Snow

Well, after taking the week off from running after CIM to get phat, I eased back into the next week with some easy running. With all of the snow we have in Sisters, Sascha was wishing for longer days, but she took what she got. We just ran 4 or 5 days of about an hour, just kinda jogging and playing...enjoying the winter and not worrying about distance.

Then last Sunday, I decided we needed a bigger challenge. So I got Bronco, Nessski, and Askew to join me on a Black Crater adventure. We would park at the gate on the McKenzie Highway, xc ski 3.5 miles up the road to the BC trailhead, snowshoe 4 miles up BC, then snowshoe the 4 miles back down to the trailhead, and ski 3.5 miles back to the car. Nessski and I have wanted to do this for a few years, and now we were finally planning to do it. But then the weather forecast kept Nessski in Portland. Then the actual weather kept the rest of us from the adventure. Dang.

The contingency plan had Bronco, Sascha, and me running in the Badlands with Max. Max is strong. And fast. And tough. We ended up having a great 3ish hour run in the not-quite-as-deep snow in the Badlands. Max and Bronco were nice to wait for me. And Sascha kicked some royal butt, keeping right up until only a mile or so to go. It was a fun day out east, and it gave Bronco and me a chance to check out the BadAss course (Saturday, Jan. 3 - come join the fun!). It's looking good!

The rest of this week I have run exactly zero miles. ZERO. Hm. Christmas Camp started on Christmas Day and I'm supposed to run 100 miles in the week from Christmas through New Year's Eve. Two days into it, I'm already way behind in the mileage category. But I am above average the strength part - 50 daily pushups and 50 daily situps (full situps, no crunchers here). Looks like I've got some miles to put in the next 5 days. I was planning to run a good amount while in Spokane for Christmas, but seriously, there are 3 feet of snow in my parent's back yard. The amount of snow here is insane. A record for the month of December, even. Sascha loves playing in it with my sister's dog and parent's dogs!

In addition to wondering how I'm going to get in my Camp mileage, I'm also considering what my 100th ultra will be. I'm currently at 96, so 100 is coming right up. Hagg is a good possibility, and it's always a blast going there. Central Oregon always sends a big crew and we party it up at the Grand Lodge in Forest Grove after playing in the mud all day. So #100 there could be pretty cool. Another possibility is Run to the Sun. Gina and I are going to Hawaii in March and I'm going to run that. How cool would it be to finish #100 on top of a really big volcano? In Hawaii? Any other possible suggestions??

Sascha and I hope ya'll had a Merry Christmas.