It wouldn’t be a trip home to Montana if my mom wasn’t pestering me to go hiking with her.  I used to absolutely despise hiking with my parents (refer to the “About Me” page), but now I quite like it.  It presents a great opportunity to get outside and enjoy the outdoors, as well as either cross-train by hiking or get in an intense hill/altitude run.  Due to all the late spring and early summer snows this year we were a bit limited on where we could hike free of snow last week.  We settled on 8245 ft Garnet Mountain in Gallatin National Forest between Bozeman and Big Sky. Since I had only been running for a few weeks since returning from New Zealand and Australia I was unsure of where my fitness level was and how much of an effect the altitude and the 1900 ft elevation gain would have on me.  I also wasn’t too sure how long the trail was.  Consequently I decided to just run for as long as I could (preferably all the way to the top) without wearing myself out too much of making myself too sore for my 10 mile long run two days later.  Given the trail was uphill 95% of the way, I ran very…very…slowly.  Like many particularly long or steep runs, the main challenge was to just keep going.  It took me exactly 1 hr to run up to the last 1/2 mile of the 4-5 mile trail (still not sure of exact distance).  I did a quick experiment and decided that the last 1/2 mile was too steep to run since I could probably hike it faster, however I still hiked quickly and on the balls of my feet so as to simulate running uphill.  Upon reaching the summit and taking in the amazing views for all 5 minutes I headed down (walking) until I met my mom and hiked the very steep last 1/2 mile again with her.  What a good daughter I am.  I briefly considered running down but decided to save my IT band, hip, and quads from that additional strain as this had already been much more grueling than my usual midweek runs.

I realize that trail/mountain running isn’t a convenient option for most urban runners but that won’t stop me from touting its effectiveness.  Not only is it a more rigorous test of willpower than city running, but it makes other terrain seem like a piece of cake.  My confidence and fitness level going into the hilly San Francisco Half Marathon in two weeks is much higher than it would be had I not challenged myself to hoof it up Garnet Mountain.  I truly think that runners can still benefit, especially from improved mental toughness, even if they only run a couple mountain trails a year.  If nothing else, trail running and hiking is a refreshing change from running the same streets and urban trails in the city.  I probably won’t get in another legitimate mountain run before I leave Montana but I hope to find some trails in and around San Francisco to challenge myself on when I return.  Stay tuned…

The north side of Garnet Mountain, as seen from neighboring Storm Castle Peak.