Kathy Simko’s Arizona Trail Trek – Entry 2 – A Shaky Start

Almost everybody has many demands on their time; I am in this group. Long story short, I started the AZT exhausted. Because I was exhausted, I needed some rest and therefore got a late start leaving Tucson for the trailhead in Mexico. Thankfully, I was well organized ahead of time, so it could have been…

How To Select The Best Climbing Shoe

Did you go through a whirlwind of thoughts trying to pick out your first rock climbing shoe? I know that I did, without a doubt. It took me forever! I would go to the gym, and I’m sorry, but there is only so long you want to use a rental shoe. There’s just something about…

Race Wrap Up

8 events, two running packs, one running belt, 4 or 5 pairs of shoes and many lessons learned, it has been a great running season for me. A few mantras carried me down the trail; relentless forward progress, pep talk!, just keep moving, it doesn’t matter if you hurt you have to get back to…

An Easy Overnight Loop On Mount Lemmon

Last week I decided that I really wanted to do some backpacking on Mt. Lemmon. I wanted some water and shade to escape the heat of Tucson and my partner wanted some easy mileage as he had just done 15 miles the day before we headed out. As we approached the Catalina Highway we were…

2014 Old Pueblo 50 mile Endurance Run Report

The morning started for me at 2:30 am with an alarm clock. I managed to get more sleep the night before than I would have guessed considering what was looming for the day. 2 scrambled eggs, one Eggo and a bottle of Gatorade went down quickly and I was off to meet Jeremy Davis for…

San Tan Scramble 50k

I’m sitting, resting after completing the Elephant Mountain 22k, waiting for my girlfriend to come through the first lap of her first 50k enjoying the beautiful weather and recounting the past three races that have lead up to the Old Pueblo 50 mile race one week from today. San Tan Scramble was my first 50k…