The Wedge 2014

In 2012 four crazy guys decided to do an adventure run on the Good Water Rim Trail and called it "the Wedge" after the amazing 'Wedge Overlook' there in the San Rafael Swell.

2013, seven crazies repeated the adventure - I was privileged to be part of what was my first 'ultra' experience, even though I only went 28.1 miles!

This year we had EIGHTEEN awesome people join us for the 3rd Annual Wrangler Wedge Wrun.

My total was 32 miles in about 7 hours. I like that Strava tracks my moving time - that was closer to five hours.

Check out some of the awesomeness!

)

Unfortunately some of the audio settings I had screwed up when I added the music on Youtube.

I also have a few more videos so I might have to make a few different versions. For now I'm satisfied with what I've got. Hope you can enjoy it too!

And since this should have been posted weeks ago... the Wedge was almost a MONTH ago!

Here are some of the awesome sights we saw!

Good Morning from the Wedge!

Photobomb!

Can't wait for next year!

Next up - Buffalo Run 50 Miler!

The Struggles of November

I had a pretty epic month in October.

I ran my first 50 mile race in a time that I was more than happy with.

I then ran my fastest 50k race so far on tired legs!

And just two weeks before the 50 miler, I ran another tough 50k where I came in 3rd overall!

Oh, and I ran to the top of a couple of mountains as well!

NOT a bad month at all.

Actually a really fantastic month!

Especially since this didn't happen to me:



I love that picture.

I think my blog needs more pictures of wipeouts. They are unfortunately harder to find than I'd like!!

So anyways. It's November. I feel like BLAH. Part of it is I'm STILL somehow recovering from the Pony Express and Goblin Valley. I'm tired. My head hurts. I think there is some Seasonal Affective Disorder going on as well... which is SAD.

But I've still been able to get out and do some fun things.

I watched the kids while my amazing wife ran the Moab Trail Half Marathon - she did awesome.

And we saw Arches National Park, and I was able to hike/run 6 miles seeing some amazing arches like Landscape Arch, Partition Arch, Navajo Arch, and Double O arc. Definitely somewhere I would like to go back to and maybe put together an adventure 50k!! (I need to modify that route a bit probably...) At only $10 for a week's entry to the park? That is NOT BAD!

Beautiful area! I really hope to go back soon!

After getting back from that awesome family vacation/adventure, I was tired and slightly sick for a few days. That's not fun.

Finally on the next Friday I got out with Matt to hit another peak, Ben Lomond. Even BETTER than that, the day before I found out I had won a GoPro Hero 3 Black Edition in a work Benefits Raffle!
So we had a lot of fun, and I made a video to test it out:




Yeah I am still figuring some stuff out with it.

Ben Lomond was great - even though my watch paused and messed up the total (should be 15ish) a bit.

The next day I went up to the Steed Creek cliffs again with Professor B, the next door neighbor of MVH who is trying to get into trail running more. I was definitely slow after Ben Lomond!

Last week I finally made it back out in the morning for a run up Farmington Canyon with the Newman Group.

It is very nice to run 11 miles in the morning before work!

Friday morning I got up early and drove up to Antelope Island to bag the big peak on that Island - Frary Peak. I went with MVH who had just won the Frary Peak Climb 10k Race the weekend before. It was nice to get him beyond where the race turned around and to the actual peak. With the snow and the rain we took almost twice as long round trip as he took on his race! 7 decent miles on a trail I'll definitely have to do again!

Finally on Saturday I went with my wife up the Steed Creek Trail again - this time up the Hornet Canyon split to a cool little canyon that supposedly has a waterfall when it is runoff season. Of course, we decided to do it in a blizzard! Almost 4 miles. It was very slippery and we had a few slips and falls, my wife came down on her hand a bit hard and we hope nothing serious happened to it - but after 2 days it is already greatly improved. Yikes.

I took my GoPro but haven't had time to finish the video. Hopefully I'll finish that soon and get it up!

While driving out to Antelope Island MVH and I were talking about how there should be a shorts contest for the winter amongst the Wasatch Mountain Wranglers. So I put it out there and had some good response.

Here's my response to the challenges:



Oh yeah! It's ON!

So November. It's just over halfway through and it definitely started with a big BLAH feeling.
Somehow it was awesome too... I mean looking back at this entry and it's been an amazing month so far!

I guess that BLAH feeling is being overcome! The Struggles of November are showing their fruits as some great memories, and dedication to keep on going!

Life is amazing. Live it amazingly!

Goblin Valley Ultramarathon 50K

I somehow decide to run a 50k eight days after my first 50 miler.

And I made that decision just a few days after that race!

My brother was going down to emcee the Goblin Valley Ultra, and through TrailandUltraRunning.com (TAUR) had a race entry that, since he was emcee-ing, he wouldn't be able to use.

Free race in Goblin Valley? Awesome!

Timing-wise, just a few days before, Goblin Valley had been in the news across the world because a few dummies decided it would be a good idea to post a video of themselves knocking down one of the ancient rock formations.

Great job guys.

Because of that the first thing out of almost EVERYBODY's mouth when hearing I was heading down to Goblin Valley...

"Don't knock down any Goblins!"

Right. I'll keep that in mind!

Goblins everywhere!

Friday afternoon my brother and I drove down in his new FJ Cruiser to Goblin Valley - unsure if we would have a campsite or if we'd be sleeping in the car.

I guess we were supposed to have a campsite - and those campsites look pretty nice - but they were full, so the rangers told the Race Director that we could sleep at the Overlook, which is normally NO CAMPING.

It was really cool to set up the tent and sit outside looking at the amazing stars in the sky - with no light pollution whatsoever. It's crazy that up to two-thirds of people can only see some of the stars... and that some people have never seen the full brilliance of the night sky due to this light pollution! We just sat in the dark and watched the shooting stars.

It did remind me that maybe I should look into a lasik type eye surgery as some of the details just weren't there. Getting older. Blah.

It was cold when we went to sleep, but thankfully not as cold as it was last weekend at the Pony Express! THAT was bitterly cold.

I decided to start the race in the morning in a tank top and Matt's Pearl Izumi sleeves, as I knew it would be warming up and I didn't want to have to carry too much.

I was going to run with just a handheld bottle (and I probably could have) but after hearing that the Race Director had only ever done a road marathon and some half marathons, no ultras, I realized that this was NOT going to be normal Ultra-type Aid Stations but instead water, electrolytes, and gels of the road type races! So I took my Ultraspire Spry just in case.

This also allowed me to take my ActionCam, but I haven't been able to process any video yet.

I started off running with Kreuzer (you might remember him from the Millcreek 50k, Olympus, and Olympus again in the ROCKS ROCK video!) and his cousin Roxy, an experienced Marathoner but first-time Ultramarathoner!

We headed away from the start and down the ROAD (blech) past the campground, and then onto an ATV trail for a couple hundred yards and back onto a road. That road continued for the next six miles... And then it turned into a dirt road near the Wild Horse Canyon outside of the Goblin Valley State park. There were a few minor climbs but nothing too bad, and we kept a pretty decent pace until the 50K turnaround.

Just before the turnaround my body started to give me some signals that it was TIRED. I was definitely feeling the effects of 50 miles from the weekend before! But I was able to stick with Roxy until about mile 17, and Mark until 19.

I kept moving slowly until a girl (Her name was Jenny) who was moving really well passed me, and I decided moving faster would hurt just as much as moving slowly, so I kicked into a higher gear and blew by her and a few others and got within 200 yards of Kreuzer again, then my feet and hips just quit working - they didn't like the pavement. Jenny passed by me again and ultimately passed Kreuzer as well, running really smart and strong. It is always awesome to see people pull a good smart race together!

At this point I just pushed myself into a 200-300 steps of running, 25-50 steps walking all the way back to the turn past the campground and up to the Overlook Parking lot.

From the parking lot they direct you down to probably the best part of the race - about 3/4 of a mile through the Goblins. I could actually run again since I wasn't on the pavement!

Following the Halloween Candy Bowls (rocks, no candy, so sad) you weave through some of the goblins until you get to STAIRS at the END of the RACE. So mean!

Then to make it worse, you cut off the stairs and run straight up the hill around the fence, then across the parking lot to the Finish line.

Finish lines are fun!

Ninja!

JUMP!

Official time 4.52:20, 13th place in the 50k.

So that's a 50k PR for me. I think if I hadn't run 50 miles 8 days before - I could have cut off 30-45 minutes off that! It was a bit short for a 50k, but it was still a lot of fun.

We hung out and talked and took pictures and helped the race directors out

Then we had the long drive home!

Next up - Kakes runs the Moab Trail Half Marathon!

Dugway Isolation Trail Run 50k

LAST Saturday I ran another official 50k.

A bit over one week before the race our friends who are related to the race director put out a call for more people, so we took a look and realized that it was a great deal, $30 for any of the races, 50k, 30k, and 20k. I knew it would be a good training run, and a reason to push it a bit, so I signed up for the 50k. Kakes was thinking about the 20k, then jumped right in and signed up for the 30k!

Yeah baby!

The race was the Dugway Isolation Trail Run 50k/30k/20k out at the Dugway Proving Ground, a very large Military installation in Utah's West Desert.


We woke up early and drove out to the Base gave them our drivers licenses and pulled off to the side where we waited and talked to some friends who were also waiting - for our background checks!

Once those were done, we headed down the road to the starting line, where we picked up our numbers and our schwag bags - which were great! Frisbees, squishy balls, 2 or 3 water bottles, a bunch of bars and snacks, and other stuff. No lame coupons or 'sign up' invites to be found!

All three races started at the same time.  Because this is the first year for the race, there were probably only about 20 people for all the races!

Getting ready between the Howitzers!

Altra Lone Peak 1.5's - REPRESENT!

The RD fired a gun (hey this is a Military base!) and off we went!

And they're off!

I got off to a good start and stayed in the lead for 25 miles. I think being chased the whole time can be a bit tough.

Everybody is chasing me!

See! They're all right here!

 The 20k split off after a while and the 30k and 50k continue down to Little Davis Mountain.

There the 50k people have to do two extra loops on the mountain! I caught up to Matt and Kakes on my first extra loop.

After that bit - I kept moving and felt really good - but this race really did become an Isolation Run for sure!

As I headed up the road after the start for the second time - I kept looking back thinking I'd see somebody charging up to catch me - but it didn't happen.


At the next climb up Little Davis on a hill I hated, the competition gained some ground, but then kind of faded away. My competition at this time was a first time 50k'er who had probably started a bit too fast. I know there were plenty of people on the course who could beat me, but I was only worried about two of them.

I did not like this hill.

And one of those was 'taking it easy' and running with his brother, so I thought I had a shot at winning the whole thing!

And for 25 miles of it, I did a pretty good job!

At about mile 20, again on the first climb up the first mountain, I looked back and saw an orange hat just like mine, and a lady runner.

DANG!!! The two people I was worried about were now chasing me up the hill - and they are both much stronger on the uphill than I am. I kept moving and was still feeling pretty good - and made great time down the other side of the mountain until a section called "Quicksand Hill" or something, when Craig finally caught up to me. (Here is his report)

"What happened to your brother?" "Oh he dropped to the 30k so I decided to try to catch up to you and we could run for a while then race to the finish."

HA! I was still feeling pretty good, and we stayed together for a couple of miles, but I knew as soon as we hit my nemesis the hill up Little Davis, I'd be done for as far as competing with him went!

As we ran ahead - right before the climb, a wild mustang came riding by - Wow!

Craig totally stole the spirit of that horse and took off up the hill... I didn't see him again after that until the finish!

I kept moving and kept looking behind me knowing that Jen would catch up to me at any time. It wasn't until my last time at that windy aid station, where they were out of Mt. Dew that I stayed ahead of her. I left first, and then she caught me again at 'the Burn,' the final climb of the loop. We ran together and talked and enjoyed the pain together, with me in front, until a geological bunker spot with a water cooler, and that's when she went on ahead and I just couldn't keep up with her. I was basically bonking pretty hard by then!

I kept on moving and finally came down to the last stretch along a dirt jeep-track where my brother was waiting for me.

Somehow I still had something left and I was able to pick up the pace and run at about a 7 minute pace to the finish!

That pace took it out of me though and I puked for the first time in over twenty years! No more "Vomit Free Since '93" for me!


I took some video throughout the event (but not enough) and put together a video.

Like usual I'm still working on getting the editing better so it's shorter.



31 miles in 6:26

I ended up taking 3rd place overall and first in my age group!

Top 3 - with the two I just knew would beat me - they are awesome!

This race had very cool trophies. Dugway area is also known for it's geodes, so they put a geode and an UXO (Unexploded Ordinance - thankfully FORMERLY unexploded!):
Turned out pretty cool!

Kakes got first in her age group for the 30k as well! I have an amazing wife! I also have an amazing brother who ran with her the entire 30k! Thanks, Matt!

I hope this race keeps growing - it was great to see such beauty in a barren desert - and it was really well organized and fun!