Bergen Peak

We got a nice snow storm Thursday night and Friday. It made for an awesome and difficult run. When I raised my feet as high as I could each stride, my toes were still plowing through several inches on top. It wasn't fluffy snow, either, but tiny flakes that pack closely together. Some guy drove real slow next to me at one point and yelled out his window, "Dude! you're frickin' hard core! Keep it up!" That cracked me up. Geez - civilians. Their so funny.

Superbowl Sunday, I drove to Bergen Park in a rush and put in some hours on the trail before the party. The area had reportedly gotten 28" of snow. The lower trails had been well packed by snowshoers, hikers, and skiers, but not a soul bothered to trudge uphill. So it was very hard going, but wonderfully pristine virgin snow. Some sections of trail were mid-thigh deep, and others had packed and melted in micro-climates to only ankle deep. And that's with me wearing my running snowshoes - I was still sinking in deep.
I didn't take poles because I wanted more of a core work-out. Man, between shoveling snow at home and plowing up Bergen Peak, my middle was fried.
I saw a couple of deer close-up, and whistled at them to calm them down.
The higher I got, the colder it got. I was barely wearing enough clothing, and I could have used an additional layer on my calves, but I came out okay.
I always forget my camera, so no photos - sorry.
I was so beat I almost fell asleep during the Superbowl.

In spite of not logging more than about 7 miles a week since Thanksgiving (except for a few stray long runs), I've suddenly been logging some miles each day in preparation for Moab Red Hot 55K. Of course, it's too little, too late, but better than nothing. Even though I'm running 6 days a week, some days I only do a couple of miles. With all the snow and ice, though, the miles have been much harder than normal. I've also used my Concept2 rowing ergometer a little bit. It's still going to be an ugly, grueling race for me. But if I'm on the trail and still moving, I'm happy.

Since my foot started hurting, even though I had nearly stopped running, I theorized that running on it again would make it hurt less. Guess what? I was right. It still hurts some, so looks like I need to run even more. Someone told me that only ultra-runners say stuff like that. All I know is I'm going to hurt one way or the other, because I've always had arthritis. The day I hold still is the day I turn to stone. And nothing will stop the pain then.

Man, am I fat! My belly is starting to jiggle. It's very disconcerting. I have no idea how I got fat - I think I'll have some more cherry pie and a beer while I try to figure it out.