Utah Valley Marathon/Vacation

It's been a moment since I've blogged, but I have a halfway reasonable excuse. But let me start with The Utah Valley Marathon and that adventure. I'll be honest, it throttled me... Typically I train at 700 feet above sea level, and this starting at 6300 feet was a bit much for my lungs and blood. I was warned of the air, but like most things I tend to take the 'power through' approach. This did not work very well this time. At mile 8 I was gasping for breath, and by mile 16 I was dizzy and fatigued, even stumbled and fell. But I carried on and at least finished. 

But wait, there's more! I treated myself to the first real vacation I've had since 2004 and it was brilliant. After the marathon my traveling companion took me to Canyonlands National park to explore for the remainder of the day. 

The following days we hit up the Moad area, Arches, Monument Valley, Bryce, and Valley of Fire. 

Following that I had my first visit to Las Vegas... Interesting place to say the least. Mainly I was there to attend a concert from my favorite band The Joy Formidable. They always put on a great show and write some of the smartest heart-felt from the gut rock out there. I've attached the link to their new single/video, so give it a listen. 

Las Vegas was a nice break, but I'm back and setting my sites on the next marathon for September. One other huge takeaway from this was how mentally refreshing it was to simply get back to nature and enjoy being in the moment of something that is at times so grande, and also at times so simple.