Elinor Fish on the Lunch Loops in Grand Junction

Thanks to my amazing husband, I was able to get away for a trail running weekend with two of my best friends – Elinor Fish and Joy Schneiter. We wanted to stay somewhat close to home minimizing our time in the car and therefore maximizing our time on the trail. So Fruita it was.

I have spent a bunch of time in Fruita over the past thirteen years but most of it has been on my mountain bike. Between rides and after teaching mountain bike clinics, I have thrown in a few trail runs in the area. This time I didn’t even bring my bike.

My Newton trail shoes arrived Friday afternoon so I went for a quick road run with the kids in the Chariot to make sure they fit before spending much of Saturday wearing them.

Starting on the trail just after noon was perfect as the temperature had warmed up to about 40 degrees and some of the clouds had burned off. We headed up Moore Fun heading east with Jari Kirkland joining the moms for some gossiping. As Jari headed back for some time on her bike, Joy, Elinor and myself talked nonstop while relishing in the technical running. Finishing up Moore Fun, we continued on Mary’s Loop and dropped down into Horsethief Bench – one of my favorites for riding.

All smiles, we completed Mary’s and stopped back at the car to fill our bottles and grab a

Joy & Elinor on Mary's Loop above the Colorado River

Honey Stinger waffle – yum! I had brought some old trail shoes thinking I may change out of the brand new Newtons at this point but they felt great so we were in and out of our personal aid station and headed up Mack Ridge. Unsure if we were up for another hour and a half, we decided we would go to the top of Mack Ridge and then decide if we wanted to continue around Lion’s or just head back down. If you know the three of us, of course we kept going.

We finished a fun, relaxed 21 miles of awesome technical running in about 3 hours 50 minutes. No records were broken but good times were had by all with the best part still to come – pizza at the Hot Tomato.

Wanting to get home to let all the dads get out for some of their own fun, Joy, El and I briefly explored the Lunch Loops in Grand Junction on our way home on Sunday. More amazing trails with miles and miles still to be explored. I guess we need to get back for another moms weekend away!

My Newton Trail Trainers halfway through Saturday's run

Myself & Elinor on the Lunch Loops

Joy & I enjoying the trail

The creepy bug hanging at the car. Not sure what it is but I made Joy take the picture because I didn't want to get that close.