Wheeler Farm Loops

AM - 12 miles. Great Western Trail.

PM - 5 miles. GWT again.

Spent the day in Capitol Reef on a guided canyoneering trip. It was great fun - a very scenic hike up to the top of a plateau, then we dropped into a slot canyon and made a series of rappels. A long day - we were out in the wilderness for a solid eight or nine hours.

AM - 12 miles. Sunrise run in Torrey.

PM - 9 miles. Sunset run in Moab / Spanish Valley. Last mile in 4:59 because it was getting dark and I felt like opening it up.

Stopped at Goblin Valley and wandered around for quite a while, then went for another hike in Little Wild Horse Canyon (a neat and very accessible slot canyon) before finally making our way to Moab. 

AM - 11 miles.

PM - 10 miles.

We went down to the Needles district of Canyonlands today and hiked to Chesler Park. Another amazing place in our national parks system - we are lucky to have them.

Vacations like the one we are currently in the midst of can be tiring, but they are constantly rejuvenating at the same time. Seeing the sun light up the red cliffs while running at sunrise, wondering what you'll see around the next bend of the trail while hiking, and soaking it all in from a high viewpoint. I never get tired of these adventures.

AM - 17 miles w/ 8 mile AT Tempo* in 42:07 (5:16/mile avg). Splits - 5:14, 5:20, 5:14, 5:16, 5:19, 5:17, 5:16, 5:10. *Downhill on the tempo route from a couple miles past Ken's Lake back to Spanish Valley, which drops ~100 ft/mile... very aided, but I still didn't want to push it below 5:15 pace and beat up my legs or push the LT line. Basically I justified this by saying I've been on my feet a lot this week :-)

After the run we went on a jeep tour on the slickrock above Moab. Andrea's parents needed a break after 5 days of hiking (we did too!). Plus, it is hot here. 

AM - 14 miles.

PM - 7 miles.

Back to work / reality. The highlight of a long work day was getting trapped in an elevator for well over an hour. That gave me a chance to finally catch up on stretching.

AM - 11 miles.

PM - 6 miles.

AM - 17 miles. Layton Classic 10K - 5:15, 5:35, 5:35, 5:05, 4:56, 4:59, 67 = 32:33. Short races during the bulk of marathon training are always a crapshoot. My strategy was to stay out of the lead but within striking distance for 5 miles, then hopefully go for the win in the last mile like at TOU. First 3.5 miles were slower (mainly uphill), then I put in a short surge to break it open. Steve took the lead from there and I followed 5-10 meters behind. At the 9K mark I made my move and passed Steve... then 200m later I got taken by surprise when John Coyle came past me. We didn't put enough distance on him and Jason during miles 4 and 5! I didn't really have enough fight to kick and John won comfortably. Overall a good effort and workout before tomorrow's long run. 3 up, 8 down.

PM - 8 miles.