Spring – Ski or Run???

We had a crazy winter in the Wasatch.  We set a record for the least amount of snow – EVER.  As everyone complained about the skiing,  I had an amazing ski season with lots of great ski days, not as much skimo racing as I would have wanted, a great trip to the World Ski Mountaineering Championships in Verbier, a chance to ski in Chamonis, and too much work travel for my new job with PwC. Thanks to all the hard work that we (Emily, Nick, Eric, and myself) put into the Powder Keg, we had another very successful race.

I have had a hard rule for at least 10 years that I would not skip a Saturday or Sunday of skiing to run except for BoSho Marathon no matter how early I had a race.  With the low snow year, for the first time I broke my rule and transitioned to running earlier than normal to try to get back into running and do the Jemez 50 race on 23 May. In March, I kept my rule slowly increasing my miles during the week.  Starting in April, without much skiing motivation, I transitioned into running mode. Since the snow was marginal (at best) I wanted to take the extra time to ensure I was ready to run long after last year’s injury.
On 18 April, I ran BoSho Marathon.  As usual, the race was hard and it made me wonder if I could get into running shape.  I had my 2nd slowest time, but I was thrilled to be able to run with no pain in my back or leg.  It probably didn’t help that I only had 5 weeks of training going into the run and this run accounted for just over 12% of my entire annual mileage.  It was a great test of where the recovery from the pinched nerve in my back is at.  With a busy travel schedule and some family commitments, this weekend is my last chance for a long run so I will do 50K in the rain and snow on Saturday to really find out if i am ‘ready for a 50’.
My crazy travel schedule that I am trying to cram ultra training into has been/is
  • January:
    • 2 weeks in Chicago for work
  • February
    • 2 weeks in Europe for World Ski Mountaineering Championships
    • 2 weeks in Chicago
  • March
    • 1 week at Brighton for Powder Keg
    • 1 week in Chicago
    • 1/2 week in Denver
  • April
    • 2 weeks in Philadelphia
    • 1 week in Detroit
    • 1 weekend in Scottsdale to visit family
  • May (planned)
    • 3 weeks in Philadelphia
    • 1 weekend in Scottsdale to visit family
    • Long labor weekend in New Mexico for Jemez
  • June (planned)
    • Unknown work trips
    • 1 weekend at Pocatello helping out
    • 1 weekend visiting friends in Steamboat

If you overlap Emily’s work travel on top of this, our paths crossed only 4 days in February, we were only home together 8 days in March, and 2 days in April!

Here are a few photos from March and April.  Maybe I will start snapping a few running.
Powder Keg Week
Powder Keg week
Chipman Peak into Dry Fork with Tom and Blake
Thin snow on the ridgeline to Pfiefferhorn on our way to ski corn into Dry Fork with Blake and T-Dawg
Red Baldy to Tibble Fork with Andy
Skiing Icefall off Red Baldy with Andy – this might be the best corn run in the Wasatch.
Red Baldy to Tibble Fork with Andy
Cooking on our climb out of the Icefall – shirts off skinning at 11K in March!

Powder Keg

Skiing with Sarah and Blake after a 40″ April storm.  Best powder day since Christmas.