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Post by seltzer on Apr 17, 2024 19:29:35 GMT
I was in many of the areas you're now in about 40 years ago and while my memory of has faded, I do remember the awe of the scenery. Especially Bryce. Wifey had never been to that part of the US and we've talked about changing that, so we may be doing something similar next year. Thanks for sharing your trip with those of us at home.
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Post by macdiver on Apr 18, 2024 15:44:06 GMT
We hiked the same route that I ran yesterday. I saw some things that I had missed during my run. I'm sure if I ran and or hiked it again I would still see new stuff. My wife did great. On the steep uphill section she had to stop frequently to catch her breath. I was huffing and puffing through that section on my run but was breathing easy during the hike. Once section is narrow and on the edge of the cliff wall. People coming down where on the wall side but going up you were on the edge. There was no railing. During my run there wasn't anyone there and I was fine. There was one turn where I stopped for a picture and hugged the wall but was ok. During the hike up, my wife stopped to catch her breath at one point and my fear of heights kicked in. I moved to the wall but was still uncomfortable so I told my wife I would meet her uphill once I reached a place I felt safe stopping. I can often breathe my way out of this feeling but not yesterday. Once I reached a wider area I waited for her to catch up and was good again. Funny how the "lizard" part of the brain works. I logically know I wasn't going to fall off the edge but the fear was real.
Today is our easy day at the resort. We may head out to a park close by or to a nature center I ran by but for the most part our plan is pool and hot tub time. It comes at the right time. I woke up and could feel the last few runs and hikes in my legs. I decided to run an easy pace 5k. While I kept my pace easy it was still down the hill and back up as that is my only choice here other than the treadmill in the fitness center.
Garmin stats are 3.15 miles in 31:55 for an avg pace of 10:08.
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Post by phillydude on Apr 19, 2024 1:25:18 GMT
That was one of the things I learned when I prepared for my AT hike. If you don't like heights (I can't stand any higher than my head) it's not much fun. Sure the views are pretty, but if you can't get within 50 feet of the ledge, it's not the same... never mind the narrow trails along the edges of steep drop offs as you described. Very glad to hear your wife is doing well with her new knees!
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Post by macdiver on Apr 20, 2024 0:37:45 GMT
That was one of the things I learned when I prepared for my AT hike. If you don't like heights (I can't stand any higher than my head) it's not much fun. Sure the views are pretty, but if you can't get within 50 feet of the ledge, it's not the same... never mind the narrow trails along the edges of steep drop offs as you described. Very glad to hear your wife is doing well with her new knees! I really do understand. For me I think the crowd made it worse. The trail was around 5 ft wide but with the steady traffic going the wrong way I was pushed to the edge and didn't feel in control. The park recommends going in the clockwise direction so everyone is going the same way and going up the steepest section which they say is safer. More injuries occur going down the steepest section. But a steady stream of people were going down while we were going up. Today we headed over to the main part of Zion. We were told to be there at 7 to make sure you get in the park. That meant leaving at 6. I woke at 5, put coffee on, and headed out the door for a streak keepers. Once back I had coffee while finishing the dinner dishes and waking my wife. We were out the door a little after 6. Once at the park at 7:15 there was a sign say parking lot full and to park at the paid lot and take the paid shuttle into the park. I have a lifetime pass to National Parks but those aren't covered. We started to turn around but saw several cars go through the gate. There were no attendants at any gate. We followed and went to the parking lot which had plenty of spaces. I think the full lot sign is just a permanent sign probably put there by the city that is making money on the parking and shuttle into the park. If you get there before the attendants start at 8 it is free to enter. From the parking lot you have to take the free NPS shuttle into the park. This park is closed to traffic. We took the shuttle to the lodge and had breakfast at the cafe. The hike we wanted to do normally starts at the lodge but the bridge is out so we had to go to the next stop and do the hike from there. It goes to the same place the lower pond but one is listed as easy and the one we did is moderate. From the middle pond which was nothing more than a wide spot in the creek both trails use he same path to the upper pond. The easy path goes to the lower pond first then to the middle pond using the spur trail from this trail. The spur was really steep as is the trail to the upper pond. We did the upper pond first after the middle pond then went to the lower pond on the way back. My wife stopped at the fall overlook on the way to the lower pond. I saw that the trail went behind the falls so I continued to behind the fall for some pictures but didn't go the extra 100 yards to the pond at the bottom of the fall. Since the bridge is out this is an out and back so we went back to the shuttle and continued to the last stop. This normally would be "The Narrows" where you walk in the Virgin River through a slot canyon. This time of year the water flow is too high so it is closed off. You can walk the 1 mile paved path to the opening for the Narrow but have to stop there. We walked there and had our lunch on the river bank. While eating lunch three squirrels were trying to get our sandwiches. One hopped on the rock we were sitting on and started out my wife's arm. The other two were trying to get into our packs which had snacks. Obviously they are used to getting people food. My lifetime pass to the parks was free since I am a veteran. When we were buying our souvenirs today the clerk asked if I was a vet and gave my a 15% discount. The other two parks didn't ask even the shop at the other part of Zion. In the future I will ask now that I know they do this. I just have to show my Veterans lifetime pass card. For some reason I didn't track my hikes using Garmin at Bryce or today. I usually do track my hikes using Garmin. At Bryce we did 2.5 miles the first day and 3.1 miles the second. Today we did 4+ miles on the first hike and 2 + miles on the second. For my run Garmin has 1.13 miles in 11:29 for an avg pace of 10:08. I did two loops of the complex, in the dark, wearing a headlamp. I forgot my room key. I had put it with my phone as I was getting ready to run then decided at the last moment not to listen to music and didn't take my phone. It worked out since I needed to wake my wife to get ready to leave. She was a little annoyed but even if I had my key and woke her up without banging on the door she would be annoyed waking up at that time. This actually worked better as it forced her to get out of bed and open the door. We have a 1 bedroom unit with kitchen so she actually had to walk to get to the door unlike a normal hotel room where the door is a few feet from the bed.
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Post by macdiver on Apr 20, 2024 15:41:43 GMT
6 mile run down the hill and on the Santa Clara river path. When I was at the 2.85 mile point the path goes down to the river and under a bridge then back up to the road level. I debated not doing it as I knew I would be at the turn around as soon as I reached the other side. If I hadn't done it I would need to make up a quarter mile or so at the end which is even tougher so I just did it.
THe views on this run down the hill and along the river are beautiful. I will miss them.
6 miles in 57:22 for an avg pace of 9:33.
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Post by macdiver on Apr 21, 2024 23:04:00 GMT
I tried posting this twice this morning and both times the text disappeared before I posted. Both times was while I tried to paste the picture. Yesteday we went to Snow Canyon State Park just on the other side of town. we did part of the Petrified Dune trail that connected to the Butterfly trail. The Petrified Dunes were amazing. The Butterfly trail crosses an old lava flow but you could see a lot of big lava stones. It is an out and back and on the way back some ladies were taking a picture of themselves in this split stone. Once they left we did the same then were having a snack when another hiker asked if we wanted her to take our picture in the Butterfly stone. I looked at it and realized it looks like a pair of butterfly wings - hence the name of the trail. I found the state Park to be more beautiful and unique than the main part of Zion national park. It was really amazing. This morning I did not feel like running but I headed out the door. At 1 1/2 miles I was not feeling it and stopped. I stood there for a minute or so debating but decided that I would run the full 6 miles as planned. I figured it would be good to run on tired legs since that will be the last 30 miles of my race in a few weeks. Around mile 4 was the only time I felt my life was IN DANGER on this trip. A road runner ran across the path in front of me. I immediately started looking for a coyote with a rocket or large anvil. I took out my phone and was able to get a picture of him. I knew it was a road runner from the way it was running and it did look like the cartoon but wasn't as colorful. It blends into the rocks but you can still see it. I am really glad I forced myself to run the full distance. This sighting made it worth while even though the run never got better. 6.01 miles in 1:00:40. The road runner is on the bottom left standing on a rock.
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Post by macdiver on Apr 22, 2024 14:08:05 GMT
We went out to dinner last night and shared the tomahawk steak. After dinner we went to a Cirque du Soliel show. We got back to our room a little before 9. I knew it was going to be an early morning but the music, lights, and daredevil acts had me wound up. I went to bed around 10:45. I woke up at 4:45 and headed down to run on the treadmill. The elevator would not allow me to select the fitness center floor. I went to the lobby and found out that it opens at 5 am so I waited a few minutes and was able to select that floor right at 5.
1 mile streak keeper done. We were out the door by 6 and through security by 7.
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Post by shamie on Apr 22, 2024 14:09:46 GMT
Nice photo. I had to google "road runner", I wasn't sure if the bird was the road runner. The real bird looks different than the cartoon.
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Post by seltzer on Apr 22, 2024 17:25:55 GMT
Thanks for sharing all the visual and explanatory details of your trip. Safe travels home!
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Post by Graham on Apr 23, 2024 18:52:42 GMT
meep, meep!
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Post by macdiver on Apr 23, 2024 23:42:07 GMT
An easy 5k this morning. I saw a bird perched on a tree at the creek this morning. Due to the angle of the sun and how far away it was I couldn't quite tell if it was an eagle or a hawk. I'm pretty sure it was an eagle based on size but just not sure. 3.10 miles in 30:14. If I want to reach my monthly goal of 140 this month I have to run at least 7 miles everyday. I will probably end up short this month.
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Post by macdiver on Apr 24, 2024 16:03:43 GMT
I did the 7 mile loop this morning. I kept it at an easy pace for the most part. I did let my pace pick up on the long downhill section though.
7.35 miles in 1:10:46 for an avg pace of 9:38.
Garmin updated the app website yesterday. It is now focused on sleep, steps, heartrate etc. I can't see my goals or calendar anymore on the homescreen. I havent found how to get to my goals easily yet. My watch doesn't track any of the data it is now focused on. Im sure they are competing with Oura and the other health trackers. I may have to consider using another app since I use my garmin forerunner for running.
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Post by shamie on Apr 24, 2024 22:03:30 GMT
I use Garmin connect daily, I didn't see any change on my screen. The "my day" page, always gave the sleep, steps, heart rate etc. Instead of "My day", maybe before you had it set on "calendar". Unless you are talking about a different Garmin app.
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Post by macdiver on Apr 24, 2024 23:32:53 GMT
I use Garmin connect daily, I didn't see any change on my screen. The "my day" page, always gave the sleep, steps, heart rate etc. Instead of "My day", maybe before you had it set on "calendar". Unless you are talking about a different Garmin app. I am talking about the webpage on a windows laptop. The app on my phone hasn't changed. It shows today's run, yesterday's run, and a summary of the last 7 days. If I used my watch to track steps it would show it there too. My watch doesn't have an integral heart rate monitor. I have to use the chest strap while running so it only shows heart rate with my run data. On the webpage there used to be a "card" with goals so I could see my goal and there was a calendar so I could see the total mileage each week and the total for the month or year. I can still get to the calendar and goals but they are not on the home page anymore.
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Post by shamie on Apr 25, 2024 13:15:28 GMT
Today the screen on the Garmin Connect app is totally different. At first glance, I liked the prior version better.
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