Johnson Canyon training run 9-3-11

The next several posts are going to be out of order. I got so far behind on blogging, and now my cards for my cameras are full, so I'm going to try to catch up over the next several days....we'll see how that goes.

We have wanted to do a long run through Johnson Canyon for a while, and we were on our way to Lake Powell, so we decided to stop in Kanab to run the canyon. This run would be two weeks before the marathon and one week before my bike ride around Bear Lake.

We got up really early to do this run to beat the heat. Ashley drove her car, so we would have a car at the top, and Cristian drove his car, so we would have a car at the bottom....Cristian's car threw a rod and died on our way over to the canyon, so we were really glad we had decided to bring two cars! I had been having some health issues, and wasn't sure I was going to be able to run the "Top of Utah Marathon." I decided that I would run Johnson Canyon, and make my decision based on that run. I don't run at the same pace as Dean, Julie, and Ashley, so I get to run by myself. Here we go.......

Dean, Julie, and Ashley. Here they come....

...there they go. That would be the last I see of them for several hours.

This is how Johnson Canyon looks as the sun comes up.

I was really nervous about this run. Cristian was kind enough to make sure I was ok, so he would drive three miles, and wait for me to run down to him. We would agree on an amount of time it should take me, and if I wasn't there within that time frame, he was to come back and get me. If things were ok, he would drive another three miles, and we continued this down the canyon. Each time I saw the van, I knew I had run another three miles! I can't thank Cristian enough for making this run a possibility for me. I would not have tried this run without knowing that if things went wrong, Cristian would be there soon.

This was so awesome! These pictures are as the sun was coming up.The run was going great and the scenery was amazing.

Time for that peanut butter sandwich I always promise myself on long runs.

This cow kind of looked like he had two bodies. I thought it was a funny picture. When you are by yourself for that much time, you have to find things to entertain yourself!

I tried to take pictures of myself running. That didn't work so well, so this is the best I could come up with.

Our plan was that Dean, Julie and Ashley would run to the bottom of the canyon, and then come back and pick me up. My goal was to get to that gap where the arrow is pointing, before the van came to pick me up.

I made it beyond the gap! I was feeling so good! I ran further than I had planned, and didn't have one bit of pain. (That may be from the Percocet I took before I started the run, but who cares!)

Dean, Erika, Julie, and Ashley.

I was so excited that I had such a great run. "Top of Utah Marathon", here I come!