Day 1  |  Powerful Posture

Your Moab running retreat begins at 2:00 pm at  Red Cliffs Lodge. After checking in and settling into your room, we’ll have an official welcome orientation meeting, during which your retreat leader will review what’s in store for the upcoming days and answer your questions. After the meeting, we’ll carpool (kindly asking for volunteers) to a nearby trail for our first group run. After a short warm up, we’ll pause and practice the key elements of the Power Posture, after which we’ll put these tips into practice during our relaxed shake out run. After freshening up back at the lodge, we’ll enjoy a fresh-prepared meal at the Red Cliffs Lodge’s Cowboy Grill.
Time on trail (including stops and clinic): 60 – 90 minutes 

Day 2  |   Riverview Run

We begin the day with breakfast at the lodge, then meet our guides and drive to the trailhead of today’s run that will eventually take us along the Colorado River. Near the run’s start, our second Natural Running Form Clinic will give you the secret to using breath to regulate pace and efficiency while running uphill. These simple techniques will help us during today’s scenic and rewarding trail run past ancient petroglyphs carved into the rock by the Anasazi people. Today’s run, a 9-mile loop with a long climb in the first half, is actually the most challenging. But your efforts will be rewarded in the second half, which is largely downhill and includes some incredible views over the Colorado River (this run does include brief exposure to heights).
Upon finishing, we’ll enjoy a casual picnic lunch, then drive back to the Red Cliffs Lodge for some downtime. Late afternoon we’ll ask for new volunteers to help us carpool into town for a restorative yoga class for runners (no experience necessary!), followed by dinner at one of Moab’s trendiest downtown restaurants.
Time on trail (including stops): 3 – 4 hours

Day 3  |  Mindful Form at Navajo Rocks

After breakfast at the lodge, we’ll meet our guides again and drive to the Navajo Rocks Trails. Upon arrival at the trailhead, we’ll have our third Mindful Running clinic, then begin our run through some of Moab’s iconic landscapes, including cliffs, monoliths and sage brush. At the halfway point, you may opt to end your run here, or extend your run for another hour or so on rolling trails over sand and rock. Once we return to Red Cliffs Lodge, we’ll have a casual BBQ lunch on the River Deck, followed by free time to freshen up. This evening we’ll have a sharing circle followed by a dinner at Sorrel River Ranch (asking one last time for a few volunteers to carpool for the 5-minute drive), where we’ll enjoy a three-course farm-to-table gastronomic feast.

Time on trail (including stops): 2 – 3 hours

Day 4  |  Feeling Fine at Fisher Towers

After eating breakfast and checking out of our rooms (you can store your luggage in your vehicle or with the front desk), it’s a short drive with our guides to the final out-and-back trail run that is truly a celebration in the simple joy and adventure of running for our own health and happiness.

While it begins with a bit of an uphill hike and some brief exposure to heights (even a short ladder!), this rewarding run is worth the effort to soak up the views and see the soaring Fisher Towers. You can choose to all the way to the trail’s end or turn around at any point along the way. Upon our return to the lodge, you will have some free time to shower and change before we enjoy a catered picnic lunch before our final Sharing Circle, reflections and farewells, wrapping up our Moab running retreat by 12:30 p.m., leaving plenty of time for your airport transfers or travels home.

Time on trail: 2 – 2.5 hours