Climbing The Walls

Blaaahhh... That's how I've been rolling lately. It's been super hard the last three weeks to get decent consistent training. I've got a full plate of "who the cuss knows," ahead of me in Colombia and training has been tough. I'm racing a 59k at extreme elevation and running through jungle to highlands to glacial mtns to the base of an active volcano! Cuss yea awesome!!! I haven't felt good or right since Loon, but I also haven't really taken a "break." I've been logging slow long miles over hills and have hit some mountains in preparation for the unknown of Colombia. I'm super excited JulboUSA is sending me (all inclusive) to Colombia. Maybe bc I'm a charismatic megafauna with the resilience of a mega virus, Julbo is entrusting me to be an ambassador... Which I will rock the cuss out of! The last three weeks have culminated some awesome runs with amazing people. 

This whole blog experience is fun as I meet people here and there that read this smut, some enjoy it , most others are not impressed (as I'm not impressed in meeting them, so we are even), and others might miss the main point of all my dribble. At the end of the day I'm highly positive, fortunate and grateful for all the experiences that I've come across and will venture too (and yes, all the whole time being totally cussing rad!). On a recent run with WarHammer Hammett we discussed people that inspire others and it made me really think. I KNOW I inspire other people, and probably more than I know, but I also KNOW that I'm inspired by even more people than I inspire and way more people than others know. So dig, I may inspire a single person a day, which is cool, but when left to think about it, I'm very fortunate for the people in my life as I'm inspired by no less than 20 a day... From my family and friends, random folks, elite runners who don't know my name (how the cuss could that be?!!) or the students in my class. I teach in Bellows Falls and have amazing students with great personalities. They inspire me everyday as I look at some of their backgrounds (zero support at home, fending for themselves and taking care of their younger siblings, single parents, both parents at home, wealthy, poor, split households, great parents, no parents, and any other scenario) and how resilient these kids are. (A lot of kids come from supportive backgrounds that I was privileged to come from) but any kid I meet that's dealing with any adversity is a little hero. And my community fosters tough, savvy kids and I love it! So yea, if I inspire you, I'm grateful if it makes you a better person or happy, but if you're inspired by me, then know my inspiration comes from many many more stronger than a tidal wave. 

Back to running: the last three weeks I have had some awesome runs! My OWL brother Matt Haley came north for a great trip up and over Mt Ascutney with Greg. Like I said, I'm trying to pound some hours on my legs in rugged conditions to get them ready for the most adventurous adventure yet, 36+ miles, starting at elevation and climbing to 16k feet? SMH, going to be unreal hard. 

I've also explored some amazing local trails that are being revived. One run in particular had two bald eagles! One flying high above the West River and the other being the under carriage of a sunbathing feminina along its shores ;). 

But the most epic and recent adventure was a Presidential Traverse. This was very fun and exciting. I'd like to preface, yes, I did go up there with the intentions of previewing the route in expecting to set an FKT. This will be highly difficult as the FKT is very competitive and the route does not suit my running style and abilities. The FKT is righteous and very admirable. 

Greg and I started at the Dolly Copp trail and planned a north to south route. The first few mtns are supposed to be the hardest so the idea of getting them done early was the plan. The beginning was awesome. I had a tough time running and had to hike a lot due to the technical boulder fields, but also couldn't stop looking around and taking in the sites! It was awesome. 

We hit up Mt Madison hut (where all but one of the "croo" were total elitist acting dbaggers) and continued on. After Mt Adams we ran into a little map discrepancy and headed down the wrong trail then back another trail towards Mt Madison. This sucked only bc we lost about 45 min and roughly 2 miles.

Great fun. It was an awesome day but I didn't realize how much hiking I would have to do! It was great for the legs in preparation for "god only knows" in S. America, but I truly wanted to be able to run more. But, I didn't cussing care at the  time as the weather was awesome and the company was great. (Side note: 60% of the hikers were awesome people with great attitudes! The other 40% seemed to be inconvenienced by runners on the trails. There were some cuss clowns out there. If you're a hiker upset bc a runner is one-upping you, go to hell, how about just love the fact that we are all enjoying the outdoors and being fit?! I felt it awesome that people were out bettering their lives. Not once was I upset that a person was hiking (and SHOULD be running), but leave your elitist trust fund entitled attitude at home!!! ((I have nothing against trust funds only spearheading the stereotype)). Once we got back on track it was a ton of fun to see the ridges and far off trails climbing and descending the mtns. I was rocking the La Sportiva Helios, Ultimate Direction race vest and had Salted Caremel GU's. I fueled properly the whole run and took advantage of the day in hopes to acclimate a bit to running and fueling. 

The summit of Mt Washington was a cluster cuss! It was great to see people outside but holy hell there were a lot of people. Ha. The climb to Washington from Clay was fun and awesome, then after Washington was very very enjoyable. I loved the southern Presi mtns and the trails that were there. If I did take a stab at the FKT I truly think my best bet would be a south to north attempt. I feel I would run well on the early sections and hike down almost as fast as I could hike up. Just my thinking... 

Lastly, if anyone knows how to respond to blog posts to the people that are posting to my entries, please cussing share how!!! I truly wish I could respond to the awesome comments people make (let's be honest, only 14 people read it, I'd love to thank them and respond back). I blog via my iPhone but cannot figure out how I can respond. I attempt to but it asked me to log in, where I'm already logged in and when I do so, I still can't respond to the amazing people that read my toad cuss... 

The crow awaits us all...