Adventures in Onionism

  Just a little bit hotter and a little bit worse! I finished my second Hardrock last week. It was a fun experience. I ran 1 hour 47 minutes slower than my 2017 time (in the same counter-clockwise direction) but it was a million degrees hotter, the course is two miles longer, and I took an additional 1.6-mile wrong turn. I placed essentially the same: 35th this time, 36th last time. I feel like I normally finish as the median runner, but when the going gets  very  tough, I do relatively better. I think the easiest explanation might just be that elevation wrecks some really good runners and I barely notice it up to 13,000 feet. Thanks, genetics. Or, when a race is high enough and steep enough that almost everyone is hiking, I'm a relatively fast hiker with better endurance. Regardless, it worked out reasonably well for me again. Training I've been telling myself since last October that I should hire a coach to write a training plan for me, or at least write a plan myself. ...

After camping in Black Canyon, I took the Tomichi route to the bottom of the canyon. Under a mile, with ~1,900 feet of vertical, all scree. Kinda stupid, but I had a moment of peace at the river, and the climb out was a nice workout, as expected.    Gunnison River I was in and out in under two hours, drove the rest of the south rim, and then headed back through Montrose, Ouray, and Silverton to Cunningham Gulch to camp. I climbed Little Giant to get my daily 13er, and enjoyed a campfire with friends. Saturday I climbed Little Giant again and made a loop out of it down to Silver Lake, out the south of that basin over a pass, then around and up Deer Park Creek between Whitehead and Rhoda peaks, down to Highland Mary Lakes and back to the campsite. I summited Rhoda peak again--I think I already did it my first day in Cunningham Gulch, but the 5 or 6 maps I have of the area are all inconsistent about which peaks are named and which trails still exist. The loop was only 12 miles ...

Camped with two friends (both of whom have partners named Amy) in Black Canyon NP. I've been by here at least two other times but never came in because I always had a dog with me. (I should've driven in--views from the road are great.) Anyway I'm here now and have a permit to do one of the wilderness routes down to the river tomorrow. I ran up Richmond Pass to Hayden Peak this morning and ran into none other than Karl Speedgoat Meltzer on the trail. (I felt much less bad when I realized it was him who was gaining on me!) I also did a few miles on Bear Creek outside Ouray (great views!) Yesterday I did 13 miles out the end of Cunningham Gulch and climbed Whitehead Peak.  I've spent time dealing with race prep stuff that isn't exactly fun, and some bills and stuff online from the coffee shop that's mildly stressful, but I've done two 13ers and I'm really quite tired in a good way. It's gorgeous out here and I've met some nice fellow runners. 

I had a great time watching the Western States 2025 this past weekend. I woke up at 3am to drive up to Olympic Village, where I got some free pre-race coffee before hiking up the escarpment with Nano. We saw a few acquaintances at the top and continued just over the bump to maybe be the furthest along spectators.  The runners came by, David Roche in the lead, and GOAT Kilian Jornet the only elite smiling. Then I recognized a few friends, and then somebody recognized *me*, which was crazy since I wasn't the one wearing a bib with my name on it. "Garret Christensen! I'm an [X] graduate, we went to undergrad together." "Uhh... Stalk me on Strava!" "I already tried that!" All as he was running by. I was able to figure out his name from his bib and the race roster, but it doesn't ring a bell and we haven't yet communicated to figure out what classes we had together. Nano and I ran a nice look with the Granite Chief Trail, and then drove over to ...