Monday, September 10, 2012

Toquerville Falls and US 24 Hour Running Record

First and foremost, I used Random Number Generator to choose a number between 1-134. Verified by my daughter, the winner of the Peeps and CD pack was comment #2 which was.....SupermomE12! Email me your address and I'll send you the diabetes in a box. (coryreese1@hotmail.com)

This past week was a nice and relaxing taper for the Moab Alpine to Slickrock 50 miler coming up on Saturday.

Monday, September 3rd 2012: 6 miles @ 12:52 minutes per mile. We were in northern Utah for Labor Day and I was able to run on the Draper trails with my brother Kenny and my friend Susette. We only had around a dozen near death experiences when mountain bikers came flying down the trails.

The weather was perfect. Even a little cold when we started. I don't remember the last time I felt cold while running.

Tuesday, September 4th 2012: 3 miles @ 8:34 minutes per mile. I've been trying to do a short push your body to the brink of vomit workout speed workout each week. When I got home I collapsed on the front lawn trying to get the lava out of my lungs, and hoping neighbors wouldn't drive by wondering why I was crunched in fetal position in the front yard.

Wednesday, September 5th 2012: 11 miles @ 12:09 minutes per mile. I ran to Toquerville Falls for the first time. That was definitely one of the harder runs I've done in a while. The road was really rocky and there was lots of steep climbing. (Over the last two weeks I have had around 10,000 feet elevation gain on runs.)

The crazy thing is that I was feeling freakishly good the whole time. It was one of those rare runs where you feel like you are floating through the miles. Along the way there were some forks in the road so I wasn't sure I was going the right direction. I felt more confident when I came across a shoe tree.

Something disturbing happened while I was running. I was listening to the classic rock radio station and they played two songs that came out when I was in high school! What's up with that? Am I really that old? Do I need to schedule a mid-life crisis? Don't worry. I will send them some hate mail. Jerks.

Finally I made it to Toquerville Falls as the sun was coming up. It is like Niagra Falls in the middle of the desert. But smaller. And with less water. And no tourists. And no keychains that cost $9.99. (Yep, I was one of those suckers. I paid $9.99 for a keychain. And while we're on the topic of keychains, what kind of fool pays $9.99 for a keychain? In my defense, that happened in my younger years. Even before those "classic rock" songs came out.)

I walked around and explored a bit. There were lots of little frogs all over.

If you are looking for a challenging run with lots of rocks and hills and a great reward at the end, Toquerville Falls should be on your list. I'm looking forward to going back again.

Saturday, September 8th 2012: 7 miles @ 10:28 minutes per mile. Went out on the Jem trail and listened to the country station to boycott "classic rock".

Did you know the World 24 Hour Championship was over the weekend? The goal: run as many miles as you can in 24 hours. Mike Morton set an American record running 172 (YES, 172!!!) miles. Just the thought of 172 miles in 24 hours makes my toe nails turn black.

"Run when you can, walk if you have to, crawl if you must; just never give up." ~ Dean Karnazes

26 comments:

  1. Yay for Erin winning!!! She's got all those cute kiddos who are going to LOVE that box of treats coming to their house.
    I'm so excited for you to run a 50 miler and hope someday to mentally get there. DO GREAT!! (I know you will)
    8:34 minute miles is crazy fast to me. I ran Mount Nebo as you know and averaged 9:00 minute miles and thought my body could absolutely go no faster!! It just amazes me what people can get their bodies to do. WAY TO GO!
    Maybe your hostess run should be to Toquerville Falls? Then everyone can jump in after?? That would be a definite ice bath in the winter!!

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  2. You are running a lot and really dedicated, well done! 172 miles!!!! I ran 173km in 24 hours years back and thought I was good. Love the frog!

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  3. Nice job on the speed work! And, boy do you ever have a pretty part of the country to run in! That shoe tree is rather interesting. Do people haul their shoes out there to chuck them on the tree, or do they just take their shoes off and go barefoot? Kinda weird if you ask me!

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    1. I wondered the same exact thing about how the shoes got there. It is seriously in the middle of nowhere. That would be a LONG walk back to the car with bare feet.

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  4. You are a rock star! I can't believe the mileage you put in. I think I run about 30 miles a week (I'm totally a wuss).

    Those falls are absolutely stunning! I'll be in your neck of the woods in October for the St. George marathon and these kinds of posts make me sad that I won't have any time to explore the area!

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    1. The St. George Marathon views aren't too shabby either. I'll see you there!

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  5. Geez, I wish I could have been on that run with you and Susette on Monday. That looked like a lot of fun. Stupid Disneyland. ;)

    But, I love that quote. I need to make that into a t-shirt or something?!

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  6. You have SUCH cool places to run! And yea on the speedwork...you may find all your runs getting a little faster. All those miles...truly you're a rock star. And the shoe tree...so cool and so weird at the same time.

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  7. Awesome pictures as always Cory! Reading your blog on Mondays is one thing that helps get me through the day.

    172 miles in 24 hours is honestly ridiculously amazing. Wow!

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    1. Thanks Rachelle.

      Yea, that 172 miles is hard to fathom. He ran a faster pace for 172 miles than I can run for 3!

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  8. It may not be Niagara Falls, but that looks gorgeous!! I'd love to run there. :)

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  9. Who said I was sharing with the kids? (Just kidding!) :) Thanks Cory! I am way excited.

    And I showed your blog to my oldest daughter the other day. She is taking a photography class as a senior in high school and LOVES it. Those tree pics in this post are awesome. And killer running as always!

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    1. Congrats on winning the Peeps. Don't tell your family anything about winning the contest. Otherwise you will have to share. And that would be a shame.

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  10. AHHHHH!!! i just read that Dean quote LAST night. LOVE IT! also. Dean is running the same 50 as me on saturday. hopefully that gives me some sort of awesome "you will most definitely finish in some shape or form" vibe. haha! at least i know you will be out there as well...that will be good motivation! majorly jealous of your time out on draper trails. i will never forget those trails. absolutely amazingly peaceful and gorgeous! good luck this weekend!

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    1. Awesome that you'll get to run 50 miles with Dean Karnazes. I wonder how many runnerds will burn out their legs in the first two miles trying to keep up with him. (I probably would.) Good luck!

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  11. So you paid $10 For a key chain YEARS ago - it would be about $50 in today's currency. Must have been a really nice key chain.

    Great photos as usual. I'm so jealous about your great run. I'm hoping I have one of those soon.

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  12. Check out those falls. Beats the heck out of the multiple gas stations that I'm subjected to on my weekly runs. Although, I did see a frog, it just happened to be belly up on the side of the road :/ Yikes.

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  13. I curled up in the fetal position in my front yard the day I heard Guns 'n Roses on the classic rock station...mourning the death of my adolescence...

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  14. The Falls look like a beautiful destination and I definitely see the Niagara connection. Maybe frog key chains?

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  15. Take a gander at your timetable and make 3 "running arrangements" every week so you know when you are because of exercise. Treat these like some other arrangement - much the same as a gathering with a work partner. Do your absolute best not to break them, and soon you'll be headed to making exercise a deep rooted propensity.
    Running repeats

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