Over Valentine's day weekend Evelyn, Pierluca, and I went down to Moab to do a bit of sightseeing before a race I would have in Moab on Saturday of that weekend. Despite living in Utah for the vast majority of my life I had only been to Moab once and even at that had never visited the national parks that surround the tiny dessert town. We left Thursday morning making Dead Horse Point State Park our first destination after having our realtor recommend seeing it. As you can tell from the photo Dead Horse Point is nothing short of breathtaking. Evelyn and I were both blown away by the beauty and contrast of the red rocks to the snow capped peaks of the Lasal Mountains off in the distance. Why had I not been here before?
The car ride went well; it's always a gamble when you have a toddler in your midst but luckily Pierluca is pretty good about sticking it out. He was certainly happy to be able to walk around though it took him about two minutes to discover rocks and sand. So when we picked him up he was clearly upset. I promise this is not a case of bad parenting; at least not that we know of...
Attempting to compensate for his face of tears with ours of happiness.
Friday we set off to spend the day in Arches National Park. The first item of business was to visit delicate arch. I should mention for all the pictures I had seen of this wonder nothing compared to the in person view. Seeing delicate arch in person was similar to see the David in Florence for the first time; despite being two very different works of art; one natural one man made; they both had the same effect upon me.
A little sunlight on our arch
There are quite a few different arches and towering rock walls to be seen in the park. We only hiked to delicate and to pine tree arch shown above. All the arches were impressive but delicate arch was in a class of its own.
Making our way back to Moab we stopped to snap this picture to show the contrast between Arches and the Lasal range. Those mountains tower well over 12,000' and are the second highest mountain range in Utah.
Natural rock formations don't compare to pebbles and sand unfortunately for some
Moab's Red Hot 55k course, 33+ miles of roads, slick rock, and sand
Somewhere along the course
One of the great things I've discovered with trail running is the camaraderie with other runners that are willing to suffer and push with you. I'd only days before the race met Joe on Instagram through another Instagram insta-friendship with one of his friends Kat. Joe lives in Chinatown in MANHATTAN. He flew cross country, missing flights but somehow finding a connection still getting in the night before the race before midnight. It makes a huge difference when you have someone with you for nearly the entire course. Joe made for great company and helped me get through the last miles when my knees had taken enough. Thank you Joe for getting me through it!
Only a few miles in overlooking the main highway that leads into Moab from the north
When a race takes 7 hours to complete you have time to stop and smell the flowers
The victors final at their goal
The race was difficult. Running on slick rock proved to be hard on the body and made it difficult to find a rhythm. I had hoped that I would be able to slip in under 6 hours but it was not to be however when you are getting near the finish line it is no longer about time; it's just about finishing so you can finally rest. I am by no means an elite runner nor do I think I ever will be, I only hope to keep on being able to do these damned things.
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