SPRING IS SPRINGING (early)

My friend Angie, pictured above, and I hiked to Bond Lake on Sunday. The trail, Bond Creek, is 12 miles round trip and meets up with the Alpine #7 trail 2 miles from Bond Lake where we turned around.
There was plenty of snow still but things seemed to be turning green and the world beneath the snow is slowly emerging. It makes me so excited about trail running! I'm glad I've essentially taken the winter off from running because I'm genuinely excited to get back out there.

Also, this was a new trail for me and I'm pretty sure I will want to get back out there. Perhaps on a hot day I will take a little swim. . .

CHICAGO!

I spent the past week and a half in Chicago, where I previously lived (for 5+ years). And Montana is doing a huge ad campaign in Chicago -- many of the busses scream MONTANA! When I think of Chicago, I normally feel unsettled and not altogether positive about my former home. I now realize, however, that the stress of work and such influenced my feelings about the city a lot. Even though my time in Chicago this past week was incredibly busy and, at times, stressful, I enjoyed being back and think it's a great city afterall. I suppose it was a little like seeing an old friend you've totally lost touch with. I felt nostalgic, and at times a little sad. I left behind such great friends, and it was nice to spend a wee bit of time with them. Cheryl and Chris were nice enough to let me stay with them, and I got to see Joe and Kate, in addition to my friends Julie, Jen and Kimber. There were a lot of people I would have liked to see, but was unable to see. I attended a trials skills workshop and it was pretty time consuming and intense. But very helpful.

About that workshop. I've been reflecting on the experience on my way home, and what struck me is how I came across as totally lacking confidence. I learned ways to speak that remedy this impression, which was very helpful. The truth is, I don't lack confidence. I'm not over-confident, but I think I have the right amount of confidence. What I realized is I'm too embarassed to *act* confident and assertive, and I've developed a shtick that I thought would be usefully disarming and endearing. It just comes across as being unconfident which is poor advocacy. I'm glad I realize that now and will practice all the skills I've learned. I think I will be a better lawyer.


Finally, back to running, I ran the Shamrock Shuffle 8k and finished in 38:34, which is around a 7:4x pace, and was 2775 out of 25,561. Considering we jumped in the corral as the gun went off, and were just planning to jog and have fun, I was pretty impressed. Cheryl and I ran together and it was sort of fun spending the whole time weaving through the masses and pretending to be fast. It seems fast when you're passing people, even if you're not really running fast. It was a great way to end the week -- finishing the goofy race hand-in-hand with my buddy Cheryl.

FANTASTICAL WEEKEND!

Shawn took Corey and me up to Hellroaring Peak, which involved a lovely hike. I wore my skins and they carried their boards.
The sun was shining and the sky was blue. Does life get better than this? I am embarassed to admit though that at one point on the way down I took my skis off and carried them. I'm really not good in the trees. . . but it was really fun to get into the "slackcountry." Yesterday was similarly gorgeous. I got up early, hiked up the mountain, took a few turns and enjoyed some beer. Have I mentioned that life is good?

This week I head to Chicago for "trial school" and will be there for about a week and a half. I miss my friends and am looking forward to seeing them, but I can't say I think we made a bad choice with the relocation thing.

I think ski season is winding down with all this sun and warm weather we've been getting. I'm looking forward to trail running! Wheeeeeeee!!!

I ran a half marathon

Saturday I ran the Snow Joke half marathon in Seeley Lake for, I believe, the fourth time. I finished, according to my watch, in 1:53:29. Last year I finished in 1:52:59 (I think). So, pretty close. The differences were that 1) I haven't been running this year hardly, 2) I ran without Sonja this year and 3) I kept an even pace for almost the whole race. I made it my goal to maintain an 8:30 pace start to finish, and I stayed on pace until around mile 10 or 11 when I slowed a bit. The race is hilly and at 4,000 feet so I actually feel pretty good about my run. Especially given the fact that I've been running about 10-15 miles per week on average. So, I'm not sure what the take away is, but maybe it won't be so much work to re-qualify for Boston, especially now that I only need a 3:45 (I turn 35 this summer and will be bumped into the next age group). Or, maybe, running more miles doesn't help me especially. Who knows.

Yesterday I skiied and it was another great day. I made it down the moguled black run and fell only once. The snow was really soft which helped on the moguls but made it really hard to ski the normal slopes. It was like wet cement. Ouch.

MORE SUNSHINE

Yesterday I spent the day on the ski hill with friends and the sunny awesome weather made me really brave. I skiied the above and the below. I fell down a lot. But it was so much fun.
It was even more beautiful than Saturday. It's amazing what some blue sky and sunshine can do for the soul. Evidently, this is why so many people live in places like California.

But when the sun does come out here it's a step above the unbelievable it is anyhow.

CONFESSIONS OF THE SUN-STARVED

I knew it was supposed to be a sunny day, so I planned to get up early and skin up Big Mountain before running errands for Leanne's baby shower, and going to said baby shower. The first clue that I needed some sun was that I stuck with my plan and got up BEFORE the alarm, despite having thrown back a few beers last night. I couldn't wait.
As I drove up to Big Mountain I was almost frenzied. I said out loud "please sun hold tight I'm ALMOST THERE! DON'T GO ANYWHERE!" I was so scared the sun would decide it had enough already and leave me. I drove a little faster than I should have (or needed to) up the road and almost got goosebumps as I ascended in elevation and saw nothing but sparkly snow and bluebird sky.

Elated, I marched up the mountain. I chit chatted with the sun the whole way. I wonder if it visits rarely because I talk to it like a dog. "You're such a good sunshine..." Yes I'm sure it has to do with me. The entire hike up was pure bliss and I really didn't want it to end. This is unusual because skinning up the mountain is pretty laborious. I wore my heart rate monitor for the first time doing this and my average was about 30 bpm higher than when I run normally. It took me 80 minutes to get to the top, including stops for view-drinking and picture-taking. Others hiked past me like I was standing still. I guess I'm not really good/fast despite my heart rate. It's not a race of course. Anyhow, it was just so blissfully wonderful I had an ear-to-ear grin the entire time. And then whoooosh I skiied down and tried to hold on to the high as I headed to consumption junction for shower prep. The moral of the story is that I really needed some sun. I needed bluebird sky. I felt like junkie getting a much-needed fix. I think tomorrow's going to be this way too. I love you sun.

THE DEVIL'S BACKBONE AND SPRING FEVER

Photo lifted from blog of Jeffery Rogers from Oakland, CA, whose photos I've been drooling over all week. . . thanks JR from O and sorry I shamelessly stole this pic :-)

While the south has been pummeled (sp?) with unusual quantities of snow, we here in the great white north have received little snow and have instead enjoyed unseasonably warm temperatures. This is frustrating for someone with her first ski pass and love of snow. The snow is almost melted in town. I guess I'm still a runner deep down in my heart because I'm developing spring-fever and a longing for dry runnable trails. I've been sitting at work fantasizing about the Alpine 7 and Glacier NP. So, what's a girl to do but register for a race so that the longing can be channeled into some planning and preparation? I registered for the Devil's Backbone 50 near Bozeman. My goal is to finally, for the first time in awhile, be semi-serious about training properly. I know this isn't really the type of race where finish time will make logical sense or be comparable to anything else, but I want to be in shape for this and not dragging along at the back-of-the-pack like I normally do. I'm actually excited about the process of training again. I lost that but I think it's back. At least for now ;)

P.S. A sweet blog you should check out is Steve and Kathleen's. I've been "tagged" by them in some honorable bloggy way that I don't understand but am delighted by.

SKI TOURING IN BANFF

For the long weekend (yeah, for some reason we got President's Day off) I went to Banff to visit friends Keith and Leslie and get in some ski touring. I've been working hard this winter learning to ski for the very purpose of being able to ski tour.
On Saturday we did a 4 hour or so tour out of bounds at Sunshine. I quickly became frustrated by 1) how different powder skiing is and how I still had to make pizza turns and 2) how turning on ascents was still difficult for me. As Keith pointed out, I haven't ski toured since last year when I went with them, and this was my second time ever. . . but it seems like it will take a lifetime for me to aquire all the skills I need. I guess that's why they make life relatively long. So you can learn your skills.
The views were, of course, beautiful and it was a wonderful day. Keith and Leslie are patient and good teachers. I required extra patience due to how quickly I would get upset with myself for not magically being better.
On Sunday Leslie and Keith (along with a group of their friends) took me to Ptarmigan Valley near Lake Louise for a long long ski tour (6 hours?). This was fantastic though I had some blisters and was, again, frustrated early on. Once it became evident that the discomfort wouldn't increase, I was able to enjoy the experience for what it was -- fantastic filled with awesomeness. See all my pictures here.

More on the Grand Canyon

Doing a "rim-to-rim-to-rim" (R2R2R) run, or a variation thereof, is a hugely popular thing in the ultrarunning community it seems. So, I'll offer some thoughts that may or may not be helpful to someone planning a winter R2R2R or Grand Canyon trip. First though, a summary of the trip.

A summary of the trip

I met Cheryl, my good friend from Chicago and 2 Jenns I've had the pleasure of knowing through running at the Las Vegas airport on Wedensday. One Jenn is preggo and was called "Pregolas" which made it easier to keep track of the Jenns. We went to Whole Paycheck and bought a ton of food and drove to the Grand Canyon.


It was fun driving over the Hoover Dam and generally enjoying a girly roadtrip replete with lots of snacks.

When we arrived we walked a short ways down the Bright Angel trail and were pretty silly excited. I wanted to just head down right there and then! Instead we packed up our stuff, made plans for the morning and tried to sleep. The first shuttle to the South Kaibab (or Kabob) trail left at 8:oo or so -- and we didn't want to go downhill on slippery snowy trail in the dark -- so we got a somewhat late start.

The run down to the river was pretty much awesome. I was completely "blissed out" as some say. The views, the light, the vibe and pretty much everything was fabulous. We hit Phantom Ranch and had coffee and snacks. The others wrote postcards -- they are carried out by mules. Cheryl was feeling awful due to the altitude but we made her press on anyhow. We hiked to Ribbon Falls, which is about 5.5-6 miles from Phantom Ranch. We turned around and headed out. We took the Bright Angel trail up, which is longer but less steep. It finishes right at the Bright Angel lodge, where we were staying. Good recommendation from superstar ultra runner Devon.

My favorite time to be out running is when dusk turns to night. It's the most peaceful and soul-warming feeling to me. Everything turned pink before turning to dark. We were treated with a full moon and hardly needed headlamps. Everything was perfect except Cheryl wasn't feeling great. In part, perhaps, because she was racing far ahead of us thinking she was slowing us down. Silly Cheryl!

After we finished we had beer and pizza and then crashed. Friday we headed to Vegas and so it stays in Vegas yadda yadda. My blackjack money stayed in Vegas at least.



OK, some thoughts:

The Grand Canyon in the winter

The Grand Canyon area was hit with a relatively big snow storm just prior to our arrival, so I'm not sure it's always so snowy. Nonetheless, the trails on the South Rim are so heavily travelled, even in the winter, that the snow is packed. Definitely glad I had traction. I used kahtoola microspikes, but the Jenns had YakTrax and those worked well too. We didn't make it far enough to find out, but we were told snow was waist high somewhere around Supai Tunnel (I think) on the North Rim. Obviously, a R2R2R would require postholing or worse. I'm not sure it would have been possible (or it would have been pretty dangerous if the snow was that deep). The entire North Rim is closed in the winter so it's not like you can drive over there or get food once at the North Rim. Just something to keep in mind.

The weather was absolutely awesome. It was 30s on the South Rim when we left, and warmish and sunny (50?) in the Canyon. We remarked often that we picked a great time of year to play in the Grand Canyon, even though a full R2R2R wasn't in the cards.

It's high(ish) altitude

I don't know the science behind it, but someone did tell me that some people can get altitude sickness at 5,000 feet. Different people are affected differently by elevation, and the South Rim is somewhere around 7,000 feet. Just another thing to keep in mind. The North Rim is closer to 9,000 feet, which is starting to approach "high" even for those who aren't sensitive. (Obviously having gobs of time to acclimate before setting off on an adventure is ideal for those who are sensitive to elevation, but who has that much time.)

Water

Given the cool temperatures, we didn't need as much water as one might need in the warmer months. There was water at the South Rim of course, Bright Angel campground, Phantom Ranch and at a Caretaker Cabin near Roaring Falls. You could do a R2R2R I think in cool temps in the winter, even with most of the normal water sources turned off for winter (assuming snow didn't stop you on the North Rim). I carried a 3L pack (GoLite Rush) and never came even close to running out of water. Always better to carry more than less of course, especially in the Grand Canyon.

If anyone has more specific questions, feel free to ask. I know that wasn't really very detailed.

GRAND CANYON

Last Thursday my friends Cheryl, Jenn and Jennifer joined me for a frolick in the Grand Canyon.
We ran down the South Kaibab trail, through Phantom Ranch to Ribbon Falls and back up the Bright Angel trail. We actually hiked more than ran -- completing somewhere in the 30 mile range -- and did it in a reasonable length of time considering our extroardinarily plentiful and leisurely breaks.

I think January is a good time to go though there is definitely snow. The South Rim trails are packed but we were told the North Rim would be impossibly snowy for us. There were reports of waist high snow 5 miles from hte North Rim. So really, a R2R2R was out of the question for us and we decided to just have fun and have a good day.


I will post more of a report when I settle down enough to organize my thoughts into coherent sentences. The upshot of it was that this was a sweet adventure. I had so much fun and am sort of feeling the post-awesome-time malaise that sets in after doing something really fabulous.

BIATHLON!

Rebecca (pictured above) and I did a biathlon Saturday in Seeley Lake, MT and ho my it was so very fun. It was 3 k ski, 5 target shoot prone, 3k ski, 5 target shoot standing and 3k ski. However, you had to ski penalty laps for each missed target. I skied a total of 6 penalty laps, one the first time and 5 the second.
I am in the background here shooting. In the first picture you can see me in the corner leaving the shooting area. It was a complete blast. I will definitely be doing it next year, but I will be working on my skate skiing (or will use classic XC skis) and will do some target shooting. I highly recommend trying this sport if you're at all interested.

DANNI & TED GO SKIING

Ted and I went to the mountain today, and it has been a long long time since Ted had skiied. I was sort of jealous at how quickly he went from apprehensively skiing the "magic carpet ride" to readily tackling some steeper stuff on another chair that took me a really long time to want to try. He says he had fun.
The sun eventually came out (not pictured) and we enjoyed a beer outside on the patio afterwards. That's one of my favorite parts of resort skiing. Another favorite part is improving -- on Friday evening my friend Shawn wore skis (rather than his normal board) and gave me a lesson on making parallel turns. It's really fun to progress at something new.

Yesterday I skinned up the mountain with my friend Quinn. It was incredibly foggy, so I went down an easier run from the top while she practiced her tele turns on a different run. Somehow I managed to go to the wrong spot at the bottom and had to take a chair back up to where we had parked. Getting off the chair I hit myself in the face with my ski poles, which was pretty ridiculous. That was a lot of fun though. I really can't wait to get out touring. Plus, when I was skinning up with Quinn I realized I'm losing some cardiovascular fitness with all this chair-lift skiing, beer drinking and lack of running. . . .

I'm Loving Skiing (and our holiday loot)

This is my ski-buddy Corey, who is actually a snowboarder (though she has skiied her whole life, she's learning to board -- though this is her second winter so she's actually quite good).

I'm really enjoying skiing, which surprises me since I'm such a wuss. I have my ups and downs, and the downs sometimes result in snow going up my nose and me in unusual positions on the hill, but on the whole I really feel like I'm making progress. I've been doing ok on blue runs, and am hoping to soon trade my "pizza" turns for some "french fry" turns. (South Park reference anyone?)

Also, it's pretty ridiculous for me to post food pictures since I'm the furthest thing from a cook, but I figure if anyone else out there is as lazy as me, these are good tips. My sister-in-law Lucia sent us this great collection of curry spices from Penzeys as a Christmas gift. I made a super fast and easy dish by sauteeing mushrooms, garlic and onion in olive oil, adding some tandoori spice, then adding half a cup of light coconut milk, then adding frozen tail-off shrimp (I love Costco) and a handful of spinach. (That sentence is long, can you believe I pretty much write for a living? Scary :p) Even without adding any salt it was really good. And pretty low-cal/low WW point. I would guesstimate 300ish calories.

I am also enjoying playing with my new camera, which was a Christmas present from me to me. Thanks me! Thme!

January is the virtuous eating month

Though that is a beer growler behind the new kitchen gadget as well as our wine aerator, which has boosted our cheap wine drinking into a whole new dimension.

At least for me it is. My parents got us (by way of geneous gift certificate) the above kitchen gadget for Christmas. It's a mandoline (sp?) and juliennes, slices, crinkle cuts and all that fun stuff. I've been wanting one forever but Ted is firmly against extra kitchen gadgets. This one seems like such a basic and wonderful item, I finally won and got one.

I used it over lunch for the first time and made this zucchini pasta. I julienned the zucchini so it looks like linguini, sauteed it with red onion, garlic, mushrooms and shrimp, and tossed with spaghetti sauce. The whole thing was 5ish Weight Watcher points, and would be less if you used less olive oil. It's also nearly "Paleo" and would be strictly "Paleo" if you weren't lazy like I am using Ragu.

STILL ALIVE

Not that there's any reason we wouldn't be. We did spend 8 days visiting Ted's folks as well as mine -- it was great to see family. It's too bad we can't see them more. We're blessed with great parents that are fun to be around. :-) We returned New Year's day, and I promptly went skiing and experienced night skiing for the first time. These pictures were taken Saturday night. I'm not sure why Jesus is on the ski hill, but I quite like this picture below (my buddy Corey is on the left).

I have some fun running plans coming up, but I'm terribly out of shape right now. It will be interesting to see whether I have enough residual endurance and running muscle-memory to survive my planned fun. . . in the GRAND CANYON! at the end of the month with friends. I'm really well fed and undertrained right now, but I'm banking on that muscle memory thing.

Ted's parents got him one of those groovy Flip video cameras for Christmas, and I took some great niece videos, but I need to figure out how to upload before I can bore all of you with Stella movies. I will try to control myself. It is not, afterall, my toy anyhow :p

That's the latest and greatest. If the sun ever comes out I will be able to get some excellent photos. It has been so foggy lately you can scarcely see your hand in front of your face up high in the mountains. Enough rambling.

I bought a season pass so I can learn to ski this winter -- this was opening weekend and it was a mixed bag. Saturday was good conditions (I thought) and I surprised myself by having a pleasant day. Today it was REALLY cold and windy and icy and I struggled. It was clear today and beautiful, but I didn't bring my camera and didn't want to take my mitten off to get a picture with my phone. You'll have to take my word for it.

I already feel like I've made good progress this weekend. I have ridden the chair and gotten on and off without hysteria or injury. I've made it down the dreaded "anthill" -- which is a really steep hill one must ski down to get to all of the green runs from the top -- three times now. Twice in good snow once in bad snow. Yesterday I skiied a blue run and liked it. I'm slow and silly looking but doing better.

I'm learning to ski so I can backcountry tour -- but I've got to say that so far I sort of enjoy the resorty feel of resort skiing. There are lodges at the bottom and the top, and both serve food and beer. Love it.

These pictures are really little, but we'll pretend this post is arty. I went hiking with Traci, Caleb and Don Stolte on Sunday. The hike involved lots of snow, ice and fire.

Opening day is Saturday, and I'm pretty excited to get started on my ski-learnin'. I feel like learning to ski will be a little like mowing a tall lawn -- hopefully I will see gratifying quick improvement, which I realize will be followed by a plateau. But when you're first learning something, a little improvement is like night and day. I already saw some of that last year.

It's only early December and I already feel myself putting on the holiday weight and resigning myself to gluttony and indulgence. I wish I could say this bothers me. Oh, I'm sure I'll whine intermittently about this. . . but bring on the holidays!

THANKSGIVING AND FIRST SKI OF THE SEASON

Kim joined us for Thanksgiving -- we did our traditional cheese fondue plus some random other food items.
I thought the can of cranberry was pretty funny. And it tastes good so there.

Ted and I made a pumpkin pie as a team (he made the crust and I made the filling from our CSA pumpkins) and Kim made an awesome huckleberry pie. We didn't go hungry.

Today I skinned up Big Mountain. It was snowing and cloudy but the snow was powdery good. I'm a TERRIBLE downhill skiier though. My quads are still burning a couple hours later. Ouch.

I did take the "easiest route" as I always do. Skiing powder is both easier and harder I think for a newbie. It slows you down and cushions the falls but makes control a little harder.

Self-portrait. I was pleased with myself for being brave and going out today.

I took a little side junket for a short bit. It was pretty. It's great to be able to get out in the snow and enjoy being outside. I really hope I can get to where skiing downhill is genuinely fun rather than quasi-terrifying and embarassing. There were lots of other people out and I got a lot of encouragement. Which is nice but clearly I was something of a spectacle.