Here鈥檚 your summer challenge: log 11,000 feet of elevation in 30 days. Work your way up鈥攚alking, running, or hiking鈥攁nd track your cumulative vertical gain in Strava鈥檚 to complete those 11,000 feet. Sound absurd? That depends on your perspective.

From the streets of Manhattan, you鈥檇 need to scale the Empire State Building steps nine times to log 11,000 feet. From the edge of the Grand Canyon, you鈥檇 still need to climb 1,000 feet after doing a round-trip from rim to rim to rim. From Mount Everest Base Camp, 11,000 feet of elevation gets you right below the highest summit in the world.

From your nearest favorite trailhead, 11,000 feet is the right goal if you want to extend your trail running abilities to new heights. That total is just shy of what competitors climb during the Wasatch Mountains UTMB . (There, runners climb 11,318 feet over 31 gnarly miles.) It鈥檚 also attainable when you factor 30 days with the work and family needs of daily life that conspire to keep you from biting off big distances and vertical gains in such epic-sized chunks.

Wherever you live, you can find terrain that burns your glutes, quads, calves, and lungs鈥攅ven if you live in the flatlands, where a climb means heading to stadium stairs at the local high school. Wherever you find your vertical, it鈥檚 worth it, because the feeling you get from answering that challenge is hard to match.

Take it from , a professional ultrarunner and coach who鈥檚 won the famed Pikes Peak Ascent and UTMB Speedgoat 50K: 鈥淟iterally running up a mountain is empowering,鈥� Canaday says. 鈥淚t builds mental toughness and creates confidence.鈥�

Plus, the physical benefits are hard to deny. Running uphill, Canaday notes, can create a great training dynamic where you have less impact force with each step, but you can learn to generate more power with each stride. Not only that, Canaday adds, 鈥淚t鈥檚 an awesome way to challenge the heart and lungs with minimal impact.鈥�

If you want even more rewards, finish Strava鈥檚 HOKA Be the GOAT Challenge (live from July 15 to August 15), and you鈥檒l earn a Speedgoat 6 digital badge and a special gift mailed directly from Hoka. If you go big and log the most overall elevation gain over the challenge鈥檚 30 days, you鈥檒l claim a year鈥檚 supply (12 pairs!) of Hoka trail running shoes, a trophy to commemorate your victory, plus a free entry to any one of the following U.S. : , , , , and .

And if you live in , , , or , you can level up the fitness test鈥攁nd your prize chances鈥攚ith Strava鈥檚 . Take on your local running community by completing the most reps of your local hill climb over 30 days. The men鈥檚 and women鈥檚 entrants who log the most reps on that climb also win entry into a 2025 U.S. UTMB race of their choice.

Live elsewhere? What鈥檚 the tallest climb in your area? Have you run or hiked it? Probably not as much as possible within a 30-day period. This challenge is your summer call to elevate.

Up and Away: Claim Some Serious Vert at the Steepest, Most Destination-Worthy Routes for Incline Training

Cactus to Clouds Trail, aka Skyline Route鈥擯alm Springs, CA

20.3 miles; 10,715 feet total elevation gain

Plan accordingly for extreme temperature swings on this leg-burning point-to-point from the desert floor to alpine wilderness.

Manitou Incline鈥擬anitou Springs, CO

1-mile climb (4 miles round-trip); 2,000 feet total elevation gain

This is a direct staircase climb (loop back from top via the three-mile Barr Trail descent) that鈥檚 popular among locals and visitors. Reservations are required.

Adirondacks High Peaks Circuit鈥擭ewcomb, NY

Mileage and total elevation gain varies depending on mountain(s) climbed.聽

Of the 46 Adirondack High Peaks (above 4,000 feet), only about half have designated trails. The highest peak, Mount Marcy (5,344 feet), offers 3,166 feet of elevation gain over 14.8 miles.

Mahoosuc Traverse鈥擜ndover, ME

30.4 miles; 10,577 feet total elevation gain

Due to giant boulders that require scrambling over and squeezing between, this point-to-point is known as the hardest single mile on the Appalachian Trail.

Slickrock Creek Trail鈥擱obbinsville, NC

12.1 miles; 4,337 feet total elevation gain聽

Numerous stream crossings help cool off hikers along the steep and taxing wilderness out-and-back that locals lovingly refer to as 鈥渢he Ballbuster.鈥�

Mount Shasta, Avalanche Gulch Route鈥擬ount Shasta, CA

10.1 miles; 7,217 feet total elevation gain

Though it鈥檚 a technical out-and-back that requires an ice axe, crampons, helmet, and skills (guide recommended), this route caters to beginner mountaineers seeking the 14,180-foot summit of this volcanic icon.

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HOKA庐 is one of the fastest-growing performance footwear and apparel brands in history. Conceived in the mountains, HOKA footwear delivers an unprecedented combination of enhanced cushioning and support for a uniquely smooth ride. Every day, HOKA pushes the innovation and design of its footwear and apparel by teaming up with a deep roster of world champions, tastemakers, and everyday athletes. From finish lines to everyday life, HOKA fans love the brand for its bold and unexpected approach and its belief in the power of humanity to create change for a better world. HOKA empowers a world of athletes to fly over the earth. For more information, visit or follow @HOKA. #FlyHumanFly

The post Is This Running Challenge Ridiculously Hard, Ridiculously Fun, or Both? appeared first on 国产吃瓜黑料 Online.

It鈥檚 been a busy summer for Heather Jackson. That might have something to do with the fact that she鈥檚 a professional athlete in two sports: ultrarunning and gravel cycling. She placed fifth in the 200-mile Unbound Gravel Race across Kansas in early June. Weeks later, she ran her way to a seventh-place finish at the . She trains in both sports daily, often spending four or five hours in the morning either on the bike or on foot, then switching to the other sport for an easier effort before dinner.

Despite that rigorous routine, Jackson says it could be worse, having spent 15 years as a professional triathlete who nabbed a pair of Ironman 70.3 World Championship podium finishes in 2012 and 2013. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a little bit easier with just riding and running,鈥� she says. 鈥淚 actually have one less sport to work on.鈥�

Plus, the two disciplines complement each other well. 鈥淚鈥檓 still balancing the two [sports] and kind of blocking them out depending on what event is next,鈥� Jackson says, 鈥渂ut I mostly just continue to do both each day.鈥� The longer daylight hours certainly help to maximize summer days, as does the outdoor versatility of the new Hoka , Jackson鈥檚 training shoe of choice. The nicer weather doesn鈥檛 hurt either, especially when it comes to getting family and friends outside before, after鈥攁nd even during鈥攈er training to add some variety and fun to the double duty.

The 40-year-old has been an athlete her entire life, which she chalks up to her mother, who was a gym teacher in New Hampshire. 鈥淪he had us in pretty much everything,鈥� says Jackson. From tennis to basketball, lacrosse to horseback riding, Jackson鈥檚 not kidding about the 鈥渆verything鈥� part. 鈥淚t was soccer and hockey that I excelled at and loved the most,鈥� she explains. Jackson played ice hockey for Princeton and was close to making the 2006 Olympic hockey team before making the shift to triathlon.

Since switching from the regimented training of Ironman-distance road triathlons to gravel riding and trail running, Jackson says she loves not having to target a specific pace for every workout. 鈥淵ou鈥檙e climbing a canyon in Western States and you鈥檙e doing a 15-minute mile, but it鈥檚 irrelevant,鈥� she says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 more like, 鈥榃hat can you do to get up this terrain?鈥� It鈥檚 freeing.鈥�

Jackson鈥檚 first 100-mile race was Arizona鈥檚 Javelina Jundred, in which she placed fifth in 2022 before winning it in 2023. She also started gravel racing in 2023 and has seen pretty much immediate success. 鈥淭hese two new sports are so fun,鈥� she says. 鈥淓very single run and every single race is different terrain鈥攜ou鈥檙e not staring at a watch. I now just get to be outside and see so many new places. Every day is new,鈥� she says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 refreshing.鈥�

Living most of the year in Bend, Oregon, and training in Tucson, Arizona, during late winter and early spring, makes the most of her environment. While she skate-skis, runs, and snowshoe runs in the winter months, she鈥檚 recently been out on dirt almost every waking moment.

 

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鈥淲e have such good summer weather,鈥� she says, 鈥渢hat I try to combine gravel riding and trail running with being outside, literally, as much as possible.鈥� She and her husband and friends often go camping on weekends. They鈥檒l all head out for their own rides or runs and then reconvene at the campsite. Or they鈥檒l explore the many lakes in the wilderness areas surrounding Bend or nab last-minute backcountry permits to play on new trail systems.

鈥淢y sister grabbed a permit for the Green Lakes area one day,鈥� Jackson explains. 鈥淪o it was like, 鈥極K, cool, tomorrow鈥檚 a run day.鈥欌€� She says she feels fortunate to have both family and friends to go run trails or ride anything from Mount Bachelor to Smith Rock. Her parents recently moved to the Bend area and frequently do a ten-mile mountain bike loop, and Jackson will run alongside them.

Later this summer, Jackson will head to France, where she鈥檒l run one of the UTMB races, either the 50K OCC (which she ran last summer), the 100K CCC, or the 106-mile UTMB. While she raced Western States in the Hoka Tecton X 2.5 (a prototype version of the Tecton X 3), she鈥檒l be wearing the new Hoka Speedgoat 6 in the rugged Alps.

鈥淭o have the grip of the new Speedgoats is huge,鈥� Jackson says, referring to the updated outsole that features Vibram Megagrip and toothier lugs than the Speedgoat 5. 鈥淚鈥檒l wear the to hike Mount Bachelor and other rugged terrain around here鈥攁nd for camping and just kicking around in the dirt,鈥� Jackson says of the perfect shoe for being outside all summer long.

HOKA is one of the fastest-growing performance footwear and apparel brands in history. Conceived in the mountains, HOKA footwear delivers an unprecedented combination of enhanced cushioning and support for a uniquely smooth ride. Every day, HOKA pushes the innovation and design of its footwear and apparel by teaming up with a deep roster of world champions, tastemakers, and everyday athletes. From finish lines to everyday life, HOKA fans love the brand for its bold and unexpected approach and its belief in the power of humanity to create change for a better world. HOKA empowers a world of athletes to fly over the earth. For more information, visit or follow @HOKA.

The post How Ultrarunning鈥檚 Two-Sport Pro Gets the Most out of Summer appeared first on 国产吃瓜黑料 Online.