Welcoming the New Year - 2019!

Firstly I want to wish you all a very happy New Year.  I know that this is not a happy time for everyone, but regardless of whatever your current circumstances are, I wish the absolute best for you in this coming year.  Life has a way of knocking us off our feet but I find there always seems to be an opportunity to stand up again and move forward with a bit more wisdom.  I thought I'd share a few "highlights" from the past few months since I haven't been writing much.

Making a silly llama face on an early-morning, Blodgett-Peak run.

I didn't write much about my trip to Hawaii in my last post but I'll add a few photos here, mainly so you can see the beautiful ocean, my beautiful friends, and those crazy roots.  My preparation for the race started late in the game so my plan has been to take 3-weekends in a row and rack up whatever mileage I can.  In most scenarios I could visualize myself finishing a 100-mile race on minimal training, it would be painful but I'm confident in my ability to push mileage.  With the HURT 100, it's the terrain of the course, namely mud and roots, that has me less confident.  Basically I don't know just yet how my body will respond to that distance in the mud and I do have concerns about macerating my feet if they're wet for most of race.  Based on running one loop (the 100-mile course consists of a 20-mile loop you run 5 X), I have a feeling the HURT course will chew me up and spit me out a few times per lap.  I had an injury to my right foot on a Spartan race last June when I tied my shoe tightly and preceded to run 8-miles through insane mud.  I'd been doing much better here in the Colorado mountains the past few months but the injury flared again about 10-miles into the HURT course recon last November.  Since then I've been trying to do what I can to make the foot as resilient as possible, barefoot walking helps the most but...it's also 1-deg Fahrenheit outside right now so take a wild guess how much barefoot walking I've been able to do in Colorado in the winter.

Visting Chad and the pillboxes in Kailua, Oahu.

A different kind of mountain in Hawaii.

Run Hills, Not Your Mouth

Friends that run together, pose together.  This would be a great album cover!

Those narly roots I was telling you about.

The Flats part of the course...roots, roots, mud, roots, mud, mud, and roots.

At Kailua beach on our last day.

While I love running all year round, I don't necessarily enjoy training in the winter.  Typically that's my time to slow my running roll and focus more on building muscle strength to keep me healthier for the summer.  I attempted to stay in the gym this winter but so far that's been a major fail.  Between working more, needing to run more mileage, and buying a house/moving, my strength training fell by the wayside.  I'm planning to take a week easy after HURT, then start my off-season training in February and March and possibly spill it over into April.  Some of my schedule will be determined by a possible transfer to the California National Guard which I am still working on.  Transferring units is a huge hassle in the Army reserves but try to do it in the new fiscal year/holiday season and you'll feel a whole new level of despair you've never felt before.  I am hanging in there the best I can and hoping that by February some serious movement will have occurred and maybe by March I can actually make the transfer.  This would help me begin to set my 2019 Army service and racing schedule.

Here are a bunch of photos from December training runs...

Climbing to the top of Almagre on a very cold day.

Haven't been up here in awhile!  This is a shot looking towards the south peak of Almagre.

Shot of big horns while summiting Pikes Peak during Melissa's December summit.

Early sunset behind the mountains.

Hiking up to the summit, it was pleasant in the sun on this particular day.

More awesome sunset photos from treeline, Pikes Peak.

Getting in some barefoot running again at Garden of the Gods, 5-miles on this particular day.  Felt great!

Picture from my barefoot run at Garden of the Gods.

Now I live close to Williams Canyon so thought I'd go explore some more.  Have been there twice so far this December.

A look down into Williams Canyon and another "new" arch that I found.  I'm probably trespassing to get this picture.

Another beautiful day running at Garden of the Gods.

A very cold afternoon run at Garden of the Gods.

Running a long Sunday run, this is a connector trail from homes along Woodman to the Air Force Academy.

A bit out of order but this is the final sunrise photo of 2018.

One of many icy ascents of the Incline in December.

The sun rising near Glen Erie.

Adventuring on the scar before work.

A sunrise near Intemann

Enjoying a short run from my house on Intemann

Another gorgeous sunrise.

Avoiding ice and doing repeats to the Incline bailout point.  It was sunny and warm just a moment ago and now the snow is moving in...brrrrrr.

Small ice waterfall in Williams Canyon

Gorgeous afternoon at Garden of the Gods.

Wendy and I enjoying a Garden run between Christmas and New Years.

A fridged but beautiful afternoon run at Garden of the Gods.

Since it's been cold and the ground has been frozen for most of the time I've lived in my new house, I just have a picture of my living room (partially set up).  Keep in mind the entire house is only 552sq ft so the rooms are really designated by your imagination.  Also designated by your imagination is what the heck this buffalo is thinking.

My fun-size living room.

This year I was fortunate to be able to spend the holiday season with local friends and like-family friends.  I'm always cognizant that not everyone is so lucky to be able to do this and it's something I cherish deeply.  There were many Christmas parties but on Christmas day I chose to visit my good friend and college roommate, Elizabeth, and her family.  She has two cute little girls and we played on an outgoing mattress that migrated from the master bedroom into the living room before being donated.  It's always fun to be around the kids. 

Leda wearing my Fa La La Llama Christmas hat, Luchi in the background...we're all playing and jumping on the mattress.

Hanging out with Army friends by the hotel fire at Battle Assembly.

Christmas party with my Army reserve unit.

Christmas party with some of my amazing co-workers.

Well, that somewhat catches up this blog.  I hope to write at least once more before heading to Hawaii later this month.  I doubtfully will do an actual run today even though I'd like to start the new year off with a run.  With a high temperature of 15-deg and a fresh coat of snow/ice, I might just hike/walk around Manitou to avoid slipping and falling.  When it comes to running, I've evolved to a more go with the flow attitude.  For me it's been a natural progression after 20-years of running and competing with only short breaks due to injury.  In this time I've had some hard training cycles, I've demonstrated to myself I can be disciplined on plenty of occasions.  Now I find myself much more interested in being healthy and enjoying my running.  Challenge is still part of the enjoyment but gone are the days of sacrificing my body to run just a smidge faster, because let's be honest, no one else really cares how fast or slow you run.  Best to enjoy your running and do it healthfully as long as you can.

Peace and happiness to you all in the New Year!