Erik's Best Blog Post Picks of 2012

Picking the Best Blog Post of 2012 is kind of like picking my favorite flavor of Ice Cream  All ice cream is excellent , and my 4 or 5 "favorites" are completely different from my family's favorites.  The same holds true for this next nomination.  I am not going to pretend that the nominations are unbiased or will they include a true representation of all the Utah based ultrarunning Bloggers out there.  That's just too much info for me to read and process.  The one criteria I have tried to stay true to is "literary" content.  A post about a performance ending in a spot on the podium or a FKT through some crazy-ass terrain doesn't guarantee that it was a well written post.  I want to find myself seeing, smelling, "living" the author's experience. I want to feel motivated and inspired to push myself and my limits after a good read.  I want to walk away ready to change my behavior, to be a better person, a healthier person, a more whole person.  I want to laugh. I want to finish reading, and get that feeling of that's it.

So, here are my nominations.  I'll include author, title, a link and a line or two from the post to whet your appetite. Read the rest and you be the judge.

Please use the poll on the sidebar to place your vote. Polling will stop on 2/5/2013 at 6:00pm

1) Ben Lewis.  Aquatic Antisocial
The instructor- about 20-  is energetically jumping up and down on the sidelines but the old ladies pay no heed.  They are clustered in 3 small social groups chatting avidly, the water lapping at the hair on the base of their neck so that it hangs down in dark gray tendrils.  They bob slowly up and down effortlessly, legs moving in distracted, desultory circles: giant floating bags of jelly encasing small skeletons of brittle, osteoporotic bones.  


2) Jason Dorais. Salt Lake Skyline Traverse
We were planning on a self supported run with caches along the way.  Once off Olympus we were feeling pretty blown and since we were running by gas stations we figured we'd make it a "pseudo self supported" run and gorge ourselves on store food.  Only problem was the stores were all closed.  Once we had the idea of real food in our minds it was hard to get it out so in a moment of weakness we called Nick and he showed up with 9 double cheeseburgers, 3 large fries and some big drinks.  It was DELICIOUS!

3)Ben Lewis.  Wasatch 100 Race Report 
It is a long, plodding, block-legged, relatively mundane shuffle in the woods experienced predominantly as the increasingly unpleasant and gag-inducing sensation of forcing foil-wrapped simple sugars into your mouth at 20 minute intervals.
What a weird sport.

4) Jared Campbell. Barkley Marathons
Given that I was training for something that would likely involve terrible weather, I now looked forward to running in the worst weather possible as it was an opportunity for some great training.  I watched the forecast and prayed for wet cold-fronts to roll in.  I even had Ryan excited to join me for a good battle up Grandeur in full-on blizzard conditions in full body wet-suits.  Silly.

5)Greg Norrander. Norrander Trail Shots
Even though our self imposed rules state that MRC guys are excluded, this is my post, not really a group effort, and Greg's photos' continually inspire me and capture the essence of why we all hit the trails. Take a look for yourself.