every way. It was hard - with some of the descents as hard to run as the climbs. It was scenic - the views from Sheep Mountain showed off the front range and the Mosquito pass. The wildflowers were...

And the voices inside of my head.  As Saturday approaches, the voices - the demons - have begun talking to me. Sometimes a whisper, sometimes a scream. 54 miles. It's the distance from Colorado Springs to Lake Pueblo State Park. Or the top of Wilkerson Pass... A long bloody way to cover on two wheels, let along two feet! Yet that is my goal. Traverse the trails and roads west and east of Fairplay, covering more then the distance of two marathons. Theoretically, it should be nothing. After all, I've run back to back marathons many times - once getting both under 3:10. Fifty two miles, in just shy of 24 hours at a pace much faster then I'm planning. But in this ventures, I had time to recover between races and took the recovery seriously. Here, nothing but continuous forward movement. One step in front of the other, no breaks between efforts and the the clock doesn't stop ticking.  As Saturday approaches, those voices are getting louder. Ever doubting, ever questioning - ...

I love my circle of friends. Most of them are always up for an adventure and willing to try anything I suggest at least once. So when I had the great idea of riding up Crank Case Alley, then a short little jaunt on Pipeline and then up 720 and back down on Jones, I knew just who to ask. The route, inspired by my long run last week and the boy's Solstice Death March ride in June, seemed kinda crazy on paper, but had been just fine on two feet. I knew there would be hike-a-bike, both up Crank Case and then again on 720. I didn't know how bad it would be on 720, but it really hadn't seemed that ugly on my run. So at 7:30, Amber, Emily and I gathered our gear - our race gloves and our hike-a-bike shoes - and headed up into the canyon. We had a lot of climbing to do just to get to Crank Case and it was supposed to be a rather warm day. Thanks to the dry weather and hot temperatures, the decomposed granite that makes the canyon awesome in the winter was quickly building into de...