January 1st, 2022 - looking in a rear view mirror

We woke up to a couple of inches of fresh snow right in town. About time! With that, we welcomed a white New Year, just the way it's supposed to be

 Before that happened, we wrapped up the year with a two-day ski trip, and both Cooper and Monarch treated us with fresh ungroomed power - Monarch had it so much, we were knee deep and above! All that provided for some serious quad workout, but also allowed us to conquer the final black diamond runs I was afraid of - including High Anxiety and Zipper. The Cooper runs are so mellow comparing to Monarch, not even funny (unless you go off the backside, where it's more of a meandering between the trees on a narrow path). Both days also were cold, cloudy, and windy, but very worthy the fun times.

In-between those two mountains we stayed in our new favorite place in BV, and even managed a trail run in the late afternoon. It was just too good not to take advantage of.

Upon return, I squeezed my last double-long run of this training cycle, and let me be honest, I was pooped. The longer of the two, 21 mile with 6k ft gain that included Mt Rosa circle, was just a killer on my already sore quads and gluts, and it was cold, and I fell...hopefully for the last time this season:) The second run went at least marginally less involved, and I was happy to wrap it up and enter taper time.

This all hasn't come easy. Up to this last week, I was holding ok with the speed intervals and hill repeats and the doubles, but this last part about killed me. I have never been so welcoming of taper...

With that graph, lets review a bit on the stats of 2021. I ran 3131 miles - which, surprisingly, was 55 miles less than last year (how did this happen? not that I care). A solid base, indeed. For the first time, I decided to check on my "vert" (just because we follow Seth DeMoor's YouTube training, and that's what he tracks). I busted his chops in that department! It actually blew my mind how much gain I have for the year. I occasionally look into this number for a certain run, or even a week (back when I trained for a 100 miler), but never cared about yearly total. Wow! Last year it was about 100k less. I guess 13 Pikes Peaks and 53 Inclines would do that. In general, living in the mountains, "vert" is my new thing.:)

In other statistical goals, I took 57 yoga classes, did 175 weights workouts, and kept up with daily running streak, as well as daily push ups/crunches routine. I will not be doing any kind of "daily" in this upcoming year, just proper training, but keeping tabs was fun. I read 77 books (good year!), but barely knitted, which I am trying to remedy as of yesterday. I ran 8 races, and did well in at least half of them, but failed at my biggest goal of through hiking Colorado Trail. This fact still bums me out. Yet, no dwelling allowed, can't reverse what happened, and not every goal gets achieved. I guess if we try things far out of our comfort zone, sometimes we are bound to fail. 

What's for this year? A little more racing. I signed up for another 100 - so much for "20 and done". It is still my favorite distance. I am going back to Bear, which I ran in 2007 (though the course has changed since then). I got a handful of 50 k's on the schedule, a 50 miler, and a couple of volunteer gigs at the races - all in the first 6 months. Larry has been very consistent with his running, and he is, too, getting his racing bug back. The second part of the year will shape up as we move on forward.

2021 has been pretty darn good to me. I always said, we make our own destiny, even if there were times I didn't follow my own advice. This past year, I was resolved to focus on things I can control, and it paid off in spades. Here's to 2022, more of the good stuff, none of the bullshit.

A new year. A blank slate. A wide open trail unfolding into the unknown…
The possibilities are endless, but will you redefine what’s possible for yourself this year?
Here’s to new goals, no limitations, no regrets, no fear of failure, no impossible, and to making 2022 the best year for YOU yet.