AM - Jackalope. If Hell was a single trail, this would be it. You gain about over 1000ft in the 3.8 mile ascent of nothing but loose rock, extremely steep hills, and overgrowth everywhere. I've ran probably near 7,500 miles in Vernal, and I'd rate this the most difficult path I've traversed. And in the next two miles you lose nearly all the elevation you gained in a trail so treacherous that attempting even normal easy run pace would guarantee broken ankles. On top of all that, windy and snowing! I make it sound terrible, but at the same time I love it. The view at the peak, looking at all of the mountain ranges below you, it's astounding. I'll make an effort to do this every week because it's a great workout. It took me 34 minutes to run up the 3.8 miles, and the 4.2 miles back took 25 minutes. The only reason the descent was that quick was because I hit a semi flat single trail with less sharp turns than usual, so I just kept speeding up and split a 5:20 for the third mile. I was happy with that because it wasn't downhill at all, and I hit a 2:48 at the half mile so the next half mile was 2:32. Kept the momentum going and jogged a mile at the corral. My heart rate never got above 148 so maybe I'm starting to get fit.
PM - easy 3.
| 