Scott loves trails

Well, I guess I should say the highlight was the Calico 50K, and my exciting PR there. And I really did enjoy the race. But, truth be told, the highlight of my five-day solo trip to the California desert was the hiking and trail running through Joshua Tree National Park. More than add-on sightseeing piggybacking on a race, I think I really had a race as pretext for the sightseeing this time! And I kind of like that feeling of soaking in the destination as much as the race in the whole “destination race” thing! What spectacular desert scenery throughout! And how interesting the differences from other desert environments I’ve been lucky enough to visit! So I think I’ll make this post into more of a “travelogue” (be forewarned), and so a separate post tomorrow on the race itself. The trip idea started when I sought out a race someplace scenic that coincided with my winter “break,” and Calico ended up fitting the bill nicely. I’d also heard good things about the race from friend Ke...

PHUNT was phunner than ever! Such a nice, low-key way to ring in the new year of running. Organizers Phil and Hunt outdid themselves this year with a larger “fat ass” event than ever, with close to 200 participants among the 20K, 42K, and 50K distances. Still as well-organized as ever, and one of the nice new touches was a charity foodbank drive where they asked each of donate a can of food for every 10 miles we planned to run. It proved to be a beautiful sunny if chilly and windy day for a run through the rolling countryside of Fairhill Natural Management Area, just west of Newark, DE and south of PA in Elkton, MD. Across fields, down dirt roads, along forested single track, up and down many a hill, across many a stream, and amongst quite a few frolicking deer. A Fearsome Foursome We had a nice little group in my car, with Judith, Stephanie (Case), and Garth. It was also great to see Mason and Brennen just before the start, keeping warm by a fire as they were dressed minimally an...

Damn! I just typed this out and was saving when the wireless connection on this laptop went down. Let’s see if I reconstruct them. I know these are a few days late, but hey, they still count! They’ve been brewing in my mind for a while but I’m finally getting them “on paper.” Here are some New Year’s resolutions: * Be the best runner I can be, within the constraints of schedule, time, family, age, etc. * Become a more solid 100-miler and an improved overall ultrarunner * Learn the basics of mountaineering, and start carefully exploring what I’m capable of with ample help from instructors, training resources, guides, etc.. Safety is first! *Train and race smart and healthy. Know when to back off, and take time off. Keep up the yoga, weights, swimming, and (to extent possible) biking. Let that stuff come before “junk miles” for mileage sake. *Explore the synergies between mountain ultrarunning and mountaineering. *Let adoption and fatherhood take their rightful central place in li...