Southwest Colorado Road Trip {Great Sand Dunes}

This past memorial day Scott, myself, and the pups took an anniversary road trip to Great Sand Dunes National Park. We've been before, but it had been several years, and I had never been in the spring when the Medano Creek flows through the park. When I booked the trip though, I didn't realize this was apparently the most crowded weekend of the entire year for this park (my bad!). Nevertheless, we were looking forward to a beautiful weekend in the mountains.

What began as simply a trip to the Sand Dunes, ended up turning into more of a "road trip" / explore Southwest Colorado (and a little bit of New Mexico!) trip, as we definitely took some longer, but significantly more scenic routes along the way. We actually ended up traveling almost 1000 miles over the course of the weekend checking off some places I have never been.

Last summer I took my Colorado Map out of my car and started highlighting all of the major roads in the state that I have driven, with a goal of eventually driving all of them (or at least all of the ones through the Mountains - not sure about all the Eastern Plains yet!). I definitely got to highlight several more after this trip!

So without further ado, I think I will recap the trip based on the timeline and route:

Day 1: Grand Junction to Alamosa by way of Highway 65 over the Grand Mesa, Highway 92 along the northern side of the Gunnison Gorge, and then finishing up with the traditional route to Alamosa through Saguache and Monte Vista (Highways 114 and 285).

The Grand Mesa detour was "on-the-way" without being "on-the-way" at all... By that I mean, if you look at the map it looks like it's on the way, but it probably adds a solid hour and half more than if you were to take the standard route from Highway 50 south (after all you are making a detour that goes from 4500' elevation up to 10,800' and back down to 5000'). Honestly though, the reason for going this way was that I just wanted to do a downhill run from the top of the Grand Mesa into the town of Cedaredge. This had been on my list of training runs I wanted to do before my upcoming marathon...but logistics made it impossible until today. MANY thanks to my hubby for dropping me off at the top, and then waiting for me to run 17 miles down the Mesa (at least it was a fast one for me, averaging an 8:15 pace for the run). It was also gorgeous, and the spring weather made it just about perfect!

From my run down the Grand Mesa

Before I started, we did let the dogs out to run around at the Crag Crest Trailhead. It was just a little snowy up there still:

After Scott picked me up, we continued the drive south, while making our second detour of the day: taking Highway 92 instead of the traditional Highway 50 route. Highway 92 runs along the north side of the Black Canyon and the Gunnison Gorge and was seriously beautiful. I will warn you though that it is pretty remote. There wasn't much of any civilization once you pass through Crawford until you get to Gunnison. It was definitely worth the extra time driving this road though!

Day 2: Alamosa to the Sand Dunes, with an afternoon trip to Taos, New Mexico looping highways 159 and 285 through a lot of very small towns!

Saturday was our full day at the Dunes, and I had originally intended to spend the entire day at the Dunes. I brought towels and lawn chairs and lunch. Since my plan had been for the entire day, we did sleep in a little, arriving at the park around 10:00am, and as expected, it was CROWDED. We waited about 30 minutes to get into the park, but then, by some miracle, ended up with a parking spot right up front (it seriously was a miracle!). We decided to first hike up to High Dune. We hiked this last time we were here, and while it's short, it's kind of tough since you're, you know, hiking in SAND. Nevertheless, the view from the top is beautiful so I wanted to do it again. Unfortauntely we made it about 2/3 of the way there before realizing the sand was getting too hot for the dogs feet, so we headed back, as we figured it was only going to get worse.

After that we hung out by the water for a bit, until it, unfortunately got very windy and overcast. The Medano Creek, while really cool, was also FREEZING, and if it's not warm out, it felt extra freezing. The wind also made the sand kind of rough to be in, so we decided to pack it up. What we were going to do for the rest of our day, we hadn't yet decided...but being outside in the cold, windy sand wasn't working that well. After contemplating for a bit, we decided...why not drive to New Mexico? What else are we going to do? We didn't come all the way to Alamosa to sit in the hotel afterall! So it was settled. We realized there was a nice loop we could do that would take us down to Taos, New Mexico, and back up into Colorado. Along the way, we also drove over the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge which was pretty cool.

The Rio Grande Gorge

Day 3: Sunrise at the Sand Dunes, then Alamosa back to Grand Junction by way of Highway 160 through South Fork, Pagosa Springs and into Durango. Then North on 550 through Silverton, Ouray, and Montrose.

I wanted to get back to the Sand Dunes one more time before we headed back, so I decided to make a sunrise trip out of it. I figured this would be gorgeous and a nice way to enjoy the Dunes without the crazy crowds that are there during the day. Overall, I'm glad I did it (the dunes are so pretty in solitude!), but it was seriously COLD (especially crossing Medano Creek), and I probably wouldn't do it again.

After the sunrise trip, we headed back home, but this time taking an even longer route which went through South Fork, Pagosa Springs, Durango, Silverton and Ouray. I had never been over Wolf Creek Pass and into Pagosa Springs, and after just briefly driving through, I know I want to head back sometime to check it out even more!

Coming down from Wolf Creek Pass towards Pagosa Springs

View from Molas Pass

Heading up to Red Mountain Pass

Happy 6 Year Anniversary to us!

Black Canyon Ascent 2017 {Race Recap}

This year marked #5 of The Black Canyon Ascent - a 6 mile run from outside of Black Canyon National Park up to the entrance of the park. It's a challenging 1800' of gain over the course of 6 miles, and yet for some reason I keep heading back every year... (and on my birthday weekend no less!).

My times have been all over the place with my fastest being in 2015. I attribute my significantly fast time that year to the fact that I had been doing a lot of speedwork combined with the fact that it was pretty cold out, and even sleeting at one point in the race. I had a feeling I wouldn't be able to match that time again, but since I had actually put in some decent hill training, I was hoping for my second fastest time. I was even more hopeful when I saw that it was forecasted to be another chilly year (it is not typically cold!). Spoiler alert: I did get my second fastest time!

2013 - 1:09:27
2014 - 1:12:52

2015 - 1:03:05

2016 - 1:09:30

2017 - 1:04:51 (unofficial)

As briefly mentioned above I actually trained the most I probably ever have for this race, mostly by running Little Park Road southwest of town. This road heads up to Glade Park with similar elevation gain as Black Canyon Ascent (I will say that Black Canyon is a more steady gain, while Little Park Road has more variances in its gradient). This actually worked really well though, as I'm also in the midst of training for a downhill marathon as well. This allowed me to get in some good uphill and downhill training in one run (as well as giving me the "downhill" as a motivation to do the uphill since downhill running is So. Much. Fun!).

We had a nice group from Grand Junction going this year, which meant I had people to carpool with! We left around 5:30am and made the hour and fifteen minute drive down to Montrose, getting in just before 7:00am. There is a walking category that starts at 7:30 with the race starting at 8, so this gave us plenty of time to pick up our packets and warm up a little before the start.

We started right around 8:00am and began our ascent to the top (there is only "one" hill afterall!). The race starts gradual for the first 1/2 mile or so before steadily gaining more elevation. My goal for this year was to average around 11:00 miles, therefore, I was pretty happy to see Mile 1 come in at 10:45.

Photo Credit: Montrose Daily Press

Mile 2 flattens out for about 1/2 mile so I was able to pick it up a little, coming in at 10:37, before the next 3 hardest miles of the race: 3-5. These one's are the toughest because you really don't get any breaks. As such, they were my slowest of the race in 11:21, 11:12, 11:39. Thankfully I know the course extremely well by now, and therefore know that Mile 6 is the easiest of them all. Yes, it's still "up", but you also get a couple of downhills. And you get the mental bonus of knowing you're almost done, so I'm usually always able to pick things up. I looked at my watch and was pretty happy to see I could most likely get under 1:05, so I picked things up as much as I could trying to pass people in front of me if I could (I only managed to pass 1 person) and finishing Mile 6 in 9:05, for a total time of 1:04:51... or so I thought.

My official time has me at 1:06:09, which I'm still extremely confused about. Other Grand Junction runner Ernie finished right ahead of me and also attests to the fact that he saw the clock in the 1:04's when we crossed, so I'm sticking to my Garmin Time even if it's not "official".

After the race I watched friends come in before heading down to the amphitheater to enjoy the amazing breakfast burritos they have every year and waiting for the awards and raffle. I was secretly hoping for an Age Group award because A. I've gotten an award at the other two Black Canyon Races, but never this one, B. I've come in 2nd in my age group 3 times before, and C. I'll be entering the 30's age group next year where I will have no shot at an award for at least a decade (the 30's age group is always EXTREMELY competitive!)... but alas I was second AGAIN (after the overall runners are removed from the category, as they typically are). Oh well.. I will just have to keep doing this race well into the future!

Overall I had a lot of fun this year! I'm glad we had a nice group of Grand Junction runners there including my friend Cheryl who actually motivated me to train and ran and awesome time of 59:26, along with Rochelle who won her age group, Marty, Laura, Karla, Kim, Randee, and Ernie who got this great picture in the Montrose newspaper with me in the background (my only race picture, so I'm posting it!):

Photo Credit: Montrose Daily Press

RACE STATS:
Race: Black Canyon Ascent
Date: May 20, 2017
Location: Montrose, Colorado
Distance: 6 Miles
Elevation: 1796 feet gain (I get a different number every year, usually it's over 1800')
Minimum/Maximum Elevation: 6599' / 8413'
Bib Number: 202
Weather: 40's and partly cloudy
Official Time: 1:06:09* (not sure how my official time is THIS off from my garmin, as I know I started and stopped it right on time. I also remember seeing the race clock UNDER 1:05 as I finished...so I'm kinda bummed about this. I talked with the person ahead of me who agrees the timing around our small group of runners was off.Garmin Time: 1:04:51
Average Pace: 10:48 based on my garmin, or 11:05 based on my "official" time
Overall Rank: 34 of 85
Gender Rank: 11 of 40 
Age Rank (F20-29): 4 of 6, but they did not take out overall. With overall top 3 removed, I was 2nd (this is typical of races to take out the overall).
Splits: 10:45, 10:37, 11:21, 11:12, 11:39, 9:05

The Grand Junction crew!

Amasa Trail Race {Race Recap}

At the end of April, I ran a new (for me) trail race: the Amasa Run in Moab, Utah! While I do race in Moab a lot, I tend to do the same races every year, so I was excited to get to see a new trail! The Amasa Run is put on by Grassroots Events - the same company that puts on the Red Hot 33K & 55K in February. It gets it's name from the main trail you run on - the "Amasa Back" Trail. I had heard great things about this race for several years now, so I was excited to finally make it out here this year!

My friend Rochelle and I decided to drive up the morning of the race, and I think we were glad we chose this as opposed to camping, as it was a COLD weekend (unexpected for Moab this time of year). The forecast was overcast with a slight chance of rain and highs in 50's. What I wasn't prepared for was the never ending WIND I got to endure for a majority of the race! But I'm getting a little ahead of myself I suppose...

We made it to the race start around 7:20 or so, with just enough time to get ready and find some other local runners before the 8:00am start time. There are three different race distances to choose from at this event: a 15.5 mile, 9.5 mile, and 6.5 mile. I am always naturally drawn to the longer distances, so I choose the 15, but was kind of bummed when I realized that EVERYONE I knew was only doing the 9! Nevertheless, I knew I wouldn't regret it once I was done, so I sucked it up and got ready to start!

Rochelle and I ready for the start! (Both wearing Skirt Sports!)

The race starts off on a dirt road for just over a mile before you turn right to get onto the Amasa Back Trail. As soon as you hop onto that trail, it's a steep downhill to a small creek crossing, and then a long, gradual uphill section until the aid station shortly after Mile 4. During this uphill section, I could really tell that my uphill training I've been doing to prepare for Black Canyon Ascent has been working, as I was able to run most of this (usually in trail runs, when an uphill section hits, I just walk most of it!). As we crested the first major climb, there was the most beautiful view overlooking a valley hundreds of feet below. I stopped for a quick picture thinking about how gorgeous this was, until coming to the stark realization that the 15.5 mile course goes DOWN into that valley and then has to come back UP it later...oh joy!

Along the dirt road in the first mile before you get onto the trail!

Getting onto the Amasa Trail. The race is still fairly congested at this point!

The long gradual uphill to the aid station.

View from the top of the 1st climb. The 15 mile racers would go down into that valley & then come back up!

Once I made it to the aid station, I had a tiny bit of coke, grabbed some candy for later (I love trail race aid station food!), and made the left turn that separates the 15.5 milers from the rest of the racers. We had a short flat(ish) section before getting onto the crazy steep "Jackson's Ladder" that would take us down to the valley floor for a 4-5 mile loop. The course description had described this as a "600 ft. descent off of the Amasa Plateau"...what I failed to see in the description was that this 600 foot descent was in 1/4 mile... You read that right... you descend 600 feet in ONE QUARTER OF A MILE. It's no joke. Jackson's ladder was a series of very rocky and very technical switchbacks along the side of the Amasa Plateau, which meant I was pretty sure that I was "running" (hiking) down this slower than I would come back up it 5 miles later.

Can you see the switchbacks?

What I also knew from reading the course description was that we were going to have to go back up this once we made our 4ish mile loop around Jackson's Butte on the valley floor. As I was descending this insanely steep trail, I tried my best not to think about that...

The good news was that after you make it to the bottom, the next 4 miles were nice and very runnable, albeit a bit sandy in some sections. I got very confused when I saw a couple of runners headed towards me about a mile into this, but soon realized they must have ran the loop in the wrong direction on accident. I kept going, running some of my faster miles for the day, including a few in the 9:00's before it was finally time to re-ascend the insanity of Jackson's ladder!

Along the valley floor. The most "runnable" section of the course.

Approaching Jackson's ladder...

Looking up at Jackson's ladder from the bottom this time.

Ascending back up Jackson's Ladder actually wasn't *that* bad. I just kept it slow and steady, one step at a time, until finally making it back to the top of the Amasa Plateau. We went back by the aid station where I stopped a little bit longer to try and recover my legs for a minute before I headed off for the last 5 miles of the race.

I had really hoped that once I made it back to the top, I could really pick up my pace and run some faster miles to the finish. Unfortunately I was not prepared for what that major ascent would do to my legs. They just felt completely DEAD for the remainder of the race. Add to the fact that I did not realize I still had several miles of gradual uphill to go until we would finally reach the high point of the course and get to start descending to the finish... The flag markers had also gotten a little scarce and I was by myself, so I found myself going pretty slow to make sure I wasn't getting off course... needless to say these next few miles were much slower than I had hoped.

Two guys caught up to me around Mile 12, which was around where the trail curves around to the most gorgeous views of the Colorado River. I stopped for a few pictures, while they passed. From then on, I ran back-and-forth with them, which was actually pretty helpful to have some people around for motivation to keep moving at a decent pace. We kept asking each other WHEN the downhill would start, until finally around mile 13 it did! It was a long decent high above the river with some pretty cool, albeit fairly exposed sections. I ran it in as fast as I could given my dead legs and some of the technical sections that were a little intimidating to me with the exposure, until finally making it to the water crossing which was just a few hundred yards from the finish. I really WISH I had gotten a picture, because the water crossing was pretty epic... mid-thigh deep! Had it not been so close to the finish, I definitely would have stopped, but I was just ready to be done by this point!

I quickly waded through the creek crossing to the other side, hopped out, and made my way to the finish which was slightly closer than I was expecting (my garmin was just barely past 15 miles) where I finished in 3:15:12. I had originally hoped to be closer to 3 hours, but also had no idea how technical or tough this course was, so overall I was pretty happy. I do think I could've picked up the pace a bit in those later miles, but I definitely couldn't have gained 15 minutes anywhere (except maybe Jackson's ladder if I was a crazy person who could run down that! Speaking of which - I would LOVE to watch the front runners descend this - I think it would be amazing to watch!).

All of my friends who had done the 9 miler were still there, so we got a group picture before they took off since they had all been done for at least an hour by this point! Two local runners who had camped invited me over to their campsite for a beer, so I did go and join them for a bit since I wasn't quite ready to drive the 1.5 hours back that quickly after getting done racing!

The Mesa Monument Striders all finished!

RACE STATS:
Race: Amasa Run
Date: April 29, 2017
Location: Moab, Utah
Distance: 15.5 Miles, 9.5 Miles, 6.5 Miles (I ran the 15.5 - my Garmin clocked it at only 15.14 though)
Elevation: 2274 feet gain
Bib Number: 294
Weather: 50's and WINDY
Official Time: 3:15:12
Average Pace: 12:35
Overall Rank: 29 of 43
Gender Rank: 14 of 24
Age Rank: N/A (no age group awards)
Splits: 9:48, 12:05, 13:12, 11:48, 18:45 (Jackson's Ladder!), 9:19, 9:54, 11:08, 11:03, 20:00 (back up Jackson's Ladder); 15:27, 12:42, 13:57, 11:20, 12:45

Elevation Profile - you can see the crazy steep section of Jackson's Ladder!

Course Map

POST-RACE THOUGHTS:

Overall, I loved this race course. It was really pretty, and I even liked going down Jackson's Ladder, despite how much it beat up my legs! The race was well organized, and the one aid station worked well since the 15.5 Milers went by it twice. I also liked that you got a finisher's medal which was a little bit of a surprise since you don't get one at Red Hot (which is a longer race). The only thing I didn't like, was that WAY more people do the shorter distances (the 6.5 miler had 82 finishers, the 9.5 had 61 finishers and the 15.5 miler had 43), so by the time I got done, there was hardly anyone else at the finish line area...and I usually like to sit around and hang out for a bit when I get done at a race. Aside from that though, loved the course and I would do this one again (I just need to find more people to do the longer distance with me!).

#WestSlopeBestSlope Trail Series: Kokopelli Trails

Second on my list of local trails to highlight are the Kokopelli Trails!

This is another trail system with a lot of smaller trails all encompassed into the "Kokopelli Trails" name. They run along the Colorado River's north side in the McInnis Canyons National Conservation Area. You can actually take these over to Rabbit Valley (another popular trail system), and then even onto Moab if you want, although this would be extremely remote and long (I think it's around 100 miles to go to Moab) and you would definitely want to be prepared for that!

This is probably one of the most well known and popular mountain biking trails in the area. On any given weekend there will be a lot of people out (but not too crazy - this is the western slope after all). A lot of the sections are nice and wide, so passing people (or getting passed by mountain bikers) isn't typically much of an issue. These trails are my "go-to" trail system for longer weekend runs as I can get 20+ miles out here pretty easily.

Trail: Kokopelli Trails (Mary's Loop, Rustlers Loop, Horsetheif, Wranglers, Moore Fun, Steve's Loop, Mack Ridge, Troy Built +)
Location: Loma & Mack, Colorado
Trail Head Access: The main trailhead is located just off of I-70. Take Exit 15 for Loma (4 miles west of Fruita). From the exit, turn left, go across the interstate to the frontage road and turn right. Go about 1000 feet and turn left on the gravel road (before the weigh station). Once on the gravel road, it's just about 1/2 mile to the trail head which has lots of parking and a restroom. Note - there are also a few other small parking lots to access other sections of trails - see the COPMOBA map for specifics on those.
Distance: SO. MANY. OPTIONS - from 3.5 miles on Rustler's Loop to the 50K route at the Desert RATS Trail Running Festival, you can get a lot of distance here. Some of my favorite combinations are:
-Ruster's Loop: 5 Miles from the main parking lot, 3.5 if you park right at the Rustler's starting spot - this is a great short loop that is very runnable.
-Mary's to Wranglers: 6 Miles
-Mary's to Horsethief Bench (Lollipop Loop): 8 Miles
-Moore Fun Trail and Mary's Loop: 11 miles total
-Moore Fun, Steve's, Mary's, Horsethief, Rustlers: 21 Miles
There's also a lot more mileage you can get if you venture into the trails that are farther northwest - Troy Built, Mack Ridge, and Lion's. I, however, have not really done these too often (I think I need to change that soon!).
Dogs Allowed: Yes
Best Time of Day/Year: Spring and Fall is best, but you can run these year round. Summer is HOT and there is no shade. Winter is usually doable, but there is snow at times. Do note that this is a very popular mountain biking area, so be alert for bikers. The earlier you go, the less likely you'll have to be moving over for them too often.
Map: http://copmoba.org/trail-map-pdfs
Elevation: These trails range from 4400' to 5400'. The biggest climbs are on Moore Fun & Mack Ridge. Aside from those two, the trails are pretty runnable.
Notes: Again, this is a mountain bike trail, so be on the lookout. Also, make sure to bring a lot of water - it's dry and exposed!

View of the Colorado River from Rustler's Loop

Horsethief

Steve's Loop

Steve's

Overlooking the Colorado River from Mary's

Coming down the climb up to Moore Fun

Rustler's Loop

Mary's

View from the top of Moore Fun

The Colorado River from Mary's (in the fall - aren't the tree's gorgeous?)

Looking down at Mary's (and Rustler's even further down) from Wranglers

Canyonlands Half Marathon 2017 {Race Recap}

Ahh, another year at the Canyonlands Half Marathon. I don't know what it is about this race, but I just love it. From the nostalgia of it being my first Half Marathon, to the beautiful peacefulness of the canyon you run through, and even including that horrible, terrible stretch from Mile 11-12, it's still remains one of my favorites! Every year I debate doing it again, and then every year, there I am...registering for it again! This year was no different, I was once again going to skip it, but low and behold as soon as they sent out an email saying that this was going to be the last year it would be a fully closed course, I just knew I HAD to do it!

My friend Kellee was once again heading up for it as well - she's ran it every year since 2013, while I've ran it 4 times since 2013 (I missed 2014 when I chose to run an Ultra in Moab the weekend before), and the last three years we've made sure to meet up for the race!

This year, I'm trying to be a little more budget conscious with my racing, so I opted to stay home the night before and drive up in the morning. It always sounds rough, but it's actually not too bad - I got up at 5am, was out the door by 5:40, and made it into Moab by 7:15 - perfect timing for pre-race packet pick-up which went until 7:30. After I got my packet, I drove over to the bus pick-up and waited a few minutes to meet up with Kellee before we made our way up the canyon to the start of the race.

The sunrise as I made my way to Moab!

The weather forecast for this year was the hottest it has ever been in the four years I've ran this: 2013 was PERFECT with overcast skies and high's in the 60's; 2015 was hot, but high's in the 70's, last year was also hot with high's in the 70's, but the wind kept it cooler, albeit at the cost of being windy). This year the forecast was for high's in the mid-80's and no wind... I've said it before and I know i'll say it again, I do NOT do well in the heat. Nevertheless, I also knew I wasn't going to really "race" it this year, so I wasn't as concerned as I would've been had I been gunning for a PR or something.

In fact, I wasn't really sure what pace I wanted to run this in at all. I had put a lot of training into the Houston Marathon back in January, including a decent amount of speedwork. But after that, I spent the next two months doing a whole lot of nothing. Don't get me wrong, I've been running, but just haven't had any specific goals. It's actually been kind of nice - just running what I want to run. Nevertheless, I know I typically get into a little bit of a "racing" spirit once I get going, so I decided about 30 minutes before the race that I would go for sub-2:00 hours. I knew this would be challenging enough that I would have to put in some serious effort, but not so challenging that it would be miserable, especially with the heat.

After sitting around in the canyon for close to two hours (yep, be prepared to be bused up super early if you run this race, and be prepared to be COLD while you wait, even if the high says its going to be HOT), we finally made our way over to the starting line to get ready. I shed my extra layers into my drop bag, and then tried to squeeze my way up to the 2 hour pace group. If there's one thing that's slightly annoying about this race, it's that the pacers stand way too close to each other, making the start line insanely difficult to work your way through (I always go back too far, and then realize I'm back by the 3 hour pacer and it's pretty difficult to work my way up).

Kellee and I waiting for the start!

Trying to stay warm with my trash bag

The gun went off right on time and I started on my way. I knew I wanted sub-2:00, which is a 9:09 pace, but decided to just see what my first mile came in at without looking at it too much, and just running a moderate pace. I ended up running Mile 1 in 8:47. This actually felt pretty good, so I decided to stick it out at this pace for a bit and see how it went. My next few miles came in at 8:30, 8:49, 8:51.

A few miles in and I remembered that I had wanted to make sure to get pictures, so I made sure to pull of the road a couple times and snap some quick ones. Around Mile 4 I saw my friend Jan and chatted with her for a few minutes. By this time, we were no longer in the shade and it was definitely getting HOT.

I contined running pretty consistent miles (for me), 8:31, 8:41, 8:30, 8:50, 8:42. The only significant hill is right after you hit 9, so mile 10 was my slowest of the day, but I still came in under 9 minutes - running an 8:55. These splits actually felt pretty good - not "easy", but not too hard. It was definitely hot out, but I was still feeling pretty good. At this point, I was fairly confident that I could push my pace at the end of the race. I ran Mile 11 in 8:38, as I made my way out of the canyon and onto the "horrible stretch".

This is when you exit the beautiful, traffic-free canyon, and get to run alongside a stretch of road that leads into Moab. Because it's the main road into Moab, they can only "cone" off part of the road, so you're running right next to a lot of traffic including lots of big trucks. This year, I swear it felt like the temperature SOARED 10+ degrees the instant I got onto this stretch. Nevertheless, I continued on, trying not to let my pace slip.

With about 1.5 miles to go, my friend David, who had paced me at the end of The Other Half last fall, was here again this year, and met me to pace me in for the end of this one too (he had already finished "officially" pacing the 1:30 group... yeah, that's a 6:52 pace...that he just ran casually.., and then came back for a few more really slow miles with me!). He's a really good pacer and knew just what pace to run right in front of me to get me to pick up my pace... although this year I struggled a little more than last fall at picking my pace up - I did pick it up but not as much as I had hoped - running Mile 12 in 8:26.

Right after 12, you turn off of the terrible stretch, and get to run on back neighborhood roads to the finish line. I tried to increase my pace as much as possible, but the heat was really getting to me by this point, so the most I could muster was an 8:18 pace, which I ran Mile 13 in. I then tried my best to run as fast as I could through the finisher's shoot, which was a 7:46 pace (for .1) - not as fast as I like to finish in, but I could definitely tell I gave it my all...because the second I crossed the finsh line and stopped, I felt like I was going to puke... (that's how you know you had a good race - I know, lovely). Thankfully, I didn't end up puking, and just had to take a few minutes to cool off. I ended up finishing in 1:53:55 - not bad considering I was just going for under 2 hours!

RACE STATS:
Race: Canyonlands Half Marathon
Date: March 18, 2017
Location: Moab, Utah
Distance: Half Marathon; 13.1 Miles
Elevation: 354 ft gain / 451 ft loss
Bib Number: 1655
Weather: HOT - 60's at the start, 70's at the end
Gun Time: 1:54:58
Chip Time: 1:53:55
Average Pace: 8:41 per mile
Overall Rank: 355 of 1663
Gender Rank: 124 of 984
Age Rank (F25-29): 16 of 138

The one good thing about it being an unseasonably warm day, was that it was the perfect weather for sitting and hanging out in the beer garden! This race gives you up to three free beers with your race entry, so I had a great time sitting with some running friends and having beer (I only had 2 though! I did need to drive home later that afternoon!).

After relaxing in the beer garden for a bit, I went and had lunch with Kellee and Dan at Zak's - which has been our tradition for post-race lunch the past three years! After filling up on their pizza and salad buffet, I then hit the road and headed home from another great year at Canyonlands!

One other tradition about this race that I now have, is going for a great race picture! Haha, no really, it was actually just kind of a funny coincidence that I got great race pictures in 2015 and 2016, so this year I had to try for one again (since I also now know where the photographers typically hang out). This year's isn't quite as good as the last two years, but still not too shabby! :)