January 31, 2019

Arches Ultra Half Marathon Race Report

On Saturday I ran the Arches Ultra Half Marathon put on by Mad Moose Events. Admittedly the title is a bit confusing, the race is called Arches Ultra they have a 50 mile, 50k, half marathon and 9k distances to choose from.

The race site describes the race as:

Arches Ultra is Moab’s newest trail race, and it travels along the border of Arches National Park, using Bar M, Klonzo, and Klondike Trail Systems. The trails are smooth and easy at points, technical slick rock at others, and there’s even some sand to shake things up. Winter is a great time to be in Moab running, and we’ve chosen a lower elevation run, that will give you views of the towering Moab cliffs, Arches National Park, and the snow covered La Sals.

There was packet pick-up available Friday night as well as race morning. We didn’t arrive in time on Friday so we opted for race morning.

We arrived at the race start just 10 miles outside of Moab about 45 minutes before the start of the race. It was plenty of time to grab my packet, visit the porta potty and get ready, I love the relaxed vibe of trail races.

The half marathon didn’t start until 9am so there was plenty of time to get ready in the morning. The kids came along to see me off, they were warm in the Thule with their down blanket.

We lined up at the start and heard a few tips on following course markers on slick rock and a gentle reminder to be kind to the environment by staying on the trail.

The first mile or so of the race is on a paved bike path. I think we all prefer trails but this was a nice chance to find a rhythm and warm up.

We then crossed onto trails for my favorite part of the race. We had a 4.5ish mile loop on some traditional trails.

It would have been muddy but the trails were still frozen so footing was good and the scenery was amazing.

Why are all the trails in Moab named like this? LOL

I was having so much fun talking to the other runners and enjoying the views.

You could see Arches National Park in the distance and the La Sal Mountains.

After the first loop there was an aid station well stocked with all the goodies you could want. My only complaint would be that if you needed the restroom you would have to run pretty far down to the parking lot and back up. Luckily I didn’t need it but it would not have been fun if I did.

The second loop was about 7 miles and mostly on slick rock. We still had incredible views but the terrain gets a lot more difficult.

Running on slick rock is definitely a Moab experience that shouldn’t be missed but it’s not easy. The rolling up and down makes it hard to find a rhythm and running so much on rock was hard on my joints.

I was so glad it wasn’t icy, that would have been extra challenging! The course was well marked so while there isn’t a “trail” on slick rock it was easy to not get lost. Plus there were lovely runners ahead of me that I followed =)

When you finish the second loop you drop back under the highway then run about half a mile on the bike path back to the race start.

It was so fun seeing my family and finishing, my legs were ready to be done. The finish line was well stocked and was a great atmosphere. They let Cannon cross the finish line with me.

Race swag was pretty great including a tech shirt, technical trucker and a medal in the shape of Delicate Arch.

I would for sure run this race again in the future. Doing one of the longer distances would be fun but I would have to figure out how to prepare to run on even more slick rock!

January 28, 2019

Moab in the Winter

We are finally back from our trip to Moab for the weekend. I loved visiting Moab in the winter, the weather was amazing, the park was nice a quiet and it was easy (and cheap) to find a rental.

Throwing it back a couple days, I was worried on Thursday that the trip might not happen at all. Earlier in the week Emmy came down with a cold that had some concerning symptoms. I took her to the pedestrian to be sure that it was safe to travel with her and that we wouldn’t be making her feel worse. With reassurances from our (amazing) doctor that she would be just fine we went ahead with packing and prepping to leave Friday morning.

Why is it that traveling with kids, even for just a couple nights feels like you are taking half of your belongings with you?!?

Friday morning we hit the road for what would normally take 5.5 hours to drive to Moab.

We took a few breaks along the way to stretch our legs and refuel

We took a quick strabucks break in Frisco, then pushed on to Rifle Colorado to have lunch/dinner.

We found an indoor playground and spent a long time getting some energy out.

We eventually arrived at our rental at about 8pm

Cannon was excited to be out of the car!

The condo was really cute southwest/adobe style with just enough room for us and our friends (and their super sweet girls) who joined us.

We settled in and got to bed as quickly as possible as it was past the kids bedtime and my race was the next morning!

Saturday morning started not as early as most race mornings. My start time wasn’t until 9am so I got to wake up with the kiddos, enjoy some coffee and take my time getting to the race start that was just 10 minutes out of town.

We didn’t have time to go to packet pick-up on Friday evening so we arrived at the race start about 45 minutes early and that was plenty of time to go to packet pick-up and get ready for the race. I love how relaxed and easy trail races are!

The race venue was stunning and I felt so grateful to be able to be there and get to race. Race report coming soon!

Waiting for Mom to start her race….Cannon doesn’t look impressed.

While I was running everyone else went rock “climbing” (as much as toddlers can do) and exploring.

After finishing my race my legs felt a bit beat up from all the slick rock but I was ready to spend some time with my family and our friends. We went back to the condo so I could shower and eat lunch.

We then took the kids to hike to Delicate Arch. Unfortunately there was ice on the cliffs that we didn’t want to take the kids on so we didn’t make it to the arch but it was still fun to get out and a good shake out for my legs.

After our hike we went to Eddie McStiff’s for Pizza. Cory and I shared the veggie, it was really good!

After dinner the kids and I were tired so we went back to the condo for stories, snuggles and bedtime.

Sunday morning came and it was time to head home. It was definitely not enough time and we would have loved more but we will be back again soon for sure.

The drive home took almost ten hours between our stops and the relentless ski traffic. If I had it to do over again I would for sure stay until Monday to avoid sitting in traffic so long.

January 23, 2019

Must Haves When Traveling to a Race

We leave for Moab the day after tomorrow! Prepping for a out-of-town race can be a lot of fun and a lot of work. We have traveled to our fair share of races, both driving and flying to our races. Here are some of my must haves when traveling for a race.

First must have is Google Sheets – Luckily driving to a trail race in Moab is a lot easier to pack for than an international flight for an Ironman. Regardless of the type of race we are traveling for we always make a pack list in Google Sheets so that we can both add to it and use it to actually pack up. I usually start this list weeks in advance and add to it as I think of things I might need.

This is just a snip of one of the lists from an ironman we did back in 2015. This year I will be trading bike bottles for baby bottles. Even though we won’t need as much gear for the race we will be traveling with a toddler and baby.

I actually really love the planning and packing part of a trip, is that weird? There is something so fun about making lists, laying everything out and crossing things off. It’s just all the unpacking that I don’t like. Also I am not great at actually loading all the items into the car, lucky for me Cory is exceptional at this task. I take on the bulk of gathering and packing bags then let him play the Tetris game of fitting it all in.

Here is a great pack list from Runner’s World for different types of races to get your list started.

Bikes Ready to travel to Lake Tahoe
Fitting everything into our tiny car!

Another must have for me is Airbnb hotels are great but when traveling for a race I really like having a kitchen so we can prep our own food and it is nice to have a little more space and not feel bad about rolling a bike through a hotel!
Compression! My feet swell easily every time I travel. To help with this I try to always wear compression socks while traveling. I really like Pro Compression, they have great socks and fun patterns.

Lots of water! This may fall under the obvious category but I have often neglected hydrating enough while traveling. It’s easy to forget and it’s tempting to not drink on purpose so you don’t have to take as many bathroom breaks. Bathroom breaks are actually a really great chance to stretch your legs so go ahead and drink away!
Pack a surge protector. I bought a cheap surge protector that lives in my suitcase specifically for travel. Hotels especially never have enough plugs for all the technology I bring with me (phone, iPad, Computer, Garmin, etc)
If you are flying you must have a well packed carry-on! It would be beyond terrible to show up to your race destination and have your bags not be there with you. As best as you can pack all your race must haves in your carry on (shoes, lucky shorts, etc). If you are flying with your bike give it a big kiss and really hope it shows up (a bike transport service can take the stress off if you don’t want to fly with your bike).

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What are your must haves for traveling to a race, I would love some tips!

February 8, 2017

2017 Races

One of my favorite things to do is to plan races for the year. I love to think about the fun adventures to be had, especially when we are in the grips of winter. It took me a long time to settle on races for the year and I am still not 100% sure on some of them. Life is a little more unpredictable now with a little one so I don’t want to commit to too much. I am also leery of getting injured this year, coming back from no running for a year to a 50 mile ultra marathon is a lot to ask of my body. So I want to be gentle and forgiving of my body while pushing to see what it can do. Here is the tentative plan for 2017:

Run Through Time Half Marathon – March 18

Source

This race is a big maybe for me, I would really like to run it and it would be nice to run a half before my marathon in April. The question is the condition of the trails, the trails in Salida in March can be beautiful, ankle deep mud or covered in snow. I don’t want to travel to this race (especially if Cannon is coming along) on treacherous roads. So I will make the call when we get closer to race day.

Desert RATS Trail Marathon – April 15th

Source

This is the race I am using as base training for the rest of the year. I am excited to head out to Fruita for a spring trail marathon. It will be challenging to train on trails during the winter so I am sure all the climbing in this race will be hard. I am doing my best to get out when the trails are dry and climbing as much as possible.

Collegiate Peaks 25 Mile Trail Race – May 6th