I love this place...sweet, only mildly technical trail at times, and fairly long stretches of what you see here.

On today's agenda was 5 minute hill repeats getting into zone 4a to 5a, and making sure to hit 5a by the end. Coffee and my favorite fruit, kale and egg protein smoothie in, I made the hour and a half drive to Hobbs State Park for today's adventure. My new work schedule with rotating shifts offered me 3 weekdays off this week...penance will be paid…

Winter running in Jackson Hole and the Teton's is amazing, beautiful, and just as spectacular as hitting the trails in the Summer.  The BIG difference is the temperatures, often hitting minus 10, minus 15 degrees F during some of my runs.  Cold weather brings bright sunshine and perfect snow conditions on the trails.

With the polar vortex…

So, yesterday was the day of my return to a nice little 10-mile race around the local area, the Braunton 10. I ran the race last year, just as I was starting to get my eye in on racing in general and it was great to come back a year later, knowing a bit more of what to expect and how to go about tackling it.

The route is all on-road (that is, mud-slicked, flooded road at this time of year) and is more than a little undulating - in particular, there are two significant category 4-5…

"What if you striped away the need to know and the need for "meaning"'- Eric's comment on his blog post Today's Thoughts On Real Performance. Timely conversation. Those words, and comments by others rattled around in my brain yesterday and early this morning as I started to think about the race.  I tend to stress out more about the 5k - 10k races than the ultra distances...the farther the race the less "fear" I have. 5k and 10ks are so raw. For me it's a really stripped down way of assessing…

So I was due for one of those slow, steady mitochondria building Zone 2 30 minute type of runs. But I met an old student on my way out who wanted to come. Now she's seriously talented, super quick, and in the past, well, I've managed to stay with her for about a mile before having to collapse quietly in a ditch and throw up. Only reason I can stay with her at all is that she's 16 and some way off her potential. But after 10 weeks of Phase 1? Hey, I stayed with her for over 3 miles (way out…

I was wondering what the small pang in my heart has been over the last couple of weeks and I've eventually realised what it is: It has been an absolute age since I've posted here. This is a situation I intend to rectify, so for now, a very brief bloggy update:

• I'm wondering whether to drop the 'how many weeks I've been trying to be a runner for' titling of my blogs, since after my twenty weeks in the 'wilderness' of not-blogging, I have returned actually considering…

Due to a string of unrelated and non-running injuries, I was unable to run from May 2012 to late Sept 2013. This left far too little time to train for my 2013 Cool Impossible, but made it an even better goal.

The…

Well, I made it! What I thought was impossible became possible! I thought there was no way I could live without sugar, no way! My family thought I was crazy, co-workers would look at me and say "why are you doing this to yourself?" I would answer, "because I am tired of feeling like crap!" I did not realize the side effects of sugar! I knew when I would consume a pop and candy bar mid-afternoon I would feel groggy and…

It is interesting that Eric and others have started to talk about doubts and fear.  These are very real emotions for me at the moment as the registration for my Cool Impossible approaches on Feb 1.  Ever since I decided to do this race I have been racked with doubt: Am I too fat? Am I too slow? Am I strong enough? Am I just freaking crazy?  I have shared these doubts with my friends ad nauseam.  One of my friends who patiently listened and was supportive finally cracked and said "Just shut…

Today's Thoughts: Running Ultras is all about performing when everything goes wrong.

It is easy to perform when things are going well, but just like in life, 'real' performance is about how we act after we think, being aware, and continuing to perform when things "seem" to be…

Jackson Hole Mountain Resort reported a foot of new snow this morning.  With fresh snow brings warmer temps, humidity…..and wind.  This means its time to get out of town and head North to find colder temps and good snow.  But first, I needed to fire off a few coaching emails, so I drained my double espresso and popped open the laptop.  I typically get a few emails each day…

Well, I finally had to shovel twice today, oops make that now three times.  Our first snow fall in a week and it is still coming down. Should be good skiing tomorrow, the mountain needs it.  And, could be a good snowshoe run tomorrow.  The snow was good timing also because today is my recovery day from running.  This time of year my recovery is a complete off day from…

With three great training days behind me, I was looking forward to today, my Cool Impossible Wednesday.  I like to devote Wednesdays to getting out for a long run and using this as a creative time for myself.  While writing The Cool Impossible, I found…

That was my thought on number 8 of my 8 x 200meter sprints. Holy sheeshums those were tough! As usual very nervous prior to speedwork this morning. The warm-up was all about thinking about the speedwork to come. I did 6 x 200 at the same pace last week and struggled, so I was worried there was no way I was going to be able to do 8. And of course those thoughts..."well if you…

Well, the media is using the phrase, 'polar vortex' to describe the cold front hitting the USA today.  Here in Jackson, this is everyday weather and the best gauge of temps is normally dictated by what the moose are up to.  If it is cold, they tend to relax for breakfast in the backyard.

Momma Moose…

The ups and downs of sugar detox is so unbelievably scary. I never knew how much this stuff affected my moods, my energy and my SLEEP! I am so high at night from energy, I am wired but then I sleep (eventually) and I wake up like I have crude oil for blood in my system. Sluggish, like a snail without a shell.

Irritability, highs and lows, intermittent 'fog-head' mixed with bursts of euphoria and creativity is what I am experiencing. I am so over sugar. It can sod off for…