A great wrap up to 07… and fun start to 08

The end of the year is an interesting time. It can mean a lot or a little and is always different for every person. For me it is a time to check in, see where I am at and consider the next step. Although this year, that check-in happened a bit earlier and I find myself happy with my decision and settling in. It is a good place to be.

Ma flew me to Seattle for the holidays and I got to spend eleven quiet/mellow days in Seattle. I was able to stay with Dagan, see family and a few friends. New friends Kevin and Ani made the trek up to celebrate New Year’s with Dagan and I and we had a great time showing them around Seattle and bringing in the New Year. If you click on the following photo you should be able to see a few more from our Seattle time.

Christmas eve I started running again on a flat one hour run with Devon. I am thankful that I took the time off, (I couldn’t believe how sore I was the next day!) but even more happy to have running back in my life. It was good to swim, lift, take a few yoga classes and mostly use the time I would have been running, moving into my new place. Now as I get back into running I have a place to come home to, (no more boxes to unpack) and a place to throw the sweaty clothes, water bottles and Shot Blok wrappers.

This weekend kicked off a series for four 50k FatAss events in Oregon. Jeff & Sean put on the BadAss out in the Badlands. We woke up to 4 inches of snow in town and I seriously questioned driving out there, but recalled Jeff’s promise that the weather is always better out there (30 miles east of Bend) and headed out and was glad I did. The true BadAsses ran the full 50k and there were an assortment of other names for those of us that chose a few less miles. After finishing my 13 miles and changing clothes I hung out under the Fleet Feet tent and cheered on those that keep doing laps and got to know some of the core members of the Oregon ultrarunning crowd. As I found in my Montrail travels the ultrarunning community is something truly special. We otherwise might not have anything in common, but we can gather around a propane heater eat soup and drink hot chocolate and laugh.

Today (Sunday) Justin, Pieper & Matt (down from Seattle for the weekend), Sean and I snuck out to Smith rock before the storms rolled in and put in a 2 ½ hour run on the beautiful terrain. We had the park pretty much to ourselves and took it pretty easy. I was thankful they’d each run 50k the day before. This afternoon after a good meal with the guys I found myself curled up with TrailRunner Magazine in the post run happies drifting in and out of sleep between articles. It is snowing outside and I couldn’t be more content to just chill in my new place.