Wheeler Farm Loops

AM - 10 miles.

PM - 6 miles (2 w/ Andrea)

AM - 10 miles.

PM - 3 miles (3.5 w/ Andrea)

AM - 8 miles.

Left hamstring (the good one) has a huge knot. I'm just about wrecked at this point. 

Skinned up to Twin Lakes Pass. Bulletproof snow.

AM - 4 miles w/ Andrea.

PM - 4 miles.

AM - 4 miles.

PM - 3 miles w/ Andrea.

AM - 5 miles.

PM - 3 miles w/ Andrea.

Haven't had much interesting to post recently, but this needs to go on the record...

I withdrew from London today... although the decision was made last week, and the writing was on the wall before that. Getting sick took a lot more out of me than anticipated, but the primary reason I can't race is because of injury limitations. The fitness plummet from the Mexico death plague made me recognize just how much I was pushing my luck.

I'm still going to Austria and luckily I was able to change my ticket and fly back to SLC from Vienna (where I'll be attending a conference in two weeks). There's obviously some disappointment because running London was such a cool opportunity... but in hindsight, no one is really surprised by this outcome (don't feel sorry for me). I haven't been fully healthy since mid-September of last year and have been treading water slowly drowning since Chicago. At this point I am severely limited by my chronic hamstring tendonitis (along with the associated compensation issues). Skinning allowed me to keep my head above water for the winter months, but once I stopped spending as much time on skis, it actually became harder to run. 

If I actually want to run fast and be competitive again, I have to fully commit to addressing the problem, which I have only done sporadically to this point. I can't fake it anymore. It's going to take a lot of time. I have to start from scratch.

AM - 4 miles.

PM - Skinned 1750' at Brighton w/ Andrea.

PM - 6 miles.

PM - 5 miles.

Back felt weird.

AM - 7 miles.

PM - 3 miles w/ Andrea.

I ran a mile this morning in seven minutes and fifteen seconds, which was my fastest mile in a month... by 20+ seconds.

My goal for the rest of April is to make some progress in the area of eliminating my mechanical limitations. Andrea has taken on the challenge of fixing me and I've committed to following her rehab program (for once). We started on easter. I imagine it will be at least a month or two before I am running "normal" so it will take some patience and consistency. No skipping steps, I want to be fully healthy again.

AM - 5 miles.

PM - 3 miles w/ Andrea.

AM - 5 miles.

PM - Skinned 1750' at Brighton w/ Andrea.

AM - 5 miles.

PM - 3 miles w/ Andrea. Horsepark fun.

Tough being in the office when it's nuketown on the other side of the window. I couldn't find a way to get out of work and go skiing today, especially since I'll be gone all of next week. But that being said, it was awesome to be running in a legit snowstorm (finally!!!).

AM - 5 miles.

That's a nice 48 hour total. Haven't seen anything in that range that since 2011.

We got out for a few hours in the afternoon today, but missed the boat on the light powder and great skiing. Snow consolidates and gets gunky really quick this time of the year. Even if our turns were of marginal quality, it's nice to see everything covered in white again.

AM - 5 miles.

PM - 3 miles w/ Andrea.

AM - 6 miles w/ Andrea. Our longest run together in... ?

On my way to Vienna for a week. Hopefully the next 15 hours of travel don't negate whatever progress I've made in my rehab. 

PM - 5 miles in the Wiener Prater. I knew that getting in a run right away would help prevent any mind/body wackiness (beyond the usual) after shifting 8 time zones.

The Prater is a fantastic park. Lots of wide and single track forest trails going all over the place. Sort of a giant horsepark.

AM - 5 miles. Prater.

PM - 3 miles. Prater.

Nice day - grabbed a city bike and rode all over Vienna... Danube Island, Ringstrasse, Schonbrunn Palace, Naschmarkt, etc.

AM - 8 miles. Prater "Stadtwanderweg 9".

Took a train out to Melk with hopes that I would be able to commandeer a bike and ride through the Wachua Valley. It worked out perfectly, a leisurely cruise on a two-speed bicycle through a handful of towns and tons of vineyards. Ferried across the Danube at Spitz and hiked up to the castle ruins at Durnstein. Finished in Krems and enjoyed a train bier on the ride back to Vienna.

AM - 7 miles. Donaukanal.

PM - 4 miles. Donaukanal.

Conference (EASL ILC) started and I switched hotels yesterday. So canal runs will replace Prater runs, but staying right in the heart of the city just a few steps from St. Stephen's Cathedral is worth it! 

Spent the evening wandering around the city center and Hofburg Palace.

AM - 8 miles. Donaukanal.

Spent the evening attending a concert at the Musikverein. Very cool experience in a unique venue. I'm no classical music expert, but I was told that this was world class. I enjoyed it a lot. We followed it with Wiener Schnitzel, which isn't world class, but it's also enjoyable.

Got out early for a hike in Lower Austria. Paulmauer and Gschwendthutte.

AM - 6 miles. Donaukanal.

PM - 4 miles. Donaukanal.

Beautiful, warm afternoon (the weather this entire week has been fantastic)... had a nice chunk of time to walk the city once last time after conference ended.

PM - 3 miles w/ Andrea.

Full day of travel. Surprisingly, I had zero jet-lag in either direction on this trip.

AM - 4 miles.

PM - 4 miles (3.5 w/ Andrea).

AM - 5 miles.

PM - 4 miles (3.7 w/ Andrea).

AM - 5 miles.

PM - 3 miles (3.5 w/ Andrea).

AM - 5 miles.

PM - Skinned 1800' at Alta w/ Andrea.

I pieced together the last 30 years of snowfall data from Alta (1-Nov to 30-Apr). It doesn't capture every season perfectly (ex. 2010-2011 had another 100" of snow in Oct and May), but the trends are obvious. We are banking on an upswing in '15-16 and already bought Mountain Collective passes with plans of spending next winter road-tripping and chasing powder. I'd like to be optimistic and say we are due for a great winter... and haven't totally F-ed up the climate yet.

In the meantime, despite the driest winter ever, there's plenty of snow for a couple more weeks of shorts skiing...