Trip Report: Zion 55K Ultra-running
We’re pretty new to the whole ‘organized ultrarunning’ thing. We’ve spent a lot of hours on our feet, moving from point-to-point in the mountains but the act of running an actual race for 30+ miles is something we don’t have a lot of experience doing. When a few of our friends signed up to run the Zion 55K, we jumped on board and attempted to fit a running training schedule into our skiing/climbing-packed weekends. For us, the key to a successful training plan includes a lot of variation. We ran new-to-us trails in Forest Park, scoped out a few climbs in the Columbia River Gorge, and experimented with new gear. The remaining months leading to the race were filled with a few bloody knees, lots of sore muscles, and a couple of purchases. It was all worth it in the end- racing around the desert outside Zion National Park was an incredible experience.
Favorite Places to Run (in the Winter)
- Columbia River Gorge: the Angel’s to Devil’s Rest Loop is a fun 10-mile loop touting ~3,000’ of climbing. We were lucky enough to spend ⅓ of this loop walking/sliding around on 2’ of snow.
- Forest Park: aka our usual training ground. Linking long sections of the flat Wildwood trail with the steep climbs and descents on the Fire Lanes was great training. We even got to scramble up, over, and around the plethora of downed trees that the winter storms took out.
- McDonald-Dunn Forest: we ran a fun, 12-mile loop on the trails just outside of Corvallis, near Lewisburg Saddle. The weather threw its winter might at us- we had everything from light rain to spitting powder snow over the course of this run. Mental preparation at its finest.
- Nike Flex 2-in-1 Women’s Running Shorts
- Salomon Exo Pro Sleeves
- Next Adventure Snapback Hat
- Injini Compression Socks
- Altra Lone Peak 3 Running Shoes
- Dynafit Enduro 12 Backpack
- Ultimate Direction Body Bottle Plus Flasks
- Suunto Ambit 3 Run Watch
- Patagonia Strider Pro Shorts
- Nike Miler Singlet
- Injini Ankle Socks
- Altra Lone Peak 3 Running Shoes
- Nathan SpeedDraw Plus 18oz Water Bottle
- Suunto Ambit 3 Peak Watch