Dec 9 - 15

12/9/2013
Mon-AM: 2:04, 4300' ~ Bear & Green
Ran from Chat with Joe. Up Fern, down the West Ridge of Bear, and then up and over Green before completing the loop. Great day out in perfectly-packed snow conditions.

12/10/2013
Tue-AM: 2:07, 4300' ~ Bear & Green
Same exact run as yesterday with Joe again, but today the wind had blown in all the trails making for pretty miserable footing the whole way. Warm enough to be out in shorts, though, which was a treat given the past week-plus of frigid temps.

12/11/2013
Wed - 0
Ended up being a day off after an early flight and long day of travel. I was okay with that as my achilles has been a little tight.

12/12/2013
Thu-AM: 1:06, 1200' ~ Trapp Family Lodge, Stowe VT
Parked at the lodge and did an out and back on pretty deserted dirt/snow roads. +8F temps. Slippery snow was tough on the achilles and soleus.

12/13/2013
Fri-AM: 1:16, 1000' ~ Blue Hills, Boston MA
Met up with Mike, Seamus, Josh, Eric, and Sam for a spin around this trail system near the city. Snow, cold, and icy but lots of fun with enthusiastic tour guides.

12/14/2013
Sat-AM: 1:24, 1300' ~ Avon, Connecticut
Ran some streets and snowy trails with Joel. Achilles seems to be feeling a bit better, which is nice. Cold and snowing.

12/15/2013
Sun-AM: 1:49, 1300' ~ Talcott Mt, Connecticut
Out and back on the Metacomet trail starting from Reservoir #6 and going past the Heublein Tower on the way to Highway 185, and back. With Joel. Plowing/postholing through ~8" of fresh, crusty snow. Fun outing.

Hours: 9h46min
Vert: 13,400'

Decent week, considering being on the road. My body seems to be re-adjusting to being a runner again---various familiar aches and pains are working their way through---and all this time away from home has me more motivated than ever to get back and get into a fitness-building routine. I'm really really excited about 2014. Having said that, I'm almost always pleasantly surprised by the running options I'm offered when I'm on the road, and this past week I enjoyed getting a small taste of what the northeast has to offer. After this trip, my interest in the Mt. Washington Road Race and a Presidential Range Traverse in New Hampshire is certainly piqued.

Before I can really get into a consistent routine, however, there are two more stops I need to make: Tuesday evening at the Symphony Space in Manhattan, and next Saturday and Sunday at Fleet Feet in Seattle. Should be good.

Finally, I need to mention a congratulations to Dan Kraft for a break-out 4th-place run on a big stage at the TNF50 Championships last weekend. Dan is the latest promising MUT runner to come out of Colorado College (my alma mater) in the last few years, following on the heels of Alex Nichols and Stevie Kremer. Alex and Dan have both paced/crewed for me at the Leadville 100, and Stevie was the same year as me at CC. Dan had previously had impressive runs at the Imogene Pass Run (17mi) and Bridger Ridge Run (20mi) in both 2012 and 2013, so it was super cool to see him flawlessly step up to the 50mi distance. It looks like XC Coach Ted Castaneda's Monday mountain runs have had a lasting impact on more than one runner.

Descending Green Mt on Monday with Joe. Photo: Joe Grant.

Boston jaunt in the Blue Hills Friday morning. Photo: Sam Jurek. 

Top of the run with the full crew: Mike, Josh, Eric, and Sam (and Seamus behind the camera).

Headed back to the car. Photo: Sam Jurek.