Highway 50 Drive

At Cafe Toiyabe in Austin, NV

Introduction

For the longest time I've wanted to do the Highway 50 drive.  Highway 50 is labeled as the loneliest road in the United States.  I think that is a bit of a stretch today as there were some cars on it, but it is definitely not a well traveled road.

Highway 50 cuts through the heart of north central section of Nevada.  It starts in Baker, NV and slithers its way all the way to the capital of Nevada, Carson City.  As someone who has spent a lot of time studying maps of Nevada and wondering what this road has to offer, I knew that one day I'd have to drive it.

Highway 93 to Ely

The Drive

I started my travels in West Wendover, which is about a 100 miles north of Highway 50.  I was able to get a free room / food there since I gamble so much.  I started the day taking Alternate Highway 93 south until I hit Ely.  Once I got into Ely, my trip would begin. 

Highway 93 to Ely

For the next 4 - 5 hours I'd be taking the venerable Highway until I reached Fallon, NV.  In addition to Ely, I planned to stop in Eureka and Austin Nevada.  I wouldn't recommend spending the night in those places as they tend to be fairly small / isolated.  Fallon, however, is pretty much as close to regular civilization as you are going to find along the way until reaching Dayton / Carson City.

Heading into Ely, NV

You can see the route I took by visiting this link on Google Maps.

Aside from the drive, another one of my goals on this trip was to get my passport book stamped.  You can get your free passport by going here.

The point of the passport is to stop at least 5 of the points of interest and get it stamped by an authorized stamper.  So doing a night run on this isn't going to work.  I wound up getting my book stamped at: Hotel Nevada, Ely, Eureka Chamber of Commerce, Cafe Toiyabe in Austin, Best Western Fallon and the Dayton Chamber of Commerce.  I was going to get my passport stamped in Carson City but I was too lazy and I had gotten the 5 I needed.

Upon completion of the challenge, you mail in your password to get a certificate.  The fine folks at the Dayton Chamber of Commerce gave me a cool bandanna as well:

In the subsequent posts I'll give a brief run down of each stop I made along Highway 50.  So stay tuned.

This Week in Running 5/14 - 5/20

Run along Mesquite Nevada's bike path

Day	Mileage / Workout	Comments
Sunday	3	Easy
Monday	Off
Tuesday	Off
Wednesday	5	Run through Mesquite, NV
Thursday	5	Run through the canyons of Wendover, UT
Friday	7	2 miles hard, 5 fairly easy
Saturday	12	Long run along the Jordan River at 9:15 pace. Solid effort
Total miles for the week: 32; YTD: 782.25

Week's Summary

Well this week was definitely a "down" week for me -- and much needed.  I took some time off early in the week by "only" running 3 miles on Sunday.  Monday and Tuesday I found myself on the Las Vegas Strip.  For those that have gone to Las Vegas, particularly the Strip, it isn't the best area for running.  There is too many intersections with crazy taxi drivers and it just isn't a good place to run for me. Sure I'll do the Vegas Marathon but running from the Mirage just isn't a "good" run.

I finally made it to Mesquite, NV on Tuesday and got a run in.  I love exploring towns and I quickly found a bike trail that seemed to snake its way around town.  I wound up following it for several miles and got a tour of the Virgin River as well as a little goat farm:

On Thursday -- after driving all the way up the eastern side of Nevada I found myself in West Wendover, NV.  I love running the canyons there.  I re-explored an ATV trail behind the cemetery.  I thought it was new but it turns out that I had already been there.  I did get some awesome pictures though and it was an easy and enjoyable run.  I actually spotted some people hiking the canyon, which is like the second time I've seen someone besides me in the canyons there.

Upcoming Races

I might race over Memorial Day weekend.  I haven't completely decided what, if anything, I plan on doing but there is a half marathon on Saturday I am looking at and a 5K (or 10K) on Monday.

06/17: Lamoille Canyon Half Marathon - Lamoille / Elko, NV (Very Probable)
06/24: Utah Midnight Half Marathon - Provo, UT (Confirmed)
07/07: Utah Midnight (Legacy) Half Marathon - Farmington, UT (Confirmed)
08/19: Dam Train Race - 12 KM Race - Midway, UT (Confirmed)
11/12: Las Vegas Marathon - Las Vegas, NV (Confirmed)
04/21: Salt Lake City Marathon - Salt Lake City, UT (Confirmed (2018))

Leppy Canyon / West Wendover / Pilot Peak Trail Run

Introduction

This past weekend for New Years, I headed out west for a weekend getaway across the state line.  If you've read my blog at all, you know I like to explore the canyons north of the city.  There are plenty of ATV trails out there and you basically find one and keep running on it.

I had time to kill on the morning of New Year's Eve and I had brought some running supplies.  I had overslept but I managed to down a Power Bar, fill my canteen with 28 ounces of Tailwind and head out the door.

For the past few days the northern Utah / Nevada area had been banked with heavy fog.  I had thought about heading south of town and just running along the side of the road, but my fear of getting hit by a speeding car in the fog made me head north.

I was a little nervous about heading north.  With the heavy fog I was a little worried about getting lost.  The trail is pretty well defined, but it helps to have landmarks and once you get a few miles north of town and nestled in the canyon, you lose cell reception.

However, once I got about 3 miles outside of town the fog lifted and it was as if I was running on a spring day.  While the temperature was still freezing and I had nothing on but a windbreaker and shorts, I was at least a little warmer on account it was sunny.  It was as if I had entered into an entirely new area.  Of course, I had gained over 1000 feet of elevation, but it was definitely nicer out.

You can follow the route I took here.  

I was on familiar ground for the first 5 or 6 miles, but it was nice to take it a little further and see what else was out there.  I also managed to get a few pictures of Pilot Peak, which was stunning.

Finally on the way back I was running back into the fog and low and behold in front of me was a parked car, right in the middle of the trail.  Anything can happen out in the desert and I hadn't seen anyone, so I was a little concerned.  Normally I see nobody and that whole area can be a bit iffy.  Luckily the guy was doing something with his trunk... hopefully not dumping.  But it was suspicious.  I gave him a quick hello and he seemed startled but not overly concerned by my presence.    Just odd.

Either way, I took a bunch of pictures...

This Week in Running 10/23 - 10/29

Day	Mileage / Workout	Comments
Sunday	7	Easy -- recovering from yesterday's long run
Monday	13	Trail run along the Utah and Nevada border
Tuesday	Off	Off
Wednesday	7	Medium paced run
Thursday	5	Easy
Friday	Off
Saturday	13	Halloween Harvest Half Marathon
Total miles for the week: 51; YTD: 1846.5

Week's Summary

So much for a "light" taper week.

This week's half marathon was a bust - for me - in terms of performance.  To date, it was the slowest, non climate / non altitude / non-hilly course that I've run.  I figured I was going to come in around 1:56, but I came in over 2 hour.  Jesus.

My legs were just dead after 6 miles and to make matters worse, I felt like I started off fairly conservatively.  In fact, I felt pretty good. But as usual, my abilities start to unravel about half way through (race recap coming).

As I was telling people afterwards, it was a tough day at the office.  I think I haven't fully recovered from Lake Tahoe and with less than 2 weeks to go until the Las Vegas Marathon, I am a little worried.  I am not sure I can stomach another death march shuffle marathon and I really need to dial back the time on my feet.

Also, hopefully this winter I can dial in some "down time" and let me body and legs recover.

Desert Run  

I wound up taking Monday off from work and took advantage of the day by running out along the Utah / Nevada border.  I woke up early, had a gel with me and some Gnarly sports drink  (a sample I had gotten at a previous race) and just kept going.  I love days where I get to run some place new, with nothing on the agenda mileage-wise and I can explore.  I sort of let the run simply take me.

I wound up taking in a lot of the trail and got to see another view of Pilot Peak.  I sort of wanted to go further, but it had already taken me quite a bit of time to get to where I was.  It was absolutely perfect weather.

I had taken the route before last winter, but snow and wind had impeded my progress. It was awesome to "complete" the trail and get a look at the other side of the mountains.

 

Pilot peak in the distance

Pilot Peak in the distance

You can see the southern salt flats

My Route

Losing Weight Progress

I officially weighed in this week at 181.6.  Hard to say whether that was a gain or a loss, but at least it wasn't any higher -- especially considering I was in Nevada over the weekend and did my fair share of eating. I am trying to eat a bit better and watching my portion sizes.  I definitely held back over the weekend as well.

Upcoming Races

11/13: Las Vegas Marathon - Las Vegas, NV (Confirmed)

11/26: South Davis Recreation Center Thanksgiving Day 5K - Bountiful, UT (Confirmed)
01/14: St George Half Marathon - St George, UT (probably - weather pending)
02/11: Winter Striders Race Circuit 5K - Ogden UT (Confirmed)
02/25: Winter Striders Race Circuit 10K - Ogden UT (Confirmed)
03/18: Winter Striders Race Circuit 10 Mile - Ogden UT (Confirmed)
04/08: Winter Striders Race Circuit Half Marathon - Huntsville, UT (Confirmed)
04/15: Salt Lake City Marathon - Salt Lake City, UT (Confirmed) (2017)
04/29: Winter Striders Race Circuit 30K - Huntsville, UT (Confirmed)