An Easy Day after a Race

 

I had been focusing a lot of my extra time into training for a half marathon. Having run the Zion Half Marathon last February, I was feeling inspired to keep running races. I trained on weekends with trail runs and long runs around the neighborhood. Then the time came on Saturday morning of February 1. It was the Washington City Half Marathon which was the local half marathon for where I lived. The starting line was only a few miles from my house and the race went right through my neighborhood. I drove down early in the morning to the finish line at Staheli Farms and grabbed a shuttle bus back to the start line.

 It was chilly at the start and I had to wait what seemed like too long of a time. When the starting gun went off, I was ready to go. I had never really trained for a race before, but this race I was trained for. I could tell because for the first couple miles, I still had the leaders in my view. The first four miles saw us take on the only significant hills the entire race. After that I knew it was smooth sailing with much flat terrain and even some downhill. I found myself in a comfortable pace as I went through Coral Canyon and waved at Jacqueline and the kids as I passed. I think they were surprised to see that I was still near enough the leaders and definitely near the top of the pack.

 I crossed Telegraph Rd. onto the Landfill Rd. and I was feeling good. Down the Cottonwood Wash Trail and into Hell Hole, I was just cruising. When I came out at the Sullivan Virgin River Soccer Park, I was feeling good enough to just pass right by the water stop. The road flattened out along Washington Fields and this is where I was starting to feel it. I knew I only had a couple of miles left to go, so I had to keep the juices flowing. My miles were increasing from 7:17 to 7:28, then 7:47, finally I had an 8:11 and I knew I had to pick up the pace. Not many people were passing me, but a few started to catch me. I dropped it down to 7:53, then I came down the last hill. It was only going around one big block, so I gave it all I had. The last mile was 7:34 and I even had the footsteps of another runner behind me to inspire me. In the end, I finished with 1:36:04 and in 20th place overall, first in my age group. I waited around and got my medal, though, no one I knew was there to cheer me on.

 That was fine because my family was proud of me when I returned home. That meant that the next day I was due a rest day. The best day to have a rest day is to for a hike with the kids. I decided to take them to one of my favorite spots with lots of iron concretions. This was near Cottonwood Wash with a turnoff on the Heath Trail. It had open vistas and narrow canyons. For the most part a non-descript hike out in red cliffs with just a few obstacles to negotiate. The kids enjoyed the little climbs and the narrow canyons. Our destination was just a couple of miles in where we were able to find many interesting iron concretions in various different shapes. 

The canyon continued for many miles more, but this sandy wash was the final destination on this day. We found a few rocks that we couldn't live without and then headed back down the trail feeling lucky that Red Cliffs was so close to us so that we could enjoy it any weekend we felt like going. The bonus on this day was that it was Groundhog Day. I would say if I had to relive a weekend over and over and over again, this would be a pretty good weekend to relive. You have to love Southern Utah in February.

Babylon

We took a day for a family hike, so after much debate, we settled on a destination. Just across the interstate was a little place called Babylon. An alluring name full of red rocks and sweeping vistas, it seemed like a place we should spend some more time. I had been out there once previously to some dinosaur tracks and a hike around Little Purgatory and Hell's Half Acre. This time the goal was to park out at Sand Cove and hike the Arch Trail to the Virgin River. The road was an adventure as I remembered. It was not in 4-wheel drive shape, but definitely high clearance. It was a bit nerve wracking to meet other vehicles to try to get around them without getting stuck in the ruts.

 Eventually the four of us got to the trailhead and we were surprised to see just how busy it was. There were many people out there for various reasons. I was hoping that everyone wasn't heading the same direction that we were. It didn't seem like they were as the hike was moderately busy. We didn't have it to ourselves but every now and again there would be a group coming up or down. We got a bit of a late start for January as it was already afternoon. The kids moved along nicely, though.

 First part of the walk was a hike along a road to what looked like a larger camping/parking area. From there, a series of trails led off, but we took the arch trail. It was red rocks all around as we found our way along the path. It stayed mostly flat at first but then began the descent. It wasn't too long before we found ourselves at the top of a very steep hill. We were not sure that we should take the plunge and go down to the Virgin River, because once we were down, it was going to be a lot of work to come back up. Finally we decided to go for it. It was fun going down and about halfway down, we ran into an arch. 

There were some young people taking pictures next to it, so we continued down to the river. This was a really nice spot along the river and we spent some time throwing rocks and playing battleship. It was just nice to be there for a bit. Then it was time to trudge back up. We took some time on the way back up to take some pictures and play around at the arch. Jacqueline was taking a lot of pictures as usual to document this experience. The lighting was really good with the red rocks on this January day. The rest of the day was spent just enjoying the hike. We really enjoyed this one as even though it was only a short winter hike with the daylight quickly receding, we still had a blast being out there. With other hkes still left for us to accomplish in the area, a return to the area would be worth our time. 

Trail Running the Ice House Trail

 

Not sure why I hadn't started trail running years ago, but I had taken an interest in it lately. It seemed the quickest way to get out on the trail, see something new, and also get stronger as a runner. I saw the Ice House Trail on the map and it sounded interesting enough. I decided to give it a shot. Having just discovered the Cottonwood Rd. it opened up so many new opportunities in Red Cliffs. Unfortunately, it was still January and I was a little worried about the road. 

I drove out to the Mesa Rim Trailhead. I figured if I parked here, I would be able to do a loop. It was so nice having a watch with a GPS on it to tell me where I was because I was definitely less intimidated about getting lost. The road was a bit muddy to this point, but it made me happy once I started running that I decided to park here. The only other vehicle I saw out there was a police truck and they seemed to have just been able to navigate. The road was very quiet and it made for a good run. 

Speed wasn't my main goal today, but to just keep moving. The road was mostly uphill so that made for a good go of it. Eventually, though, I started to have to look for the road for the turnoff to the Ice House Trail. I thought I had found it but I had to keep checking the watch to make sure that I was on the right route. This seemed to be the way to take this road as taking a vehicle on it seemed like it would be more of an experience than a way to get somewhere. 

I came out on some fantastic views of the surrounding Pine Valley Mountains, then I started to descend when I hit the trail. The trail went downhill and while it was called the Ice House Trail, I was not sure why, because really it was just running through sagebrush and cheat grass fields like usual. The goal was to not miss the junction, so I continued watching my watch like a hawk. Luckily when I found the junction there was a sign there. Wanting to continue exploring the rest of the way, but knowing that this was already pushing the limits of what I could do, I made the turn toward the Mesa Rim.

 Here the going was much slower and careful footing was necessary. I had to climb back uphill again, which was tough to do at this point. The feeling that you get when you are out on a run like this is so phenomenal though that it makes pushing through the pain worth it. Also, for some strange reason, I was taking pictures on a trail run. I guess being in this area was so new to me that I wanted to make sure to document it. The last section of trail was truly my favorite. Picking my way slowly through the loose rock and vegetation with a view and somewhat of a drop off below me made the trail running worth it. When I was just about finished, I came out on top of the mesa and had to descend rapidly to get back down to the car. In 2 hours and 15 minutes, I was able to cover 11.5 miles and see a brand new part of the Red Cliffs area around where I lived. I was going to have to do more of this trail running, especially given the fact that I was running a half marathon in a few weeks.