Cold, snow, running, and caffeine

The weather man really blew it for our holiday weekend. All week we were expecting some sun and at least high 40's - good running weather for the end of November...
...however, anyone who lives in the Rockies knows that weather professionals get paid to be accurate 20% of the time - if they do that, they get to keep their jobs! As you can see, we got another 2 - 3 inches of fresh powder over night (and someone forgot to bring in the door mat...) After a fantastic fall of blue skies and WAY above average temps, we're getting slapped in the face with mountain reality - winter has arrived! Now it does help to put the holiday spirit in gear and ramp up for Christmas. BUT, it also puts a real damper on the "trail" portion of trail running. We are now in the entry to winter version of Mud Season. Two inches of snow, temps hovering in the 30's, and a little of our high altitude UV rating produces a nice mixture of mud in the open areas and snowpack/ice in the sheltered areas. We try to not brutalize our trails, so mud is usually not an option for our runs unless it is limited and keeps the trail in a manageable state. As for the ice...

... it is time to dig the Screw Shoes from the closet and dust them off for winter. For those who are not accustomed to ice on the trails, fall on it hard once and then you'll beg for screw shoes. If you run trails in the snow and ice, these are essential and very easy to manufacture. Just grab some 3/8" and 1/2" slotted sheet metal screws from your hardware store and pull out your (or your neighbor's) cordless screwdriver and find a pair of shoes that you are comfortable wearing but don't mind putting some holes in the tread. As you can see in the pic, mine have 11 screws each - probably just about right depending on how icy and how much you weigh. Be careful if you are using a gel or air cushioned shoe as to the placement of the screws. Also try to attach at the tallest part of the tread so the screws actually make good contact. That's it, you are ready for the ice.

We did get out for a short run today, just to get some leg turnover after a couple pretty hard runs. It was a balmy 28 degrees with 14 wind chill with beautiful gray skies and light snow when we ventured out. With tired legs, we put in a quick 4.5 miles on our local multi-use trails and then came in for the day as it continued to snow. We ran two completely new routes in the past 3 days, which is not normal for us (we like routine), and both were hard runs. We will continue to add runs such as these to our lineup so we continue to build a base of both mileage and strength. We finished with our current favorite recovery fuel - caffeine, milk, and chocolate syrup - yummy. For you java heads out there, my current bean on-deck is from Dazbog, a Denver micro-roaster. Good stuff for sure, we used organic French roast for the espresso today, but their organic KGBlend is also quite good. If you live in a warm climate with dry trails, we envy you today. If you don't, bundle up and run anyway. Happy Trails!

Shoes - K Asics Gel Nimbus

S Brooks Cascadia

Remembering great moments of sport . . .

Today is a very different kind of post . . .

Seeing 2001 Women's Mountain Bike Champion, Alison Dunlap yesterday got me (K) thinking about a couple of incredible moments of "great sport" - you know - those wonderful moments that give you goose bumps, that make you smile, that might make you cry, that leave an indelible image forever etched in the memory bank. Those special memories provide energy, inspiration, enthusiasm, awe, and a reminder that lots of good still remains in a world where so much bad seems to pervade. The finish at the 2001 Mountain Bike World Championships is the first image I will never forget. . .

Steve and I drove up to Vail, CO for the day to watch the men's and women's Cross Country World Championship Mountain bike races. The race was taking place just a week after the devastation of 9/11. For us, it was a brief respite from the reality of the heart-rending tragedy that had just shell-shocked our country. We were there to cheer on our favorites of the sport. The women's race was first and all of the favorites jumped to the front at the start gun. The U.S. fans went crazy when Colorado Springs local, Alison Dunlap, took the lead on the final lap, passing Canadian and multiple World Champ, Alison Sydor. The course was a multi lap, 3 loop clover leaf pattern covering 12k per lap and allowed great spectator viewing. The energy was electric as AD pushed hard to stay ahead of AS. We watched on the big screens, at the finish, as AD and AS entered the last mile or so together, that would wind through the quaint streets of Vail Village. As the two women charged into the twisty streets of the Village, their images disappeared from the screens. The announcer reported that the two women were neck and neck. I remember the literal collective inhalation and breath-holding of 15,000 fans at the finish, waiting to see who would emerge from the Village the victor. The crowd was completely silent. The announcer was silent. The blaring, festive music stopped. Everyone was holding their breath. Then, the silence erupted into thunderous cheering. There she was, Alison Dunlap, rounding the corner and pedaling toward the finish line, grabbing a U.S. flag, crossing the finish, and falling into a heap, overcome by emotion. It was awesome. But what was even more awesome, to me, was seeing the great Alison Sydor cross the line, close behind, for second, throwing her bike to the ground, running up to AD and wrapping her up in a big bear hug. AS grabbed AD by the shoulders and shook her and we could read AS's lips, "I am so happy for you!". To see such genuine joy and exuberance for a fellow competitor was extremely moving. It is one of those great moments of Sport I will never forget.

The second great moment of Sport I will never forget is an image from the 1998 Olympics in Nagano, Japan. Steve and I enjoy watching cross-country skiing - it is a hard but beautiful sport. At that time, Bjorn Daehlie from Norway, was the king of cross-country ski racing. He was awesome to watch - so much raw power combined with efficient, graceful movement. We had just watched the television coverage of Daehlie win the 10k Classic race in 26 minutes. Instead of removing his skiis and getting warmed up for the medal ceremony, he stood and waited in the cold at the finish. Racer after racer crossed the line. 90 racers crossed the line after Daehlie. The medal ceremony was delayed. Daehlie continued to stand at the finish and wait. Spectators started to leave. Twenty minutes passed. All of the racers had come into the finish except one.

Daehlie was waiting for that one racer, a Kenyan named Phillip Boit. Boit had never seen snow until two years previous. To see the mighty figure of Daehlie waiting alone at the finish for Boit was another one of those great moments of Sport. Seeing him embrace and congratulate the exhausted and awkward Kenyan when he finally crossed the line was unforgettable. It was a "goose bump and tear in the eye" kind of moment - a mental picture that will forever be embedded in my mind. I LOVE those kinds of moments! Inspiration at its finest.