Running, Anyone...?

[thedude2340]

Trees must feel so objectified this time of year

Fall brings the eye candy. Very nice.

[stapes]

Be careful Cruiser! Good reminder. I had a few trips/almost spills last weekend to keep me honest. And yea, this weather has been unbelievable.

Bigdude- 99% sure I know that ridge. Lotta options in that area. Big potential. I’m curious how you looped it out. Been geeking out on Google maps and Strava ….

[thedude2340]

Be careful Cruiser! Good reminder. I had a few trips/almost spills last weekend to keep me honest. And yea, this weather has been unbelievable.

Bigdude- 99% sure I know that ridge. Lotta options in that area. Big potential. I’m curious how you looped it out. Been geeking out on Google maps and Strava ….

North Fork>Stormy Peaks Pass>Pingree>Signal back to car

Signal is blown out last few miles, otherwise it was glorious. Would like to try it CCW sometime.

[Buke]

Despite being really under-trained, I took advantage of the weather last weekend and ran the Baker Lake 50k. It's a really nice, chill event. Free camping, good vibes, beautiful out and back course. A good time. I took it really easy and finished slow, but who cares, it was "fun". I saw quite a few Chanterelles and Lobster mushrooms on the trail, and one really cool Amanita.

Miles and miles of rolling single track.


Nice views all along.


Perfect time of year for mushrooms.

[3pin]

It's been a pretty rad summer/fall building on last year, with quite a few 45-50 mile weeks chasing longer trails in the Cascades. Last week's long run found fall giving way to winter with unexpected snow at Chinook Pass. It was a slow but spectacular 24 miles solo around Naches Peak and then PCT to Norse Peak and back. Unfortunately a stupid slip on wet rock the week before resulted in a pretty significant ankle sprain that I'm now nursing, though slower travel and using poles helped keep things steady through a long day. I'm headed to UT for the Moab Trail Marathon in three weeks, so I'm starting the taper soon and crossing fingers that the ankle holds up/strengthens.

[Dantheman]

It's been a good week.

Sunday, said farewell to the alpine for the season and grabbed another descent crown. Tuesday, flew to Kauai. Wednesday, went jugging up sketchy fixed lines on green knife edge ridges. Thursday, hit the Na Pali coast. Shitloads of people and some of humanity's worst attributes on display, but holy hell what a place.

[phatty]

I'll want some of the beta on the Kauai trails! I've done a few sketchy ones out there, but that looks rad!

[Dantheman]

The fixed line trail is Himimanu ridge which is just outside Hanalei Bay. It's on Trailforks. It has a very distinctive double peak you can see from everywhere around town. A lot of the lines are more in the "nice to have" category, but there was one crux section near the top that was legit spicy. Probably 50-60 vert of 50-55 degree greasy clay. Also lots of "green air" sections where it's a sheer drop off the side of trail, but not obviously so since the vegetation grows on vertical faces. Make sure you're stepping on dirt. Also, I brought gloves and was very happy to have them.

What are the sketchy ones you've done? It's my first time here. I don't fly out until Friday and would love some recommendations.

Some more views from the top.

[phatty]

The fixed line trail is Himimanu ridge which is just outside Hanalei Bay. It's on Trailforks. It has a very distinctive double peak you can see from everywhere around town. A lot of the lines are more in the "nice to have" category, but there was one crux section near the top that was legit spicy. Probably 50-60 vert of 50-55 degree greasy clay. Also lots of "green air" sections where it's a sheer drop off the side of trail, but not obviously so since the vegetation grows on vertical faces. Make sure you're stepping on dirt. Also, I brought gloves and was very happy to have them.

What are the sketchy ones you've done? It's my first time here. I don't fly out until Friday and would love some recommendations.

Some more views from the top.

I've heard of that one. I wanted to do it last time I was there, but ran out of time. My favorite "sketchy" one is from the Kalalau Lookout at the top of Waimea Canyon. It looks out over the ridges and fins of the Na Pali Coast. There's a hole in the fence leading to a trail. It's not really sanctioned, but also not "closed". This trail leads down one of the ridges to the best views you can get without being in a helicopter. It's fairly eroded in some spots and you'll have serious exposure. It's easy to find info on the internet about it, so I'm not giving away any real secrets.

[Dantheman]

Sweet, I was looking at that one as well as the other ridge trails in that zone (Awaawapuhi, Nualolo, and Honopu), possibly linking up most or all of them into one big day to justify the drive from Hanalei where we're staying.

[phatty]

Sweet, I was looking at that one as well as the other ridge trails in that zone (Awaawapuhi, Nualolo, and Honopu), possibly linking up most or all of them into one big day to justify the drive from Hanalei where we're staying.

I also did Awaawapuhi and it's awesome. I thought of making a loop as well and hope to when I get back again.

[Dantheman]

Snuck away from the fam for a little bit today and did Sleeping Giant. While not on the same level as Himi or Na Pali the descent was a lot of fun, and my timing at the top was impeccable.

[PeachesNCream]

Probably not quite the sketch and vertical you’re looking for but the trail to Honopu Beach is beautiful. Goes along the beach up and down ridges. First half is more rainforest type and 2nd half is dryer, amazing how fast the climate changes in an island. Crawlers ledge used to be sketchy especially if it was wet but they’ve fixed the trail and now it’s easy peasy. Once you get past the first beach (~3mi) it’s not very busy. Fresh guava along the trail when we were there.




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[SB]

JFK50 on deck

[Cruiser]

Got out for an hour this morning for the first time since my fall and it was freaking glorious. I've really missed it the last few weeks since the weather has been so perfect here along the front range.

[3pin]

I was back in Utah last Saturday to run the Moab Trail Marathon for the second time. Last year I ran it for the first time, and was sort of in survive-and-savor-it mode. It's an awesome, but hard course, with 4,000' of climbing and really rocky, technical trails and occasionally-cliffy descents. It felt good, but I also felt like I could've pushed a bit more. My training was definitely better this year - more volume, more consistency, more vert, more representative terrain. I ticked off a few 20-30 mile runs this fall in the PNW, and felt stronger going into it. But I've only done a couple organized races, and I still wasn't sure how it would translate to a second running.

Race day came, and everything went really well. It was a bit hotter and drier this year, more sand on some of the course, but I felt great overall. Knowing most of the course already helped, and I pushed a lot harder, ran a lot more of the rolling climbs that killed me late last year. My pace still faded a little on all the slickrock climbs towards the end, but I managed a 5:21 finish, cutting 40+ minutes off last year's time. I'm never going to be a really competitive racer, but the improvement was enough to jump from bottom third last year to top third of finishers this year, and I'm pretty pleased with that.

If you're looking for a cool trail race, I highly recommend Moab. It's an amazing course, with spectacular desert scenery and trails.


Cold and dark before the start.


Cresting the first long climb out of Pritchett Canyon


After running the rim above, now the out & back in Hunter Canyon


Going up the big Hurrah Pass climb


The final descent down the Jackson trail, the finish line finally in sight in the distance.

[Dantheman]

Nice work!

[Bronco]

Dawn patrol this AM

stupid photo uploader!

[PeachesNCream]

Cool race 3pin. How much of that race are you walking vs running?


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[ski-wpk]

3pin, I also ran Moab full last year, in 5:50 or so. I’m sure we saw each other on course! Ran the half this year, but will be back to the full in 2024.

PeachesNCream, most of the course is runnable save a one mile, 1,400 vert climb at mile 15. Just slow runnable..

[3pin]

Cool race 3pin. How much of that race are you walking vs running?


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Ski-wpk is right on - running most of the route other than the big Hurrah Pass climb, which is hot, quite steep, and sustained. After the first two big climbs, there’s a fair amount of rolling terrain/climbing, but that’s all runnable and more of a question of how strong the legs feel. A lot of this year’s gains came from running stuff late in the course that I couldn’t last year.

That said, I find the trail very rocky, techy, and slow overall (at least compared to the loamy, mossy PNW). There are some pretty incredible, exposed sections of trail over canyons and down through cliff descents. Sometimes you’re scrambling down sections in traffic and need to go with the flow. I think the most mind-boggling thing to me isn’t the uphill speed, but how fast the winners must be descending that stuff (this year’s winner was something like 3:24 ).

ski-wpk I’m sure we crossed paths somewhere out there, as I was right at 6 hrs last year. Hope you had a good one. I had a lot of extended family running the half this year in support of my BIL, who was back this year after beating cancer.


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[climberevan]

I've been trying to increase my mileage lately, but knee pain has been a problem at around 9 miles. Today I tested a hypothesis: downhill running is the problem.

So the answer: just run uphill and get picked up at the top! I did 15mi/2900' with only a couple of <2 minute dh sections. This is a mellow trail that goes basically from my house to the top of the pass to the west. It was fabulous, and the knee didn't protest at all! I detest shuttling to ride bikes and I don't ride lifts to ski, but reverse shuttling to run is pretty great. Now I'm going to seek out longer trails with the same logistics....

[Dantheman]

Drop a bike at the top. That's a bummer though, running down is fun as shit.

[Viva]

but knee pain has been a problem at around 9 miles.

Where specifically is the pain?

[climberevan]

Drop a bike at the top. That's a bummer though, running down is fun as shit.

Where specifically is the pain?

You're Mr Downhill Runner, it seems. I enjoy it sometimes, usually when it's really technical. But running down mellow trails isn't a loss for me--the pounding has never been fun. The limitation of this uphill-only program is road access at the top of the ridge. I might drop a bike with a moto so I can get to different places. There are a few sweet long uphills here that are also big fun down on a bike.

It's a wrecked meniscus from a failed repair attempt (contemporaneous with an ACL recon) and subsequent additional damage. I've had one resection already and am aware of studies that have shown minimal benefit to having more surgeries, plus it seems like "I can run 15 miles but really want to be able to run 30" is a kind of weird argument for having surgery. I can ride bikes and hike seemingly without limit, though.