Bandy Road Trip 2017 (Part One)
I’m baaack! Did you miss me? I apologize for my absence, but I have been traveling the past two weeks on our family’s first big camping road trip.
We drove roughly 2,500 miles in Katie’s Saturn Vue from California to Nevada, Utah, Wyoming, Colorado, and back. This country of ours is beautiful, remarkable and vast. After camping in three different states, hiking some of the most breathtaking trails I’ve ever seen, and exploring both big cities and random historical sites along the way, we had a fulfilling, unforgettable experience.
If you’re curious about more specific details of the trip, let me know the next time I see you or feel free to shoot me an e-mail. There’s far too much to relay here, but I did have a few bigger impressions I’d like to share.
First, I’m proud that we were able to make this trip a reality. Katie has such fond memories of camping growing up, and it’s been important for her to reproduce those memories and feelings for Iris. Much time, planning, and preparation has gone into slowly acquiring the materials and gaining experience both in the car and at campsites, and we finally have actualized her vision in a massive way.
Many shudder at the idea of essentially traveling the length of the United States over the span of two weeks with a packed-to-the-brim SUV and a highly active toddler, but we met that challenge and exceeded even our own expectations. Iris was a rockstar (more on that later), we stayed relatively within our budget, and we successfully averted disasters along the way. With this trip in the rear view mirror, I’m beginning to believe I may actually be an adult—or at least close to one.
The second impression I have from this trip is that I’m incredibly grateful for the life that I have. There are definitely not many commas in our bank account, but we are fortunate to have the luxury of traveling this great country of ours. Could things be better? Always. I think, however, that it is really easy to forget how great we have it when we focus too much on what is lacking. This trip helped me appreciate all the good in my life.
One final impression I’ll share before I get on with the rest of this post is that I am excited for the future. We are at a very pivotal period for our family. I will be starting my new career soon. Katie will finish school in a year or so. We have worked hard and sacrificed time and effort to put our family in a better position, and we’re finally on the verge of reaping the rewards. I’m looking forward to the adventures to come, one of which is this crazy 50k I’m training for. Here’s a bit of a recap of what I experienced and learned these past few weeks.
A two-week-long road trip with a 2,500 miles of driving while mostly tent-camping is not the ideal situation to begin officially training for my 50k, I’ll grant you that. I wasn’t sure how the training was going to pan out because we would be spending a lot of time in the car, we wanted to hike together as a family, and I didn’t know where exactly I’d be running, but surprisingly it worked out fairly well.
Here are a few quick lessons I learned:
Hiking miles are a good substitute for “easy day” miles. I know running works different muscles, but at least I was able to get the mileage in, which I think is helpful. Plus, the 50k will consist of a fair amount of hiking so the training was still beneficial.
Running on trails in the mountains is the best kind of running. This was my first chance to explore new trails while running, and I’m hooked! I got to see far more of the mountains than I would have were I hiking. It was also nice to receive encouragement and support from other hikers on the trails. One couple who both appeared to be enjoying their retirement by hiking in Laramie, WY shouted at me as I ran past: “We wish we had that kind of energy! Keep it up!”
Sleeping in a tent doesn’t provide for the best rest. I attempted to keep my effort levels and mileage aligned with my rest. When I felt like I got decent sleep, I’d run a bit harder or further. On days when I was exhausted, I tried to take it easy. I stuck to the training schedule as much as I could and improvised along the way. I think it’s important to be flexible and look at training from a macro perspective. I have a lot of training left in front of me. If I miss a couple miles here and there because my body is fighting me, that’s OK. Endurance is a game of persistence and consistency.
Running doesn’t go well with sitting in a car for extended periods of time on poor sleep. In retrospect, I may have benefit from an additional day or two of rest or broken up the mileage a little more to make it easier on my body. Aches and pains piled up along the way because my body wasn’t healing enough. Especially early on, it’s not worth having a small niggle turn into a debilitating injury because I got overzealous. I’m grateful for my body allowing me to complete what I have thus far and want to be as nice as possible to it so that it allows me to continue.
Two weeks was a long time to be constantly shifting both in place and routine, but I have survived and am still ready for more. It was so nice to get some rest and feel fully recovered. I have some good workouts to share in week 3.
Because it’s been a few weeks since my last post and so much happened on this trip, I decided to break the post into two parts. I’m hoping to get you all up to date with my training and everything in this next week or two, and I think this is enough to share for now.
In the next few days, I’ll post some parenting memories/reflections and highlight a cool brewery we got to try out in Laramie. I hope this brings some light to your day.
Will write again soon.
Be well,
UltraDadRunner
We drove roughly 2,500 miles in Katie’s Saturn Vue from California to Nevada, Utah, Wyoming, Colorado, and back. This country of ours is beautiful, remarkable and vast. After camping in three different states, hiking some of the most breathtaking trails I’ve ever seen, and exploring both big cities and random historical sites along the way, we had a fulfilling, unforgettable experience.
If you’re curious about more specific details of the trip, let me know the next time I see you or feel free to shoot me an e-mail. There’s far too much to relay here, but I did have a few bigger impressions I’d like to share.
First, I’m proud that we were able to make this trip a reality. Katie has such fond memories of camping growing up, and it’s been important for her to reproduce those memories and feelings for Iris. Much time, planning, and preparation has gone into slowly acquiring the materials and gaining experience both in the car and at campsites, and we finally have actualized her vision in a massive way.
Many shudder at the idea of essentially traveling the length of the United States over the span of two weeks with a packed-to-the-brim SUV and a highly active toddler, but we met that challenge and exceeded even our own expectations. Iris was a rockstar (more on that later), we stayed relatively within our budget, and we successfully averted disasters along the way. With this trip in the rear view mirror, I’m beginning to believe I may actually be an adult—or at least close to one.
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| Katie insists that these roadside stops are the best. Iris took some convincing. |
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| This outhouse is over a hundred years old. Hopefully most of the waste is fully dried out. Hopefully. |
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| I am now officially the king of creating fires. Wyoming also allows you to collect your own firewood. What?! |
The second impression I have from this trip is that I’m incredibly grateful for the life that I have. There are definitely not many commas in our bank account, but we are fortunate to have the luxury of traveling this great country of ours. Could things be better? Always. I think, however, that it is really easy to forget how great we have it when we focus too much on what is lacking. This trip helped me appreciate all the good in my life.
One final impression I’ll share before I get on with the rest of this post is that I am excited for the future. We are at a very pivotal period for our family. I will be starting my new career soon. Katie will finish school in a year or so. We have worked hard and sacrificed time and effort to put our family in a better position, and we’re finally on the verge of reaping the rewards. I’m looking forward to the adventures to come, one of which is this crazy 50k I’m training for. Here’s a bit of a recap of what I experienced and learned these past few weeks.
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| Oh, Colorado... The Rocky Mountains are a sight to see. |
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| Sweet Altras that Katie got me for Father's Day. Also, there were dogs everywhere. |
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| Fortunately, Iris loves drinking out of this backpack so she was well hydrated on our hikes. Wearing your hat backwards makes you cool, or it keeps your neck from burning in the sun, or it's both. You tell me. |
Runner Highs and Lows
A two-week-long road trip with a 2,500 miles of driving while mostly tent-camping is not the ideal situation to begin officially training for my 50k, I’ll grant you that. I wasn’t sure how the training was going to pan out because we would be spending a lot of time in the car, we wanted to hike together as a family, and I didn’t know where exactly I’d be running, but surprisingly it worked out fairly well.
Here are a few quick lessons I learned:
Hiking miles are a good substitute for “easy day” miles. I know running works different muscles, but at least I was able to get the mileage in, which I think is helpful. Plus, the 50k will consist of a fair amount of hiking so the training was still beneficial.
 |
| Iris led the charge on numerous occasions. She's sporadically start running and screaming like a banshee. |
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| Life is good when you get pee on your pants and your mom is willing to wear a sweater in the heat so you can use her shirt as a dress. |
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| Sorry, kiddo. There are way too many spiders for you to crawl and play down there. |
Running on trails in the mountains is the best kind of running. This was my first chance to explore new trails while running, and I’m hooked! I got to see far more of the mountains than I would have were I hiking. It was also nice to receive encouragement and support from other hikers on the trails. One couple who both appeared to be enjoying their retirement by hiking in Laramie, WY shouted at me as I ran past: “We wish we had that kind of energy! Keep it up!”
 |
| Wyoming isn't all plains. This is in Medicine Bow National Forest (just outside Laramie). |
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| Can you hear the trail calling you to see what other sights there are to see? |
Sleeping in a tent doesn’t provide for the best rest. I attempted to keep my effort levels and mileage aligned with my rest. When I felt like I got decent sleep, I’d run a bit harder or further. On days when I was exhausted, I tried to take it easy. I stuck to the training schedule as much as I could and improvised along the way. I think it’s important to be flexible and look at training from a macro perspective. I have a lot of training left in front of me. If I miss a couple miles here and there because my body is fighting me, that’s OK. Endurance is a game of persistence and consistency.
 |
| By far this was the coolest campground we had. Likely, it's the coolest I've ever visited. Note the sweet, level tent pad, trees for some shade, and the rocks for climbing and jumping. |
Running doesn’t go well with sitting in a car for extended periods of time on poor sleep. In retrospect, I may have benefit from an additional day or two of rest or broken up the mileage a little more to make it easier on my body. Aches and pains piled up along the way because my body wasn’t healing enough. Especially early on, it’s not worth having a small niggle turn into a debilitating injury because I got overzealous. I’m grateful for my body allowing me to complete what I have thus far and want to be as nice as possible to it so that it allows me to continue.
Two weeks was a long time to be constantly shifting both in place and routine, but I have survived and am still ready for more. It was so nice to get some rest and feel fully recovered. I have some good workouts to share in week 3.
 |
| This was the last run I did of the trip. I ran in Hurricane, UT (just outside of Zion) in the morning before some of the heat kicked in. The road ended here, and I turned around and ran back to our hotel. |
Because it’s been a few weeks since my last post and so much happened on this trip, I decided to break the post into two parts. I’m hoping to get you all up to date with my training and everything in this next week or two, and I think this is enough to share for now.
In the next few days, I’ll post some parenting memories/reflections and highlight a cool brewery we got to try out in Laramie. I hope this brings some light to your day.
Will write again soon.
Be well,
UltraDadRunner