Boating at Rockport

Little bro on the left, and the misses on the right.

One of my favorite things about summer is the fun opportunities to spend with friends and family.  Last weekend my family and I went boating at Rock Port Reservoir.  We haven't been able to get out on the lake this summer as previous years so I was really excited to get out and recreate.

The wife and I drove over to my parents late morning to help pack up and get ready to go.  My mom really goes all out and packs a full lunch and dinner.  I'm always surprised at how much gear it takes to travel anywhere.  My little brother, who you will see on the left in the photo above, agreed to drive so we packed everything into his car.  We were a little unsure how three coolers were going to fit in the back of his vehicle.  I took this as a challenge and thought back on the hours of tetris I played as a kid.  We eventually got it all to fit and we were off to the lake.  Everything was going according to plan when disaster struck.  All of a sudden the vehicle stopped giving power and we were coasting on the freeway.  Luckily we were close to the exit were we needed to get off and made it to a gas station just off the exit.  Everyone got out and began guessing what what the problem might be.  A guy from across the station told us it was simply vapor lock and that we just needed to wait 10 or 20 minutes and it would start up again.  We waited and tried it again and nothing happened.  Out of ideas we called my dad and older brother who were already waiting for us at the lake and told them what had happened.  Under the assumption that the problem was vapor lock we decided to leave the car their in the parking lot and go ahead with our boating trip.  My older brother pulled up and took us the rest of the way to the lake.

When we arrived we quickly set up camp on the beach.  After eating lunch we all took turns going out on the boat to go tubing, water skiing, and wake boarding, while the rest of us played in the water on the shore.  What a blast!  We used to be able to go out all at once but we have all grown up and got married.  Once we get a fully inflated tube and four people aboard it gets pretty cramped, but we make due.

Another great part about boating is the hamburgers for dinner.  There's nothing better that a fresh hamburger with all the fixins on a calm evening by the lake.  The atmosphere is so calming and wholesome.  We were having so much fun we almost forgot about the car issues we were had earlier in the day.  My brother took the car and went to the gas station to see if it was still there.  They reported it was still there but the gas station manager yelled at them and warned them she was 15 minutes from calling a tow truck.  Yikes.  They also reported the car still wouldn't start.  Just before dusk we packed up everything loaded up the boat and left for home leaving behind my brothers car alongside a lonely road.  We figured it was too late to do anything about it so we'll just have to take care of it on Sunday.

That was our boating adventure.  We had a blast on the lake but the car problems were kind of a bummer.  It's funny how quickly an innocent family outing can turn to disaster.  That's life I guess.

Sincerely your friend,
Bryce

Ragnar Wasatch Back 2014

In June my wife and I had the opportunity to run the Ragnar Wasatch Back Relay.  If you don't know much about Ragnar it's a relay race that last two days.  A team of 12 runners go a total distance of 197 miles from Logan to Park City through mountain passes and small towns.  Each runner takes a turn running three sections of the route that vary in distance.  The difficulty varies from running three miles on a paved road through a nice little towns, to running uphill on a mountain trails in the dark for 10 or more miles.  It was a great experience and one that I hope I'll be able to do again in the future.  

I wanted to share my experience running Ragnar because it was so fun and I felt so accomplished I thought it noteworthy to write about.  Not to say that anything I have written about on this blog thus far has been noteworthy.

I've never considered myself a runner so when I thought about doing Ragnar I knew it was going to be a completely new experience.  After my wife and I laid our money down the whole thing felt really last minute.  We secured a spot on a team in the beginning of May so we knew we only had a little less than two months to prepare.  This fact made me nervous and was a huge motivator to get out and exercise.  I don't consider myself terribly out of shape but my cardiovascular capacity definitely wasn't up to par.  Luckily for me my wife just so happens to be a personal trainer so I was able to get on a training schedule that eased me into it.  

Training

We really focused on getting my body used to running for extended periods of time.  The first week we started running for a total of 30 minutes with splitting up minutes with 30 seconds jogging and 30 seconds walking.  This was pretty easy for me so we adjusted to make it more difficult.  By week four I was up to running three miles comfortably.  The first week of June we did the West Jordan Linda Buttars Memorial 5k.  It was a good opportunity to build my confidence about running races.  However, I still felt anxious I wasn't up to the fitness level I needed to be.  Each Ragnar runner is assigned a number that signifies which section of the race he will be.  I was runner five so my first leg was the most difficult of all my sections.  Avon pass entails running seven and a half miles up hill the whole way on a dirt road.  All through training this challenge was in the back of my head which contributed a lot to my anxiety.  The last two weeks I really pushed hard to at least run seven and a half miles on flat pavement.  I thought if I could accomplish that distance, I would have some mental ammo for Avon pass.  I would have done more hill training but like I said at the beginning it was all sort of last minute.  One week before the race I completed a distance just over eight miles.  The week before the race I was advised by my wife and others to not run at all, to just take it easy.  So I spent the week leading up to the race being excited and anxious.

Below are some photos of our training and the Linda Buttars Run.

Not bad.

Awe, so cute.

Starting line of the Linda Buttars.

She's a super star

What a babe!

This is my mom.

Running the Draper Corner Canyon Trail System to get some hills under our belts.

Jordan River Parkway.

On the night before the race our whole team met at Pei Wei in Bountiful to get our team shirts, talk about logistics and get to know everyone.  Once everyone ordered and sat down we were instructed about what to pack, food to bring, sleeping arrangements, and race etiquette.  We were told to pack a new set of clothes for each section of our race to change into.  Pack a light sleeping bag because the van fills up quickly with everyone's gear.  It was a stress reliever to meet everyone and get some advice before the big trip.  

The next morning we woke up at 5:30 to be in Bountiful by 6:00 to meet the rest of our team and load our gear.  By 6:30 we were on the road to Logan.  When we arrived at USU the parking lot was packed with cars people everywhere.  I got my first taste of the Ragnar culture.  Vans and SUV's were decorated with chalk paint, teams were dressed in matching costumes.  I felt like I was at a high school football game.  Our team quickly checked in and received our mandatory safety training.  The starting line was just up the hill on the track field.  We received our official Ragnar shirts and a bunch of other free stuff from the sponsors.  

This shirt has brought so much joy to my life.

We checked in with a race officiator to let them know we wanted to start on the next wave.  Within fifteen minutes our first runner was off and we had officially start the race.  What a blast!

This is our team vehicle.  Ours wasn't as creative as others but it did the job.

I wanted the people to really know what I was there for.

Just in case.

The start of our race.

They really do a great job dressing the place up.

Go team 781!

Another picture of the starting line.

Checking in.

It filled up fast

A neat little play on words.

One thing I learned quickly from the very start is how quickly everything moces.  As soon as our first runner started we immediately left to go meet him at the 2 mile marker to supply water.  At the first exchange where the baton was passed onto our second runner, the first runner had little time to cool down and stretch.  This exchange pattern turned out to be one of the most difficult challenges of the relay.  

Offering water support.

As the race went on I became more anxious about my first section because it was the most difficult of all sections.  Avon Pass is a gruesome 7.5 mile run all up hill and dirt road.  If you notice in the pictures above the skies were cloudy and it rained off and on the whole morning.  I was glad it rained because it kept the dust down but also worried the mud would slow me down or even worse cause injury from sliding.  

The First Leg

The moment of truth finally came and it was my turn to tackle Avon Pass.  My plan of attack was to take it slow with a light jog and go for distance not time.  I noticed the trail had dried up a little so it wasn't as slippery as I anticipated.  The temperature was cool so it was actually kind of pleasant to run.  I was feeling pretty good.  By the fourth mile I was starting to feel some fatigue and started to become difficult with blisters starting to form.  Every couple of miles my team supplied me with water, energy shots, and much needed encouragement.  The last two miles were brutal, I was tired and my legs were burning but I was determined to keep a steady pace.  All of my fellow runners were feeling the same way and were definitely showing it.  Other teams were kind enough to offer support and encouragement to everyone during the last stretch.  I was glad to see the last mile marker and I will admit I walked most of it.  Despite the last mile overall I was very pleased with my performance.  I had completed the hard one and the rest were 4 milers through towns on pavement.  No prob.

One Mile to Go

At the top of Avon Pass.  Beautiful!

This is shot of Paradise farmland.  Just pretty country livin

When I got to the exchange my wife was waiting there ready to receive me and the baton for her section.  There were a lot of vehicles at the top causing some delay so I had a few extra minutes to walk around stretch, but not nearly enough.  The van scooped me up and we headed off to support my wife on her run.  While sitting in the van I knew I wasn't in a good situation because my my muscles were starting to cool and get tight.  My right knee began giving me the first signs of pain.  Along the way I took every opportunity to get out and stretch but there simply wasn't enough time and place to do a thorough stretch.  At the end of her run our team had completed our first run and we were excited to rest and prepare for the next stretch.

We took some much needed rest and grabbed a bite to eat at a local sandwich shop in Morgan.  Then headed up to Beaver Mountain where our next run would begin.  Upon arrival we figured we had at least three hours before starting our next series.  The wife and I took the opportunity to take a look at the festivities and vendors. At this point I was struggling to walk without pain, walking down stairs was especially painful.  My IT band was tight and and my legs were really sore.  I tried to roll out my muscle and stretch but it seemed everything I did made the pain more intense.  To make matters worse the keys to our vehicle got locked inside, so we were essentially stranded.  We had to think fast because time was running out before our next run.  Luckily the resort staff had equipment to retrieve our keys and were eventually saved by the kindness of a humble cart driver.  In the nick of time we send our first runner on our second series without a moment to spare.

Back into the vehicle we went to meet at our next exchange point.  Upon arriving I got out to look for a bathroom and the pain in my knee was next to unbearable.  I couldn't walk without pain and you can just forget about doing any kind of running.  I was really worried about my next run.

At about midnight it was my turn to run again and there was little improvement with my knee.  One of my team mates was kind enough to fix me with some of his KT runners tape which is supposed to help alleviate the pressure of the muscles.  At first I thought it sounded like a bunch of witch craft but I believe it help me just enough to get me through my second run.  I say run, but I was only able to walk the long 4.5 miles in the dark by myself.  The only thing that got me through it was listening to the soothing voice of David Sedaris over my phone's speaker reading one of his book entitled, Naked.  Hilarious!  This was a lowest point of my experience because I felt beaten physically and because of that my spirits were low.  After the long hour and forty minute walk I completed my second run exhausted.  During the whole car ride I fell in and out of sleep.  By the end of my wife's run I had had it and I was done.

This is the night exchange on my second run.

We rolled up to the next major exchange at about 3:30 am.  I had to use the bathroom really bad but couldn't bring myself to search for one due to complete exhaustion.  I grabbed my sleeping bag and pillow, stumbled to an open space of dewy cold grass and laid down for the night.  To my benefit and with the help of some anti inflammatory medication I was out like a light.  

We probably got about four hours sleep that night and I felt like a million bucks the next morning.  I don't know why but I felt like I had received eight hours.  We spent the morning eating, stretching, and cleaning ourselves up as best we could because we knew we had another long day ahead of us.  My IT band had finally loosened up and my knee pain had somewhat gone away.  

Saturday offered new challenges for us as far as climate changes.  It was a typical summer day in Utah hot, dry, with a strong wind.  My last leg was the easiest of my three because it was only 3.9 miles, half way was downhill, and it was through the streets of Heber.  I'm sorry to bring up my knee so much but it was a huge challenge to overcome.  My plan of attack was to take it easy with a light jog to see what I could handle.  The pain was slight and as I started to run and the my muscles warmed up the pain eventually went away and was able to get up to a good pace.  I even passed a few people during the second half of the leg.  At the last mile marker I started to feel a little dizzy and light headed.  My guess is because dehydration and heat exhaustion was starting to set in.  I drank a gulp and poured the rest on my head and prayed that I would pass out in the gutter.  My wife once again met me at the exchange and I took her by the waist and dipped her and gave a big kiss.  The crowd loved it.  An old man shouted, "now that's how you pass the baton!"  I gave him a nod then followed my team to our last major exchange.  

Me at the start of my last run.  Feeling confident.  And looking handsome.

It was my wife's easiest run at only 2 miles so we decided to skip van support and go to the finish.  When she came around the corner we shared a moment of relief in knowing that as far as running it was over.  We had done it.  We completed Ragnar!  

It is finished.

Some of our team mates at the finish.

With nothing left to do but wait for our second van to finish their last run we decided to go out to lunch at Cafe Rio in Park City.  At our team meeting we were advised to eat light, just enough to get rid of hunger pains.  We had to be burning over 3000 calories each day so I was pretty hungry by the end.  Usually after eating at Cafe Rio I'm pretty full but this time I was ready for round two after eating my meal.  With time to burn we decided to park near the finish line at local church to get some shut eye.  Once again we got our sleeping bags and claimed a space of grass on the front lawn of the church.  After a couple of hours of sleep we headed up to Park City High School to meet out team coming across the finish line.  The scene was a lot more hustle and bustle with people and vendors everywhere.  It's tradition for the team to run across the finish line with the last runner.  As our last runner came around the corner she was met with cheers of encouragement from us and spectators.  We joined up with her and did the best we could to stumble across the finish line.  I felt accomplished at that moment crossing the finish line, like I had overcome a difficult challenge and met it with courage and stamina.  The feeling left me inspired to meet life challenges with a renewed sense courage, and with the desire to complete similar races and even do Ragnar again in the future.  It was a great experience and one that I would highly recommend to anyone.

Me and my soul mate livin it up at the finish line.

I wanted to thank everyone for your prayers and encouragement during training and the race.  I'd also like to thank Ragnar for a well organized race.  Thanks to you for reading I hope it was entertaining as well as educational.

Sincerely your friend,

Bryce Thomas

 

Bowler Hats and Husbands

One Saturday afternoon my wife and I decided to take a carefree train ride downtown to see the chalk art festival at the Gateway Mall.  We had a wonderful time leisurely walking in Down Town Salt Lake, the chalk art was beautiful with art depicting mostly Disney characters.  Personally I wanted to see the 3D chalk art I see online from time to time, but what they had was good enough.  We spent the latter part of the evening sitting on a bench watching little kids get soaked at the splash pad.  It started getting chilly so we decided to head home.  We walked over to the train station conveniently located just out front and waited for the next train.  When the train finally arrived we boarded and sat in the back of the car.  We noticed a young couple with their baby sitting in the disabled section near the doors and man with a bowler hat on with a group of friends.  Everything was going great until we came to the next stop.

The door swung open and this rough looking gentleman pushing a bike boarded the train.  As the train began to pick up speed the man attempted to put his front tire over the hand rail but instead lost his balance and stumbled backward.  His bike fell over and nearly hit the couple who was sitting nearby.  Angered the man picked up his bike and started to throw his bike around the train, swearing, and making a huge scene.  Everyone was staring at him and the man with the bowler hat decided to intervene.

Bowler hat got right up close face to face with the man and stated very sternly, "you can't act like this on the train, you have to respect the train and others who are riding."  The man replied, "who's going to make me?"  Bowler hat, "I will if I have to."  As the two sized each other up, I knew this wasn't going to end well.  The bike man made the first move by going straight for the neck pushing bowler hat into the nice couple with their baby.  "What the !@#$ are you doing?" screamed the mother.  Then the husband got involved and pushed bowler and bike man back toward the door.  The three of them struggled for a few minutes with the two trying to detain bike man.  The train slowly came to a stop and the two pretty much had bike man at their mercy.  The train stopped and bowler pushed the door open.  The two lifted the bike man off the ground and literally threw him off the train.  We looked out the window and it looked like he landed straight on his head.  Next was his bike that landed on top of him.  The doors closed and as the train began to move bike man began hitting the side of the train with his bike and hands in anger.

Bolwer hat and the husband gave each other gestures of gratitude and left it at that.  My wife and I sat there in shock knowing we had both been witnesses of real life bar scene from an old west saloon.

What did we learn from this experience:

-Never expect cool 3D chalk art at the Gateway Chalk art festival.
-Little kids aren't capable of remembering where the water shoots up.
-Always put your trust in a man wearing a bowler hat.

Have you ever had a scary trax train experience?

This is My Life

     As many of you know I'm a part time student at the University of Utah studying Marketing.  I also work full time at an online marketing company called Gravitate Online in Draper.  My schedule gets tricky trying to balance my time getting from Draper to class in Salt Lake with one vehicle to share between my wife and I.  On the first day of class this semester I thought I had my schedule planned perfectly using the train and bus systems.  This is a story of how desperate life can get as a poor married college student.

     On the first day of class I thought I'd leave work around 4:30 to give myself enough time to get to class which started at 6:00.  At 4:30 I packed my computer, text books, and calculator in my bag and rode my Razor Scooter from work to the front runner station.  I boarded front runner on time and was transported to the Murray Central Station where I got off to board trax to take me the rest of the way to the U.  While sitting on trax the conductor makes an announcement over the intercom telling us there's been an accident a few stops ahead and will be unable to proceed to Salt Lake.  At this point I thought, "ok I'll just get off at the next stop and board a bus to take me the rest of the way."  Easy.  At the next stop I gathered my scooter and bag and began frantically searching for a bus route to the U.  I sat down at a bench when suddenly the bus I needed to take pulls around the corner.  I boarded the bus and sat down at the back and began to plan the rest of my route on my phone.

     The bus pulled out of the driveway and started to head up the hill, I felt confident in my route and good that I was going to make it to class on time.  As my stop began to creep up I reach up to pull the stop cord, as the bus came to a stop and the doors open I began to realize my horror.  I reach for my scooter, "check," as I reach for my bag, "?"  Nowhere to be found.  As the pit in my stomach began to grow I searched everywhere for my bag and couldn't find it.  At first I thought, "someone must have stolen it." Then, "nobody was sitting by me, there's no way anyone could have stolen it."  The bus driver yelled out, "did you lose something?"  I replied,  "Yeah, I lost my bag.  Did someone turn it in?"  She said, "no, I don't remember you carrying a bag when you got on."  Wow, I couldn't believe this is really happening.  I must have left my bag at the train station or even worse, on a train.  With a bewildered look I stepped off the bus feeling like the stupidest person ever to walk the Earth.  How could I have let this happen?

     That bag has my whole professional and academic existence inside of it, my computer, text books, and calculator.  I spent the next few minutes mentally beating myself and kicking a nearby telephone pole.  I decided to do an inventory of my resources and how I might go about solving my predicament.  Hoping my bag will be sitting on the bench unscathed my next thought was to just wait for the next bus to take me back to the train station.  As I'm thinking those very words the bus rolls passed down the street to the train station.  Great, now what am I going to do!  It's getting dark its cold and I have no other alternative than to ride my scooter back to the train station.

     So I crossed the street and and rode with traffic down the hill praying I didn't slip on ice, or get hit by a car, or basically stay alive.  In my head I'm thinking about not dying, and how crazy my life is, and how there is no way my bag will still be sitting there.  I decided to give the prayer of all prayers and said, "If there's anything I ever ask in my whole life I hope that it would be that I find my bag."  With a prayer in my heart I continued on trying to avoid being killed in traffic.

     Out of breath and muscles burning I rode into the parking lot and steered toward the place where I had been searching on my phone for a bus route.  I looked and I searched and looked some more and not to my surprise there was no bag to be found.  Noticing a man standing near the bench where I had been searching I decided to ask, "hey man, have you seen a black bag around here anywhere?"  He replied, "yeah, I saw it and gave it to that bus driver up there."  With hope restored I hurried and rode over to the bus and asked the bus driver if he had a black bag turned in.  He pointed, with a slight smile, to his dashboard.  I looked over and there it was just as I had left it.  Searching inside I found that nothing had been stolen and all was well.  I couldn't believe it.  With a smile on my face I walked to the back of the bus and took a seat still in awe.  From there I was able to make the bus transfers up to the U and was only about 45 minutes late to my first class.

Here's a list of items you may want to consider should you ever find yourself in this situation.

-don't set anything down when riding public transit.
-always bring a scooter where ever you go.
-always have a prayer in your heart.
-approach un-attended bags with caution, they could be bombs.

I hope you liked my true to life story.  Thanks for reading.

Bryce

European Politics Abstract Policy Paper

The Gun Policy in Switzerland 

The topic I’ve chosen to research for my policy paper is the gun policy in Switzerland.  Over the past few years the topic of gun control has been on the forefront of the minds of Americans in light of the recent mass murder at Sandy Hook Elementary.  We ask what can be done to prevent such atrocities from happening again?  This question sparks a conversation between two opposing side with different values and mindsets.  On one side is the position of making access to firearms more difficult thus lessening the potential for would be killers to use less lethal means of killing.  On the other side is the position of making access to firearms less strict to increasing the amount of arms within the population.  With the belief that as more responsible citizens carry arms they will be able discourage potential violence by empowering potential victims and stop the severity of violence as it’s happening to others by intervening.  As these opposing theories battle I often hear the latter side reference Switzerland’s gun policy as a support for their argument. 

          Do the Swiss have the answer to the gun control debate?  Do their policies aid in discouraging gun violence?  My preliminary research suggests that yes their policies and the culture they have created do aid in discouraging gun violence.  The Swiss are unique in that they don’t have a standing army rather the policy of every citizen is a soldier.  When a Swiss male turns 20 they’re required to enlist in Swiss military training including basic combat and firearms training.  During their twenties they’re issued a rifle and are given the option of storing it in the personal residence. Gun rights activists believe the required arms training aids in keeping gun violence to a minimum because it teaches citizens how to safely use them and instills in them a sense patriotic duty and trust.  Control activists argue government issued guns stored inside pose a domestic threat giving thieves and the mentally unstable great potential to use it for negative purposes. Swiss citizens enjoy a unique culture that embraces the use of firearms through private and government sponsored marksmanship competitions.  Parents teach their children gun safety and how to become expert marksman and in doing so they pass along the gun culture on to the next generation.  Gun rights activists use this unique Swiss culture to their advantage by saying it teaches children how to be responsible with guns.  It is my hope in writing my research paper to find out if the Swiss gun control polices are the model for the world to follow.

References that will aid in my research:

1.  Alpers, Philip and Marcus Wilson. 2014. Guns in Switzerland: Firearms, armed violence and gun law. Sydney School of Public Health, The University of Sydney. GunPolicy.org, 17 March. Accessed 23 March 2014. at: http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/region/switzerland

2.  "Firearms-Control Legislation and Policy: Switzerland." Library of Congress Home. N.p., 28 Feb. 2014. Web. 22 Mar. 2014. at:  http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/region/switzerland

3.  Kirby, Emma J. "Switzerland Guns: Living with Firearms the Swiss Way." BBC News. BBC News, 10 Feb. 2013. Web. 21 Mar. 2014.  at:  http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-21379912