Frozen Dead Guy

I intended to write about the Frozen Dead Guy quite sometime ago but the days have melted together into a unsurmisable heap of hours and minutes that make February 1st's adventure from Nederland to Boulder seem like it occurred in some other lifetime - not two weeks ago.

At this juncture only bits and pieces remain but most importantly is the over arching feeling of pure joy upon culmination. The weather played in our favor; I saw the biggest mountain lion tracks I've ever seen stamped fresh in the snow; the trek to the top of Twin Sisters Peak was the highlight of the day - clambering up rocks to reach the summit; my friend Claire saved my ass loaning me $5 for the bus to Nederland and we ate amazing Thai food complete with beers in Denver that night (we're getting psyched for the Grand Canyon in April...); like any good long run, ride, or ski I spent hours chatting with a girl named Britt and now consider her a friend after recounting stories of trials and tribulations that make as all a little crazy and all very human; I ran with the "3 B's" (Britt, Brad, Becca) most of the day and Brad told the cutest story ever about he, his wife and their %98 rule; a man named Nico and his son volunteered to aid the course with hot soup, tea and delicious food; we ripped the last few miles on the Mesa Trial - I got transported back to my days living in Boulder and felt utterly confused anytime we came across a section of trail rerouted by flood; I was happy; the trails were great (particularly the section from Walker Ranch to finish - connecting into Eldorado Canyon and taking my first trip on the Old Mesa Trail; Chautauqua was beautiful as always.

Thanks very much to Sherpa John and the Human Potential Running Series for putting on this amazingly fun run and %100 free event. Already looking forward to the Headless Horsetooth next weekend...

P.S. I stole most the photos in this post from Britt!

Ski Bug

The best ski day so far - looking out over Ghost Basin and The Crags

I skied a few times when I was a kid at Alpine Valley in Elkhorn, WI - a stunning hill with 388 feet of vertical. I remember getting really into the notion of skiing around my 14th birthday after a class trip took us up for the first time, but then I also remember the ensuing horror of falling hard and nearly tearing my meniscus. The pain goes down as on of the few really painful experiences I can remember (and this comes from me - concussed multiple times with too many stiches to count). The result of this experience was that I never wanted to ski again and was massively weary. Ever since I've tagged along on winter trips to ski resorts with my family, as skiing is one of my grandpa's favorite pastime; I opted to snowboard after the knee scare and was pretty horrible at it so the experience was always rather mediocre. On top of that, dealing with crowds of people isn't exactly my forte and the price tag that came with just a single day of semi-misery was hardly worth my while. If given the opportunity I'd stay home and hang out with any injured or exhausted parties. In short, the highlight of these trips was family time, not resort time.

All this changed just about a year ago when my roommates Erick and Ashley, got me a backcountry ski rental for my birthday, insisting I give it a go. With an ever growing fascination with any form of mountain travel, the idea of backcountry skiing sounded way more up my alley - no crowds, pristine snow, and the majority of your time skiing UP rather than DOWN. I knew I'd be fine skinning up; but was nervous about the down. I convinced my self it was just another form of snowshoeing, just a little faster on the way down. 


Badass - Ashley (in wedding dress) and Erick bombing down
mountain after getting hitched

My gift of a rental sat unused at first, but after watching Erick and Ashley tie the knot on the mountain at Steamboat Resort I started to feel a little itch. Riding the gondola back down after their ceremony and watching Ashley, a former nationally ranked snowboard racer, absolutely fly down the mountain in a wedding dress sealed the deal: it was time to ask Erick about a backcountry ski outing.

My first skin into a winter camping trip a weeks later set the perfect tone. I arrived at the trailhead with a guy named Dan and we started our trek in to meet the remainder of our party at 11pm. The sky was perfectly clear, the moon so bright that using a headlamp would have been a joke and the trees had a stillness that that didn't make you think twice why the area was called "The Sacred Trees". Even with reservations about having to actually ski down the following day I knew I was in trouble - I had taken the bait hook, line and sinker.

I rented skis once more last spring right as the ski season came to an end and went out with my friend Brady and our pups to confirm my decision that backcountry skiing was god's gift to those desiring winter play in the mountains.

I managed to piece together a relatively cheap backcountry set up by early December and have now been out skiing with a whole lot of friends and dogs several times this year. Each time I go the love grows a little more and the shape of my skis leans more and more towards French Fries rather than Pizza. Its beginning to feel like months between each weekend as my excitement to get back to the top of Cameron Pass grows. Its Tuesday... only 4 more sleeps until a Saturday ski tour!

Bikes

When it comes to talking about bikes, I struggle. No matter how I spin the matter, bikes came to me at a critical point in my development and shaped me for better.

While I don't have hoards of childhood memories, I distinctly remember learning to ride a bike in a Costa Rica parking lot. My bike's name was Scrappy and as I tentatively began riding circles without training wheels for the first time, I remember nothing but sheer joy and a stranger hanging out the window of his home yelling to me, andale! andale! go! go!

From there bikes took me up and down curbs in my neighborhood, on summer adventures with my sister to Chicago's lakefront for swims, to my first triathlon, to school because the bus was too slow, on Critical Mass rides, to rebellion, Yojimbo's Garage and alley cat messenger races, to really discover and know my hometown...

Life sort of changed for me when I started to race bikes in ernest. I found focus and passion and dedication and the meaning of hard work. Bike racing became my escape. My freedom from the city, my fears, my worries and my awkward high school years; my way out of the world I knew and my first vehicle to travel, adventure and new experiences. It wasn't till I found bikes that I found friends and people I truly understood. I embraced cycling, set goals and went after them.

Then something crazy happened - something I wasn't prepared for and something that in hindsight totally freaked me out: I moved past my goals and into a realm of cycling that I much preferred glorified in the form of posters on my wall. At 18 years old and away from home for the first time, entering this world was alluring and I was intrigued by the ambition of my peers, boys and the vagabondish lifestyle the sport offered. I dove in without knowing exactly what I wanted and quickly, became utterly lost.

It's taken a long time to dig myself out of the unexpected hole I found myself in post bike racing. I crashed, burned, returned and even once I retired from racing in 2010 it wasn't until 2013 that I for the first time was able to stray fully from bikes as I entered school and a new direction. I realize sport will always be an important part of my life, balance and sanity; hence my adoration of running, but today was an interesting day as I was both happy and sad as I stepped back into bike world for a brief moment.

CSU CX National Team - such a fun time with these girls!

I raced the US Cyclocross Collegiate National Championships today in Boulder, CO for Colorado State University. I arrived to the race ecstatic. I hadn't ridden a cross bike on a proper course in more than a year and was giddy to race for the school that I love. Additionally, I've become really good friends with the CSU team's president, Kate, and was pretty much just psyched to be racing with her and the team.

After sorting out a bike to ride for the race from my friends at SRAM, I headed to the start line with my late friend Amy Dombroski on my mind. I had a pair of lightening bolts socks on my feet in support of her foundation and hoped to ride a few laps of the course in her honor - remembering riding some of the very same trails together before she passed this October. It was amazing racing again. So incredibly fun and exhilarating and nice to think about Amy while doing the sport she lived and breathed. The race was a definite high and I felt nothing but joy and happiness for Amy, for my CSU teammates, for all the old friends I'd bumped into throughout the day...

Dombro was one of a kind. So missed by so many.

After the race I volunteered on course, walking the perimeter of the race fixing course tape and broken posts. Walking around gave me time to think and I ended the day feeling sad, lonely and lost. Lost friends, lost passion, lost way. While I know everything in life happens for a reason its always interesting confronting the reasons and remembering the past. I am truly happy and wouldn't change a single thing in the path I've traveled but I guess it comes down to the fact that you need to remember the lows to appreciate the highs.

Today, I remembered it all.

Potential

I like the concept of resolutions. I see them as a point at which one can step back and try to better themselves. While in the past I've made lofty goals and insane plans of certain, unobtainable success this year I'm happy to report that my excited feelings for the new year might actually be aimed correctly. Instead of the do this and don't do that mentality that comes with my nature to plan life down to the wire, I've come to the conclusion that its the potential that drives me forward. This potential I embrace whole heartedly. Plans are made and broken; the exciting notion revolves solely around the ever present potential to live your dreams, see new sights, feel new things, test your comfort and take yourself to greater heights. While I hesitate to call this a revelation, it is albeit a feeling that I'm welcoming as it settles in. 

The combination of dreams, desires, necessity and commitment prove challenging to navigate on their own but as a collective potential the concept seems much easier to embrace. There is no point in isolating one component from another. Life is a jumbled mess but it can be taken as a complicated, depressing struggle or as a fascinating, exciting and risky endeavor. For this year I choose the later. 

I'll accept the things I cannot change but I also won't sit one the sidelines wishing and dreaming for the stars to one day align. I'll make mistakes, apologize when needed; alternately stepping forwards and backwards alongside the cues. I'll embrace the things I love with out doubt or logic but let go if I need to as well. It is ultimately little more than the potential that excites me, if not for one thing then another. Life is too short to waste wondering. 

Happy Birthday Josey

NEWS FLASH! Josey is 4 years old today!!!!!

Three years ago today, my dog Josey, entered my life. Josey is hands down my best friend, number one adventure partner, a trusty companion no matter what challenge we are faced with, and quite frankly the love of my life. To celebrate three amazing years with my girl, here is a brief, photo dominated montage history of my dear pup.

This is the first picture I ever took of Josey:

It took forever to name her. A solid week if I remember correctly. Some amazing suggestions like "JAWS" "Nono" "Leaveit" and "Sunday" surfaced via the power of Facebook but finally it was decided that Josey should be her name. The true story of Josey's name is that for about the first year I was adamant that it be spelled Joesy. A phonetic spelling made sense to me. It didn't to pretty everyone else. So eventually I resigned to Joesy being called Josey and often Josie as well. She's also Jawsie, and Dozer, and Josey Bear and so forth... in the long run she doesn't care what the hell her name is so long as she gets food when its called.

The first couple months with Josey were a little rough:

As pictured here, she was a master at making quality messes if left with the proper materials in reach... she could open the door to the bed room, jump the fence, and empty bags of potting soil with grace. Apart from the messes, Josey's finest moment of early stage debauchery came the day she decided to chew open and consume a large portion of a value-sized bottle of ibuprofen. At that moment, Josey appreciated from a $99 pound dog to a $2000 medical marvel. Outside of being massively expensive, those couple days in doggy ER were scary!


But after a while, she settled in...

...and eventually made it to through her first year!

Now Joes is the quite simply the coolest dog in the world!

I kid you not, I wake up everyday and love her more. This mildly feral res dog is top notch: she can run all day, doesn't get cold easily, is super tolerant, patient, a major trooper, and is pretty much open to trying anything within reason. On top of that, she's a well traveled pup at this juncture too! Josey and I hit the trails running most days, we backpack in the summer, are taking up backcountry skiing this winter... she hangs at the crag like a pro and road trips with little complaint... 

Josey, Happy Birthday! 

Love,

Your Crazy Dog Lady Mom

Field Work

A couple months ago I met with a professor at CSU named Stewart Breck after hearing that he had given a presentation on Urban Coyote Conflicts to the student chapter of The Wildlife Society (TWS). I had really wanted to attend the talk but Josey and I had agility classes going on at the time so he agreed to meet with me after the fact to pick his brain about things I could start doing to gain experience while I earn my undergrad in Wildlife Biology.

Stewart pointed me in the direction of a camera study project in Fort Collins' Pineridge Natural Area. A set of 6 wildlife cameras had been set up in this area to help a 6th grade science class at Boltz Middle School here in Fort Collins with their unit on ecology. The project's funding was coming to an end for the professor and undergrad students at CSU and TWS was looking to take on the project, but needed someone to act as a project manager - BAM! Really psyched to have been named the chair of the TWS camera study committee. 

One of the camera boxes in Pineridge

Things are winding down with the study at the moment, but I've had my first exposure sorting the photos from the cameras, helping out teaching the kids at Boltz and best of all, early last week Joes and I got to go into the field on an awesome snowy Colorado day to take down all the cameras for the year - MY FIRST DAY OF FIELD WORK. As Joes and I trudged around the natural area collecting the cameras I had this overwhelming sense of total satisfaction. It was massively fun and I can hardly express how excited I am to have found this path. 

I'll certainly be writing more about the camera study in the future, and will try to remember a camera for the next field work day. In the mean time, check out some of the cool photos we captured!

A family of 4 Bobcats running at the camera

Bobcat caught a Prairie Dog

Coyotes

Trainwreck

Before I talk about the Trainwreck I think I need to rewind to this moment:

This is me right after finishing the Moab Trail Marathon on Nov 2nd in Moab, UT. While in this moment I might look smashed all I could think about was how awesome the race had gone. I got 5th place after pushing and throughly enjoying myself running up and down dessert trails and slick rock. I ate a few quesadilla moments after this photo and immediately started craving the next adventure.

Beers and delicious food were had that evening at the Moab Brewery with my friend and fellow Moab Marathon companion, Claire. We were both on an incredible high from the amazing views and terrain we had covered that day; plans began to hatch. While Claire and I have since decided to tackle the Rim2Rim2Rim, Teton Crest Trail and Wonderland Trail together next year (WAY more to come on Claire and these adventures in the future), I was antsy to get my first 50mile trail run under my belt. 

I had planned on doing the Run Rabbit Run 50 miler in September but floods conspired with exhaustion nixing the possibility. While missing the Run Rabbit Run was a blessing in disguise, I still had the itch and it had only increase after Moab.

While scouring the interweb world of long trail running race calenders, I was absolutely thrilled to find the single coolest and most perfect sounding inaugural 50 miler. I knew instantly that it was going to be my chance to do a 50 this year and signed up on the spot.

Enter the Trainwreck: I was planning on being in Chicago for Thanksgiving with my family so the Trainwreck 50's convenient location in the Northern Unit of Kettle Moraine State Park near Greenbush, WI with a Dec 1st running date was perfect. Furthermore, this laid back race had a free entry (with an option to buy an awesome $13 race shirt if one desired), a potluck post race and nothing but good times promised. BOOM.

The Trainwreck was all I could possibly have hoped for in my first 50 mile race and more. My mom, despite thinking me totally insane, volunteered to drive up to the race with me and provide support on course as it was a primarily self-supported event.  She was so awesome to have around. Every time I saw her on trail I got a burst of energy and immense feeling of gratitude. My mom brought me around all over the place as a kid when I raced bicycles and think at 16yrs old I didn't appreciate her efforts as much as I should have. Having her around was the best feeling and allowed me to let her know how much her support means to me - It would have been very challenging to get enough food and water on course without her support. Plus it was just plain fun having her around!

Me and my Mama

The people I got to meet and run with where also some of the nicest people I've ever met. To start, the event organizers, Dan and Heather, were two of the coolest people I've met. They set this event up out of pure love for running long distances in the woods. The spectacular rolling course led runners up and down moraine ridges on the Ice Age Trial all day long on relatively secluded trails - its was sooooo fun. Dan and Heather arranged a great cabin to be available for the start/finish, an awesome potluck with great chili, beer and apple pie, and even prizes for finishers! Plus long-sleeve t-shirts and cool decals.

Fantastic people: Race Directors Heather and Dan ran 20 miles of course before hustling back to welcome finishers.

Me and fellow runner Matt on course decked out in blaze orange to ward off hunters.

On course I got to run the first 17miles with 50K runners Matt and Jenny - two great people who made the first couple hours of headlamp running in the dark fly by. Matt knew the trails well and was a great help navigating the dark hours. I was really happy to share their company. Additionally, an amazing lady named Amanda and her husband Cory volunteered to set up an aid station at mile 17 complete with nutella/banana sandwiches and words of inspiration. So cool.

So awesome: Amanda and Cory volunteered to set up aid station for Trainwreck runners. 

Words of inspiration from Amanda plastered to my arm mid-run.

In terms of the actual run I was shocked to feel pretty much really good for the duration of the run. I anticipated cracking and slowing tremendously near the end but as luck would have it there was no problem running strong and totally psyched all the way to the finish. In fact I felt almost better at the finish than I did at the start. I could definietly tell I've gotten used to running mostly up and down mountains here in Colorado so the rolling terrain with longer flat sections was a big change and left me sore in new places. All good though and I was happy to finish in about 9:30 including stops and chats with my mom. 

In summary: running rules.