tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-90317958124961325592024-02-06T19:11:54.570-07:00Run JunkieHank Darthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16168709676047000763noreply@blogger.comBlogger363125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9031795812496132559.post-76837736866631867162019-08-01T08:08:00.002-06:002019-08-01T08:09:13.802-06:00Returning to the 100 at the Tahoe Rim Trail Endurance RacesWhat had to have been one of the busiest aid station decks in US ultra running had turned into one of the quietest. It was my second trip through the base lodge of Diamond Peak ski area, on lap two of the Tahoe Rim Trail 100 miler, and the throngs of cheering family, friends, crew, and aid station volunteers that had been there at high noon on my first time through had vanished, distilled down toHank Darthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16168709676047000763noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9031795812496132559.post-26217154821343145682019-01-30T07:13:00.000-07:002019-01-30T07:26:16.489-07:0001.29.19
Old cistern near the base of Carbonate Mountain, overlooking Hailey, Idaho.
Date:
01.29.19
Time:
6:01 pm
Activity:
Road run to Carbonate, then compact snow on ridge and switchbacks
Distance:
6 miles
Gear:
Icebug Aurora (spiked); Black Diamond Z Poles
Audio:
Morning Shakeout - "Devon Yanko" (***** highly recommended)
Sensations:
Felt spry, especially compared to the day before.
Hank Darthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16168709676047000763noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9031795812496132559.post-4677165836102573932019-01-28T22:56:00.002-07:002019-01-30T07:13:43.081-07:0001.28.19Date:
01.28.19
Time:
5:45 pm
Activity:
Road run on Nordic path and snowy/icy roads
Distance:
5 miles
Gear:
Inov-8 Roclite 315 GTX
Audio:
Pod Save America - "America Runs on Dunkin'"
Sensations:
Slow but not easy. Had to walk 25 minutes from exertional hypoglycemia. Things adjusted and felt good for last 20 minutes. Patellar tendonitis sore at start but only Hank Darthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16168709676047000763noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9031795812496132559.post-76755038260823617292019-01-27T21:25:00.001-07:002019-01-27T21:29:10.540-07:0001.27.19
Elkhorn bike path heading down to the Morningstar loop. Sun Valley, Idaho.
Date: 01.27.19Time:8:56 amActivity: Road run on snowy and icy pathsDistance: 20.1 milesGear: Arcteryx Norvan LD; Osprey Duro 6L; Maurten 320Audio:
Ear Hustle - "Firsts;" CITIUS Mag - "Jim Walmsley on Qualifying for the Olympic Trials"Sensations:
First run in seven days after being sick. Easy Hank Darthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16168709676047000763noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9031795812496132559.post-79548429855209758122019-01-20T11:09:00.000-07:002019-01-27T21:29:10.553-07:0001.20.19
Ezra Pound Birthplace. Hailey, Idaho.
Date: 01.20.19Time:9:04 amActivity: Road run on more new snow.Distance: 6.4 milesGear: Ice Bug Aurora (spiked)Audio: Rob & Akiva Need a Podcast - "#19 Conspirapod"Sensations: Easy to moderate effort. Felt good considering yesterday.Overarching thoughts:Really fun podcast episode, with Antonio Mazzaro joining Rob and Akiva in a discussion and Hank Darthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16168709676047000763noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9031795812496132559.post-83869643129279586952019-01-19T18:14:00.002-07:002019-01-27T21:29:10.565-07:0001.19.19
Date:
01.19.19
Time:
4:09 am
Activity:
Double Baldy - Twice up and down Sun Valley ski hill. Added a little bouldering afterward (photo)
Distance:
12.4 miles
Gear:
La Sportiva Wildcats GTX; Kahtoola KTS crampons; Hammer Perpetuem (chocolate), Gu Gel (vanilla); Honey Stinger Energy Chews (fruit smoothie)
Audio:
Amicus - "We're Back to Where Mueller Began: Counterintelligence;" Hank Darthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16168709676047000763noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9031795812496132559.post-40678695255307450062019-01-18T21:36:00.001-07:002019-01-27T21:29:10.504-07:0001.18.19
Date:
01.18.19
Time:
4:30pm
Activity:
Run on Nordic ski trail
Distance:
3.3 miles
Gear:
Inov-8 Roclite 275 Graphene
Audio:
Marathon Investigations - "Sabrina Little"
Sensations:
Took a little while to get going after bouldering, then felt fine. Just an easy shakeout on soft snow to finish up the week.
Overarching thoughts:Hank Darthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16168709676047000763noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9031795812496132559.post-70179944540337996422019-01-17T20:27:00.000-07:002019-01-27T21:29:10.528-07:0001.17.19
Date:
01.17.19
Time:
5:00pm
Activity:
Snowy road run
Distance:
7.2 miles
Gear:
Hoka Speedgoat 3; Black Diamond Spot
Audio:
Slate Political Gabfest - "The 'Pocketing Your Notes' Edition," Talk Ultra - "Camille Herron and Tyler Curley"
Sensations:
Slow conditions, with ice, compact snow, and loose snow after overnight storm, but Hank Darthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16168709676047000763noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9031795812496132559.post-46036076853332603532018-11-04T08:14:00.002-07:002018-11-04T21:48:34.516-07:00Closing Out an Adjusted Season at the Elk-Kings 50k
It's been another strange season.
As usual, it started out with big plans - a return to the Big Horn 100 in June. But some pretty severe hamstring tendinopathy forced me into eight weeks off mid-winter and scuttled those plans. Perhaps a decade ago, I'd have had the training volume to toe the line at Big Horn undercooked and with reduced time goals, but these days I needed some solid, Hank Darthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16168709676047000763noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9031795812496132559.post-18878348973769831882017-12-31T08:17:00.001-07:002017-12-31T11:19:50.859-07:00Run of 2017: Torno to Bellagio via Lake Como's Dorsale del Triangolo Lariano Trail
Like any ultrarunner, my 2017 was punctuated by some epic outings. There was the 30-mile February training run in near-blizzard conditions. There was the trip around the "original world" of the Alice-Toxaway loop in the Sawtooth Wilderness. And there was my return, after a nine year absence, to the 100k distance at Gorge Waterfalls.
Each of these holds a specialHank Darthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16168709676047000763noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9031795812496132559.post-35907528024243521122017-09-04T18:52:00.000-06:002017-09-04T19:00:03.677-06:00Seeing the "original world" on the Alice - Toxaway Loop in the Sawtooth Wildernress"I wanted to see the original world." Those words passed through my ear buds while I was listening to the New Yorker Radio Hour podcast around mile five of my 19 mile outing this Saturday around the Alice-Toxaway Loop in the Sawtooth Wilderness of Idaho. Though the writer, Jon Lee Anderson, used those words to describe what drove him to visit isolated and largely unchanged-by-timeHank Darthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16168709676047000763noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9031795812496132559.post-91314601924446233212017-06-08T15:42:00.000-06:002017-06-08T15:51:28.209-06:00Breakfast of Lupine & Hill Repeats
If it's Thursday morning, it's time for speedwork. This week, the usual suspects settled on hill repeats and took to the dirt road that climbs up the backside of Colorado Gulch here in Hailey, Idaho. Instead of the usual sprint up/jog down repeats, we did 30 seconds on and 60 off, continuing steadily up the climb all the while trying to enjoy the lupine-carpeted hillsides along the Hank Darthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16168709676047000763noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9031795812496132559.post-16107790208853965062017-05-25T21:40:00.003-06:002017-05-30T07:05:42.973-06:00Rumination: Early-Evening-Into-Twilight Miles
Tonight in Quigley Canyon.
Often the hardest time to get out for a run for me is the very end of the day. After finishing work, after shuttling kids, after shopping, and after making dinner - and sometimes even cleaning up. It's strange that it can be so hard, because this time of year, as the days extend toward the equinox, those early-evening-into-twilight miles can be the most Hank Darthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16168709676047000763noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9031795812496132559.post-34630305103894556322017-05-25T07:54:00.000-06:002017-05-25T12:56:15.703-06:00RJ Review: Ultimate Direction PB Adventure Vest 3.0
If you run long - really long - and in varied conditions, it'd be hard to go wrong with the Ultimate Direction PB Adventure Vest 3.0. It's light; it's comfortable; and with its 16L capacity and 12+ pockets, it can carry everything you need (and then some) for an all-day training run over five mountain passes - and likely back again.
I've been running in the PB 3.0 (MSRP $Hank Darthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16168709676047000763noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9031795812496132559.post-48747603001576907542017-05-18T21:16:00.003-06:002017-05-18T21:58:54.457-06:00"Holy sh##! They're sprinting!" - My Return to Speedwork
Enjoying the cool down after the shock of Colorado Gulch hill repeats.
With five weeks behind me since my slow-but-generally-positive-finish at Gorge Waterfalls 100k, I'm starting to re-build the volume and address some of the weak areas the early season has highlighted. The two most pressing both have to do with speed - or lack thereof: descending pace and flatland pace.
Never a fantastic Hank Darthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16168709676047000763noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9031795812496132559.post-79198061108172384862016-06-24T17:16:00.000-06:002016-06-24T18:01:54.002-06:00That Good Tired
Descending toward Summit Creek from Phi Kappa. Pioneer Mountains, Idaho.
It's been a while since I've had that good, tired feeling -- the kind you get from a big training block, from pushing things maybe just a little bit too far. And I'm settling into it nicely. Yes, waking up is that much slower, and the lawn grows that much longer before I get to cutting it, but it all feels Hank Darthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16168709676047000763noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9031795812496132559.post-58266237951927173282016-06-10T14:07:00.000-06:002016-06-11T08:10:59.523-06:00More Elemental
There's something more elemental this season -- as if each stride I take is newly weighted with meaning that I don't completely understand.
Photo: Fox Creek loop, Sun Valley, Idaho
Hank Darthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16168709676047000763noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9031795812496132559.post-76665003255454069012014-09-09T06:38:00.001-06:002014-09-09T21:29:56.717-06:00Running the Touchstone Alice/Toxaway Loop in the Sawtooth Mountains
Twin Lakes from Snowyside Pass
It was in September of 2008 and shortly after my humbling DNF at the Grand Teton 50 (or Teton 45, as it is now indelibly and often referred to) that I first ran the Alice/Toxaway Lakes loop in the Sawtooth Mountains. With a sense of urgency, Brad Mitchell, AJW, and I had wanted to get together for a long run in the high country before the passes were shut Hank Darthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16168709676047000763noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9031795812496132559.post-81142171785724977232014-09-02T22:01:00.001-06:002014-09-02T22:16:55.299-06:00With Fall (and Potentially Snow) in the Air, a Trip Up to Hyndman Peak
With snow having dumped once already this summer in the high peaks and basins, it seemed that if I were going to fit in Hydnman Peak this season (elev 12,008 ft), it needed to happen sooner rather than later. So when the opportunity opened up Labor Day morning, I packed my Houdini, a PB and Nutella, and SteriPen, and headed for the trailhead.
Though the outing isn't epic in distance Hank Darthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16168709676047000763noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9031795812496132559.post-30004639711178447512014-08-29T22:35:00.000-06:002014-09-02T23:18:00.101-06:00A Meditation on Filling Bottles (20-second Video)
We all have our special spots in the backcountry. Those places that speak to us at some elemental level, and though we may not fully understand why the place is so special to us, we simply know - simply feel - that it is.
This little pool on the North Fork of Hyndman Creek is one such place to me. There are thousands just like it throughout the Valley, but to me it is Hank Darthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16168709676047000763noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9031795812496132559.post-1789907900352036702014-03-01T12:40:00.001-07:002014-03-01T12:46:54.006-07:00Looking Ahead to the Summer Solstice at the River of No Return 100kWhile not quite drunk with success from my outing at the Red Hot 55k - given the slow time and low placing - I did come home from Moab feeling buoyed. Running's been tough the past number of seasons with injury after injury, and I came away from Red Hot feeling some possibility of a more normal season in 2014. Exactly what that means will become clear over the next couple of months, Hank Darthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16168709676047000763noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9031795812496132559.post-82906214017344685422014-02-17T07:13:00.000-07:002014-02-18T11:57:45.318-07:00Warming Up at the Red Hot 55k (Plus Photos)
Thirty-four miles on the striking red earth and slickrock of the Red Hot 55k seemed like a great reason to end the too-long hiatus from posting to Run Junkie. I don't have any great excuse for the sustained void, except for some ping-ponging moderate injuries (left knee, right knee, Achilles, hamstrings, and back again) that sent me for yet another season largely into the arms of Hank Darthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16168709676047000763noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9031795812496132559.post-72237771451057305752013-05-27T09:28:00.001-06:002013-05-27T09:33:40.083-06:00Recon of the Hyndman Basin in the Pioneer Mountains (Photos)The Hyndman Basin in the Pioneer Mountains near Sun Valley (Idaho) is one of my favorite places on earth. For being not too far off the beaten path, it has a lonesome beauty and primordial feel that makes it stand out even amongst the grandeur of the Northern Rockies where it rests. It's also a great destination for trail and ultrarunners needing or wanting to get in some stout miles.Hank Darthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16168709676047000763noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9031795812496132559.post-21891709106036326662013-04-26T21:35:00.001-06:002013-04-26T21:35:28.797-06:00Dog Days of Spring
Felled by a bad cold for far too many days this week, I finally made it back onto some dirt with our ever ready dog. We were both a bit slow, both a bit tired (notice the tongue), but we enjoyed the early evening - tapping out a nice rhythm on the way home down Quigley Canyon.
Hank Darthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16168709676047000763noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9031795812496132559.post-47859856915138129492013-04-24T21:49:00.002-06:002013-04-24T21:57:53.007-06:00Science Wire: New Study Details Risk of Taking Pain Medication Before Endurance Running RacesA new study published last week in British Medical Journal: Open adds more evidence to the dangers of taking pain relief medication before a long running event.
German researchers studied 3900 runners of the Bonn Marathon and Half Marathon, asking them to report their pain medication use before the event and any adverse events experienced during or after the race.
Half of the runners Hank Darthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16168709676047000763noreply@blogger.com1