A Day on the White Rim Trail

2 years ago I stood at the Grand View Point Overlook scanning the incomprehensible landscape that stretched out in front of me.  I noticed a dirt road down on the lower rim of the canyon and another visitor told me it was a 100 mile loop.  Well, that was convenient.  I had recently finished the Leadville 100 and although I wasn't ready for another 100 the seed was planted.

David, Walter, Brandt

I love Canyonlands National Park.  It is massive and the 3 districts are distinctly different.  There is an eerie aura about the area.  It feels ancient, desolate and forbidden.  There are oasis's, rock art and secrets from the past.  The place reminds me of the old Western movies and Louis L'Amour novels that I loved.  The park is dry and hot and after a few days in the Canyon you feel exhausted.  Spending time here clears your mind and lifts your soul.  By the time you leave you are ready to go but it always pulls you back.  When you are there nothing else maters.  In the canyon and desert you live in the moment.

I was excited about this run.  It was going to do something I love in a place I love.  Canyonlands proved to be unforgiving and offered me humility like many others who have come before me.  I learned lessons about myself and shared an adventure I won't soon forget with two friends.

Shaffer trail

David bought into this idea early on.  I was happy to have him along.  We have raced together several times and spent many miles on the trail training.  He is a stronger runner than me but we are pretty compatible running partners.  Brandt, a friend of David's from Chicago, had recently moved out to Denver and he volunteered to drive around in a jeep and crew us.  He is a really solid guy.  It was great to get to know him and he was an awesome crew and driver.

We rolled into Canyonlands and set-up camp near the park entrance before heading down into town for some last minute supplies and a rental jeep.  We woke up at 5 am, ate breakfast, packed up the car and headed down to the base of the Shaffer trail.  At 6:15 we started.

We headed up Shaffer trail in the dark.  This is a windy, dirt road that climbs over 1,500 feet to the top of the canyon wall.  As we reached the top the sun was rising and we felt good.  The plan was to take the paved road about 8 miles to mile 14.  At that point we would swing 13 miles down a long dirt road to Mineral Bottom.  We made quick time as we finished the first 26 miles in 4 1/2 hours.  That is a little fast for a 100 mile distance but the weather was cool and we didn't feel we were exerting too much effort.

Drop down into Mineral Bottom

We dropped about 1,000 feet to the bottom of the canyon at Mineral Bottom.  This point along the Green River is where we hooked up with the White Rim Trail.  It is also the lowest point of the course.  We got to the jeep and I changed my shoes.  I still felt good.  I had some tightness in my quads but nothing out of the ordinary.  Our next stop would be 8 miles down the road.

We got through mile 33 in 6 hours.  That is when the heat started taking it's toll.  It was probably in the low 80's down at the bottom of the canyon but there was no relief.  There was no shade.  Until you have been in the desert sun you can't really appreciate the way it feels on your skin.  The air was so dry and staying hydrated is a challenge.  There is always a thin veil of dust in the air.  Ultimately, I think it was the heat and dryness that was my downfall.  It hit me like a truck.  By the time we hit the jeep again I was experiencing leg cramps.  They weren't just tight, they were cramping.  That is very rare for me during a run.  It was concerning and I was walking.

Rolling Aid

David, was running a lot stronger than me.  He still had a good bounce to his step and was pulling me along.  We made it another 5 miles before our next stop at the jeep.  I was just starting to come around a bit at that point.  I changed shirts, pumped a lot of fluids and ate.  I had a pretty good 3 miles and I was super excited to have bounced back but it was short lived.  The mile before we came to the next aid stop I was slowed to a walk again.  My legs were cramping severely, my kidneys hurt and I was dehydrated.  I couldn't keep ahead of the hydration.  I made it another 5 miles before I dropped at mile 52.

I didn't have much of a choice.  I sat down.  I felt terrible.  David had held up for me and I probably put him about 5+ miles behind where he would have been without me.  It was so early in the run.  I never thought it would have ended here.  I really thought I had a honest shot at sub-24 hours.  I had underestimated the Canyon.

Views like this everywhere

David made it another 10 miles and dropped at 62.  I think he would have finished if I had kept up my end of the bargain.  We drove a mile down Murphy's Hogback and found a rock to put up camp for the night.  We sat there in the heart of Canyonlands.  There was not a light or person in sight.  We were alone with the stars and canyon walls.  The silence of the Canyon was amazing.  I can honestly say I have never experienced silence like that in my life.  This is one of the special moments that Canyonlands can offer.  We had a couple beers and called it a night.

It took us 6 hours to drive 38 miles out of the canyon the next day.  It took a couple of days for my kidney pain to go away.  I still feel depleted but other than that I am no worse off.

I learned a couple of things about myself this past weekend.

- After dropping  you go back and you think of all the things you could have done differently.  You play the "what if" game.  I'm sure I could have done a few things better but it boils down to the fact that I am not a 100 mile runner.  I finished Leadville but it was brutal.  I don't mind pain and suffering but I don't need it anymore.  At least, I don't need it for 24-30 hours.  I really love the 50k - 50 mile distance.  My body doesn't react well after that.

- 100 miles is amazing.  I get why people do it.  I think about it often.  I would be lying if I haven't thought about going back to the White Rim in past couple days.  I don't like to fail.  I think about moving along slowly at night and battling my body and mind.  Unfortunately, I shut down.  I'm ok with this.  I experienced finishing and failing at 100 miles.  I won't die wondering.  I can accomplish most adventures I want to do in 50 miles or less.

- Heat kills me.  I can handle heat for a couple of hours but I can look back on some of my most epic suffer fests and heat played a major roll in most of them.

- I'll be back to Canyonlands.  There are several runs that are still on my dream list.  I love it there.

- It's good to have friends that are crazy enough to join me on something like this.  Thanks David and Brandt!

"Wilderness is not a luxury but a necessity of the human spirit"

Edward Abbey

Muscleman Arch

September

Lone Peak - The Rut

September was all about The Rut and preparing for the White Rim Trail.  I didn't get in as much climbing as I probably would have liked the month before the Rut but I had a solid training run up Greys and Torreys 2 weeks prior.  Coming into the race my legs felt really fresh.

The Rut is unlike any race I have ever run.  The race runs 32 miles with 11,019 feet of climb over some very rugged mountainous terrain.  The race was the Sky Runner Series Championship so the field was stacked.

They let you ease into the first 10 miles before really climbing.  My fueling and energy levels were pretty solid throughout the day.  I am really happy with my race management.  If I run it again I think I could improve on the last 8 miles of the run but I don't think I would knock too much off my time.  It took me 8:53 to finish which is an outrageous time for a 50k especially considering how I well I ran.  The race is that challenging.

The was one mile that took me 53 minutes!  The picture to the right shows the ridge line.

It's a great race, unlike anything I've run in Colorado.  The race management was great.  I would love to go back.

I took it easy the week after the Rut and then put together my best training week ever.  I stuck to rolling terrain without major climbs.  The White Rim Trail climbs just over 7k over 100 miles so I wanted my training to be similar in profile.

I ran 90 miles in one week which broke my previous record by 16 miles.  I ran 100 miles in 8 days which is the goal I set out for myself.  Over that 100 miles I climbed 7,758 which is almost exactly the same profile as WRT.

I'm currently tapering.  We run on October 11th.  I feel pretty fresh.  I'm working through a strange pain in my left foot but I don't think it will be an issue.  I am excited to see what I can throw down.  David and I are hoping to finish sub-24 hours.

August

Mt Harvard

August was a crazy month.  We sold our house and moved all our stuff into storage.  We moved the rest of our stuff to my folks place where we will be living for the next 6 months while our house is being built.  I also transitioned into my new position at work.  It was tough to get my miles in but it still ended up being a pretty good month.

I managed 182 miles.  David and I knocked Mt Harvard off the list.  I ran a 5:48 mile on the last mile of my 6 mile run while in Dallas.  That is a PR for a mile.  The highlight of the month though was pacing Tim F during the last 50 miles of the Leadville 100.

Hope Pass

Tim was shooting for a big buckle.  I wasn't sure he would be able to pull it off.  The altitude takes a toll and the climbs of Hope Pass and Powerline have a way of taking people out.  I picked Tim up at Winfield and I really enjoyed Hope Pass.  It was nice to climb that mountain with fresh legs.  Tim powered up to the top without pause.  It was a solid climb.  He ran down the backside with little sign of fatigue.  I'm sure he was feeling it but he showed a lot of spring in his step.  When I ran LT in 2012 I turned on my headlamp on this decent.  We wouldn't turn on our headlamp for a couple more hours this year.

Trucking up Hope Pass

Climbing out of Twin Lakes is one of the most overlooked climbs on the course.  Tim was grinding hard during this section and I wasn't sure how he would respond once we got to the top.  We got to the top and Tim threw down a really inspired 10 miles at a 12 minute pace.  Complete gut check!  It was really impressive to have that effort of sustained running at that point in the race.  It's hard to explain to people how hard it is to run this consistently after 65 miles.  Not only is it really physically challenging but mentally it is a relentless battle. Tim just kept the legs pumping.

We took the never-ending climb up Powerline around mile 80.  About two miles from the top we started hearing a horn.  It was a double edged sword.  It was nice to know where the top was but it took a long time to get there.  It felt like it would never end.  When we got to the top there was an aid station named Space Camp.  This place was a little bit of crazy.  There were about 100 glow sticks hanging from strings on trees.  There was a sign hanging over the trail that said "Nice Fucking Job".  The rave party aid station was nuts.  Besides the horn the volunteers were yelling "Nice Fucking Job" and having a hell of a time.  One guy tried handing Tim a sparkler which he declined.  It was a really uplifting after that big climb.  As we ran out of the station someone chased us with a blow up glow in the dark alien.  It was perfect.

River crossing before Twin Lakes

We made our way down towards May Queen.  As we hit the 2 miles of rocky single track that dumped off the dirt road I started hitting a low point.  This was about mile 37 for me and mile 87 for Tim.  I'm not sure if Tim sensed my low point or not but we settled into a slow pace through this 2 mile section.  We didn't say much to each other during this stretch and I was just hoping I would bounce back so I could give Tim what he needs for the final 13 miles. 

We got to May Queen and Tim asked if I was ok.  The guy who ran 87 miles was asking me.  I told myself to snap out of it and got really motivated to get us home.  We had created a nice cushion to break the 25 hour mark that determines if you get the big buckle.  I think we could have averaged about 17 minute miles and still get it done.

The night time is the right time.

We were ahead of the New England contingent that Tim came out with.  I'm not sure if it meant anything to Tim but I wanted to get us in ahead of them.  I thought if we could push hard to the end of the reservoir we could coast in to the finish line.  Tim was in the hurt locker here but he kept moving great.  I knew I was setting a tough pace but he kept it up.  He was dry heaving a bit and must have been delirious.  I knew I wouldn't have been able to do what he was doing at that mileage.  In fact I remember the shuffle I finished this section in and it was nothing close to the pace we were running.

We got past the lake and ran the road up to the railroad tracks.  We walked it in the last 3-5 miles on the climb back into town.  Tim finished about 25 minutes under the 25 hour mark.  Unbelievable run.  His friends that he came out with all finished right behind him.  I think all four of them finished within 3 minutes of each other.  I was wiped out.  After finishing LT100 myself this was the most satisfying run I've ever had.  Pacing someone is a privilege and watching Tim throw down that back 50 was pretty special.  I know I will think of his run when I run the WRT in October.