On Saturday, Jesse and I headed to the SCA Trail for my first-ever Ninja Loop. As Jesse has previously described, the Ninja Loop is a Marin trailrunner favorite. The challenging 11.5 mile-route was the perfect workout with the Mt. Tam Trail Run this weekend and the North Face Endurance Challenge less than a month away. We tackled the steep portions of SCA, Miwok, and Tennessee Valley (sections that we will see soon at North Face), and I had a chance to try out my fabulous new running pack.

I was more successful than usual running up steep sections; Jesse noticed that I tend to burn out quickly when running uphill because I try to run my normal pace, so I tried to shorten my stride and slow down a bit, which helped me sustain over a longer period of time. Although we both felt a bit zonked and sore after this run, it was great practice for our upcoming ultras.