Canyonlands Half Marathon (Moab, UT)

Jaclyn writes: 

As our first true destination race, things went pretty smoothly.  This was Aspen's longest trip.  I imagine that her ears were popping as we drove through the mountain passes.  Regardless, she was a trooper.  Our one room cabin was crowded with four adults and two babies, but we all slept well (except for me nursing much of the night...I think Aspen figured,"We're in the same bed?!  Why the hell not!") 

The race itself was fun.  I have some mixed feelings about the experience, which makes me realize that our local race volunteers and directors are awesome.  I was really concerned about waking, nursing, eating, getting dressed, changing diapers, picking up our race bibs, parking, using the restroom and making it to the event on time.  These were needless concerns.  As Duane put it...it was a lot of,"Hurry up and wait...hurry up and wait...etc."  Getting ready at the cabin and heading to the bib pickup was simple.  If we had arrived in town earlier on Friday, I would have picked up our bibs then, instead.  There was a good amount of waiting, but there are a lot of people in this race.  Parking was a lot better than we had anticipated, finding a spot immediately outside of the bib pickup, then again only two blocks from the shuttle.  The shuttle wait was long but this was a plus for two reasons.  One, we discovered, while waiting (at 8am), that the race was actually at 10am, but that it was better to wait in the loading zone than at the race start, which was colder and windier.  Secondly, I realized that I didn't have any food and was already hungry.  I had plenty of time to run back to the car for an energy bar. 

The start was a cold, windy wait.  But, Duane, myself and a friend huddled and waited for the run to begin.  I decided to start pretty close to the front.  Once learning the topography of the race, a slight, rolling downhill, I was pretty confident that I could get a solid time.  I figured that I would aim high and accept what ever results came about.  I started with a 7 minute pace, and questioned myself the entire time.  I figured I was going to crash and had gone out too hard, but I never go out hard, so I stuck with it.  I finished with a 7:39 minute pace and a finish time of 1:40:19.  Pretty astounding for a "9 minute pace" runner.  I think the altitude and the slight downhill helped, but Duane's time was close to his PR.  I might just have to raise my game.  After all, I finished 27th out of 2021 females!  Duane had a fantastic race, as well, even while fighting a monster cold.  He finished third in his age group and 28th overall with a time of 1:23 and change.  

The race is beautiful, especially if you have never seen the Colorado River and its surrounding canyons.  We've rafted the Colorado over past Spring Breaks, and it has always had an incredible headwind.  Race day was no different.  I wonder what my time would have been without the headwind.  The race name, Canyonlands, is misleading.  It doesn't run through Canyonlands, and even though it is adjacent to Arches, it doesn't actually run through Arches, either.  That would've been incredible...though there is probably no way to permit a race through a national park.  Regardless, we enjoyed a little of Arches on the Sunday after the race and headed out of Moab on Monday. 

Run Through Time Half Marathon

Jaclyn writes:

A race day in Salida had its challenges with bringing Aspen along.  We were prepared for a world of adventure with a pack full of diapers, two strollers, and three changes of clothes.  Two strollers was a little excessive, but the weather is just getting nice enough to use our umbrella stroller.  The Bob has the added benefit of keeping her warm when used with the infant adapter piece.  We definitely need to start remembering sunscreen with all of these beautiful days we've been having.  In addition to her gear, I needed to be well prepared for nursing on race day.  La Leche League makes an awesome nursing sports bra that's a "must have" if you intend to race while nursing.  I needed to be prepared for nursing after, as well, since we returned home around 4 pm.  Nursing tank, zip up fleece and nursing cover...check, and we were on our way.  Aspen did amazing, sleeping in the car both ways and keeping Grandpa Gary on his toes during the race.

Aspen keeps Grandpa busy during the race!

The race was awesome, as well.  I loved this course, which began with a steady slow uphill at the start, followed by a slight downhill road until the second mile.  At this point, the course became single track trail that rolled uphill.  At around mile six, the trail became really steep, similar to what you would find along Ute Pass Trail.  This continued until mile 8 or so, which was followed with a fast rolling downhill.  My time was 2:11:30.  The overall race was slower than in past years because of the terrain, and I have yet to see how I performed in comparison to other runners, because the results aren't posted.

Very start of the race

 The course was amazing, but so was all the "shwag".  The female shirts were great.  They aren't technical shirts, which I suppose would turn off some women, but they are fashionably cut t-shirts.  I thought this was a nice surprise.  Men received rather large technical shirts.  The post race food was excellent.  Homemade soups, breads and baked goodies welcomed us all at the finish line.

We enjoyed lunch at Amica's, which I guess was (and pretty much still is) an Il Vicino, similar to the one in downtown Colorado Springs.  That is our favorite restaurant, so despite our long wait, we enjoyed a great salad and IPA.  Aspen enjoyed teething on her first taste of bread...

And enjoyed her first bite!

We've since started her on solids...it's banana week!

Duane writes:

We started the race as one large pack, both the marathoners, which my friend Sean calls "varsity" and the halfers, which I suppose by default are the jv. Well so be it, but after a little more than a mile when the varsity split from the rest of us jv, I found myself in a place that I've never been before. Myself and a friend of mine from the Winter Series, Joseph, were the vanguard for the half marathon. Suddenly I was wondering what was going on and the race took on a whole new outlook.

The next two miles were a steady climb encircling the large hill on the north of Salida, the one with the giant S. By mile 4 Joseph and another young runner broke away and took the lead where they would remain for the next 8 miles. Pretty soon, the trails climbed higher and at about mile 6 we dropped of the back side of a ridge and into some crazy tight single track that twisted through thick brush, across sand traps, and up super steep slopes. For 5 or so miles we were out of contact from the race support. The route crisscrossed other trails a number of times and I was often totally confused. Joseph was just far enough ahead that I rarely glimpsed him through trees and up ridges. At one point, one runner came at me from the opposite direction and I felt totally lost. But I figured one of us was wrong and I knew I was at the front of the race, so I kept on and trusted my trail sense.

At mile 11 or so, we broke out of the backwoods and onto familiar trails. I worked the next mile and a half at closing the gap and finally caught Joseph and the other runner at just over 12 miles. We kept a tight group down the last of the steep single track and just when the trail opened up I jumped up to second, behind the younger runner, but he had too much in reserve and pulled away and never looked back. I finished second. It was the best finish I've had since I started racing almost 10 years ago. I was most proud of myself for not settling and pushing to the end. I didn't have to. No one was behind me. That's the thing about running. No matter how flat or rugged the terrain, the real race in always in your head.

I loved the rail and the race was well organized, even if a little light on the markings, and I can't wait to run it again. I'll spend the next year running it over and over in my head, and so, in a way, I've already started the next race.

Of course, none of this would be possible without the awesome support of Jaclyn who manages all our race entries and gets us there on time and dad who watched Aspen so we can run and everyone else who supports us so we can train so hard. Thanks.