Summit junkie!

Did 30 minutes on the elliptical. Very boring, but I did get a good workout. Nice and sweaty.

Went to the gym and lifted for 40 min (upper body/core). Had a great workout, and also did 3 miles on the TM.

3 easy miles on the TM. I don't care how hard ya try, you just can't make that sound exciting. Good thing I'll be getting out later in the week.

5 on the TM.

I went to the gym and lifted (upper body/core/abs). I wanted to make sure my legs were fresh for the hike in the morning, so I didn't run.

What a fun day! Me, Jun, his friend Devin, and my friend Jackson climbed Mt. Olympus this morning, and had a great time. I woke up 15 minutes before my alarm went off at 5:00, and only ended up getting 4 hours of sleep. We met at 6:00 and after the first 15 minutes or so it was clear that Jackson wasn't in the best shape. He hadn't worked out much since our climb of the Grand Teton was cancelled in August. Craig and Devin bounded ahead, while I stayed back with Jackson. This was his first time on the mountain, and I didn't want to leave him.

There was actually quite a lot of snow on the mountain, and luckily Craig and Devin had the tedious task of breaking the trail for us. The snow was deep in places, causing numerous post-holes, and this was one of the more difficult climbs I have ever had of Olympus. Above the saddle the trail became more technical, and we had to deal with a lot of icy rocks, and slippery snow. There were a few places that we really had to take care because a fall would have been bad.

In the chute we ran into Craig and Devin, and I snapped few pics. I took my time making my way up the gully so that Jackson could catch up to me. The final push was tough because I was breaking trail and my legs were getting tired. Climbing Oly in the winter is definitely a lot harder than a typical summer hike. We had to take care just below the summit because the rocks were very slippery and off of the rocks was a post-hole fest.

The mountain was as beautiful today as I have ever seen it. It was nice getting out of the smog in the valley, and fun hanging out with good friends. we had a great day. I'll try and post some pics later.

Met Twinkies and Jun at the Draper BST at 6:00 am for an incredible run. It was dark and cold when we started, and for the second day in a row I forgot my headlamp. Doh! Luckily Twinkies stayed right on my rear for the first few miles because it was still very dark. The trail had a lot more snow than I thought it would, and it was pretty icy in places as well. There were several ups and downs, and I could definitely feel it in my legs. They were still a touch sore from my hike of Olympus the day before.

 At the top of Corner Canyon the snow was in terrible shape, and it was very hard to run. We stopped for a quick break and Jun suggested we take the Ghost Falls trail down. That was the best part of the run because we picked up the pace, and it was much steeper than what we had been running on, so it was a lot of fun. The last few hills were really tough because my legs were tired, but it was a great workout, and we had a great time.  

This run was a lot harder than I thought it would be, and took over 2 hours to finish 10 miles. The majority of the trail was covered in snow, and there was a lot more elevation gain and loss than I was expecting, but I loved it. Great day!