To Hell [Hole] and Back Again, Twice

To Hell [Hole] and Back Again, Twice

It was Saturday afternoon, the high was forecast to be around 70 so I couldn’t, in good conscience, not hit the trails. I decided to try out my new trekking poles on the steep climb up the Davis Creek trail area. 4.0 Miles in 1:02:44 @ 15:46 min/mile and 1,791 ft. elevation   I felt strong and did get a PR on the initial climb from the trail head to the split to the first waterfall, but not on the…

Read More Read More

I Messed with Texas (Trails)

I Messed with Texas (Trails)

They lied. Everything is not bigger in Texas. For the last couple weeks I have been down in Austin and San Antonio, Texas, for a couple academic conferences and some research in a few archival repositories.  Fun fun fun. And, rather than sit around bored in my hotel rooms at night when I didn’t have stuff planned with colleagues and friends, I went running. These were three of the sweatiest runs of my life.  Wow.  The humidity.  Overall, it was…

Read More Read More

The Farmington Spine

The Farmington Spine

Ever since I moved to Farmington, UT, about a year ago, I have eying the “Farmington Spine” on maps and as I drive around every day. It is a ridge that runs from the mouth of Farmington Canyon, southeast, and all the way up to the road that connects with Bountiful Peak. I love running ridges, and this one looks like it would be easy to follow to the top. The trail maps show it, and people said it is…

Read More Read More

Avenue Twins in the Morning

Avenue Twins in the Morning

I would like to do this once a week or so – waking up around 5:00 and getting in a good trail run before work. This morning I drove down to City Creek, parked at the Morris Reservoir, and ran the Avenue Twins.  I ran part of the BST up to the back ridge that overlooks City Creek to the north, and then followed that ridge around, East, and up to both of the Avenue Twin Peaks. It was a…

Read More Read More

Working on my Trail Tan

Working on my Trail Tan

It appears that summer temps have arrived.  I ran up the Farmington Creek Trail to the Sunset Campground today and wow, it was hot! I hadn’t taken that trail all the way up yet, and it was a great one – a perfect short run. A little vert, but mostly nice rolling trails – and a fun fast descent on the way back to the car!  Ankle feeling great – ZERO pain – IT bands still acting up around mile…

Read More Read More

Flag Rock with a Friend

Flag Rock with a Friend

On the 24th of July last year, I took a friend and co-worker on my 2nd ever trail “run,” and we hiking up Baer Canyon. It killed us, neither of us was in good enough shape to do it, and probably not coincidentally, he hasn’t joined me on another outing since.  Until tonight!  I took him up to Flag Rock in Farmington which is a short,  but steep hike.  It was a lot of fun – hopefully I can get…

Read More Read More

Successful Dirt Test for my Stress Fracture

Successful Dirt Test for my Stress Fracture

With an official diagnosis of ankle problems, a fibula stress fracture, and a strong suspicion that running on pavement severely aggravates it, I decided to hit the dirt today and test out my theory. I started at the Farmington Pond, ran north on the BST to Shepherd Canyon, up to the Upper Terrace, and took that back to the car. Its a great loop. My left IT band hurt towards the end, but my ankle did not. Often the pain…

Read More Read More

Stress Fracture of my Lower Left Fibula

Stress Fracture of my Lower Left Fibula

So…you know all of that ankle pain I have been whining about since January?  The pain that I thought was my peroneal tendon. Well, I was wrong. With Ragnar behind me and another Ragnar coming this summer, I decided to get serious and go to the doctor. The pain hasn’t really been bad at all. Actually, I only really feel it anymore if I push on it. But, I figured it was worth looking into. The doctor said my tendons…

Read More Read More

To Flirt with Dirt – a Cautionary Tale

To Flirt with Dirt – a Cautionary Tale

I penned this for the kind folks over at Trail and Ultra Running. They run a great site. Get to know it if you haven’t already.   Full disclosure – I am no ultra-runner. I have yet to run an ultra-marathon (or normal marathon) and don’t know if I ever will. But, trail-running in general is taking over my life. It dominates my daydreams, works its way into vacation plans, and surely drives my family nuts. Dirt is a dangerous…

Read More Read More

Inaugural Bushwhack and Bloodletting

Inaugural Bushwhack and Bloodletting

I got home from work and it was just too nice to not go out. My knee was a bit sore, and I knew I would regret it (I don’t) but I went anyways. I was planning on parking at Famrington Pond and running the BST/Farmington Upper Terrace loop, but when I arrived at the canyon I saw that the gates were open. Yeah! Up the canyon I went.I parked at the end of the pavement and ran up the…

Read More Read More