With grey clouds in the sky, trails fresh and damp from overnight rains (no dust!) I started the day out with a quick climb up to Flag Rock. The south ascent is about 1,500 ft of climbing over 1.5 miles of trail. I was low on energy, but happy to be up there. When I got home to shower and head to work torrential downpours hit, so I got it in just in time! 3.7 miles in 1:00:47 @ 16:20…
Last year on Pioneer Day, a friend and I tackled Baer Canyon. It was only my 2nd trail run, and we were unprepared and it was rough. I thought I would continue that and make an annual tradition of pushing myself to do unwise things on Pioneer Day. On the top of my trailrun to-do list has been to bag Thurston and Francis Peaks. I have been to both, but only after driving up to Francis and then running the…
Altra was sponsoring an aid station at the inaugural Skyline 50 mile Mountain Marathon, and since my family was out of town, I decided to volunteer. We were stationed at the Public Grove Hollow trail head (FR 620) on Avon Pass Rd. above Eden, UT. It was a gorgeous day and it was fun seeing the runners come through. We were at about mile 12 of the race. After everyone went through, I had also volunteered to sweep the course…
On the Farmington 50 mile Challenge (and associated North Marathon challenge) that I put together there is one section of the route that I was concerned might not be as much of a trail as the satellite image suggested. It is a short traverse from the northernmost (NE of Francis Peak, down the Morgan County side) Smith Creek Lake, west and over the main ridgeline between Morgan and Davis Counties – merging on the other side with the Great Western…
Back in late-April the Mrs. allowed me a 3-months early birthday present – a pair of Altra Olympus trail shoes. I was about to run the Zion Trail Ragnar (read about how much “fun” that was) and hoped that the much raved about max cushioning would help ameliorate impact on some of my over-use injuries. I have now put ~100 miles in them over varied terrain and thought it would be worth a review. Altra Olympus Stack Height – 36…
I am now about a week removed from Ragnar and am starting to assess how the race affected my injury-plagued lower-half. In short, some prior injuries seem fine, some seem bad. IT Bands: Miraculously they didn’t hurt during the race so I am optimistic that all of my daily work on the foam roller is doing the trick. Fingers crossed. Stress Fracture on left Fibula: This didn’t hurt during the race or the day after. But, in the following week…
I am happy to report that I survived the Ragnar Wasatch Back Relay Race. The team consisted of friends and family, many of them more consistent runners that me. Nevertheless, I assumed role of Team Captain (in charge of nagging, mostly) and took the set of legs with the highest mileage. What was I thinking? I was most concerned about the stress fracture on my ankle – which had been feeling great as of late, and my IT band which…
Did I mention that I created a set of trail-running challenges here in Davis County? They showcase some great local trails and are designed for serious trail and ultra runners who want to attempt something unique. A ton of vert and chance to get your name in our hall of fame. If you want to check them out and consider tackling one of them, go here: The Website: http://thefarmington50.wordpress.com The Facebook Page: http://www.facebook.com/Thefarmington50
I wanted to get one last run in before this weekend’s Wasatch Back Ragnar race and tonight was my best chance. I drove up to the Farmington Canyon trail, planning to hike it up to the Sunset Campground and then run down the road for a loop. It went better than anticipated. Amongst the other local trail runners, I’m just about the slowest. On Strava segments, I am usually at the bottom of the leader-board and the only times that…
This week a good friend and colleague – a fellow historian – was in town for a conference and wanted me to take him and his two dogs somewhere beautiful for a trail run. Since we were down in Utah County for the conference, I chose the Box Elder Trail towards the like named Peak. This was my first time up American Fork Canyon and will not be my last. Wow. We started at the Granite Flat Campground and headed…