Adventures in Onionism

I just got back from running Scout Mountain 100, my 33rd complete 100-or-more mile race, outside Pocatello, Idaho. I also got to visit with a couple Utah friends since I flew through SLC, so it was a nice weekend. I'd say it's a good, tough course. It was unfortunately very hot (high of 89 in Pocatello Friday, 88 Saturday) and coming relatively early in the season that made the heat feel even worse, likely skewing my view of things. Endless field of mule's ears  The course has three major climbs and several additional smaller ones for 22K vert. Two of the big climbs take you to 8500'+ summits (Old Tom and the eponymous Scout Mountain) which had great views and still had a little snow on them, necessitating some fun glissades on Scout. Views are often open in other places even if you're in foothills rather than alpine terrain.  First Summit, Old Tom Friendly guy (whose name I hope is Tom) with big dogs on summit of Old Tom   The trails were in decent, if not wonderfu...

I recently finished hiking or running every maintained mile of trail in Joshua Tree National Park.  I started this project in spring 2021 when we bought a house two miles from Black Rock campground. I'd thought of trying to do something along these lines back in my thru-hiking days. Simple Google searches indicate Yosemite has " more than 750 miles of trail ," Yellowstone " more than 900 ." Someday I thought I'd spend a summer entirely in one of those parks, Memorial Day to Labor Day, hiking every mile of trail. Bear canisters and permits seem like an issue, but a surmountable obstacle. Memorial Day is early, but not too much worse than my 2004 PCT thru-hike when I left Kennedy Meadows Memorial Day weekend. Perhaps it would be much worse in Yellowstone, but it would be nice to get some time in the parks in early June before mosquito season really ramps up in July.  Cool Of course I have a real job now so I can't spend the entire summer hiking...

I just ran the inaugural Standhope 100 in Ketchum, Idaho. I was very excited for this race--it was billed as an "unforgettable single-loop trek completely circumnavigating the Pioneer Mountain Range of central Idaho" that is "NOT an easy course." I looked at the course map and elevation profile and expected gorgeous views , akin to the Hardrock of Idaho. Instead, I had a 90 degree F 6PM start along several miles of highway shoulder, subpar aid stations, subpar course markings, a lot of gravel road, pavement to the finish, one truly excellent high pass, and a lot of mixed feelings about the race. On the plus side, the race started and ended in downtown Ketchum, which was extremely convenient. I flew to Boise and rented a car, as I wanted to see extended family and visit gf's family inherited property on the trip. However, if you wanted, you could fly direct to Ketchum and you wouldn't even have to rent a car. On the negative side, this meant 4.5 miles of pav...

I ran the Sean O'Brien 100K in Malibu Saturday. Mistakes were made, but I finished. I haven't been training a lot in the last two months since my PR at CIM, and I'm mostly fine with that. It was nice to get my Western States qualifier out of the way early in the year, and it was nice to go to LA and see friends I haven't seen in a while. ("What!? You have an 11-year old kid? Wow, guess I really haven't seen you in a while.") Anyway, the race was nice enough. It's got an 5:00AM start, which is good for getting the second climb in before the heat of the day, even though it made it for an early wake-up and cold start line.    Malibu Morning The course was shortened slightly due to some recent trail damage, so it ended up being under 59 miles. I felt fine, if not exactly fast, through the first 50K. I was on roughly a 12-hour pace and counted something like ~25 runners ahead of me on out and back sections. I thought I'd likely slow down in the second h...

It was confirmed a few days ago that my friend Lucas Horan drowned in the Bay late last month. I first met Lucas in May 2017, when he made a Strava comment on a run of mine. That March, I set out to get back my course record (CR) on the descent from Vollmer Peak down the Claremont ridge to the gate on Stonewall Drive. 3.41 miles with a -7.9% grade, the last 0.68 miles of which are -18.7%. I'd been bombing down the Claremont ridge for 13 years at that point, and aside from the long-since-moved-away grad school friend who'd introduced me to ultra-marathoning, I'd never met anyone who actually thought you could run down the thing, let alone hell for leather on the edge of control. I was successful in my objective, getting the CRs for the full descent and the bottom half back. Many Strava segments are (to my taste) short and uninteresting. To find a 3.41 mile section that is a natural downhill line is a rare treat. For it to be named " The Real Harvey Quadbanger " is ...

Gf and I are back from six days in the Tahoe area. First, why did we ever leave California? We flew to Reno, arrived late and went straight to our hotel. The instant we left the next morning to walk around the riverfront and Midtown areas, we remarked how nice the dry heat and sunshine was. People like to mock Reno, but I dig it. I immediately regretted not bringing my packraft, since between the Truckee and Walker Rivers (the Truckee goes right through downtown Reno), I could have hit some really fun rapids. With a rental car, a second driver, and free checked bags on Southwest, it really was a golden opportunity for easy shuttling and great water. Oh well, hiking and running was plenty. Walking around downtown Reno I thought "it's nice now, but it's probably crazy busy with cars on a regular work day," assuming it was Sunday morning. It was actually Thursday morning, so downtown Reno is apparently just not busy, which is fine by me. We also walked around Midtown, ...

My third straight 34+ hour 100, and it hurt. Actually my fourth, if you count Hardrock 2017, but that wasn't nearly as big a disappointment, since Hardrock is supposed to take me that long--I finished right on my average Ultrasignup score of 70% (winner's time/my time) and a solid 36 place/126 finishers. In the last three races (Grindstone, Massanutten, High Lonesome) I finished 59%, 62%, 64% (Ultrasignup) and place 145/207 (70%), 79/96 (82%), 68/86 (79%). Anyway, cart before horse. What about the race itself? I flew to Denver Wednesday, and drove to Salida Thursday. I showed up at the high school for race check-in and was disappointed to learn that everyone had checked in, meaning I wouldn't be getting in off the waitlist. I spent the next several hours buying and downloading maps and making alternate plans with my would-be pacers. After settling on a plan (the three southernmost 14ers of Nolans Friday and 30 miles of the crest of another range Saturday), getting my da...

Lottery season is upon us. I've gone through different mental phases in the past 9 months or so since I knew I'd be moving to DC. At first, I decided I would survive mentally by becoming fast again. Once upon a time (2004 or so) I was sort of fast, and I ran a 3:00:23 marathon, and those 23 seconds annoy me, especially since I could have broken 3 had I not enjoyed myself too much from mile 24 to 25. I had ~15 minutes for the last 2.2, but the first mile of that was probably my slowest mile of the entire day, and I couldn't make it up in the last 1.2. To get fast again, I would have to run more road, do track workouts, and I probably couldn't bring George along, since he wants to stop and pee all the time. Somehow, I thought this was what I'd want to do in DC, because if trails suck or are nonexistent, then I have to run road, and if I run road, then I might as well do it fast to get it over with. After thinking that for a few months, I started thinking that ma...