Wedge 50k, Again Without Training
Didn’t I swear I would train before doing another 50k, self-supported or as a race? Yes. Did I train AT ALL for this? Nope. Still great.
The Wedge 50k
It hit me the other day that I haven’t run a 50k since Bryce in June 2016 – almost 2 years ago. That kind of bummed me out. Life has gotten busy and I can’t bring myself to pay registration fees for races. I keep telling myself, “Oh, I’ll just run a 50k on my own for free.” But of course, I never do. I actually did try in December 2017, but it didn’t pan out.
Well, fast forward to a couple days ago when a fellow professor in my department mentioned that he was heading down to the Wedge. THE WEDGE?! Dang. I’ve been dying to get back down there. The Mrs. gave me the go-ahead, I drove down Friday night, slept in the back of the car, and at 6:30 AM on Saturday I was on the trail. I dropped aid station supplies at Campsite 5, as usual, and set out with a 50k plan in mind.
The 2 previous times I did the Good Water Rim Trail, I did the 16 mile trail from West-to-East, and then took the 5.5 mile road back to the start for a 21.5 mile loop. I haven’t been training, at all, but hoped that if I took it slow I could just to the 16 mile trail out and back for 32 miles – a 50k. Over the past year or two I bet my average run length has been 4-8 miles, with the longest probably being Timp summits. In other words, I hadn’t run this far in a long time.
I set out and tried hard to maintain a slow easy pace – in the mid 11min/mile range. It was hard. My body wanted to go faster. On the roads lately (I know, I know…roads?! But yeah, I’ve been putting in more boring road miles lately than I used to) I have been getting faster and faster – it has been exciting. So, consciously slowing myself down was a challenge. I hit the 9 mile aid station feeling great, resupplied, and headed out on the west 7 mile leg of the trail. About 1/2way there my legs started feeling pretty heavy and my pace slowed. I even caught a toe, fell, and bloodied my knee a bit. When I got to the end of the trail my friend (who left about an hour later than I did) caught up with me. Even though I wasn’t feeling great, I figured I could make back to the aid station via the 7 mile trail – and assess there if I would bail to the road for a quick 2-3 miles home instead of the last 9 miles back. I jogged and walked and jogged and walked. At the aid station (mile 23) I felt good enough to head out for the last 9. Those were a slow 9 miles, jogging, power-hiking, jogging, slow. But, I finished – a 50k. 51.5, actually.
It is the 5th time I’ve done a 50k and came in as my 3rd best time – right in the middle. The two slower the two times I’ve done Bryce. That’s understandable since Bryce is a lot higher in elevation and has a lot more climbing. Could I have done this one faster? Definitely, but I was out there simply to finish, to prove to myself that I could still do it.
Update – one day later, my legs felt great and I did a 10 mile bike ride with the family. Two days later and my legs still feel great. So, in terms of “recovery,” this has been my best 50k. I’ve never felt this good afterwards.
The Wedge, WEST!
Work took me down to Emery County for a couple days of digging in the archives. On my way out of Castledale on the last day, I realize I was only a few miles from the Wedge. I figured it was my moral duty to go for a quick run before driving home. For something new, I started at the Wedge Overlook and ran WEST along the dirt road, and then a bit along the rim, then to the overlook that is directly across (south) from Virgin Spring Canyon. It was overcast and the canyon colors were a bit washed out, but still gorgeous.
The Wedge 21
Last year around this time I joined a large group run to the San Rafael to run the Good Water Rim Trail at The Wedge. I was hooked. This year another big group ventured down – about 30 of us – and it was great.
For the first 9 miles I tried to focus on keeping a steady pace – not going out too strong. I thought I was going more conservative than last time, when I felt I started too fast and then bonked. Looking at my splits, my 10 min/mile pace this time was a lot faster than last time. Oh well. It felt pretty good. At the 9 mile aid station I felt a lot stronger than last time (with the exception of a rolled ankle and hot spots on both feet – they never blistered, thankfully, but I was worried). I was just a couple minutes behind the lead group and stayed a few minutes behind them for the next 7 miles to the east overlook. Mostly, I ran solo. But that was fine. The scenery is spectacular. The east 7 miles are a lot rougher trail and that wore on me. I slowed, alternating running with fast walking for a 10th of a mile here and there. At the 16 mile overlook I jumped out to the road and followed it the 5.5 miles around and back to the start just like last time. By the end, my energy levels felt really good but my legs were just shot. So sore. Thankfully, no cramping though. I tried out fueling with just tailwind and it felt great. I popped a couple extra salt tabs when it warmed up. And, I mixed a bottle of perpetuem for the last 2 miles, but didn’t end up drinking much of it.
22 Miles Under the Wedge: San Rafael River, Virgin Spring, Cane Wash Loop
After running the Good Water Rim Trail at the Wedge area of the San Rafael Swell on President’s Day I immediately resolved to do a follow-up run at the canyon bottom. Today a few other Wasatch Mtn. Wranglers joined me on the adventure.
Overall it was a fairly “flat” route. 22+ miles, but only about 1,850 ft. elevation gain. That didn’t mean it was easy though. Those 1,800+ ft. were concentrated in a medium, small, and BIG traverse over ridges and cliffs between drainages. Check out the velo map below:
I was joined by 3 other brave souls – Dee, Ryan and Tyler. I had met Dee and Ryan briefly on other occasions, but not Tyler. They were all awesome, total troopers, and it was great to get to know them all better. Plus, they kept their cursing of me for dragging them on the trip to a minimum.
We hit the trail around 8:30-9:00. As usual, I felt sluggish. The first few miles are always the worst for me.
At about mile 3.5 we hit our first climb. It is right at the intersection of Cane Wash (coming from the south) and the San Rafael River. We would loop by here later, so we made a water drop. The river bends south and I think it gets too close to the cliffs on our north side for there to be a trail. So, the trail climbs over a nice sized knife-edge ridge.
From there, we continued along the river…missing the turn off for Virgin Spring Canyon. We doubled back a 1/2 mile and found it. This was the 2nd climb, and a minor one. The trail traversed along the east wall of the canyon – a ways up from the floor. This is probably because it hits a dead end that you’d need gear to climb. Once we passed that dead drop, the trail descended down to the canyon floor.
We misjudged where we needed to exit the canyon, and wasted a few minutes going up a side canyon BEFORE the one we needed.
After returning back to the canyon, conferring with map and continuing on, we saw the exit ramp we needed. A large boulder slide. If not for the cairns that led us up the south side of the canyon and gave us confidence that it was the right canyon – we wouldn’t have taken it. From the bottom (or the middle, or even almost to the top) it was hard to see how we would get out. Up south canyon wall, across to the boulder slide ramp, and finally a ledge near the top where we found another large cairn. Hallelujah. We followed that ledge around to the right (south) and eventually found more cairns leading us up to the top. From there, we could look down (east) into Cane Wash.
Again, it was 100% unclear how in the world we would descend the cliffs. Thankfully, my cell coverage returned at the top of the cliff and I could check the strava route I had drawn previously. Following that, we worked our way south, down a few drops and switchbacks (occasionally seeing cairns) and eventually to the canyon floor. Looking back up, it was hard to believe we had navigated our way down.
At this point, we descended Cane Wash back to the San Rafael River. Tyler wanted to move a bit faster and took off back to the car. Unbeknownst to us – he was also out of water, and eager to get back to his car and the waters and beer he had on ice. Good call Tyler.
Dee, Ryan and I made our way down Cane Wash and the deep sand was neverending. Oh man. I hated that sand. Dee ran out of water on our descent so I shared what was left in my bladder. Ryan caught up with Dee and I at the water drop where we were guzzling in the shade. Then, we took off for the last 3.5 miles to the car. It was only in the mid-70s, but felt so much hotter in the sun. I made it to the cars first, with Dee not far behind (fighting leg cramps, ouch!), and then Ryan.
In all, it was a really fun time. Doing it again would be so much easier, knowing exactly where to go. As a bonus, check out some of the stuff along Buckhorn Wash Rd. on your way down:
Running The Wedge
I have explained before my aversion to group runs. I’m slower than most of the 100-miler ultramarathoning trail runners who I have the pleasure to know. So group runs quickly become solo runs. For Presidents Day, however, there was a group run that I just couldn’t resist. A 21-31 mile run along the Good Water Rim Trail in The Wedge are of the San Rafael Swell.
Wow.
The group totaled 26 runners – a collection of Wasatch Mountain Wrangers, Orange Trail Monkeys, and their friends.
We started at 8:30ish at the Wedge Overlook (the southwest portion of the map above) and ran the 16 miles around the many squiggly finger side canyons to the opposing cliff walls. It is crazy because at about mile 2-3, you can see – just across the canyon – trail that is miles 15-16. It is so close, but you have to wind around so many side canyons to get there.
For the first 5-6 miles, I felt pretty good. I fell in with different packs of runners, chatting, enjoying the scenery. I did miles 6-9 solo, going into the aid station. At mile 9 we had dropped supplies. When I arrived, most were still there. I socialized at the aid station for a few minutes before they all took off. I took a couple extra minutes to change my socks and discard some layers (it had gotten nice and sunny).
The next 7 miles were a bit rougher. The trail was rougher, and I was getting worn down. I jogged, interspersed with some walking. I passed a couple who had stopped due to a fall and were patching up some cuts. Looking back, I’m surprised I didn’t fall at all. I made it to the end of the trail, mile 16, just as people there were turning around to return. Some turned around and did it in reverse for a total of 50k. Instead, I jumped out to the road (about 5.5 miles) that goes around to the north and back to the starting point.
I hit the road with a few others, letting 2 go ahead, and 2 others fell behind. I had some hip and groin muscle pain, and one IT band was thinking about flaring up – thankfully it never did. On the return a cold wind picked up from the north and when I swung by the aid-station, I put my layers back on. Brr! The last 3 miles on the road were a long steady uphill. Thank goodness there was a nice tailwind.
In all, 21.5 miles in just over 4 hours. An 11:33 min/mile pace. That made for 1/2 marathon, 20k and 30k PRs!.
It was gorgeous and a lot of fun. Afterwards there was a big potluck-ish gathering and everyone goofed around and talked for a couple hours while runners came in. It was so much fun. I was also glad that my tibial stress fractures didn’t hurt AT ALL! Total miracle!
