2016 Elko Nevada Fourth of July Weekend

Introduction

Faithful readers may recall that last year I went to Elko, NV for the entire Fourth of July weekend.  To say I had a fabulous time would be an understatement.  I had an entire weekend to see fireworks, parades, and go hiking and I couldn't have had a better weekend.

So when 2016 rolled around, I knew I wanted to recapture the magic that I experienced and so I opted to go pay a visit again.

Sunday July 3

We headed out to West Wendover Nevada for breakfast at the Montego Bay.  Due to the holiday weekend they weren't honoring the 2-for-1 buffet pass but luckily we had comps from a previous visit.  So we ate for free.

We did a bit of gambling at Montego Bay and the Rainbow and I was pretty much breaking even and getting some play.  I had a nice run on a Wonder Woman Gold slot machine, which kept me occupied for an hour.  That game doesn't pay very well, in my opinion, but I find it entertaining and the bonus round seems to come up fairly often.  

We left about midafternoon and I managed to convince Shari to go on a short hike with me in Wells, NV.  We made the somewhat scary drive from Wells to the top where Angel Lake is located.  

Last year, I had hiked from Angel Lake to Smith Lake and it is was reasonably short without a lot of elevation change.  It also was loaded with wildflowers last year and sports some stunning views of the Wells valley.

Nevada had a long winter and the wildflowers weren't quite out in full force.  Shari and I managed to get about a mile of hiking in and I shot some incredible photos of the area:

After visiting Angel Lake, Shari and I made our way to Elko, where we checked into the Red Lion.  This is our go-to hotel and being player's club card members, they give us a pretty sweet deal.  We don't gamble a lot but in short, we had a bunch of coupons, free play, and basically it cost me $50 for two nights.  They keep throwing freebies and goodies at me, I'll be a loyal customer.

After settling in, we decided to get something to eat.  I've been itching to try the various restaurants in Elko and we opted for La Fiesta.  It is a downtown Mexican joint that doesn't look like much from the outside but they have super quick service, epic portion sizes and the food was reasonably priced.  I'd go back.  The chips & salsa weren't our favorite however.

After eating, we gambled some at the Gold Dust West.  I was hoping that I'd have some free play on my card, but alas, not this month.  The last couple of months they've been giving us a little bit of something, but this time nothing.  I dropped a few bucks there with nothing to show for it, while Shari made a bit of a profit.

After returning to the Red Lion, I gambled a bit more and earned 50 points for their annual 4th of July t-shirt.  So I have one from last year and now this year's.  It is a nice little cotton shirt (suitable for framing).

Monday July 4th

I got up early.  I toyed around with the idea of doing a 5K race in Spring Creek but my last race experience wasn't that great and I really and truly wanted to hike Lamoille canyon.  I gobbled down a quick breakfast at Jrs -- a casino diner located across the street.  I've never been disappointed there and it was good.  

The 4th of July parade had been held on the 2nd because of the Basque festival, so I was off the hook as far as parades were concerned.  This bummed me out, because they have a low-stress, very cool parade and if they had it that day, I would've made it a point to go again.  I am not a super big parade person, but I liked theirs. 

Either way, I headed out to Lamoille Canyon where I hiked to Liberty Pass.   There was even some snow on the trail.  There were a ton of people there and I even managed to run into someone I recognized from the Lamoille Canyon Half Marathon I ran about 2 weeks ago.  As always, Lamoille is a secret gem in the Elko area and I love going there:

I rushed back and Shari and I wound up having a fairly late breakfast / lunch at the Garden Cafe's buffet.  For about $11, the Monday morning buffet was actually pretty good.  

We wound up gambling a bit and my luck continued to go south.  To break up things, we went over to Jc Penny's, which is across the street from the hotel.  I bought some new shorts and a new a wallet -- my old one was falling apart.  Elko is about the only place I'll shop for that.  The reason is that it is easy parking, no crowds and I don't have to deal with anything.  Half my non-running wardrobe comes from the Elko Pennies.

I was surprised at how quickly I got hungry and before the 4th of July fireworks were to start, we ate at Jr's again.  

After eating, we ambled over to the city park where we watched the fireworks.  We got there pretty early.  I had heard that the fireworks were to start at 9 PM but in actuality they didn't start until close to 9:45.  It felt like the longest wait ever.  We did make friends with a loquacious woman from West Virginia who was passing through Elko who was at least interesting to listen to.

The fireworks seemed better last year, but none the less it was an easy walk from the hotel and I was so glad I hadn't driven.  Traffic was backed up quite a bit...

Tuesday July 5th

In the morning, I got up and shambled through 5 miles of running.  I snapped a bunch of pictures of Elko and I sort of felt like I was playing hooky.  It was a work day and everyone was trying to get to work, while I was running along the streets.  I tried some new streets I hadn't run down before and had fun seeing all the old houses and buildings:

After arriving back at the hotel, we gathered our stuff and took off to Wendover.  The ride there was pretty uneventful and we got there kind of late. 

Most of the weekend crowd had already left, so it was nice.  It felt like we had the casino to ourselves.  Wendover was honoring the 2-for-1 buffet pass, so we ate for 50% off.  

My luck continued to go south and what little I had left of my gambling money, I managed to piss away and not get a whole lot of satisfaction out of.  Like most of the trip, gambling was pretty much a bust.

Conclusion

As I sort of expected, this year wasn't as cool as last year.  I think the gambling wound up working out to be about the same experience (yuck), but I did have a good time.  I got in two hikes and a decent run.  I also ate for fairly cheap (I think we used a coupon or comps with just about every meal) and the hotel was next to nothing.  So I really don't have any major complaints.

I wish there had been more wild flowers out.  I suspect in another week or two they'll be out in full force but I was glad to get to see some snow and have fantastic weather for hiking.

Perhaps next year I'll repeat this trip again!

This week in running 7/3 - 7/9

Day	Mileage / Workout	Comments
Sunday	5	Easy run plus hiked about 3 miles
Monday	Off	Hiked about 8 miles
Tuesday	5	Early morning run through the streets  of Elko, NV
Wednesday	7	3 x .5 at roughly 3:45, 2 x .25 roughly 1:45
Thursday	7	First 2 miles hard, then medium
Friday	5	Easy
Saturday	Off
Total miles for the week: 29 YTD: 1229

Week's Summary

Sadly this was a pretty ordinary week.  Last week's 13 Miles of Freedom really put a dagger in my heart in terms of running ambition.  It was just a grueling race and made me really question how much I am really enjoying running let alone racing.  In fact, a lot of my runs this week, I felt like I was dragging an anchor and feeling extremely sluggish and uninspired.

Whether this is a case of over training and / or the heat / summer doldrums, I am not quite sure.  But I've had more than a few days where I just felt like I was going through the motions of lacing up, and suffering for an hour.  I really did NOT want to run.  Sure, maybe once a month I get that feeling, but this was happening on a near daily basis.

Sadly, I have a bunch of races coming up and in many ways I am dreading them.  I really can't stomach another subpar performance and my running "gusto" is at an all time low.

Me hiking above Wells, NV near Angel Lake

Missing Long Run

Faithful readers know that generally on Saturday I do my long run. Very rarely do I do less than a double digit run.  

So, as usual, on Saturday I woke up and started assembling my "stuff" for around a 13 - 14 mile run.  While rooting out my fuel belt out of the kitchen cabinet I knocked a can of Counter Assault Bear Spray off the shelf, where upon it fell on the floor.  Either the safety wasn't on or it slipped off, the impact of it falling on the ground caused it to emit a very, very short burst.

If you've been sprayed before with pepper spray then you can skip the rest, but this stuff is NASTY.  It was choking, blinding and made me want to choke.  It is basically a cocktail of the hottest peppers put into an aerosol can that is meant to blind / stop a charging bear.  I only had about a microsecond of it blast in my kitchen and I spent the next 2 hours airing the house out and cleaning every nook and cranny of the kitchen.

By the time I thought I could go for a run, it was already pushing 80+F out with blazing sun, so running was out of the question.  Sadly, the day's weather didn't improve much either.

Extremely frustrating.

I wound up suffering from major skin irritation for the better part of 24 hours.  This stuff BURNS.  If you have to clean up a mess wear gloves.  Ultimately, I took a shower with Dawn Dish Soap which saved me from major aggravation.

Upcoming Races

07/15: Legacy Midnight Half Marathon - Farmington, Utah - (Confirmed)
07/23: Hand Cart Half Marathon - Bountiful, Utah (Confirmed)
07/31: Black Hawk Trail Half Marathon - Black Hawk, Colorado - (Confirmed)
10/09: Lake Tahoe Marathon (Very Probable -- hotel booked)
11/13: Las Vegas Marathon - Las Vegas, NV (Confirmed)
04/15: Salt Lake City Marathon - Salt Lake City, UT (Confirmed) (2017)

Freedom 13 Half Marathon Race Recap - Taylorsville Utah

Official Time: 2:03:55 (my Garmin said 2:03:05)
Placement: 34th out of 117
Results: Here
Race Website:Here
Weather: Mid 70's at the start, sunny and 80's at finish. Humid, light wind from the south.
Garmin Dump: Here

Mile	Time	Comments
1	8:22	Way too fast for the conditions
2	8:47
3	8:50	Turning it down a notch
4	8:47
5	8:59	I really started to feel the heat at this point.  Not good
6	9:05
7	9:12	If I only could hold this pace...
8	9:37
9	9:35
10	10:00	Please end the race now... ugh.  Marathon shuffle
11	9:59
12	10:46
13	10:39
13.04	0:23	Thank goodness it is over.
Total Miles: 13.04 - 2:03:55

Introduction

Well, I wanted a jam packed 4th of July weekend and I decided to start it out by signing up for the Freedom 13 Half Marathon.  I had some choices for races, mostly some local 5Ks, which regrettably, I should've signed up for.  More on that later though.

Either way, this race was fairly reasonably priced and located about 2 miles from my house.  It was low key and I figured, why not, how bad could running 13 miles in the dead of summer be?

River location where the race started

The Race

I rolled into the race site at about 6:30 and picked up my bib.  Very efficient process.  Initially I saw the line and was like, gosh I'll be lucky to get back to my car and get ready.  But it was only a few minute way before grabbing my shirt and sunglasses.

By the time I ran to the next park's bathroom (which was unused) and came back, it was time to start the race.  It was sunny and exceedingly warm.  I opted to run in a tank top and shorts with sunglasses.  No hat.  I am so glad I didn't wear a cap and trap my head heat.

The race was located on the Jordan River Bike Trail.  This is practically my back yard and I run on it nearly every day.  Why would I pay $55 bucks to run on a section of bike trail that I run every day on?  I don't know... call my a race junky.

I knew today was going to be rough after the first mile.  I felt good but I could tell it was going to be a warm one.  Despite the 7 AM start, I was already thoroughly sweating by the time I got to the first water stop.  

I was carrying my own fluids and was very glad I did.  They had water stops every 2-3 miles supplied with fruit, gels and bottles of water.  Instead of cups, it was little 8 ounce bottles of water.  If you didn't go through the water in time, you basically had to carry the bottle to the next aid station (or you could pitch it on the trail, which I did not do).  Ugh.

By the middle of the race I knew I was in for a death march to the end.  It was just too warm and I could feel myself feeling really yucky.  At about mile 11 I started to feel a little clammy, which is a sign of heat sickness.  There was a bit of a breeze on the way back though and that seemed to help.

The course wasn't super well marked.  At about the 3 mile mark the trail forks left and right.  I knew from previous experience we were supposed to run right, use the pedestrian bridge and cross over a road.  However, most people took the left fork and wound up short-cutting the course a bit.  They had to cross a busy road though.

Near the 5 mile mark the course forms a lollipop.  You were supposed to take the east side, run 1.5 miles to the north and take a bridge that crosses the river and run back on the west side.  Most people took the west side.  I think part of the problem was no one was manning the split off and most people don't listen to the race director's instructions.  

The last 5K was a death march.  I was very dehydrated and there was nothing left.  They weren't giving out age group awards and really the only goal I had was not to finish over 2 hours.  I had spotted the 2 hour pacer walking at the turn around, so at least I wouldn't have to have my ego bruised when he passed me. which he would have.  I was just a shambling mess when I stumbled across the finish line.

Your basic finish line

Conclusion

I was really in a bad state when I finished. I wasn't kicking myself for a new PW (personal worst) but I wasn't happy.  I think I was just too exhausted and listening to everyone talk at the end made me realize everyone else had suffered in the heat.

I was able to grab a soda or two and some of the doughest pancakes I've ever eaten and enjoy what felt like a nice summer day (it was so much nicer sitting rather than running in it).  I was really dehydrated and worked on getting my salt levels back to stable.

For $55 the race was low key.  Like I said, I run the route that the course was on weekly on my long run, so I knew every nook and cranny of it.  I guess I am addicted to finish times, t-shirts and medals. It was a workout and it gave me some good race experience:  I knew almost right away it was going to be a challenging day and I dialed my pace back quite a bit and left my time and pride take a back seat (at least a little).

Racing in July in Utah is always a tough deal.  You can do a 5K pretty easily but the heat and today's humidity made it challenging.  Typing this, I still don't feel 100% right despite drinking tons of fluids.  Some of these hot races really take a lot out of you, and today's certainly did.

Finisher's Medal

Tech shirt

 

This Week in Running 6/19 - 6/25

Day	Mileage / Workout	Comments
Sunday	5	Recovery run around Elko, Nevada
Monday	5	All easy
Tuesday	7	Hot and easy
Wednesday	5	Again, very hot and still sore
Thursday	Off	Resting for the Midnight Half Marathon
Friday	13	Midnight Half Marathon in Provo in 1:53;30
Saturday	6	Easy plus strides
Total miles for the week: 41 YTD: 1156

Week's Summary

I'll come straight out and say last week's half marathon wiped me out.  The downhill nature of the course took a massive toll on my quads and I had zero strength to do much more than do easy runs this week.  I didn't even have strength to do any final strides.

I was really worried about my half marathon on Friday night on account that I had no oomph whatsoever.  I felt like I had run a full marathon, instead of just a half marathon (which normally takes me about a day to recover from).  I did wind up paying a price in terms of performance on Friday's race but I am still glad I got out and had some fun.

I hope to be able to squeeze in some quality miles this week.

Upcoming Races

07/02: 13 Miles of Freedom Half Marathon - Murray, Utah - (Confirmed)

07/15: Legacy Midnight Half Marathon - Farmington, Utah - (Confirmed)
07/23: Hand Cart Half Marathon - Bountiful, Utah (Confirmed)
07/31: Black Hawk Trail Half Marathon - Black Hawk, Colorado - (Confirmed)
10/09: Lake Tahoe Marathon (Very Probable -- hotel booked)
11/13: Las Vegas Marathon - Las Vegas, NV (Confirmed)
04/15: Salt Lake City Marathon - Salt Lake City, UT (Confirmed) (2017)

2016 Utah Midnight Half Marathon Race Recap - Provo Utah

Me pre-race

Official Time: 1:53:30
Placement: 17th out of ?? overall, 1st in the 45 - 59 age division
Results: Here
Race Website:Here
Weather: Mid 80's at the start, mid 75's at finish. 10 mph winds from the north west
Garmin Dump: Here

Mile	Time	Comments
1	8:27	Feeling good. Feeling in control
2	8:23
3	8:20	Despite some bumpy bike trail, maintain a decent pace
4	8:20	Still feeling good.
5	8:45	Hit some head wind here. Also very dark
6	8:40	Head wind.  Feel like I am running faster.
7	8:34	Get a nice bump from the tail wind -- can I hold it?
8	8:38
9	9:00	Tail wind mostly disappears.  Nothing to work with
10	8:59	Legs feel heavy
11	9:49	Officially kind of done.  Mild up hill parts here
12	9:37
12.81	7:52	Whew...glad to be done.
Total Miles: 12.81 - 1:53:30

Introduction

Part of the summer tradition for me is doing the Utah Midnight Run.  I've done this race now two previous times (2014, 2015).

The Utah Midnight Run is put on by On Hill Events and is a lightly attended race, drawing about a 100 people for the half marathon.  They also have a 5K and 10K that runs on the same bike trail but start at different times.  I think the night races appeal to the younger crowd and for me it is a nice way to get in a solid training run.

Either way the race is held on the Provo River bike trail.  It is very similar to the bike trail near my house.  It is reasonably flat with only a few "hills" where you dip under a road.  The challenge of the race, however, is that a lot of the bike trail isn't well lit.  And given the cloud cover over the moon last night, it made it difficult to see.  There were a couple of times where I hit an exposed crack or root nearly causing me to slip.  I did carry a head lamp with me which I used sporadically when it was difficult to see.  I highly recommend you carry some sort of light source for this race.

The Race

I arrived just before 9 PM for the 10 PM start.  This year there was hardly any traffic and I got there way early.  I got myself very close parking to the finish line and literally walked about 20 yards to get to the packet pickup.  I got my shirt and a glow-stick and wound up hanging around for an hour until the race start.

The race started exactly at 10 PM and I was off and running.  The bike trail isn't terribly wide so the first half mile or so, you sort of have to bide your time until people settle into their paces.  

I didn't have a huge goal for this race and to be honest I was sort of worried.  I had been feeling pretty flat on account of the Lamoille Canyon Half Marathon that I had done just 6 days prior.  In fact, the amount of soreness I was feeling was comparable to having run a full a marathon.  

I started off at an 8:30 pace and basically dogged the 1:50 pacer.  I kept him within my sites for the first half of the race, figuring if I could at least keep him in my sites, I'd finish in a decent time.

I wound up passing a good deal of people in the first half and by the time I hit the turn around, I could still see the pacer (running solo) and was within shouting distance of him.  I had been running into the wind, which mysteriously had showed up (probably off Utah Lake) and I was hoping that when I turned around that it would give me a second wind, of sorts.

It did, and for about 2 miles or so I was really able to push it with the help of the wind.  Unfortunately, I think the pacer decided he was perhaps off pace and dropped the hammer, leaving me running solo.  Also, I was starting to close on the 3rd place (overall) female who for a while I thought was the pacer and I was matching her pace, which was slower than 1:50.  

Either way after crossing mile 10 I started running out of gas and was in survival mode.  My legs were just shot and I was slightly dehydrated.  I had brought my own drink and I was sipping on it periodically but the 80 degree temperatures had taken a toll on me.

The woman I was chasing seemed to be in the same state as I was but at least I had someone to follow and work off of.

Also around mile 10 is when I ran into the returning 10K (and eventually 5K) racers.  Some of them were still in the process of running their first 3 miles (they started at 11 PM).  It was good to make contact again with other runners after having run mile 6.5 - 10 largely by myself.  It was sort of surreal to be running in the dark and all of the sudden seeing a runner wearing a headlamp approaching...

I crossed the finish line in a somewhat disappointing 1:53:30.  I sort of expected this (and actually expected to run slower) but I was thrilled to get an age group win.

Conclusion

This year, the race was better marked.  Each year I would run it and I'd stumble across a fork in the bike trail.  Usually it was an easy decision: just follow the river.  They had put up a lot of blinkers on some of the deserted stretches to help guide you.  They also had the garbage cans illuminated -- I remember last year nearly colliding with one.  There were some areas that could've been better marked.  I saw the 3rd place overall girl nearly take a wrong turn by crossing a bridge she didn't need to.  Having run this one three times, now, I had a good sense of where to go and when. 

I got a discount into the race -- so I paid a little over $50, which is fair for a half marathon.  They provided 4 water stops (1.5, 3, 4.5 and 5-ish -- plus the turn around) and they were prepared for the runners.  Post race food consisted of the usual fruit, cotton candy, Fat Boy ice cream sandwiches, and peanut butter sandwiches.  They also had plenty of water and Powerade.  The shirt is a nice tech shirt in a similar style to their previous ones.

Awards were a little crazy.  They had 3 races and it just seemed to take a long time to get through them.  I was jazzed to win my age group though.  

The finisher's medal blinks and I think my age group one is supposed to as well, but either it is broken or the battery is out.  They are very nice medals and similar to what has been given out in previous years.

There is some room for improvement on the race.  From previous years the course was better marked, but there were some areas that could've used an arrow or something to indicate "don't turn here".  There were plenty of water stops and support was good.  The volunteers were enthusiastic and there was the occasional fan hanging out. 

The course itself is nice.  It is hard to appreciate the beauty while running at night, but it was tranquil and there were some nice views of the city lights of Provo from the lake.  Also there were plenty of bridges that made life interesting.

The return trip back to the start -- particularly between miles 7 and 10 are lonely.  It was pitch dark and I could only see the distant bobbing light of another runner. 

Running at night is also difficult to judge your pace.  You don't have instant feedback from your surroundings and you really have to use some of your focus on making sure you aren't going to run into something.  

I do think the race is short.  In years past I've gotten measurements of 12.91 miles or so.  Granted, you are running under some bridges which might result in loss of signal and there were some tree and cloud cover.  Most other people reported less than 13.1 miles, however.

Either way, I am happy to have done this race and I did have a lot of fun.  I should be there in 2017!