Bryce Canyon Half Marathon

13.1 miles, a half marathon, 1 hour, 33 minutes, 13 seconds. On Saturday, 7/18 Ian and I ran from Ruby's Inn at Bryce canyon down Highway 12 to the Cannonville town park. Having been training for some time now, I am in decent physical condition. I do not own a watch, and my running has simply been for enjoyment. I have not been pushing myself and I really had no idea how fast I would run the Bryce Canyon Half Marathon. My goals were to finish, and to be close to Ian. Arising at 5:10 am from the slumber of my sleeping bag I made the curcial error of eating a banana and drinking way too much orange juice immediately before the race. Needless to say, my stomach was unsettled during the run. I came in 4 and a half minutes behind Ian's time of 1:28:46.0. Lesson: Don't mess with a training routine that is working. I never eat or drink before running in the morning with Vita. When the marathon comes around in October, don't overindulge.

New Favorite Quote

"--and always higher and higher till the sense of height would have terrified you if you could be terrified, but here it was only gloriously exciting."

--C.S. Lewis, The Chronicles of Narnia, The Last Battle

"You went on, up and up, with all kinds of reflected lights flashing at you from the water and all manner of coloured stones flashing through it, till it seemed as if you were climbing up light itself"--and always higher and higher till the sense of height would have terrified you if you could be terrified, but here it was only gloriously exciting."

Gloriously exciting. That is what climbing is like for me. A while back I had the opportunity to take a very timid, fearful, 9 year old child out on four wheelers and down Yankee Doodle. The child was terrified of going any faster than 15 mph, of rapelling, and even down climbing. While cajoling him into enjoying the events of the day, I had a thought. "What is it that makes this child so afraid?" He was with very experienced people, operating well within their abilities. There was no opportunity for him to become injured. His fear was a state of mind. From my outside perspective, his fear was irrational. To him, his fear was petrifying. I learned an important lesson that day: the difference between feeling afraid, and feeling excited, is a choice. As I have researched the issue, I have learned that it does not matter whether a person is afraid or excited. The human body responds the same to either scenario, and secretes the same chemicals/horomones.

I therefore choose to be gloriously excited in all my endeavors.

4 miles up a slot canyon before work.

Climb to Conquer Cancer

Saturday, July 11th, 2009

With ShaeLee's mother, Debbie, recently diagnosed with breast cancer, we have all been poised to capitalize on an opportunity to do anything we can to assist in her fight. ShaeLee and the girls are terrified of the prospect of losing their mother, and are inconsolable over the fact that none of them can take away their mother's pain and cure her disease. We are all virtually helpless and are at the mercy of watching Debbie battle on her own. Everyone is doing their best to console their mother and make her as comfortable as possible, but it is still frustrating.

When signs started going up around town about the American Cancer Society Climb to Conquer Cancer, the entire family answered the call to serve, and bonded together to unite in the cause. ShaeLee took the lead, organized our team, "Pinky D," and spearheaded the fundraising effort. Through ShaeLee's work, team Pinky D raised over $600 from 19 participants.

Saturday morning, 6:30 am. ShaeLee, her sisters, friends, and I met at the Red Mountain Spa. The course for the climb left the spa, heading into Snow Canyon along the paved bike path. 3 miles later, just past the campground, the climb ends and begins the downhill trek back to the Spa.

I was out for a marathon training run. At the 3 mile mark I met a husband and wife, Tracy and Robin, who are also in training mode. Tracy invited me to join him on their run to the top of Snow Canyon, where Snow Canyon Drive meets Highway 18. I accepted the invitation, and enjoyed the steep climb, conversation, and company. I learned that Robin's father recently passed away form cancer, and they were running in his honor and memory. It was fun to socialize with others who have been touched by cancer, and to hear their stories. The experience was a reminder of how fragile and fleeting this existence is. Tracy and Robin, having observed the fragile nature of life, have determined to run a 50 miler in Patagonia this December. What an adventure!!

At the junction with highway 18, I turned around and headed back down canyon, conveniently meeting ShaeLee and company at the 3 mile mark. Continuing down canyon, my legs were still feeling good. I decided to leave the pavement in favor of the Hidden Pinyon trail. I took Hidden Pinyon to Three Ponds, where it intersects the West Canyon Road, and descended from there back to the Spa. All in all, my run clocked in at just over 10 miles round trip. I am feeling strong, and I am ready for the Bryce Canyon Half Marathon next Saturday.

Imlay Canyon - Sneak Route. 3rd time through

Tuesday, June 30th, 2009

Rick called me on short notice Monday evening to extend an invitation to go down Kolob with him, Steve, and Maria. I accepted.

I am not sure what to attribute it to, but I seem to require less sleep than I used to. I remember, just a few years ago, an overwhelming desire to sleep as much as possible. Now, whether my body chemistry has changed, and my machine does not require extensive amounts of sleep, or if I have trained my body to function on less when an adventure is looming upon me, I am not sure. It is probably a combination of both factors. Regardless of the cause, I woke up this morning at 3:40 am, a full ten minutes before my alarm was set to go off.

4:30 am - Rick and I met at the Farmer's Market parking lot in La Verkin and are now on our way to Steve & Maria's abode in Springdale.

5:30 am - White permit in the dash, we park at the Grotto for the start of the adventure and the chronometer. I can't tell you how many times I have hiked the Angel's Landing Trail in the dark, either descending from a bigwall climb, or approaching a canyon. Next time I may run up it with my eyes closed just for fun.

The approach up the West Rim to the point where we cross Telephone canyon took us just over 2.5 hours, and was 3.5 hours to Imlay. The water was very low, lowest I have ever seen it. We had 3 serious keeper potholes to escape out of. The hook placements are eroding rapidly. I would hate to be the guy who scraped away the holes totally, and was without a drill. Without aiders and hooks, these keepers could be death traps. The canyon was beautiful, yet very dark. We made it safely to the Temple of Sinawava 10 hours after our start. http://www.summitpost.org/canyon/305103/imlay-canyon.html