Scott loves trails

Well, it didn't take too much to wash the bitter taste of Mt. Mitchell away. Fortunately, a New Hampshire snow mountaineering training course and then a jaunt to the Costa Rica cloud forest with Esperanza came on that trip's heels, and provided great new thrills! The EMS snow mountaineering course and one-day guided ascent of Mt. Washington certainly "took me out of my comfort zone," as they say--and then some! The stuff we did (two other guys I didn't know and an instructor named Craig) on day one was well beyond what I thought we might do that early. I expected the self-arrest, crampon and ice ax travel, and glissade training. But not the rope travel seminar or rappel. The most breathless moment was learning to frontpoint up a short steep section while roped up. I didn't get the hang of stuff as fast as the other guys, who were more experienced on snow (and probably not as freaked by heights). But while my heartbeat raced and I was sweating bullets at time, ...

Would you believe an "extreme" winter trail run that gets shortenedby...winter weather?! Well, that's what happened at yesterday's Mt.Mitchell Challenge 40 miler, if you can believe it. And I'm fit tobe tied! That's three wevents in the space of a year that weatherhas prevented me from making to the start line, or has shortened byweather, including two Mitchells. But our friend Mason was one ofthe lucky, swift few who go to got to go to the top and do the fullchallenge, so hats off! (I hope you made it back today through therare winter snow that got at lower elevations in NC today, dude!Fortunately, I flew home last night and the rain didn't stop flightsgetting out from Charlotte.) Needless to say, Mitchell is seriouslyoff my list now, and I think given the poor planning of raceorganizers and those who help put this one on, I would urge others tothink twice about making the trek down for this race, too.Here is my saga, and the rationale for my critique of ...

This race report has sure come in fits and starts! Work, illness, training...everything has gotten in the way of finishing, so not as fresh in my mind, all these weeks later. But the memories of the desert are still not far from the front of my mind, so here goes.... The 50K is a funny distance. Marathoners move up (many without much trail experience perhaps), while ultra folks move down. In my case, I had skipped over the 50K, when I moved up from the marathon a little over three years ago. Going to 50 milers, 40 milers, 100Ks, and even attempting 100 milers, before finally doing my first 50K a year ago. But then I did four last year, and this was now the second of the new year. They've always been "B races" in my mind--either on the way to some bigger goal race or coming back from layoffs or injury or both. With Calico (and to a lesser extent Phunt 2 weeks before), I feel like I'm starting to get the hang of actually "racing" a 50K. It requires a distinct ...

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...

The year 2008 treated me well on the running front--so sorry to see it go! After the injury travails of 2007, I felt fortunate to stay healthy. That was my single biggest accomplishment of the year, in fact. Not a single visit to the physical therapists--after spending more time in than out of PT in '07 (nothing personal, my dear friend PTs, but I prefer to see you on social occasions only!). Why? I guess I was "due" a good year. Thanks, running gods! But also I think I played it pretty smart in terms of cross-training, off or low periods after major races, and just building up a certain base of time on my feet that carried me through the year. Packed in the quality mega-long runs getting ready for those 100s, for sure. But didn't just pack in miles for miles sake, and even backed off the back to backers I used to swear by. Got back into the yoga later in the year, too, and definitely want to keep that up. Maybe more *is* actually more, when it comes to ultra...